Encountering a New Bill Evans Release

Cover of the album being discussed (from the Amazon.com Web page)

It has been a while since I wrote about an encounter with a Bill Evans album. Unless I am mistaken, the last time I wrote about him was when You Music Believe In Spring was remastered by Craft Recordings in the spring (of course) of 2022. This coming Friday, Elemental Music will release Bill Evans in Norway, an account of a trio concert captured at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Norway. As most readers will probably expect, Amazon.com has already created the Web page for processing pre-orders. The trio that Evans led from the piano consisted of Eddie Gómez on bass and drummer Marty Morell.

The performance captured on this album took place on June 26, 1970. At the time Evans was in a supervised methadone program to recover from a longtime addiction to heroin. The notes by Marc Myers for the tracks acknowledge that Evans knew that songs such as “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?,” “Turn Out the Stars,” and “Quiet Now” would appeal to his Norwegian audience. However, those familiar with past recordings of those tunes will recognize a more spirited rhetoric for these introspective selections. Recovery seems to have brought a new burst of energy to Evans’ style. To be fair, however, much of that energy is shared through Gómez’ virtuosic bass work.

Those familiar with the Evans repertoire are likely to encounter new perspectives on tunes they thought were familiar. For those that are not so familiar, this album will probably make a strong case for why so many of the rest of us do our best to keep up with his recordings! Personally, I could not have been happier to encounter a new opportunity to listen to the thoroughly engaging spontaneity of performance by not only Evans but also his trio partners.

Choices for December 14 and 15, 2024

December tends to be the month when almost all performances are related to one religious holiday or another. However, the offerings for this particular weekend will involve a blend of the secular with the sacred. Attentive listeners will be able to choose between one or the other for each of the two days. Specifics are as follows:

 Members of the Aurora Mandolin Orchesatra (from the SFPL event page)

Saturday, December 14, 2 p.m., San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), Main Branch: The Aurora Mandolin Orchestra has been a presence in the Bay Area for almost 100 years. As might be guessed, the ensemble specializes in plucked instruments (mandolin, mandola, and mandocello); but it also includes guitar, bass, accordion, flute, and percussion. Their repertoire could not be more diverse, including European melodies, folk songs, popular “oldies,” recent compositions, and selections from musicals, movie soundtracks and opera. They will perform with guest artist soprano Maria Fassio Pignati. The performance will take place in Koret Auditorium; and (as is usually the case) there will be no charge for admission. For those that do not yet know, the Main Branch is located in the Civic Center at 100 Larkin Street, across the park from City Hall.

Saturday, December 14, 4 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Incarnation: Sunset Music and Arts will present its annual Holiday Concert program performed by the San Francisco Youth Chorus. This is an after-school chorus of nearly 150 youngsters led by Artistic Director Katherine Gerber. The program has not yet been finalized, nor has the selection of those youngsters that will participate in the concert. Once again, admission will be by donation with a suggested amount of between $15 and $35 per family. The church is located at 1750 29th Avenue, about halfway between Moraga Street and Noriega Street; and those seeking further information are invited to call 415-564-2324.

Sunday, December 15, 11 a.m., Church of the Advent of Christ the King: On the third Sunday of every month, the ordinary of the Mass is sung by the resident ensemble Schola Adventus. This month’s selection will be the Mass for Five Voices by William Byrd. The venue is located at 261 Fell Street, between Franklin Street and Gough Street. The entry is diagonally across the street from the SFJAZZ Center. This is an inclusive parish of the Episcopal Church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Those wishing further information may call 415-431-0454. For those planning to drive, free parking will be available in the gravel lot behind the church on Hickory Street.

Sunday, December 15, 4 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: San Francisco Choral Artists will begin its new season with a program entitled Christmas on the Edge: Voices from the Pacific Rim. This is likely to be the most non-standard holiday event of the season. The most familiar selections will probably be those from the United States; but the other contributing countries will be (in alphabetical order) Australia, Canada, Chile, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, and Russia. As always, contributors to the program will be Composer-in-Residence Theo Popov and Composer-Not-in-Residence Patricia Julien. Most readers probably know by now that this church is located at 1111 O’Farrell Lutheran Church, just west of Franklin Street. General admission will be $35 with a $30 for seniors and $15 for those under the age of fifteen.

Sunday, December 15, 4 p.m., Chez Hanny: The first Chez Hanny program of the month will be performed by the Joe Warner Trio. Warner will lead from the piano, performing with Tarus Mateen on bass and drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith. As many readers probably know by now the “house” for this house concert is located at 1300 Silver Avenue. This is best reached by public transportation by taking the Muni 44 bus going east from Glen Park Station. For those thinking of driving, parking tends to be available on Silver Avenue, Silliman Street, one block south of Silver, and Holyoke Street, which connects Silver and Silliman. Those attending are invited to bring something for the potluck, which takes place at the set break; and, of course, at the end of the show, help with cleanup[ and furniture moving is always appreciated.

Center for New Music: December, 2024

It appears that I have not written a preview article focused entirely on the Center for New Music since this past September! Furthermore, I have already accounted for the beginning of next month in this week’s Bleeding Edge article, since December begins on a Sunday. As might be guessed, this will be a quiet month; and I have only two articles to add, both of which will be taking place next week. As most readers probably know by now, the venue is located at 55 Taylor Street, half a block north of the Golden Gate Theater, which is where Golden Gate Avenue meets Market Street. As usual dates below are hyperlinked to an Eventbrite event page through which tickets may be purchased as follows:

Sunday, December 1, 7:30 p.m.: This is the previously reported An Evening of Electro-Acoustic Improvisation to be performed by Phillip Greenlief, Scott Amendola, and Thomas Dimuzio.

