August 22, 2009
Juana Molina at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Amy X Neuberg, Cabaret Diva
New Frequencies @ YBCA presented a two-part concert of vocal works by San...
August 2009
August 16, 2009
Highlights from the Cabrillo Festival
Soccer and Genocide
Santa Cruz’ Cabrillo Festival, held the first two weeks in August for the last 47 years, is an opportunity to revel in pioneering orchestral works. Their outstanding opening, Azul, was reviewed in the Aug. 19 Piedmont Post. The following day there were three thoughtful treatments. Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! (2006) by Avner Dorman explored a potpourri of middle-eastern and Indian rhythms and colors and flaunted the percussion...
August 11, 2009
‘Patience’ at the Proms
Promming at the Royal Albert Hall
Before leaving London after a long summer vacation, I managed a brief glimpse at the BBC Proms, one of the world’s largest classical music festivals. The Proms, which celebrated its 115th anniversary this summer, is a two-month extravaganza with over 100 concerts and events that span the classical music spectrum from the arcane and distinguished to the popular and raucous. The bulk of the concerts are...
August 7, 2009
Cabrillo goes for the Gold
Santa Cruz’ Cabrillo Festival, the Eminence Gris of Contemporary Music, opened Friday, August 7 under the baton of Marin Alsop. Musicians arrived from all over the country to...
‘As You Like It’ at the Shakespeare Globe Theatre
Recreating Shakespeare
One of the best things about being in London, besides the simple fact of being in London, is the opportunity it offers for going to the theater. And chief among its theater delights are productions of Shakespeare. It’s not just a matter of having the right accent; it’s a dedication to the work, which is rightly considered a diamond in England’s tiara and which forms the foundation of many of England’s acting schools.
Perhaps ironically, the...