Super Bowl Sunday was one of the greatest comeback performances in history. After a shaky start the team came together and finished like the champions they are. I speak not of the selfish and immature …

“Music stays the same across time but also transforms across time and it is full of layered patterns and the patterns interact harmoniously with one another. I was fascinated with music because it gives people …

Immature and selfish. Are there any two more undesirable attributes? You might say cruel and unfeeling but cruel and unfeeling are just different iterations of immature and selfish. As positive as I feel I’ve tried …

Have you ever taken a moment to ask yourself, “What the hell are we all doing?” It’s a legitimate question. What are we all doing and who decided gold is valuable? Every morning when we …

Symphony CEO Martha Gilmore made some lovely statements before Saturday night’s symphony concert. She also made a sly remark about the house being sold out for the music of Erich Korngold. Of course, the house …

There are certain names one should know when it comes to conductors. Not just names but their contributions. Here are 10 dead conductors whom everyone should know of. I have limited to conductors of whom …

I spent Sunday night “doc-ing out” on YouTube. Surrounded by the puddles of a mediocre culture obsessed with any number of transient concerns, I found it necessary to bathe in something more permanent — admittedly …

The music of Tchaikovsky has long been a favorite of everybody except the most obtuse of emotional constitution. He, along with Puccini, is the master emoter. Whereas Puccini was almost exclusively a composer of opera, …

I found myself listening to the Robert Shaw Chorale over the holidays. It was a bit of a nostalgic journey as this was the soundtrack for Christmas at my grandparents' house. I also remembered that …

What does it mean to be an American composer? This is the question that the San Diego Symphony will be answering all month. January is dedicated to the American composer and the symphony is kicking …

The three performances that mattered most in 2016: Great Scott at San Diego Opera; Madama Butterfly at San Diego Opera; Holst The Planets at San Diego Symphony. Jake Heggie has been prolific by modern standards …

The Viennese Waltz has become the official anthem of New Year’s, at least in classical circles. On each New Year’s day the Vienna Philharmonic gives a concert of music predominantly by the Strauss dynasty. Since …

One hundred years ago a Ukrainian composer named Mykola Leontovich found an ancient tune of four notes and set them to text about the coming of spring. The story of the song was about a …

I’m afraid that when it comes to Christmas, no one can do it quite like the Mormons and their Tabernacle Choir. On second thought, St. Olaf offers a big-time Christmas experience as well. If there …

As the redemption of Scrooge drew nigh, I realized that there could be a better application of these characters. What if all the characters in A Christmas Carol are aspects of each of us? What …

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. This piece of music is considered to be the ultimate expression of humanity's struggle for freedom. The main tune, which we all know, the Ode to Joy, was purposefully written as …

The San Diego Symphony gave a performance of John Adams’s Dr. Atomic Symphony over the weekend of December 3 and 4. It was a great performance but it left me realizing just how rich is …

I have an golden excuse to mention pianist Martha Argerich. On December 5 she was honored with a Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award. The Kennedy Center Honors will air on CBS December 27, at 9 …

Sometimes, in a live performance, a conductor will downplay “the big tune” in a symphony performance. Sometimes, in a live performance, a conductor will elevate and revel in “the big theme.” We gratefully received the …

The weekend of musical eggnog begins with a screening of Home Alone at Symphony Hall. The San Diego Symphony will provide a live soundtrack to this modern holiday classic. What will that rapscallion Kevin do …

Tis the season for choir concerts. Lessons and carols are being dusted off as the first Sunday of Advent is here. The ubiquitous Messiah is making its rounds and the symphony is, more than likely, …

Much has been made of Donald Trump’s tweets regarding the “rude” treatment of Mike Pence by the cast of Hamilton. There is a perception that the theater is a tame place. It is not. At …

A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, And the dry stone no sound of water. Only There is shadow under this red …

There is a chance to hear opera on Black Friday weekend. Pacific Lyric Association is presenting Verdi’s La Traviata at the California Center for the Arts Escondido. Singing the lead role of Violetta is L.A.-based …

The San Diego Symphony is sounding good this season. I went to what I’m calling "The Rachmaninoff Redemption" last weekend and my sins were washed away. The opening piece of the RR was a “between-the-wars …

