MUSIC REVIEWS

With the demise earlier this month of Anthology, San Diego’s premier jazz venue, local jazz fans have every right to feel blue. Tuned in aficionados, however, experienced a momentary reprieve Sunday (Jan. 20) at Space4Art when Brooklyn-based jazz pianist Erik Deutsch and his ensemble gave an electric program for Bonnie Wright’s Fresh Sound series. Centered…

Wars hot and cold dominated the 20th century, stirring composers’ imaginations in myriad ways. Stravinsky’s 1918 “The Soldier’s Tale” portrayed war as class conflict cynically abetted by religion, while Benjamin Britten’s 1962 “War Requiem” lamented the utter futility of armed conflict. On the other hand, Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and Samuel Barber’s…

We may be immersed in December’s holiday madness, but San Diego Symphony Music Director Jahja Ling has clearly delegated all the orchestra’s seasonal celebration to conductor Matthew Garbutt and his Holiday Pops battalions. No “Messiah” (full or lite), no Christmas oratorios, no seasonal choral samplers this year. Instead, Maestro Ling selected a banquet portion of…

An ad campaign some years back cleverly proclaimed “You don’t have to be Jewish to like Levi’s Jewish Rye Bread.” You certainly don’t have to be Russian to play the music of Sergei Prokofiev, but after hearing Yefim Bronfman’s commanding, exuberant performance of Prokofiev’s Eighth Piano Sonata Friday (Dec. 14) at La Jolla’s Sherwood Auditorium,…