Symphony

"My name is David, and I'm going to be your conductor for this evening." With that corny but amusing opening line, guest conductor David Robertson introduced himself and the San Francisco Symphony to a less than full house at the Green Music Center on May 23. It was hard to understand why the place ...

Symphony

The Ukiah Symphony closed its 2012-13 season May 19th with a bold matinee presentation at the Mendocino College Theater. Featured were the Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat minor, Opus 23, and the third and fourth Movements of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Opus 125. Pianist Lawrence Holmfjo...

Symphony

The Santa Rosa Symphony capped off its first year in the resplendent Green Music Center with an impassioned performance of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, widely regarded as his masterpiece in the genre. Every section of the orchestra, from the lowest bass to the most stratospheric piccolo, played to...

Symphony

For its final set of the 2012-13 season on May 4 and 5, the American Philharmonic of Sonoma County offered a program titled "Prayer and Redemption." The first half consisted of the prayers, the second of the joy of redemption. Guest conductor Cyrus Ginwala spoke about the pieces beforehand and then ...

Symphony

Since the conclusion of his decade-long tenure with the Santa Rosa Symphony in 2006, conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane has traveled widely, but he has often circled back to Sonoma County as a piano soloist. On Saturday evening, April 27, he upped the ante by not only bringing his prodigious keyboard...

Symphony

The Symphony of the Redwoods opened its spring concert April 6 in Ft. Bragg’s Cotton Auditorium with a memorable performance of Tchaikovsky’s B-Flat Minor Concerto. Conductor Allan Pollack and the Symphony presented an ambitious program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov's "Dance of the Buffoons" from t...

Symphony

The title of the Santa Rosa Symphony's March 16 concert was "Sweeping Emotions," but no brooms were in evidence, nor did the Symphony play "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the canonic broom piece, thanks to Disney’s iconic film "Fantasia." Instead of brooms, they offered cellist Zuill Bailey, whose mop ...

Symphony

The Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 is famous for beginning with a piano solo rather than the usual orchestral introduction. To use a literary term, it begins "in media res"--in the middle of things. My experience of the San Francisco Symphony concert at the Green Music Center on March 7 likewise be...

Symphony

Luxurious orchestration has always been a hallmark of Russian symphonic music, as was evident in the works of Liadov, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich performed by the American Philharmonic Sonoma County (APSC) at the Santa Rosa High School Performing Arts Hall on Feb. 23. Guest conductor Mark Wardlaw ...

Symphony

At symphony concerts, soloists need to be both sonically and visually distinctive. For the latter requirement, what better way to sail above a sea of black-jacketed players than to don a jaunty white blazer with black lapels and a black bowtie? That was the approach soloist Roy Zajac took in a memor...

5/23/2013 - FIVE FINGERS WITH THE STRENGTH OF TEN - Steve Osborn
San Francisco Symphony / David Robertson, conductor. Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
"My name is David, and I'm going to be your conductor for this evening." With that corny but amusing opening line, guest conductor David Robertson introduced himself and the San Francisco Symphony to a less than full house at the Green Music Center on May 23. It was hard to understand why the place ...

5/19/2013 - UKIAH SYMPHONY CLOSES SEASON WITH TWO BIG WORKS - Ed Reinhart
Ukiah Symphony / Les Pfutzenreuter, conductor. Lawrence Holmefjord-Sarabi, piano. Mendocino College Masterworks Chorale. Vocal soloists TBA
The Ukiah Symphony closed its 2012-13 season May 19th with a bold matinee presentation at the Mendocino College Theater. Featured were the Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat minor, Opus 23, and the third and fourth Movements of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Opus 125. Pianist Lawrence Holmfjo...

5/11/2013 - A PERFECT 10 FOR THE TENTH - Steve Osborn
Santa Rosa Symphony / Bruno Ferrandis, conductor; Olga Kern, piano
The Santa Rosa Symphony capped off its first year in the resplendent Green Music Center with an impassioned performance of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, widely regarded as his masterpiece in the genre. Every section of the orchestra, from the lowest bass to the most stratospheric piccolo, played to...