Cruel Diagnosis performing “Vestigial Mythology” (from the YouTube Web page for her official music video)

Thursday, December 5, 7:30 p.m.: Vocalist Cruel Diagonals will visit from Los Angeles to promote her latest release. Calcite was conceived to explore the simultaneity of an ancient mythos intertwined with an imagined future where life will no longer thrive on Earth. The composition was inspired by the limestone and basalt formations of Southern California’s varied desert, coastal and chaparral ecosystems.

Saturday, December 7, noon: This month’s installment of G|O|D|W|A|F|F|L|E|N|O|I|S|E|P|A|N|C|A|K|E|S will take place earlier than usual, hopefully to avoid conflict with shopping plans. The event will still offer the usual opportunity to enjoy vegan pancakes while listening to “bleeding edge” music. General admission remains $10 with a $6 rate for members and students. Music programming is scheduled to conclude by 2 p.m. Gourmet vegan pancakes will be served without any charge other than admission. The contributing performers and composers Head Boggle Rewakening Banipulations, Tarantula Princess vs Holographic TV Static, Queens of Space (OR), Old Million Eye n’ his pals, and Nurse Betty. [added 12/7, 8:40 a.m.:

Saturday, December 14, 7:30 p.m.: This will be the next installment in The Opus Project. the Opus Number of this concert will be 6. This will include music by Harry Bernstein, who is currently living in the Bay Area. The other composers are listed only by last name (Minsky, Telemann, Lorenz, Severson), making me wonder whether or not the first of them was my doctoral thesis advisor, who ran the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (after having giving his music education a back seat)! The performers will include soprano Amy Foote (who should not be a stranger to those following this site for some time), Marielle Lieboff, soprano, Armando Atanda, violist, Bonhwi Kim, pianist, Bibiana Lee, flutist, and Jana Justus, mezzo-soprano.]

As Porky Pig so memorably stammered, “Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-‘That’s all Folks!’”

Ju-Ping Song Brings Recital Program to Album

Pianist Ju-Ping Song in performance (photograph courtesy of Starkland)

In June of 2019, Julie Herndon curated a series of four performances at the Center for New Music (C4NM). The last of these was a solo piano recital by Ju-Ping Song. As I wrote at that time in previewing this program, she presented “West Coast premieres of powerful, visceral works for solo piano, soundtrack, and video by four women with strong, individual voices: Lois Vierk (United States), Rahilia Hasanova (Azerbaijan), Nicole Lizée (Canada), and Kate Moore (Australia).” One week from today, Starkland will release a recording of Song performing all of those pieces. The title of the album is Monad, and Bandcamp has already created a Web page for processing digital and “physical” orders.

I have to confess that I was somewhat pleased to see that, on that Web page, the “discography” of related albums included two that I had previously discussed on this site. The earlier of these was released at the end of last year, Guy Klucevsek’s solo accordion album Hope Dies Last. The other was Tim Brady’s “Symphony in 18 Parts,” which was also released last year in April.

I have to confess that listening to the Monad article gave me more than a tinge of regret at having missed Song’s C4NM appearance. While I could appreciate the diversity of how these four different composers could pursue individual approaches to the “genre of repetitive structures,” I would have liked to have seen how she added video to the mix. It is now over half a century since I first encountered that genre through a performance in January of 1970 by the Philip Glass Ensemble in the downstairs recital hall of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The four selections on Monad were composed between 1992 (revised in 2018) and 2016; and the major factors that distinguish those selections from the Glass program involve the video and “soundtrack” electronics.

This leaves me with a mixed reaction to Monad. The first signs of the repetitive structures genre having run its course came when Igudesman & Joo started to make fun of it, and they will be wrapping up their touring career by the end of next year! On the other hand, after several listenings, I am beginning to appreciate how Song has developed what might be called a “journey of dynamics” for each of her selections. The usual joke about repetitive structures is that “there is less than meets the ear;” but Song’s approach to performance seems to have converted “less” into “more!”

Now I am hoping that she will make another visit to San Francisco!

California Bach Society: The Holiday Program

“The Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi,” painted by Pseudo-Jacopino di Francesco, probably between 1325 and 1330

A little over a week ago the California Bach Society announced the plans for its holiday concert. Derek Tam will serve as guest conductor for this performance. The program will be framed by two settings of the “Ave Maria” prayer. It will begin with a monodic medieval chant setting and conclude with a much richer arrangement by twentieth-century composer Franz Biebl. These “extremes” will be bridged by a chronological unfolding of composers: Michael Praetorius, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Heinrich Schütz, Benjamin Britten, and Francis Poulenc. A Web page has been created with notes for the entire program.

The San Francisco performance of this program will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 13. The venue will be the St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, which is located near Potrero Hill at 500 De Haro Street. Individual tickets are available for general admission at $40 with discounted rates for seniors and students. A Web page has been created for such tickets, as well as for three-concert subscriptions, which will also include From Tallis to Tavener and Brilliant Bach.  Doors will open at 7 p.m.

