Arts & Entertainment Kurt Masur There were two highlights to the evening: an impeccable Totentanz by Franz Liszt with Louis Lortie soloing at the piano. As a composer, Liszt was much more an innovator than we give him
Arts & Entertainment SF Opera: the Magic Flute The set, originally designed for the 92-93 season of the LA opera, and seen for the first time in SF, is build around a massive pyramid: Mozart was a Mason when he composed
Arts & Entertainment Anesthesia: Brain Numbing with Non-Sense Take tonight. There’s a cool concert at Herbst Theater, presented by Other Minds, an organization devoted to new music: Dennis Russell Davies and his partner, Maki Namekawa, playing music for two pianos
Arts & Entertainment Appomattox The most powerful moments are written for the chorus: the aforementioned opening women choir, for instance. But Glass also recycles We’re tenting tonight, a song of the era, to intense dramatic effect.
Arts & Entertainment SFist Interviews András Schiff Someone told us a story of a famous pianist who believed in bringing culture to the people, and went to a factory in Italy to give a lecture in front of a piano.
Arts & Entertainment Pre-Appomattox Interview: Christopher Hampton, We were eager to talk to Christopher, as he is the librettist for Philip Glass's opera Appomattox, which opens next Friday at the San Francisco Opera, and is the Big Event of the
Arts & Entertainment Our Glass Runneth Over As a prelude to the big event, the world premiere of Appomattox next Friday at the opera house, composer Philip Glass was hosting a night of chamber music at Herbst Theater last night.
Arts & Entertainment Mahler Lied, No One Died. MTT's take on Mahler, a forcefully engaged and expressive rendition, has been observed here quite a few times. We expect to be blown away by the orchestra. We actually demand it. But the
Arts & Entertainment An Army of Philistines We got word that 27,000 people made a reservation to attend this Friday's Opera at the Ballpark. 27,000! And there are still tickets left! Tonight is the last day to see
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink Zagat '08 Survey The 2008 edition is out: your nice alphabetical list of restaurants with a grade for food, decor and service, as rated by the users of Zagat. This year, it is going 2.0,
Arts & Entertainment SF Symphony Opening Gala The SF Symphony Gala last Wednesday night, is one of the poshest events of the year -- a must-attend for anyone who’s anyone who has the right to live, breathe, receive adequate
Arts & Entertainment Tannhäuser We were wrong. Thank God. And the allusion to fedoras was not a dig at the previous general director (even though she indulged in them) but to last year’s LA opera production
Arts & Entertainment SF Symphony Season Preview The SF Symphony returned from its trip to Europe and kicks off its 2007-08 season tonight, with a sold out opening night gala featuring MTT and Renée Fleming. We find it ironic that
Arts & Entertainment SF Opera: Samson and Delilah On the other hand, Olga, how could we not recognize you! Sure, these six years have changed you, like all of us. Plus, last time we saw you, it was a comedy and
Arts & Entertainment MahTlerT In our haste on Tuesday, we forgot to mention that you could hear more MahTlerT (MTT and Mahler have become so imbricated that we had to create a shortcut) here (links to sound
Arts & Entertainment Das Klagende Lied Das klagende Lied is a three movement cantata, in which two brothers set out to find a flower that we'll allow one of them to marry a princess. The kind brother finds it,
Arts & Entertainment Doesn't Dungeness Look Like Phthirus Lice? Andrea Froncillo and Jennifer Jeffrey teamed up last year to write stinky prose. (We'll re-use that pun as much as we please.) He is a chef/partner in a bunch of restaurants in
Arts & Entertainment A Civil War Bridges the Two Americas. Inequality might be rising, but who’s to complain? There’s opera for everybody. Actually, aside from tonight’s opening gala, there are affordable tickets for all performances (and if history is our
Arts & Entertainment CalTrain of Thought Other local trains featured in the book include MUNI's F-line and the famous cable car, with a cameo appearance by your very own Golden Gate Bridge, of course. (Yay! The next generation of
Arts & Entertainment America's Next Opera Star To conclude the apprenticeship program’s 50th season, the Merola program gave its grand finale concert last Saturday at the War Memorial Opera House. The singers did not present a full fledged opera,
Arts & Entertainment The Gallant Pussycat. Well, we won’t spoil the story, but thanks to the performance of the Merola program apprentices, the light comedy did fire, and on all cylinders. We found it gutsy for these aspiring
Arts & Entertainment Boost Your IQ In our quest to make you smarter without listening to Yanni, we suggest you consider the Mid-Summer Mozart Festival. It’s wall-to-wall Mozart, and it starts tonight in San Jose, tomorrow at the
Arts & Entertainment Merola's Cenerentola Schwabacher sadly passed away in the middle of last year’s edition, but the new kids (mostly in their 20s), they are all right. His legacy is safe and secure. We saw last
Arts & Entertainment SFist Interviews James Gaffigan, SF Symphony Associate Conductor The Sunday concert features pianist Jeremy Denk in a Mozart piano concerto. Jeremy keeps an on-line diary, a blog as they call it, where he deconstructs the music, shining light on how the
Arts & Entertainment Iphigénie en Tauride This season was the last that Rosenberg planned (before her successor at the helm, SF Opera general director David Gockley tweaked it a bit), and the operas on display during the short summer
