In the course of a recent conversation, I realized I had something of a blindspot in my operatic acumen when it came to baritones and basses of the golden era. The golden era of opera …

With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, the first Sunday of Advent, also known as the Christmas Season, is upon us. This is, by far, my favorite time of year even though the sun is directly …

The Ring Without Words as performed by The San Diego Symphony on Saturday, November 11, was all I hoped it would be.The pacing and structure of Lorin Maazel’s adaptation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle are masterful, creating a seamless …

The San Diego Symphony’s Jacobs Masterworks series officially starts on Saturday, November 4, at 7:30 pm. The venue is The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. This will be the 14th season I’ve covered for the …

Opera is the single greatest art form that you can possibly experience in this world that we live in. Nothing hits harder when it is done well. When done at an elite level, the portals …

Last week we had Antonin Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with Alisa Weilerstein and the San Diego Symphony. I was looking forward to more Dvorak this season. His Symphony No. 9 was originally on the schedule but …

The San Diego Symphony previewed their Friday, October 13, Carnegie Hall concert on Saturday, October 4, at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. Music director Rafael Payare and the orchestra had previously performed the same …

NPR recently reported that an affiliate radio station considered not airing seven different broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera this season. The NPR report made sure to recognize the ethnic backgrounds of some of the composers …

While the San Diego vibe might be dominated by flip-flops, microbrews, and disappointed Padres fans, something notable is brewing in the San Diego classical music scene. Since the end of the pandemic, San Diego classical …

Every now and then I meet someone who says something like, “I want to listen to more classical music but I don’t know where to start.” It’s a common issue. Classical music can be intimidating …

At long last September, my least favorite month of the year, is coming to an end. Although I must admit this September has been more generous than previous years. The weather has stopped short of …

With a new opera season starting, at least via streaming or tourism, it might be a good time to ask what opera is. Opera is like the movies. There’s the broad term of movies but …

The NFL season started with the Detroit Lions defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 21-20 on Thursday, September 7, 2023. While I don’t feel inclined to divulge my team loyalties, I will say that I am …

Something strange is happening in Hollywood this year. There have been two hit movies, Barbieheimer and a slew of flops. It’s been so bad that this year has coined the term flop-buster. The biggest flop …

I was making some tentative travel plans for November when it occurred to me that the biggest cultural event that I can remember was occurring in November. I am, of course, referring to the opening …

It's been a rough summer for opera. For starters, Opera News, a publication of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, has announced that its operations will be folded into the British publication Opera magazine starting in December. …

The 2023 Bayreuth Festival started on Monday, July 24, and runs through Monday, August 28. This annual celebration of composer Richard Wagner used to have a ten-year waiting list for tickets. I registered to buy …

I've received a few press releases explaining a new endeavor entitled California Festival. The festival comprises 95 organizations performing pieces of music that have been composed in the last five years. Each organization has independently …

My kids and I drove up to the Irvine Spectrum in order to see *Oppenheimer* in the full 70mm IMAX format. I had previously encountered J. Robert Oppenheimer in the opera *Doctor Atomic* by John …

One of classical music’s greatest “what could have been” stories is that of Hans Rott, a highly talented and promising composer of the late 19th century. Although his life was tragically short, his contributions to …

One of my early tactics for exploring music was to simply find recordings with orchestra and chorus. I was in choir all through high school and college, so I was into works that featured a …

With the Mainly Mozart Festival now over, the 2022-2023 season has come to an end. It is possible to view Mainly Mozart as the beginning of the summer festival season, which is fair, but to …

“...Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield …

The Mainly Mozart Festival is in full flight. This year’s proceedings started on Thursday, June 15, and have gone from strength, to strength, to strength, to sublime. The first concert saw LA Philharmonic principal bassoonist …

I was looking at the schedule for Mainly Mozart and saw the name Gossec. I had never heard of Gossec so I looked him up. François-Joseph Gossec was a French composer and conductor who lived …

On Saturday, May 27, The San Diego Symphony completed the 2022-2023 Jacobs Masterworks season at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The event was a multi-sensory extravaganza that maximized the potential of both the venue …