LPO Release Revives Interest in Michael Tippett

Back in my adolescent days in the second half of the last century, I found myself part of a group that shared enthusiasm for “new music” from any number of different sources. Where the United Kingdom was concerned, one of those sources was Michael Tippett, a British composer whose life spanned almost the entire twentieth century. However, as that century passed, so did interest in Tippett’s compositions; and I am almost certain that I have never encountered his music in concert or recital since the end of 1999.

Recordings are another matter. Over the course of time, I have collected  CDs of all four of his symphonies and his two major oratorios, A Child of our Time and The Mask of Time. More recently, through my attempts to follow the BBC Legends anthologies, I found that the most recent release (which was almost exactly a year ago) included his concerto for double string orchestra with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rudolf Kempe. However, my encounters with both the symphonies and the oratorios took place before I began to begin writing about music seriously.

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of PIAS)

Tomorrow, the London Philharmonic Orchestra will release an all-Tippett album on their “house label.” For those too impatient to wait a day, Amazon.com has already created the Web page for this album, which is accepting pre-orders. Edward Gardner is the conductor; and pianist Steven Osborne is the soloist for the first selection on the album, Tippett’s only piano concerto. The remainder of the album presents his second symphony.

Listening to these selections reminded me of how, in the past, I had come to recognize and enjoy the “Tippett sound.” Perhaps through his experience with oratorios, one could follow rhetorical tropes over the course of his instrumental music. Mind you, the recordings I have of his symphonies had Colin Davis and Georg Solti as conductors, both of whom have always had a solid command of rhetoric; but that just means that they could not have been better qualified to do justice to Tippett’s efforts as a composer.

On this new album it is clear that both Gardner and Osborne have established a solid command of the “marks on paper.” Where the concerto is concerned, that involves negotiating many challenges in keyboard technique. Nevertheless, I was never particularly convinced by the expressiveness of performance, coming from either Osborne’s skillful keyboard work or Gardner’s oversight as a conductor.

I have previously cited the joke about the monorail as the “idea of the future whose time has passed;” and I wonder whether or not, in the context of the current century, Tippett’s time may also have passed.

Philharmonia Baroque Returns to Bach for Xmas

Some readers may recall that last year Music Director Richard Egarr took a particularly ambitious approach to the “holiday spirit” by preparing and leading the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) in a program entitled Six Centuries of Christmas. This year PBO will “narrow the window,” so to speak, with a program of more limited scope, given the simple title A Bach Christmas. There will be only three selections, framed by two of Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas, BWV 62 (Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland) and BWV 147a, an early version of BWV 147 (Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben). BWV 147a may be a recent discovery, since both its current Wikipedia page and the Bach Cantata Page, provided by the University of Alberta, agree that the music for the text is missing, while the BWV 147 version is one of Bach’s more popular cantatas. It is best known for the concluding chorale whose music is often known by the familiar title "Jesus, joy of man’s desiring.” (The German version of this text does not appear in the BWV 147a libretto.)

The two Bach selections will frame two compositions by his contemporary, Christoph Graupner. The first of these will be the GWV 1138/11 cantata Reiner Geist, lass doch mein Herz. This will be followed by the GWV 445 instrumental overture in F major.

Conductor Ruben Valenzuela on the banner for the PBO Web page for A Bach Christmas

The vocal soloists for this program will be soprano Sherezade Panthaki, mezzo Mindy Ella Chu, tenor Michael Jones, and bass-baritone Joel Chapman. The Philharmonia Chorale will be led by its director, Valérie Sainte-Agathe. The ensemble will be directed by Ruben Valenzuela, the next candidate for the position of Music Director. As usual, the performance will take place in Herbst Theater, located at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 12. Ticket prices range from $40 to $132. They may be purchased through a City Box Office Web page, which includes a diagram showing where seats are still available.

Household Ink Releases New Music from the 80s

Richard Dunlap performing “Intersphere” In Santa Barbara (from the press release for his new album)

I left the “think jar” of General Research Corporation in Santa Barbara, California, in 1981 to move the the more rarified (not to mention international) setting of Schlumberger-Doll Research in Ridgefield, Connecticut (while living in Stamford for easier access by rail to midtown Manhattan). Almost all of my concert and recital experiences on the West Coast involved performances at the University of California at Santa Barbara, primarily through Cal Performances. I was less aware of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, which may be why I never knew about Richard Dunlap and his Intersphere installation at the McCormick Gallery.

Dunlap performed on an arrangement of tube-based instruments in one corner of the gallery and a baby grand piano in another. The space itself was darkened to allow for projections on the walls. This was an early venture into what would be called “ambient” performances, which I would only encounter for myself after moving to New York and building up a library of ECM albums.

At the beginning of this month, Household Ink Records released Intersphere, an album of two of Dunlap’s performances. The track titles are “Intersphere” and “Fandance,” and both are somewhat shy of twenty minutes in duration. The CD of this album is now available through a Discogs Web page, while Amazon.com has created a download Web page, which, unfortunately, does not include the accompanying booklet. The good news, however, is that there is a Web page for the PDF file of the booklet on the Household Ink Web site.

ECM definitely set the context for listening to Intersphere. Indeed, this morning proved to be just the right follow-up to yesterday’s account of Relations, Thomas Strønen’s latest album, which will be released this coming Friday. While the “Intersphere” track amounts to an “auditory document” of experiencing the Intersphere installation, the “Fandance” track was created three years later as an “echo.” The performance again involved the sound tubes. However, this time the baby grand was replaced by a “piano harp” with an electric fan added to the mix.

