The Dude came to town. Not Jeff Bridges, but Gustavo Dudamel, who shares with him the disheveled long hair. The conductor and music director of the LA Phil, a.k.a. The Savior of Classical music, (or not), filled up the hall for the first of two concerts at Davies Symphony Hall too. He filled up the stage too, with over a hundred musicians from the LA orchestra cramped around the podium so tightly, we imagined Dudamel flying in over them for his entrance. The man is supposed to have such supernatural abilities that we would not put it beyond him. more ›

The concerts of the SF Symphony this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday originally featured, in addition to pieces by Webern and Ives, the Rückert Lieder, sung by Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson. Unfortunately, Mrs. LHL fell ill and had to postpone. San Francisco audiences are cursed, since they missed the pleasure to listening to her when she withdrew from the role of Kitty Oppenheimer in the exciting Dr. Atomic last fall, due to some other health issue. We feel for her, and look forward to her coming to sing at Davies. She will, soon, since the Symphony will record the Mahler songs with her as part of the on-going Mahler recording project. more ›