Live Music
Ferruccio Furlanetto gave his U.S. recital debut on Saturday night at Symphony Hall as part of the San Diego Opera 2015-'16 season. If you’ll recall, the last recital I was able to see at San …
Since I carped long and hard about Berlioz and man-splaining, let us go to the root of the issue — program music. Program music is a composition that attempts to portray a specific mood or …
There is an ungodly amount of “man-splaining” that occurs at the symphony and opera. What is “man-splaining” you ask? It is the terrible habit men have to point out and “explain” obvious elements to the …
It feels as though the San Diego Symphony just performed Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, but it was back in 2012. It feels like yesterday, but they are performing it again this coming weekend, and I’m hoping …
If Tosca were written today it would be about two struggling artists living in Section 8 housing and hoping for an NEA grant.
Now it’s time to add Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 to the Playlist No. 5. The list started with Beethoven 5 and progressed to Mahler 5, Tchaikovsky 5, Sibelius 5, Bruckner 5, and now Shostie 5. …
The San Diego Youth Symphony is a group I’ve been intending to check out for a while now, and on Saturday I made it down to Symphony Hall around 1 p.m. for their winter showcase. …
San Diego Opera has started their season of transition with Tosca by Puccini. It should be noted that all three productions this year were established by the previous regime. This season is not an indication …
The esoteric pick of the week is turning into the “esoteric pick of the every now and then.” For this edition we’re going to see if anyone can guess the piece. It's a silly idea …
What if the best way to get sex from a woman was to arrest her boyfriend and threaten to kill him unless the targeted woman meets the demands of your pants? From what I can …
Playlist No. 5 has gone from Beethoven 5 to Mahler 5 to Tchaikovsky 5 to Sibelius 5 and now to Bruckner 5. A more logical step would be to continue into the 20th Century with …
Recall that time when Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla came to visit the San Diego Symphony and conducted Sibelius’s Violin Concerto and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring? She was maybe, possibly, a candidate to be the next music …
From the Ben Folds Five through solo projects and rubbing shoulders with William Shatner, Regina Spektor, and Weird Al Yankovic, pianist/composer Ben Folds likes to keep folks head-scratching. In concert with the San Diego Symphony, …
Classical music in San Diego is always in transition. Organizations have come and organizations have gone. General directors and conductors have retired, moved on, or shuffled away in disgrace. Attendance has been up and attendance …
In reviewing the most recent San Diego Symphony concert, I made something of a big deal about countries of origin not being important in classical music. While that is true when it comes to performing …