Since I am well aware that not all readers share my enthusiasm for those that fly under the ECM flag, I shall simply remind readers that Intersphere is “the sort of thing that people who like that sort of thing will like!”

SFCM Highlight: December, 2024

Parker Quartet musicians Daniel Chong, Kee-Hyun Kim, Jessica Bodner, and Kent Hamao (from the SFCM event page)

Because the fall term will conclude next month, there will be only one highlighted event at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). This will be the final Chamber Music Tuesday of the year. As usual, there will be a “guest appearance,” this time by the members of the Parker Quartet: violinists Daniel Chong and Kent Hamao, Jessica Bodner on viola, and cellist Kee-Hyun Kim. Following up on their masterclasses with SFCM students, they will share the program with chamber music that forms a bridge between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The program will begin with Alexander von Zemlinsky’s first string quartet, His Opus 4 composed in the key of A major. This will be followed by Johannes Brahms Opus 25, the first of his three piano quartets composed in the key of G minor. The program will then conclude with the original string sextet version of Arnold Schoenberg’s Opus 4, “Verklärte Nacht.”

As usual, the performance will take place in the Barbro Osher Recital Hall, which is on the eleventh (top) floor of the SFCM Bowes Center at 200 Van Ness Avenue. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 10. There will be no charge for admission, but reserving seating in advance is encouraged. The SFCM event page has a hyperlink for arranging seat reservations.

Beyond Food: Strønen’s New Quintet Album

Cover of the album being discussed (from the album’s Amazon.com Web page)

It has been quite a while since I last encountered a recording of jazz percussionist Thomas Strønen. Back in December of 2012, I wrote an Examiner.com piece about Mercurial Balm, an ECM album of his duo performances with saxophonist Iain Ballamy, both of whom were core members of the Food quartet. This Friday ECM will release Strønen’s latest album, Relations, which consists of a series of solo and duo tracks. The duo partners are pianist Craig Taborn, Chris Potter on both tenor and soprano saxophone, vocalist Sinikka Langeland accompanying on kantele, and pianist Jorge Rossy. As of this writing, the album is scheduled for release on Friday and is available for pre-order through an Amazon.com download Web page, which includes a PDF file of the accompany booklet.

Where Mercurial Balm unfolded through contours of intensity, Relations is structured more through fidelity to the album title. Each of the duo tracks establishes its own characteristic relation between its respective instrument and Strønen’s percussion resources. This makes for a more “personal” repertoire than the tracks for Mercurial Balm.

ECM listeners are probably already familiar with both Taborn and Potter. Whether or not that familiarity emerges through their duo performances with Strønen can only be left as an exercise for the attentive listener! For my own part, I can simply gain satisfaction through the diversity of approaches that Strønen takes to each of his duo partners.

ECM to Release Ten-Year-Old Recording Session

Jakob Bro playing his guitar (photograph by Hreinn Gudlaugsson, from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license)

Ten years ago, guitarist Jakob Bro led a recording session for an album that will only be released this coming Friday. Taking Turns consists of seven tracks, all original compositions by Bro, who led a sextet whose other members were Lee Konitz, alternating between alto and soprano saxophones, Bill Frisell on guitar, pianist Jason Moran, Thomas Morgan on double bass, and drummer Andrew Cyrille. The tracks were recorded in Avatar Studios in New York, but they were not mixed for release as a recording until this past August. Mixing took place in Copenhagen with Bro working with engineer Thomas Vang at The Village Recording Studio. As of this writing, Amazon.com has created a Web page that supports only MP3 download, with the physical version scheduled for release at the beginning of next year.

Taking Turns is a new ECM release. Bro is no stranger to the label, having previously recorded Garden of Eden as a member of the Paul Motian Band and Dark Eyes as a member of the Dark Eyes Quintet led by trumpeter Tomasz Stańko. Those familiar with the label probably know that producer Manfred Eicher has a preference for meditative quietude, a disposition he has also cultivated in producing recordings of works by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. However, if there tends to be a “meditative mood” that one encounters through ECM releases, there is no question that different performers take different approaches to that mood.

I have been listening to ECM releases for over half a century. There have been critics that had accused it of minimalism at its most shallow. I am not one of them! My own approach to a successful rhetoric of quietude is one of still waters that run deep. To be fair, it may take several listenings to an ECM album to become aware of that depth, let alone plunge into it. Nevertheless, those that venture into this domain come to appreciate the richness of rhetoric that cuts across the tracks on any given ECM album.

Such listeners will probably come away from Taking Turns recognizing Bro as a new member in the “family” of ECM leaders.

The Bleeding Edge: 11/25/2024

As might be guessed, this will be very quiet week on the Bleeding Edge. There are only two events to report, both of which will take places after Thanksgiving Day. It will probably be no surprise that both of them involve “usual suspects!”

Saxophonist Francis Wong (from the BayImproviser Web page for his coming performance)

Friday, November 29, Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore & Gallery, 7 p.m.: Things will be “business as usual” in the weekly Other Dimensions in Sound series. Once again, reed player David Boyce will be both performer and host. He will join Nora Free and Francis Wong in a saxophone trio. For those that do not yet know, the venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. As always, there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Sunday, December 1, Center for New Music (C4NM), 7:30 p.m.: The title of the program will be An Evening of Electro-Acoustic Improvisation. Phillip Greenlief and Scott Amendola have been working as a free improvising duo for over 30 years. On this occasion the improvising will be by a trio, with Thomas Dimuzio as the third participant. General admission will be $15 with a $10 rate for C4NM members and students. Tickets are available through an Eventbrite Web page. The address for the venue is 55 Taylor Street, about half a block north of the Golden Gate Theatre at the corner of Market Street and Golden Gate Avenue.