Beethoven and Schubert admired him. Mendelssohn and Schumann thought his string quartets were as good as those by Mozart and Beethoven. Schubert fashioned his cello sonatas after this composer’s cello sonatas. He was George Onslow …

I found myself perplexed by the way the characters analyzed every single nuance of their interactions in Interepid Theatre’s ART [run ended November 6]. As a straight white male — as are all three characters …

In addition to a busy weekend of contrasting operas, the San Diego Symphony is throwing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at us. Mozart’s final symphony, The Jupiter, is coming along for the ride as well. …

There are two decidedly different operas being performed November 11–13. One is Hansel und Gretel at Point Loma Opera Theatre and the other is Soldier Songs at San Diego Opera. Hansel und Gretel is most …

I watched the live stream of the Richard Tucker Gala on Medici TV’s Facebook stream. At one point I was kind of a fan of letting people live tweet during opera or symphony performances. After …

I had forgotten that Rossini stopped composing opera so early. It could be that I never put it together since he continued to compose sacred music in the 1840s, '50s, and '60s with the Petite …

William Tell or Guillaume Tell is an enormous opera. The performance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera began at 6:30 p.m. and ended at 11:45 p.m. While there are times when I thought Rossini could have …

The Lion plays at the Old Globe through October 30. I saw it on Sunday, October 16. In the finest tradition of song cycles such as Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Schubert’s Winterreise, The Lion, by Benjamin …

I ended up in New York over the weekend and attended two productions at the Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center. The operas I saw were William Tell and Italian Girl in Algiers. Both are by …

Trump Card at The La Jolla Playhouse is a monologue show by Mike Daisey. It is, as one might guess, about Donald Trump. I saw the show on Friday, October 7, two days before it …

The Jacobs Masterworks Series started at Symphony Hall this last weekend. The concert was Schumann’s American Festival Overture, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, and Brahms Symphony No. 3. Starting off was William — not Robert — Schumann’s …

On Saturday, October 22, the San Diego Opera will open its 2016–17 season. This is the first autumn production the company has put on for as long as anyone can remember. The opening opera is …

The San Diego Symphony had their annual Opus Gala on Saturday night October 8. The format this year was different from that of recent years. The difference is that there were on "opuses." Also, music …

It appears as though maestro Riccardo Muti has been reading the esoteric pick of the week. I’m obviously overstating the case there, but the Chicago Tribune has weighed in on Muti’s recent trip “...down nearly …

Based on the movie of the same title, October Sky, a new musical at The Old Globe runs through October 23. The story follows a group of high school students who become immersed in rocketry …

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields has announced that Sir Neville Marriner has died. We almost had the honor of hearing him conduct the San Diego Symphony in January of 2015 but the …

Monday was the hottest day of the year, so I was forced to turn toward some autumnal music to keep from falling into an Indian Summer depression. I went to two different pieces of music, …

What happened to Giacomo Meyerbeer? After seeing Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable, Chopin proclaimed him to be immortal. His opera Les Huguenots was the first opera to be performed more than 1000 times at the Paris …

Why do we say what we say? It’s not always a clear choice. Sometimes we just say stuff. Where do the words come from? Who’s in there calling the shots? It could be a single …

September feels as though it is taking forever. It feels that way every year. Football starts, school starts, summer ends, and I’m still waiting for the symphony season to begin. This year the San Diego …

The concertate from act III of Otello has long been a favorite scene in the history of opera. With that in mind, I’m shocked at the disparity of views on YouTube between this and the …

I saw a Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof on Thursday, August 18. The set and lighting were perfect. The orchestra glimmered with the polish of a thousand and one performances. Dancers executed modern …

I want to discuss the term “insightful.” It's a word which is thrown around the halls of music with some frequency. “The performance was insightful,” “Beethoven's music is insightful,” etc. We've all heard comments along …

Johan Botha was one of the great tenors of the early 21st Century. He died September 8 in Vienna at the age of 51. The cause has not been made official, but it is known …

I remember stating that it was time for balance between the feminine and the masculine in classical music. It appears I was not alone in that conviction. Maybe observation is a better word than conviction. …