Arts & Entertainment Philistine: Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand. The 8th Symphony is a monumental work, involving the full orchestra, three choirs and eight soloists, plus the organ and a harmonium. The harmonium was off-stage, supposedly to tmper its sound a bit,
Arts & Entertainment Philistine: Madame Butterfly As for the 3,000 inside, they were treated to a glorious show. Madame Butterfly is a crowd pleaser, as far as tragedies go, and this production came up with a recipe for
Arts & Entertainment Philistine Believes in Life After Love We said "twin" but the Labeque sisters are not twins, they are two years apart. They just play up the confusion with paired outfits and make-up styles, with Katia's bustier in black and
Arts & Entertainment The Philistine: Honi Soit Qui Mahler Pense. This week's performances will instead offer Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka, and both the ballet and the Mahler recordings are related to the program of the week past, which we attended on Friday. That symphony
Arts & Entertainment The Philistine: Shostakovich-Rostropovich --You'll Lovich. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dimitri Shostakovich's birth (1906-1975), the Symphony played an all-Shosty program with an all Russian guest list. The connection between Shostakovich and Rostropovich goes much deeper than just
Arts & Entertainment SF Symphony: Dr. Atomic Strikes Back. For the new new stuff, there is a Concerto for Piano by Kevin Volans, and a Concerto for Orchestra by Robin Holloway, two world premieres commissioned by the SF Symphony. We know very
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Symphony: Mostly Schumann. We are not here to solve chicken and egg problems: did Gilbert look this way because the orchestra sounded that way, or the other way around? In any case, the sound threads conductor
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Symphony, Which Then Goes to China. The trip will happen, and it would have been a shame if it had ended up being cancelled: for one, classical musicians are not being paid much compared to other entertainers in this
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to a Recital: Stern Grove The occasion was the Schwabacher recital series, which continues on Sunday, January, 29th, with a recital by Ailyn Pérez. If the smaller setting is not intimate enough you, you can even have dinner
Arts & Entertainment Berlin and Beyond Film Festival: Rhythm Is It. A picture of Rhythm Is It graces the cover of the program, so there is no escaping it: you'll see it's about kids dancing. It is a documentary which follows, amongst others, a
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: the 2006-07 Season Gone is the modern -- tacky, screamed the purists -- feel from the brochures and the web site: Glamour is back, with the "emphasis placed on the singers," said Gockley. The Opera unveiled
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Symphony: Lang Lang Lang Lang is pianist with a vast appeal crossing over to the general audience, not just the classical arena: his official web site biography mentions his playing on Jay Leno's show before his
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: the Abduction from the Seraglio. While some of the singers sounded better than others, the leading roles impressed us. The tiny theater does not require the stronger pipes to fill a larger space, the same way we sound
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: an American Tragedy We saw the Met's new production on Monday, and one thought sprung to our mind: there is an East Coast-West Coast divide that would make the gangsta rappers proud. Oh, we are not
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: Fidelio Photos by Terrence McCarthy/SF Opera. Above, from left to right, Christine Brewer, Greta Feeney and Arthur Woodley
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: Forza La Forza del Destino, the latest production of the SF Opera, opened yesterday in a wonderful new production. The Opera completely reinvented this classic, and came up with a fresh and polemic take
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: Norma Norma is the ultimate bel canto opera, this beautiful singing style which places the emphasis on the lyricism and vocal agility of the singer. It is also an extremely powerful story, and yesterday's
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: Dr. Atomic The opera focuses on the last days leading to the explosion of the first atomic test bomb, in June and July 1945. It is centered about J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967), the scientific director
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: The Italian Girl in Algiers. The San Francisco Opera opened its season last Saturday and picked up right where it left off last time we visited. , just like Cosi fan Tutti, is another joyful and energetic opera, another
Arts & Entertainment Fall Classical Music Preview Tomorrow, the symphony kicks it off with a gala, celebrating three anniversaries: Michael Tilson Thomas's, aka MTT, 10th anniversary at the baton, Shostakovich's 100th birthday next year, and the 25th anniversary for Davies
Arts & Entertainment SFist Goes to the Opera: Cosi Fan Tutte It only turned out that this production of Cosi had been set into a hotel on the Riviera at the onset of WWI, instead of the traditional foothills of the Vesuvio. The change