Bizet’s Opera: A View into the Orchestra Pit

Benjamin Manis, conductor of the current San Francisco Opera production of Carmen (photograph by Natalie Gaynor, courtesy of San Francisco Opera)

Yesterday afternoon my wife and I returned to the War Memorial Opera House for a second encounter with the revival of Francesca Zambello’s staging of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen. In writing about opening night, I made it a point to give due credit to all of the principal vocalists. To my embarrassment, however, I discovered that, in the midst of my efforts to be thorough, I completely overlooked the orchestra pit! Fortunately, my seat yesterday allowed me to view almost all of the instrumental performers, as well as conductor Benjamin Manis, who was making his San Francisco Opera debut.

To be fair, those in Orchestra seats see little, if anything, of the musicians; and (of course) accounting for what is happening on the stage is more significant that following what the conductor is doing! Nevertheless, from yesterday’s vantage point, I enjoyed watching Manis at work. He knew how to establish attention with the vocalists, even when they were at their most focused on their acting. (That includes the choral voices, as well as the dramatis personae, not to overlook the abundance of children.) As a result, Zambello’s staging amounted to a marriage between vocalists and instrumentalists that was made in heaven. Nevertheless, I have to confess that one of those instrumentalists, flutist Susan King (a “Season Substitute”) delivered an absolutely ravishing account of the solo work for the “Entr’acte” that ushers in the opera’s third act. This may not have compensated for the strings getting drowned out by the raucous scene in Lillas Pastia’s Tavern (Act II); but I gather my favorite moments while I may!

On the vocal side I found that only one weakness disappointed me. Sadly, however, that was one of the most popular episodes in the opera. Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn is one of the most familiar faces on the War Memorial stage; and, for the most part, I have followed his work with enthusiasm. However, his account of Escamillo was weak. It consisted of only one aria; but that aria (the “Toreador Song”) is (as the Wikipedia page for the opera declares) “among the best known of all operatic arias.” Perhaps he never managed to establish chemistry with Manis; but, for all the passion in the text, he came across yesterday afternoon as if he were wishing he were somewhere else.

Fortunately, the “Toreador Song” just came and went, allowing the attentive viewer-listener to appreciate the many finer qualities in Zambello’s production and Manis’ attentive efforts as a conductor.

An Abundance of Choices for December 7

It is almost always the case that things get really busy between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. As a result, readers will not be surprised that hard choices will have to be made in selecting performances to attend during the month of December. In fact, the first really hard choices will be during the very first weekend of the month, with particular attention to Saturday, December 7. The good news is that the lion’s share of that list has been accounted for in previous articles on this site. Those events are as follows:

• Saturday, December 7, and Sunday, December 8, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.: This will be the first weekend of performances of Nutcracker by San Francisco Ballet.
• Saturday, December 7, 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, December 8, 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.: These will be the four performances by Huntertones at the SFJAZZ Center.
• Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, December 8, 2 p.m.: These will be the last two of the four performances of Ghost Quartet, presented by New Performance Traditions.
• Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.: This will be the final performance of Messiah by the San Francisco Symphony.
• Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.: Old First Concerts will begin holiday season programming with a performance by the Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco.
• Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.: Voices of Music will present a program of concertos by Arcangelo Corelli, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and Antonio Vivaldi, each of which will feature a different soloist.
• Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.: This month’s only program to be presented by DYNAMITE GUITARS will be the return solo recital by Polish virtuoso guitarist Mateusz Kowalski.

That list is almost thorough enough to account for December 7. However, over the course of this month, I have learned about two additional events, which I was encountering for the first time. Those are as follows:

Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, December 8, 4 p.m., Calvary Presbyterian Church: This will be the 35th year of Candlelight Christmas concerts presented by the San Francisco Bach Choir. Instrumental accompaniment will include the Velocity Handbell Quartet. There will also be a traditional-with-a-twist Boar's Head procession. Each of the above dates has its own event page, which provides the scale of prices of admission, and a hyperlink for both purchasing tickets and making donations. For those that do not yet know, the church is located in the Fillmore at 2515 Fillmore Street on the northwest corner of Jackson Street.

Pianist Nabeel Abboud Ashkar

Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m., Congregation Emanu-El: Some readers may already know that this venue has a concert series. Its next event may appeal to those seeking an alternative to performances celebrating Christmas. The full title of the program to be presented is POLYPHONY: Bridging the Divide Between Israeli Arabs and Jews Through Music. It will be a concert by Israeli Arab Nabeel Abboud Ashkar, who was inspired by the West-East Divan Orchestra founded by Daniel Barenboim. Ashkar is a pianist, and he will perform with six instrumentalists. The venue is located at Two Lake Street on the northwest corner of Arguello Boulevard, just south of the Presidio of San Francisco. All tickets may be purchased through an Eventbrite event page.

