Arts & Culture :: Music

Percussive attack on climate change

Percussive attack on climate change

  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 29, 2019

SFS Principal Percussion Jacob Nissly is one of the orchestra's standout players, usually showing his skills from the rear of the stage.

Ampersand land

Ampersand land

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Oct 29, 2019

As it turns out, Pete & Chasten Buttigieg aren't the only fascinating twosome to come from Indiana. Singing-songwriting sisters Lily & Madeline Jurkiewicz have been at it since high school in Indianapolis.

More vinyl love

More vinyl love

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Oct 22, 2019

The 16-track "Wide Prairie" (MPL/Capitol), bowing on 180-gram audiophile black vinyl for the first time (remastered at Abbey Road Studios), is a cornucopia of sounds and styles.

Celebrating a neglected composer

Celebrating a neglected composer

  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 22, 2019

Surviving war and political tyranny, the Polish composer and violin and piano virtuoso Grazyna Bacewicz wrote hundreds of scores, building a distinctive style influenced by everything from folk music to the avant-garde.

Figaro in Post-Revolutionary America

Figaro in Post-Revolutionary America

  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 15, 2019

After more than 200 years, the perpetually hip writing team of Mozart and Da Ponte still has a hit on their hands. "The Marriage of Figaro" opened at the War Memorial Opera House last week, and it's funnier and timelier than ever.

Musical thirst quenchers

Musical thirst quenchers

  • by Roberto Friedman
  • Oct 15, 2019

Out There has famously thirsty ears, but here are three CDs that have lately quenched them.

International music-making: San Francisco Symphony

International music-making: San Francisco Symphony

  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 8, 2019

Guest conductors, soloists, and the world premiere of a San Francisco Symphony Commission will keep the home fires burning.

October brings performance ensembles

October brings performance ensembles

  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 1, 2019

Well-established Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) and youthfully ambitious Bard Music West (BMW) are ready to light some musical bonfires in October.

This 'Faust' makes the right bargains

This 'Faust' makes the right bargains

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Oct 1, 2019

If San Francisco Opera's "Romeo and Juliette" left you with a sweet tooth for Gounod, a dessert buffet has just arrived.

Vinyl destination

Vinyl destination

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Sep 24, 2019

One of the best things about the vinyl revival is that albums initially issued on CD only, during the mid-to-late 1990s and through the early part of the 2000s, are finally getting the chance to be heard in the beloved, "warm" classic format.

Symphonic illuminations in September

Symphonic illuminations in September

  • by Philip Campbell
  • Sep 24, 2019

September concerts in Michael Tilson Thomas' 25th and final season as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony are telling us what we may expect as he sets the seal on an historic legacy.

B best with the B-52s' Fred Schneider

B best with the B-52s' Fred Schneider

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Sep 17, 2019

B-52s lead male vocalist Fred Schneider was kind enough to answer a few questions before the band embarked on a multi-city concert tour.

'Billy Budd's all-male travails

'Billy Budd's all-male travails

  • by Philip Campbell
  • Sep 17, 2019

"Billy Budd," Herman Melville's unfinished allegory of innocence and guilt upon a British war ship, deeply examined by composer Benjamin Britten and librettists E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier, is the second offering in San Francisco Opera's fall line-up.

32 by 32: Pinnacle of piano

32 by 32: Pinnacle of piano

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Sep 17, 2019

The 32-year-old Igor Levit, three of whose four commercial releases for Sony have included Beethoven, has just seen the release of "Beethoven: The Complete Sonatas," all 32 of them.