MUSIC REVIEWS
Brilliant Brahms Performances Demolish Critics’ Complaints about the Surfeit of Standard Repertory
At one time, early music conductors and performers never ventured outside of their areas of specialization. The American choral conductor Noah Greenberg stayed with medieval and Renaissance vocal music his entire career, and the British recorder virtuoso Carl Dolmetsch never left the borders of the Baroque. On Wednesday (June 11) at the Balboa Theatre, early music conductor Nicholas McGegan led the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra in a mainly Brahms program with smashing results. . .
Read MoreA Modest British Invasion at the Timken
When it comes to finding new venues for music performance, the Balboa Park museums appear to be everyone’s first choice. For the last six seasons, Art of Élan has played the San Diego Museum of Art’s Hibben Gallery; Camarada just finished its first season of Sunday concerts at the Mingei International Museum, and on Thursday (June 5) Mainly Mozart Festival launched its second year of chamber recitals at the Timken Museum of Art . . .
Read MoreEarly Handel Oratorio a Rewarding Surprise in La Jolla
It is no secret why the world’s major opera houses do not present the earliest operas of Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini–they’re terrible. It took these great composers several attempts to hone their craft on the road to becoming great composers, but George Frideric Handel was brilliant from the get-go, as his 1707 IL TRIONFO del TEMPO e del DISINGANNO, presented by Ruben Valenzuela’s Bach Collegium San Diego on May 30, clearly proves . . .
Read MoreEnding Their Season in a Blaze of Sonic Glory
Jahja Ling and the San Diego Symphony climaxed their 2013-2014 season Friday (May 23) with a stirring account of the Brahms First Symphony, complemented by Russian violinist Vadim Repin’s vivacious lead in Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No 2 in G Minor. . .
Read MoreGerstein and Symphony Rock Rach 3
We know the end of a San Diego Symphony season is approaching when audience attire takes a decidedly casual turn and Music Director Jahja Ling pulls out the barnburner Russian piano concertos. Friday (May 16) Ling offered Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto in D Minor featuring the young Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein. . .
Read MoreSounds of Mexico City Invade Bankers Hill
Mainly Mozart Festival’s Artistic Partner Stephen Prutsman opened his Evolution at the Abbey series, a cabaret concert that features current Mexican classical and popular music, Thursday (May 15) at the charming, historic Bankers Hill venue . . .
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