5/4/2013 - PRAYERS AND REDEMPTION FROM THE APSC - Nicki Bell
American Philharmonic Sonoma County / Cyrus Ginwala, conductor. Tom Hyde, trumpet
For its final set of the 2012-13 season on May 4 and 5, the American Philharmonic of Sonoma County offered a program titled "Prayer and Redemption." The first half consisted of the prayers, the second of the joy of redemption. Guest conductor Cyrus Ginwala spoke about the pieces beforehand and then ...

4/27/2013 - FULL CIRCLE FOR KAHANE - Steve Osborn
Mastercard Performance Series / Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Jeffrey Kahane, conductor and piano
Since the conclusion of his decade-long tenure with the Santa Rosa Symphony in 2006, conductor laureate Jeffrey Kahane has traveled widely, but he has often circled back to Sonoma County as a piano soloist. On Saturday evening, April 27, he upped the ante by not only bringing his prodigious keyboard...

4/7/2013 - TCHAIKOVSKY CONCERTO HIGHLIGHTS FT. BRAGG SYMPHONY CONCERT - Ed Reinheart
Symphony of the Redwoods / Allan Pollack, conductor. Elena Casanova, piano
The Symphony of the Redwoods opened its spring concert April 6 in Ft. Bragg’s Cotton Auditorium with a memorable performance of Tchaikovsky’s B-Flat Minor Concerto. Conductor Allan Pollack and the Symphony presented an ambitious program, opening with Rimsky-Korsakov's "Dance of the Buffoons" from t...

3/16/2013 - SWEPT AWAY - Steve Osborn
Santa Rosa Symphony / Bruno Ferrandis, conductor; Zuill Bailey, cello
The title of the Santa Rosa Symphony's March 16 concert was "Sweeping Emotions," but no brooms were in evidence, nor did the Symphony play "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the canonic broom piece, thanks to Disney’s iconic film "Fantasia." Instead of brooms, they offered cellist Zuill Bailey, whose mop ...

3/7/2013 - THE MAJESTIC INEVITABLE - Steve Osborn
San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor. Yuja Wang, piano
The Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 is famous for beginning with a piano solo rather than the usual orchestral introduction. To use a literary term, it begins "in media res"--in the middle of things. My experience of the San Francisco Symphony concert at the Green Music Center on March 7 likewise be...

2/23/2013 - RUSSIAN ROMANTIC WORKS HIGHLIGHT APSC CONCERT - Terry McNeill
American Philharmonic Sonoma County /
Luxurious orchestration has always been a hallmark of Russian symphonic music, as was evident in the works of Liadov, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich performed by the American Philharmonic Sonoma County (APSC) at the Santa Rosa High School Performing Arts Hall on Feb. 23. Guest conductor Mark Wardlaw ...

2/9/2013 - PLAYING HEARTS: IT'S ZAJAC IN SPADES - Steve Osborn
Santa Rosa Symphony / Bruno Ferrandis, conductor; Roy Zajac, clarinet
At symphony concerts, soloists need to be both sonically and visually distinctive. For the latter requirement, what better way to sail above a sea of black-jacketed players than to don a jaunty white blazer with black lapels and a black bowtie? That was the approach soloist Roy Zajac took in a memor...

1/31/2013 - LALO AND ELGAR WORKS HEARD IN SFS CONCERT IN WEILL - Kenn Gartner
San Francisco Symphony / Charles Dutoit, conductor. James Ehenes, violin
Brilliant! That is the only word to convey the musicality, sound, and the panache the San Francisco Symphony achieved Jan. 31 in Weill Hall with of guest conductor Charles Dutoit. The sound extant during this balanced program was spectacular, and I have rarely heard such substantial fortes, ones w...

1/26/2013 - FULL MOON, FULL HOUSE - Steve Osborn
Green Music Center / Yo Yo Ma
Under a full moon on Saturday, Jan. 26, before playing what he confidently predicted would be the first encore of the evening, cellist Yo Yo Ma paused to tell the overflow crowd at Weill Hall that they had “an unbelievable music room.” His choice of words is apt, because the magnificent space at the...

1/22/2013 - ARMSTRONG'S BRUCH CONCERTO TRIUMPHS IN MARIN SYMPHONY CONCERT - John Metz
Marin Symphony /
A concert entitled “Romantic Passions” promises a big orchestra, epic works, sweeping melodies, emotional excess, and the spirit of heroism. The Marin Symphony delivered on this promise January 22 in a Marin Center Auditorium winter season gala. Two works of Russian Romanticism framed the program...