Recital

San Francisco pianists Paul Hersh and Teresa Yu presented a Mendocino Music Festival program July 20 titled “Reflections and Variations.” Mr. Hersh is known at the Festival for his professorial introductions to a performance of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (Book 1) and in 2011 he will perform Book 2...

Substituting for the announced soloist, Jade Simmons, American pianist Spencer Myer played a convincing recital in the Mendocino Music Festival’s Piano Series July 16 before in Mendocino’s breezy Preston Hall Mr. Myer, a recent competitor and prize winner in national competitions, began his concert...

Recital

British pianist Paul Roberts played a recital in two disparate parts July 11 in Mendocino Music Festival’s piano series in Preston Hall. Before 65 people Mr. Roberts planned the initial part around music of Ravel and Liszt, each with extensive descriptive titles. The pieces were preceded by a l...

Symphony

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,...

At last, an old fashioned pianist! Eighty persons attended Frank Glazer’s recital July 1 which, to this perpetual piano student, was worth twenty piano lessons. Asked why he does not retire, Mr. Glazer pointed out he is beginning to like the sound he creates on his instrument, and he is now 95. ...

Recital

The June 11 evening recital by organist Douglas DeForeest at the Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa featured six meditative selections from the compositions of Richard Purvis (1913-1994), the organist of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco from 1947 to 1971. DeForeest, dean of the Redwood Empire ...

Ukrainian pianist Elena Ulyanova made her Sonoma County debut June 10 in an Oakmont Concert Series recital that was conventional in repertoire but quite agitating in performance. The pieces played were nearly a reprise of her November, 2008 recital in Tiburon’s St. Hilary Church, sans the big Rachm...

Opera

Cinnabar Theater continues to excel in the Northern California music world. This small company has once again raised the musical and theatrical bar in their terrific production of Tobias Picker’s 1996 opera “Emmeline” that opened a West Coast premiere May 28 to a boisterous full house in their smal...

In a pair of concerts closing the 30th season, the Ukiah Symphony performed March 15 and 16 just two works with the programmatic theme “A Close Friendship.” And it was altogether a cordial event as 20-year veteran conductor Les Pfutzenreuter led strong performances of works of Brahms and Dvorak. Sa...

In a recital sponsored by the Sonoma County Bach Society organist Charles Rus played an elegant and provocative concert May 14 in Santa Rosa’s Church of the Incarnation. Mr. Rus responded to the Casavant organ with deft registrations and powerful interpretations, drawing a number of North Bay organ...

For nearly 25 years the Alexander String Quartet has been the preeminent chamber music group in Northern California, but despite many invitations they have never appeared on the popular Oakmont Concert Series season. Schedule conflicts with the SRJC Chamber Series and the Quartet’s far-flung travel...

Symphony

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...

Recital

Spring thunder from sunny Italy was the order of the day April 18 when Sicilian pianist Sandro Russo closed the seventh Concerts Grand season with a dramatic recital at Santa Rosa Junior College. In an 80-minute program before a Newman Auditorium audience of 120 Mr. Russo disdained the usual openin...

Chamber

For its program at Santa Rosa’s Newman Auditorium on April 16, the Amelia Trio opted for three unknown piano trios by known composers: Debussy, Bernstein and Chopin. All three trios are the works of teenagers, composed around the ages of 18 (Debussy), 19 (Bernstein) and 18 (Chopin). Although they al...

Choral and Vocal

The American Bach Soloists performed their final concert in the current series April 16 at St. Stephen’s Church in Belvedere, and the large audience was treated to glorious works by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. Each piece showcased a soloist who performed with members of the ABS orchestra. Rather than ...

Recital

Pianist Elenor Barcsak has consistently been in the forefront of Marin musical life as a teacher, MTA branch President, supporter of manifold causes and a chamber music player, but seldom finds time to mount a solo recital. April 15 found her accepting the soloist’s role in Terra Linda’s Christ Pre...

Symphony

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...

7/19/2010 12:41:20 PM - Superb report! Genuinely makes me wish I'd been there to experience it! View Full Comment

6/23/2010 9:53:38 AM - I look forward to hearing more of these "mini-recitals" beginning next September - second Friday. They are very inspiring and allow us to hear the many sounds of the Casavant organ at The Church of the Incarnation here in Santa Rosa. Thanks to all who have performed in these recitals. And thanks View Full Comment

6/23/2010 9:52:28 AM - I attended and enjoyed this concert. It was done with class and clear affection for both the composer and the craft. Well Done! View Full Comment

6/11/2010 12:13:15 PM - Terry, Thanks for this honest critique. From her first notes on the keyboard I put her down as a banger. And with her unfortunate treatment of the Beethoven sonata, I just wanted to leave. Larry Metzger View Full Comment