Rigorous is a word that rarely raises its strict head in the fair city of San Diego. Relaxation is the dominant paradigm. Rigor must hide in the shadows cast by the eternal sunny disposition of …

When it comes to symphonies, very few composers have all of their symphonic utterances consistently performed. Of course, Beethoven sits atop the heap even if his First, Second, Fourth, and Eighth symphonies don’t get the …

When I'm in a cultural depression, I often turn to The Edwardians. The Edwardian Era is home to England’s most accomplished composers, save Georg Frederik Handel. The era lasted from 1901 to the death of …

Some unavoidable conflicts thwarted my plans to go to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 on Saturday, April 22. By all accounts, it was a lovely performance. Yet, at the end of the day, it is …

With the NBA Playoffs in full flight, I will take this opportunity to explore some classical music via the logos of some of the teams in contention this year. Some teams, such as the New …

Having been inspired by San Diego Opera’s recent production of Tosca, I’ve spent the last week listening to war horse recordings of war horse operas. I’ve selected a few highlights here. Based on what I’ve …

Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca was the best thing San Diego Opera has produced in years. This production had it all, especially where it counted the most. Competent, seasoned, opera singers who knew their business performed the …

The San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival used to be held at The Balboa Theatre and it used to be a great classical music event. Then it was held outdoors at the Del Mar Surf Cup …

On May 11, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services will end the Covid public health emergency. But the bureaucratic behemoth is a slow-footed beast; John Q. Public knows the pandemic ended some time …

Like many classical music fans, I was introduced to Alma Deutscher several years ago via a 60 Minutes report. I was struck by her musicianship and her devotion to creating melodies. I have lamented long …

I heard a rumor about the San Diego Civic Theater receiving an overhaul at some point in the future. Having just seen an opera production and a symphony concert at the 56-year-old venue, I hope, …

A classical spring is coming to San Diego. The end of March and the entire month of April are bursting with classical music concerts. There’s also opera. Tosca by Giacomo Puccini opens at The Civic …

The latest victim of updating is Disney’s Peter Pan which is based on the play by Scottish author J. M. Barrie. The new version takes its title from the 1911 novel by the same author …

While scrolling through my Google feed, I saw an article entitled “15 Greatest Symphonies of all Time”. Of course, I clicked on it and was taken to Great Britain’s Classic FM website. Mozart’s Symphony No. …

What was once known as Il Trittico, by Giacomo Puccini, is now being billed as The Puccini Duo by San Diego Opera. That’s probably for the best because the three one-act operas make for a …

The San Diego Symphony has announced their 2023-2024 Jacobs Masterworks Series. This season promises to be a turning point in the organization's evolution under CEO Martha Gilmer. The most obvious element is the grand opening …

It was nice to be back in the concert hall on Thursday, February 2. It had been since before Christmas that I had darkened the door of a theater. The concert was of the San …

There once was a tremendously popular piece of music about a Native American which was written by a composer of African descent whose forbearers had been slaves in the New World prior to the American …

I came across some vinyl records with the label “Phase 4 Stereo” on them. I promptly contacted my friend who is into vinyl and gave them over to him. He must have thought me a …

I had some solitary cleaning projects on my plate this last week and decided to use the time to cover some ground with a composer I’m not too familiar with. I considered a few options …

With the holidays all wrapped up, we look toward what could be considered the meat of the classical music season. January is generally quiet but things get rowdy in February. On February 2 and 3, …

As 2022 comes to an end, Spotify informed me that I was in the top 0.5 percent of ABBA listeners for the year. I wasn’t surprised. ABBA is musical gold and I was all about …

We’ve looked at a variety of classical Christmas music over the past few weeks. We considered somber music for a solstice of solitude and little-known Christmas operas such as Hans Pfitzner’s Christelfein. Now we come …

Who’s in the mood for a Christmas opera? It’s a strange question because there aren’t any Christmas operas, are there? Yes, yes there is. There are several Christmas operas. Ok. There are a handful of …