DSO: New Season, New Mahler

The “composition hut” in Carinthia where Mahler worked on his fifth symphony (photograph by OboeCrack, from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

According to my records, the Live from Orchestra Hall video series presented by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) concluded last season with a program consisting only of Gustav Mahler’s ninth symphony, led by Music Director Jader Bignamini. Early yesterday evening, my wife and I had our first opportunity of the new season to return to Orchestra Hall through cyberspace. Once again, Mahler was the focus of the program, which was devoted almost entirely to his fifth symphony in C-sharp minor. This was the second half of the program, whose first half was a much shorter symphony, Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken I/100 in G major, often known as the “Military” symphony.

As was the case with his ninth symphony, the fifth is a product of richly diverse instrumentation. For the most part, the video work could not have provided better guidance in allowing the viewer to trace how an extended theme would peregrinate from one set of instruments to another (often with a plethora of opportunities, even if they were brief, to pay attention to individual performers). Thus, while the camera work gave a generous account of how Bignamini led his ensemble, the “heart of the matter” could be found in the diversity of instrumentation. In that respect, the attentive listener was probably better informed of the full scope of that diversity by following the video work than by enjoying a seat in Orchestra Hall.

Beyond the instrumentation, however, there is also the symmetry of structure. The symphony is in five movements grouped into three parts. The “middle part” is the third and longest movement. (Indeed, it may be one of the longest movements in the overall symphonic repertoire, even if Mahler himself composed longer ones!) The first part consists of two movements, both with funereal rhetoric, even if only the first of the movements is explicitly denoted as a funeral march. The final part begins with the shortest movements, the Adagietto, which serves as a “calm before the final storm.” That “final storm” is a rondo form, which begins playfully enough and just keeps building up in intensity. It is no wonder that listeners come away from a performance feeling as if they have just left a wild ride!

Hoboken I/100 is one of Haydn’s last and better-known symphonies. The title reflects on the second movement being structured as a parade march. Indeed, the last time I encountered this music was with the San Francisco Symphony in Davies Symphony. On that occasion, the brass and percussion players did parade across the front of the stage. The DSO performance was more straightforward, but it was still clear that Haydn approached his “military” rhetoric with a twinkle in his eye!

Unless I am mistaken, this was not the first time I encountered a coupling of Haydn and Mozart. I find those occasions to be particularly satisfying. Both of them had a keen knowledge of the breadth of instruments at their command. For the most part, neither of them shied away from intense attention to structure on both the short and the long scale. Ironically, the Mahler biographies I have encountered have little (if anything) to say about Haydn. (His name never shows up on Mahler’s Wikipedia page.)

In any event I now find myself looking forward to which Mahler symphony Bignamini will choose for his next undertaking, and it will not surprise me if he couples it with another Haydn symphony!

Jazz Pianist George Cables at 80

Jazz pianist George Cables on the cover of his new album (from the album’s Amazon.com Web page)

Listening to I Hear Echoes, the latest album released by jazz pianist George Cables in celebration of his 80th birthday, I was reminded of having an opportunity to listen to another jazz pianist in performance, Tommy Flanagan. I had been in New York on a business trip and spent an evening that was probably near to the end of his life, listening to him lead a trio with two young colleagues, the sum of whose two ages would probably have fallen short of his own. On I Hear Echoes Cables also leads a trio with younger colleagues, whose ages are somewhat more advanced. His bassist is Essiet Essiet, who is a little over a decade younger than Cables. The “junior member” of the trio is Jerome Jennings on drums, who is in his mid-forties.

The advance material I received for this album describes Cables as “a musician who has not only shaped jazz history but continues to influence its evolution.” Listing to the eleven tracks on  I Hear Echoes, I can attest to the validity of that claim. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any booklet with notes about the eleven tracks being performed. Thus, one is left in a situation similar to that of listening to the trio performing in a club setting without the pianist taking the trouble to provide a few background remarks to his audience over the course of the evening. Indeed, aside from the tracks that I recognized (“Prelude To a Kiss” and “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To”), I had no idea how many of the selections were Cables originals, let alone why they were composed. Apparently, HighNote Records does not believe that the best listeners are informed listeners!

[added 11/25, 9:45 a.m: I just received the PDF of the booklet that HighNote created for this album. It is definitely an asset for those that take listening to jazz seriously! To be fair, my source for this album was the Play MPE Web site. The good news is that the site provided information about the producers, and HighNote was only to happy to “fill the gap” that Play MPE had opened! Clearly, HighNote does have informed listeners in mind in their productions! Nevertheless, I have to report that I just checked the above Amazon Web site. In addition to the usual link for purchasing the CD, there are links for both download and streaming; and, as of this writing, neither of them provides access to the booklet.]

Old First Concerts: December, 2024

This year Old First Concerts will present only four programs at Old First Presbyterian Church. All four of them will be “seasonal;” and, as might be expected, they will all be vocal! All of the events will remain “hybrid,” allowing both live streaming and seating in the Old First Presbyterian Church at 1751 Sacramento Street on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue. However, there will be more variation in ticket prices than usual. Those interested in attending should consult the event pages (which include hyperlinks for streaming) for specific price information. Hyperlinks to those event pages (which include hyperlinks for streaming) will be attached to the date and time of the performances as follows:

Saturday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.: The Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco is an annual visitor at this time of year, presenting its annual Carols by Candlelight program. They will sing Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols with harp accompaniment by Molly Langer, and the performance will be led by Dr. Matthew Otto. There will be other selections for chorus and harp, which will include traditional carols.

