Posts Tagged ‘Benjamin Britten’
Jeff Thayer and the San Diego Symphony Reveal the Brilliance of Britten’s Violin Concerto
Among the welcome changes Rafael Payare has brought to the San Diego Symphony is a revitalization of the orchestra’s repertory. Major works the orchestra had not previously performed—and not just new compositions—are now center stage. In January, 2019, when Payare was still Music Director Designate, he conducted the orchestra and cellist Alisa Weilerstein in Benjamin…
Read MorePayare Celebrates Shostakovich and Britten in Second Festival Performance
Culinary comparisons may be approximate at best, but if Music Director Designate Rafael Payare’s Thursday San Diego Symphony program was a buffet of tantalizing appetizers, his Friday program (January 11) at Copley Symphony Hall was clearly the substantial main course.
Read More2018: A Year of Winning Musical Collaborations Across the City
In 2018, the key players of San Diego’s classical music scene struck gold by collaborating with each other. Enlisting some 10 musical organizations in its month-long “It’s About Time Time” festival in January, the San Diego Symphony set a high bar of cooperation for the coming year, but other organizations readily took up the challenge with rewarding results.
Read MoreSan Diego Pro Arte Voices’ Musically Rich Evening of Readings and Carols
Although most of the Christmas music performed during the holiday season was originally intended for church services, in these secular times music lovers tend to hear this repertory in concert settings. A felicitous compromise is the Service of Lessons and Carols, an English invention that simply alternates seasonal music and Biblical readings like a very…
Read MoreSan Diego Symphony Goes for Baroque with Mandolin Virtuoso Avi Avital
Although the mandolin as a featured solo instrument is not one that symphony audiences regularly encounter, young mandolin virtuoso Avi Avital offered splendid concertos by J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi with the San Diego Symphony last weekend.
Read MoreBaritone Nathan Gunn: His Story and His Singing at the San Diego Rep
Opera superstar Nathan Gunn opened his one man show “Flying Solo” at the Lyceum Theatre. A clever fusion of biography, confessional, and solo recital recounts the story of a high school wrestler from South Bend, Indiana, who makes his way to the stage of New York’s Metropolitan Opera as its leading baritone.
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