November 2009 – Page 2 – Repeat Performances

November 7, 2009

Philharmonia Baroque’s ‘The Passion of Dido’

The short, exquisite works of Henry Purcell Without a doubt we are blessed to have in our midst one the world’s finest period-performance ensembles, the Philharmonia Baroque, playing Baroque, Classical and early Romantic...

Categories: opera

November 6, 2009

Terry Riley brings “Pipe Dreams” to the Berkeley Art Museum

Now in his 70’s, composer Terry Riley remains a musical adventurer. Friday night Nov. 6, he helped cook up a late night “happening” at the Berkeley Art Museum. Told to bring sleeping bags or pillows to the $5 concert, we sat or lay on the concrete floor. I gazed up at the concrete rectilinear forms jutting out into space—some forms fanciful, others a little ominous, as support columns have recently been added along one side. Berkeley Pianist and local celebrity Sarah Cahill was asked...

Categories: music

November 1, 2009

Newly commissioned works featured at Herbst

A celebration of diversity Classical musicians can’t always express their darker impulses with the “grunge” such impulses deserve. But a concert by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players at Herbst Theater Nov. 1 had several darkly expressive candidates. Three of the four pieces on their Made to Order program had been commissioned by the SFCMP and two of them were World premieres. Despite a descent into the world of extended techniques, the material was often...

Categories: music