Friday, December 13, 8 p.m.: The next regular visitor for the season will be Golden Bough. The performers are Margie Butler, Paul Espinoza, and Kathy Sierra. In addition to providing vocals, they are all instrumentalists backing themselves on an array of rare and more common acoustic instruments including: Celtic harp, penny-whistle, violin, octave-mandolin, mandolin, accordion, guitar, harmonica, recorder and bodhrán. Like their previous performances, their program will specialize in Celtic songs of winter; but they also offer their unique take on better known Christmas carols.

The members of the Ragazzi Boys Chorus (from the Old First Concerts event page)

Sunday, December 15, 4 p.m.: The Ragazzi Boys Chorus will return, led by Artistic and Executive Director Kent Jue. They will present the oldest composed work in the series, the Cantate Domino by Heinrich Schütz. For the most part, however, the program will draw upon familiar seasonal offerings.

Sunday, December 22, 4 p.m.: Kitka will present its traditions Wintersongs program under the co-direction of Shira Cion, Janet Kutulas, and Juliana Graffagna. The vocalists are Stacy Barnett, Kristine Barrett, Charlotte Finegold, Erin Lashnits Herman, Maclovia Quintana, Katya Schoenberg, and Talia Young-Skeen. This year’s program will pay particular attention to music from the Republic of Georgia. However, there will also be offerings of Balkan, Baltic, Mediterranean and Slavic sources.

SFJAZZ: December, 2024

The better part of this month will be devoted to Holidays at SFJAZZ performances. Fortunately, these will include options at the Joe Henderson Lab; and it will probably be the case that not all (if any) of those options will venture into “seasonal repertoire!” For those that do not (yet?) know, the SFJAZZ Center is located at 201 Franklin Street, on the northwest corner of Fell Street, where the main entrance doors are located. Performance dates, times, and hyperlinks for purchasing tickets are as follows:

Saturday, December 7, 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, December 8, 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.: Huntertones is a group with a repertoire that blends jazz, funk, rock, and soul. Leadership seems to be shared among saxophonist Dan White, trumpeter Jon Lampley, and trombonist Chris Ott. If we are to believe the photograph on the Web page, the entire ensemble is a sextet; but further details about personnel have not yet been released.

Guitarist and vocalist George Cole (from the SFJAZZ event page for his performances this month)

Friday, December 20, and Saturday, December 21, 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, December 22, 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.: Guitarist and vocalist George Cole will give his own account of tracks from Nat King Cole’s 1960 album The Magic of Christmas. He will lead a trio whose other instruments are piano and bass. However, the performers of those instruments have not yet been named.

Marshall Allen Celebrates Sun Ra

This seems to be a good year for reviving my interest in Sun Ra. At the beginning of this past May, I wrote about the release of Sun Ra at the Showcase: Live in Chicago, which accounted for performances in both February of 1976 and November of 1977. Listening to that album reminded me of when my wife and I were living in Los Angeles and went to at least one of Ra’s performances with his Arkestra.

Cover of the album begin discussed (from the Amazon.com Web page)

Ra died on May 30, 1993. After that, Marshall Allen took over leading the band, which kept Ra’s name in the title as the Sun Ra Arkestra. This past May 25 marked Allen’s 100th birthday. For that occasion IN+OUT Records invited the 24 musicians in this band to make a recording in its studio. The result was released today under the title Lights On A Satellite, and it is now available through an Amazon.com Web page.

I have to confess that there were a few episodes during my listening experience that shifted my attention in a somewhat unorthodox direction. This was particularly the case with the ensemble’s take on David Rose’s “Holiday for Strings.” This was the theme song for The Red Skelton Show, which was always introduced by a chorus singing “David Rose and his ORRRRchestra” (which was about as inspiring as fingernails on a blackboard)! Spike Jones also had his way with the tune, having it sung by a clucking chicken. Allen introduces the tune on Lights On A Satellite with a bit of his own tongue in cheek; and, while his rhetoric verges on the raucous, he never descends into the absurdities of the last century! (Mind you, the gong at the end of “Friendly Galaxy” also brings Jones to mind!)

Nationalism: Here and in the Middle East

Some “unkempt thoughts” departing from music:

It was in high school that I first encountered the concept of “nationalism.” My American History teacher distilled it to a single sentence: “My country, right or wrong; but always my country.” I used to think back on those days during the Watergate hearings, wondering if my teacher’s commitment to nationalism was as strong as it was a few decades earlier.

I was reminded about that myopic commitment this morning when I encountered the following headline on a BBC Web page: “Biden says ICC war crimes arrest warrant 'outrageous’.” Apparently, our President’s “right or wrong” commitment to Israel is as strong his commitment to his own country. As the BBC article observes, that commitment isolates our country not only from the International Criminal Court (ICC) but also from a fair number of European countries.

My first job after leaving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with my doctoral degree took me to the Technion in Haifa, whose “secondary” name was “Israel Institute of Technology.” From an academic point of view, it was a smooth move; and I had no trouble preparing material for the classes I taught. (My knowledge of Hebrew never came up to snuff, but none of my students minded my lecturing in English while my teaching assistants provided hand-outs in Hebrew!) Nevertheless, my encounters with both Israelis and ex-pats, not only in Haifa but also in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, were, to put it politely, “mixed.”

The fact is that, even before borders were finalized, Israel would do what Israel wanted to do. Mind you, this a time when (too) many Americans stereotyped Arabs as terrorists, even if they could not support their bias with evidence. Since my own efforts to promote a more balanced view tended to provoke most of the Israelis I worked with and knew socially, I kept my ideas to myself for the two years of my tenure with Technion.

