Search Our Site

Search Results

317 Results Found

Expert turns in chamber concerts

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Nov 6, 2018

Two classical chamber concerts closed a busy October for music-lovers last week, and, unpredictably, offered time for reflection and needed breaks from the madness of recent events.

Stirring concerts & the 'King of Opera'

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 30, 2018

Symphony and Opera lovers have been playing a game of performance ping-pong in San Francisco lately, bouncing between Davies Symphony Hall and the War Memorial Opera House.

Strauss' comedy of errors

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 23, 2018

If you believe in love at first sight or you're just a pushover for the lyricism of Richard Strauss, San Francisco Opera has a production of his flawed but charming "Arabella" set to seduce you once more.

Guest conductor gets dynamic response

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 17, 2018

Guest conductors are keeping the podium covered at Davies Symphony Hall this month as Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas works with his other family at the New World Symphony in Miami.

Carmen Giannattasio debuts as 'Tosca'

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 12, 2018

Once famously derided as "that shabby little shocker" and condemned as "little more than a manipulative melodrama," composer Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" ultimately triumphed over the naysayers.

Taking Stravinsky on the road

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Oct 3, 2018

Practice, practice, practice is how you get to Carnegie Hall, and the last program in the San Francisco Symphony's recent two-week Stravinsky Festival proved it once more.

Starting strong

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Sep 26, 2018

The San Francisco Symphony and music director Michael Tilson Thomas have covered a lot of ground since the start of the new season.

Queen Elizabeth lights up the stage

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Sep 19, 2018

Gaetano Donizetti's lyric drama "Roberto Devereux" lights up the War Memorial stage with a semi-historical pageant that triumphantly combines stellar musical artistry with colorful showmanship.

San Francisco Opera's double-header

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Sep 12, 2018

The pairing of Italian operas "Cavalleria Rusticana" ("Rustic Chivalry") and "Pagliacci" ("Clowns") has been famously successful for more than a century.

SF Symphony's shining opener

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Sep 12, 2018

The San Francisco Symphony's 107th season opened last week with typical flair and excitement.

Fall Preview: San Francisco Opera

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Sep 5, 2018

With little lag time between a hectic summer and new fall season, San Francisco Opera is launching the first productions fully programmed (with one exception) by the administration of General Director Matthew Shilvock.

Fall Preview: SF Symphony

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Aug 31, 2018

The San Francisco Symphony's 2018-19 season starts next week, marking the next-to-last year of Michael Tilson Thomas' historical term as Music Director.

Merola Grand Finale showcases talent

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Aug 29, 2018

San Francisco's Merola Opera Program, known for selecting and intensively training some of the most promising young talent in the world, recently finished its 2018 Summer Festival with a Grand Finale at the War Memorial Opera House.

Postcards from the West Edge

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Aug 22, 2018

Berkeley-based West Edge Opera has wrapped its summer Festival 2018 at its new digs in Craneway Conference Center on the Richmond waterfront.

Buccaneers stop here

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Aug 15, 2018

Of the Gilbert & Sullivan "big three," which include "H.M.S. Pinafore" and "The Mikado," "The Pirates of Penzance" or "The Slave of Duty" arguably remains the most popular.

Bargaining with the Devil

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Aug 8, 2018

When revolutionary 20th-century composer Igor Stravinsky teamed with co-librettists W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman to write "The Rake's Progress" in 1951, he was finally moving past his "neoclassic" period.

Music-lovers' August

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Aug 1, 2018

For Bay Area opera-lovers or anyone curious about the state of the art, August is full of promise. Whether your taste runs to the traditional or contemporary cutting-edge, local companies are offering an exciting variety of musical events.

Composer, icon, working musician

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Jul 26, 2018

At 81, Philip Glass may never escape the label of minimalist composer.

Summertime ovations

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Jul 18, 2018

"Summer with the Symphony" concerts, the all-purpose two-month fix for staycationing Bay Area music-lovers, continues at Davies Symphony Hall through Aug. 3.

Future stars of the opera stage

  • MUSIC
  • by Philip Campbell
  • Jul 11, 2018

In the good old summertime, San Francisco music-lovers can always rely on the Merola Opera program to uphold a celebrated tradition, selecting, training and showcasing young singers.