5/24/2010 12:26:49 PM - This is NOT the final AGO recital of the season. In fact, it was not sponsored by AGO but by the Sonoma County Bach Society!! The final mini-recital for the season will be Friday, June 11, at Church of the Incarnation. Doug DeForeest, our new Dean-elect, will play compositions of Richard Purvis View Full Comment

5/22/2010 9:37:56 AM - Nicely written review, Elizabeth! Kudos to you. View Full Comment

4/26/2010 9:35:41 AM - hearing Sandro's Kreisleriana caused the same sensations in me like when I discovered Rachmaninoff's interprepation of Carnaval for the first time (his tone, rubato, originality...). Glad there are still artists out there who conceive music this way. Sarah L. View Full Comment

4/24/2010 10:40:40 AM - Sandro is definitely one of the best young pianist I ever known. Our group of college friends and my daughter all enjoyed the concert very much. Thank you Terry for organizing such a wonderful concert. Hope we will have more opportunity in the future to hear Sandro perform again.. Best, Grace W View Full Comment

4/24/2010 9:32:47 AM - Terry, I was amazed the piano stood up under such a beating1 But I loved it. Note: I still think I heard strands of Tschaikovsky's DUMKA in the Islamey work. Do check it out....Martha P. Lover of unusual and rarely heard piano music. View Full Comment

3/30/2010 10:43:39 AM - It is a wonderful film! Congratulations to Wine Country films and Mr. Iturrioz for producing such a wonderful account of the great Godowsky's life. View Full Comment

3/29/2010 7:58:28 AM - I'm sorry I could not attend this performance. I did attend his New York performance at Flushing Town Hall. Dr. Gartner was my music teacher at Horace Greeley Junior High from 1966 through 1969 and haven't heard him play in over 40 years. His New York performance was magical as well as nostalgic. View Full Comment

3/25/2010 1:23:07 AM - You can see how blessed we are at First Congregational Church to be able to hear Dr. Chun every week. We are so happy you enjoyed her performance. View Full Comment

3/23/2010 4:43:15 AM - Ms. Chun made the organ "shine". An organ, well-played, is a gift to humanity and reaches one's inner soul. Let's have some more Bach!! Carolyn Wiester View Full Comment

3/5/2010 5:18:49 AM - "His tempo of the “Revolutionary” Etude was quite fast." What does this mean? Chopin's markings are ridiculously fast, is this to say he played it slower than ridiculously fast? or faster than quick? Am I missing something here? This reveiw seems incomplete. One thing I do know: this guy is a View Full Comment

2/23/2010 6:11:14 AM - I think Terry McNeill hit it on the head with respect to Berenika's playing. While some of the passagework was quite brilliant and even, particularly considering the fast tempo, other parts were faked and insecure. Overall, the playing was straightforward, unimaginative, and without any particular a View Full Comment

2/19/2010 8:11:10 AM; John Thompson - So far, looks like we have three hits for Mr. McNeill's review and one against. View Full Comment

2/18/2010 6:31:46 AM - Three hits below (one miss – Mr. Terry McNeill’s review): "The piano’s balance with the orchestra was fine. Although its sonority ideally might want a hall slightly less bright, the brilliant passagework in the Chopin, keenly mastered by the soloist, Berenika, was crystal clear, glistening in fac View Full Comment

2/18/2010 1:59:25 AM - I concur with the lack of rubato. I have an old recording of this concerto that is emotionally beautiful and it hurt to hear Berenika's version. View Full Comment

2/17/2010 3:02:45 AM - I have to admit, I agree totally about Berenika. The entire performance, including a myriad of blurred passages and missed notes, was a sub-par performance. There was almost no musicality in the whole concerto, just speed, followed by more speed. I really feel, at least on Monday night, that the con View Full Comment

2/17/2010 1:51:26 AM - A vibrant 30 minutes! I hope he agrees to perform again in the near future. RRC View Full Comment

2/14/2010 11:04:03 AM - I agree with Mr. McNeill's criticism of Berenika's performance and would add I noted three problems, all of which contributed to a less than desirable result: 1. Almost the entire concerto was played at the same dynamic level-- forte, and this combined with the lack of rubatos, reduced a lovely w View Full Comment

2/10/2010 10:16:47 AM - Apart from a couple details, that's not an honest review. It's petty, preachy, and largely irrelevent to the music-making that took place. No, the chorus shouldn't warm up on stage with the doors open, but that's a pretty pithy thing to churn out your huge opening paragraph on. And I doubt performer View Full Comment

2/9/2010 2:08:03 AM; John Thompson - It's refreshing to see a brutally honest review. And you have an interesting point about standing ovations. I was just remarking the other day that some audiences seem to always give a standing ovation. The Wikipedia article View Full Comment

1/27/2010 4:52:06 AM - I think that the reviewer was unduly critical of Falletta's podium presence, although it was overall a positive review, especially for the woodwinds (which I agree were outstanding). My sense is that her "immobility" was a conscious choice by her, allowing her to focus on some very complex material View Full Comment