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Symphony
ALL RUSSIAN PROGRAM LAUNCHES 24TH MENDOCINO FESTIVAL SEASONby Terry McNeill Saturday, July 10, 2010  In a high-energy program of Russian music, conductor Allan Pollack and his Festival Orchestra opened the 24th Mendocino Music Festival season in grand style July 11 in the massive white tent on the Mendocino headlands bluff.
Even before the downbeat for the Shostakovich “Festival Overture,” Op. 96,...
Symphony
SINS, SWANS AND DONSby Steve Osborn Monday, May 10, 2010  Patrons returning for the second half of Monday night’s Santa Rosa Symphony concert witnessed the unusual sight of five microphones: one to the left of the conductor’s podium, next to a black stool, and four to the right, with accompanying chairs. The stool and chairs were soon occupied, respectivel...
Symphony
OUTSIDE THE ROMANTIC PALEby Terry McNeill Tuesday, April 13, 2010  In a finale to a year of literature-based programs (“Season of the Scribe’) the Marin Symphony April 13 presented a curious mix of compositions that purported to have a common romantic theme. Preceding the sonic splendor of Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and the “Prelude and Liebestod” from Tri...
Symphony
RICH ORCHESTRAL PORTRAITS IN MARIN SYMPHONY CONCERTby Donna Kline Sunday, February 28, 2010  The fourth “chapter” of the Marin Symphony’s “Season of the Scribe” continued Feb. 28 when Alasdair Neale conducted an inspiring program of Debussy, Copland, and Tchaikovsky in the Marin Civic Center Auditorium.
Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” began the concert with the Orchestra p...
Symphony
THREE HITS AND A MISS AT SRSO CONCERTby Terry McNeill Saturday, February 13, 2010  In the fifth set of Santa Rosa Symphony concerts in the current season, conductor Bruno Ferrandis programmed a world premiere and ended with a familiar Schumann symphony. In between were Chopin’s F Minor Piano Concerto, Op. 21, with soloist Berenika Zakrzewski, and Schumann's "Manfred" overture.
Be...
Symphony
MARIN FORCES TACKLE MOZART REQUIEM AND BRAHMS VIOLIN CONCERTOby Kenn Gartner Tuesday, February 02, 2010  Upon entering the Marin Civic Center Auditorium Feb. 2 the reviewer was greeted by the spectacle of the chorus warming up on stage. Did Frank Lloyd Wright not provide a choral room? The distinguishing characteristic of this warm up was that not one singer managed to hit the high notes despite the ...
Symphony
VIRTUOSIC EXCITEMENT AT NAPA VALLEY SYMPHONY CONCERTby Terry McNeill Sunday, January 31, 2010  Conductor Asher Raboy, in his final season with the Napa Valley Symphony, has established in a 20-year tenure a responsive orchestral sound and an interest in large and crowd-pleasing works. During a Jan. 31 concert in Yountville’s Lincoln Theater, Mr. Raboy had the opportunity to shine in two mass...
Symphony
THE RED AND THE WHITEby Steve Osborn Saturday, January 23, 2010  In the old days, barbers were also surgeons, as adept with a scalpel as a razor, their red-and-white barber pole an emblem of both surgery (red) and hair-cutting (white). At its Jan. 23 concert, the well-coiffed Santa Rosa Symphony enacted this dual role, offering both some serious blood (from a rea...
Symphony
WE HAVE IGNITIONby Steve Osborn Saturday, December 05, 2009  Beethoven's Ninth Symphony has been played repeatedly in Sonoma County during the past decade, beginning with a memorable performance by the Santa Rosa Symphony under Jeffrey Kahane in the aftermath of 9/11. That event was so successful that several other renditions followed, including one in the So...
Symphony
WHAT DVORAK KNEWby Steve Osborn Saturday, November 07, 2009  On reading the score of Antonín Dvořák’s magnificent Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, Dvořák's mentor Brahms is reputed to have said, “Why on earth didn’t I know that one could write a cello concerto like this? If I had only known, I would have written one long ago!”
What Dvořák k...
