Robin Holloway wrote his opera, Clarissa, in 1976; it wasn't premiered until 1990, for a performance run in London that MTT attended. MTT was so excited by the music, he asked for an orchestral suite to be composed out of it. This took form in 1998, when the soprano who was scheduled to sing canceled due to illness. So the composer blazingly reworked the piece into an orchestral version. It only took twelve years to find a suitable singing replacement, as we finally heard the piece Thursday night. And what a replacement it was! more ›

The death of classical music is dead. We see evidence of it right here in the challenging, modern programing of the SF Symphony which fills Davies nightly. MTT opens yet another world premiere next month with Robin Holloway's Fourth Concerto for Orchestra and we are getting ready for the US premiere of John Adams A Flowering Tree, his follow-up opera to the hugely successful Dr Atomic. We see proof of it in the downloads of music over the internets, where classical music share doubles what it is in the music stores. Classical music is modern and hip. more ›

This year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart, and obviously, everyone loves some Mozart. Don't get us started on the unrequited obsession of the only classical radio station in the bay area who drools over --and cannot think of anyone else but-- Mozart like a teenage girl over Ashton Kushner. So it is a relief to see that, while Mozart will be deservedly honored, the symphony 2006-07 season will cover some new and interesting ground. more ›