Live Music
In speaking with a friend the other day, the topic of “10 pieces of classical music everyone should hear before they die” came up. We came up with three pieces before the parameters of the …
I was pleasantly surprised by the San Diego Symphony concert on Friday, February 15. Why so? Because it was one of those concerts with four pieces of music none of which could be considered the …
I recently sat down with the future of classical music and had a chat. Violinist Stefan Jackiw, Clarinetist Yoonah Kim, and pianist Henry Kramer were in San Diego as a part of the Mainly Mozart …
I came up with a new theory during the San Diego Opera production of Verdi’s masterpiece, Rigoletto, on Tuesday, February 5. The theory? “Pure Opera.” A few weeks ago I became involved in a shockingly …
I had mixed feelings about Matthew Aucoin’s concert at the San Diego Symphony on Friday, January 25. The concert consisted of several short pieces and excerpts from larger pieces. I like that format. It is …
For the second week in a row the San Diego Symphony has won a battle in the eternal tug of war between higher and lower consciousness. As I mentioned at an earlier date, we humans …
Rafael Payare made his debut as the San Diego Symphony music director on Thursday, January 10. I went on Friday, January 11, and experienced a completely different concert. Part of me wishes I had gone …
The new year is upon us and the San Diego Symphony is beginning its annual midseason festival. This year’s theme is “Hearing the Future”. Curating the festival is American composer Matthew Aucoin. Born in 1990 …
In just a few weeks Verdi’s Rigoletto will be opening at The San Diego Opera. Let’s talk about how it fits in with the current milieu of hypersensitivity. The fact of the matter is that …
Here’s a list of the greatest classical music moments in San Diego for 2018. The parameters of this list are my subjective, biased, arbitrary opinions. Let’s start at the end of the 2017/18 Jacobs Masterworks …
All is Calm is beginning to become a holiday tradition in San Diego. This is the third year in a row the show about the 1914 Christmas Eve Truce has been produced in San Diego. …
"I hate Christmas music” is a phrase I’ve heard often over the years. What’s to hate? Three-four time? Angels? Babies? The rebirth of the sun? I’m going to poke the dragon of PC-culture and suggest …
I had heard the name Kelli O’Hara but I had never heard the Tony Award-Winner sing until Tuesday, November 27, at Symphony Hall. About 30 seconds in, my eyes were tearing up. Her first song …
“Really? Jesus arms?” I loud-whispered to my concertmate. I was frustrated with conductor Steven Sloan. When he raised his arms as if giving a Papal benediction at the conclusion of The Unanswered Question, by Charles …
I recently went to see Bohemian Rhapsody the movie about the band Queen. I knew that lead singer Freddie Mercury was an opera fan but I was impressed with the way opera was incorporated into …