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symphony Reviews
7/10/2010 - ALL RUSSIAN PROGRAM LAUNCHES 24TH MENDOCINO FESTIVAL SEASON - Terry McNeill
Mendocino Music Festival / Festival Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Pollack Stephen Prutsman, piano William Kligelhoffer, horn In a high-energy program of Russian music, conductor Allan Pollack and his Festival Orchestra opened the 24th Mendocino Music Festival season in grand style July 11 in the massive white tent on the Mendocino headlands bluff. Even before the downbeat for the Shostakovich “Festival Overture,” Op. 96,...
5/10/2010 - SINS, SWANS AND DONS - Steve Osborn
Santa Rosa Symphony / Bruno Ferrandis, conductor Ute Lemper, vocalist Hudson Shad, male vocal quartet Patrons returning for the second half of Monday night’s Santa Rosa Symphony concert witnessed the unusual sight of five microphones: one to the left of the conductor’s podium, next to a black stool, and four to the right, with accompanying chairs. The stool and chairs were soon occupied, respectivel...
4/13/2010 - OUTSIDE THE ROMANTIC PALE - Terry McNeill
Marin Symphony / Alasdair Neale, conductor Edward Abrams, guest conductor Christine Brewer, soprano In a finale to a year of literature-based programs (“Season of the Scribe’) the Marin Symphony April 13 presented a curious mix of compositions that purported to have a common romantic theme. Preceding the sonic splendor of Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and the “Prelude and Liebestod” from Tri...
2/28/2010 - RICH ORCHESTRAL PORTRAITS IN MARIN SYMPHONY CONCERT - Donna Kline
Marin Symphony / Alasdair Neale, conductor Hoyt Smith, narrator The fourth “chapter” of the Marin Symphony’s “Season of the Scribe” continued Feb. 28 when Alasdair Neale conducted an inspiring program of Debussy, Copland, and Tchaikovsky in the Marin Civic Center Auditorium. Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” began the concert with the Orchestra p...
2/13/2010 - THREE HITS AND A MISS AT SRSO CONCERT - Terry McNeill
Santa Rosa Symphony / Bruno Ferrandis, conductor Berenika, piano In the fifth set of Santa Rosa Symphony concerts in the current season, conductor Bruno Ferrandis programmed a world premiere and ended with a familiar Schumann symphony. In between were Chopin’s F Minor Piano Concerto, Op. 21, with soloist Berenika Zakrzewski, and Schumann's "Manfred" overture. Be...
2/2/2010 - MARIN FORCES TACKLE MOZART REQUIEM AND BRAHMS VIOLIN CONCERTO - Kenn Gartner
Marin Symphony / Alasdair Neale, conductor Vadim Gluzman, violin Helene Zindarsian, soprano Anna Jablonski, mezzo soprano Corey Head, tenor Jeffrey Fields, baritone Marin Symphony Chorus Upon entering the Marin Civic Center Auditorium Feb. 2 the reviewer was greeted by the spectacle of the chorus warming up on stage. Did Frank Lloyd Wright not provide a choral room? The distinguishing characteristic of this warm up was that not one singer managed to hit the high notes despite the ...
1/31/2010 - VIRTUOSIC EXCITEMENT AT NAPA VALLEY SYMPHONY CONCERT - Terry McNeill
Napa Valley Symphony / Asher Raboy, conductor Valentina Lisitsa, pianist Conductor Asher Raboy, in his final season with the Napa Valley Symphony, has established in a 20-year tenure a responsive orchestral sound and an interest in large and crowd-pleasing works. During a Jan. 31 concert in Yountville’s Lincoln Theater, Mr. Raboy had the opportunity to shine in two mass...
1/23/2010 - THE RED AND THE WHITE - Steve Osborn
Santa Rosa Symphony / JoAnn Falletta, guest conductor Michael Ludwig, violin In the old days, barbers were also surgeons, as adept with a scalpel as a razor, their red-and-white barber pole an emblem of both surgery (red) and hair-cutting (white). At its Jan. 23 concert, the well-coiffed Santa Rosa Symphony enacted this dual role, offering both some serious blood (from a rea... |