My second job was at the University of Pennsylvania, and it was only then that I bought my first television and started to watch the news, rather than just reading the papers. During the last few decades of the last century, Benjamin Netanyahu was already ingratiating himself with the broadcast media in the United States. Whenever a conflict was being reported from the Middle East, he always seemed to be there to offer his perspective. The American newscasters never seemed to mind whether or not that perspective was consistent with that of Israel itself.

As a result, I am now not surprised that, when I hear Netanyahu, I have no trouble wondering if he is speaking for himself or for his country. Unfortunately, it seems that our President is not given to such wondering. It’s bad enough when an allegiance to nationalism blinds us to hard truths about our own country. However, when it also blinds us to hard truths presented by the ICC, I have to worry about whether we shall ever be capable of a broader perspective that will afford a less pleasant point of view.

Labadie Returns to SFS with More Mozart

Conductor Bernard Labadie (photograph by Winnie Au, courtesy of SFS)

The last time Bernard Labadie visited the podium of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS), he divided his program between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the first half and Joseph Haydn in the second. Yesterday afternoon he returned to Davies Symphony Hall, this time with a program devoted entirely to Mozart. The soloist was soprano Lucy Crowe, who sang an aria from the K. 344 opera Zaide along with two concert arias, both of which were being performed by SFS for the first time, one on either side of the intermission. In addition, she introduced the Zaide offering with the K. 577 rondo “Al desi, di chi t’adora.” The two arias that flanked the intermission were “Schon lacht der holde Frühling” (K. 580) and K. 490, “Non temer, amato bene,” with a recitative introduction, “Venga la morte.”

With the exception of the Zaide aria, these offerings provided a thoroughly engaging journey of discovering how Mozart could approach vocal music without the context of an opera narrative. Crowe found just the right way to convey expressiveness that was not conceived to enhance a larger-scale narrative. Indeed, K. 490 was scored as a duet for soprano and violin (performed by Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik). Sadly, over the course of this one occasion when the two of them were performing “together as equals,” they did not always succeed in balancing their respective parts.

The instrumental offerings provided a variation on the usual overture-concerto-symphony plan. Since the vocal offerings served as the “concerto” the musical selection between the overture and the symphony was the K. 477 “Masonic Funeral Music.” This latter was characterized by a rich selection of winds. Mozart made some changes in overall instrumentation to find just the right tone of darkness. He eventually settled on three basset horns and a contrabassoon, whose collective sonorities could not have been more engaging.

The overture for the program was the one Mozart composed for his final opera, the K. 621 La clemenza di Tito. As a result, everything but the concluding symphony made for a throughly engaging journey through seldom performed Mozart works. Familiarity came at the end with the K. 543 symphony in E-flat major, the first of the “big three” symphonies that conclude the catalog of Mozart’s contribution to this genre. As a clarinet player in the past, I appreciated the attention that Mozart gave to that instrument, particularly in the Trio for the third movement; and I relished every phrase of Carey Bell’s interpretation of that music!

Not Much Fun from Ginetta and her Vendetta

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

This morning I had my first encounter with Ginetta M., described in June 29, 2015 by Jazz Times as a “triple threat female power-house.” The three “tines” of that threat are singing, composing, and leading a band called Ginetta’s Vendetta in which she plays pocket trumpet. The latest release by that ensemble is the album Fun Size, which, according to its Amazon.com Web page, was first available for MP3 download this past June and (according to another source) is due for “physical” release this coming Sunday. (Presumably, this is when the option will be added to the Web page.)

Having listened to this album several times, I have to confess that I found nothing particularly “threatening.” More often than not, her sense of pitch tends to be a “sometime things,” whether it involves her vocals or her trumpet work. Her band is a quintet with Danny Walsh on the front line playing both tenor and soprano saxophones. Rhythm is provided by Jon Davis on piano, drummer Marcello Pellitteri, and Belden Bullock on bass. Personally, when Davis is given enough space to improvise, I found a fair amount of satisfaction in listening; but everything else about this album left me cold.

SFS: Concert Music for the Holiday Spirit

Next month is when the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) goes “all in” for the “holiday spirit.” While there are any number of holidays being celebrated by different faiths and communities during the month of December, the prevailing theme in Davies Symphony Hall tends towards Christmas, beginning with the decor in the lobby! While there are any number “popular” offerings that will be taking place in Davies Symphony Hall between December 2 and December 21, there are two concert offerings that make an annual appearance.

The first of these is the annual SFS performance of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 56 oratorio, better known by its title, Messiah. As usual, Jenny Wong will lead the SFS Chorus; but all the vocal soloists will be making Orchestra Series Debut performances. They will be Amanda Forsythe (soprano), John Holiday (countertenor), Aaron Sheehan (tenor), and Douglas Williams (baritone). The conductor will be Stephen Stubbs, who will also be making his debut.

Messiah will be given two performances, both beginning at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7. Ticket prices range from $30 to $199. The hyperlinks attached to the above dates may be used for online purchase. Tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-864-6000 or by visiting the Box Office in Davies Symphony Hall, whose entrance is on the south side of Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Wattis Foundation Music Director Radu Paponiu (from the event page for next month’s SFS Youth Orchestra performance)

The other major concert offering for the season will be the annual performance by the SFS Youth Orchestra of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf.” This will be an “ecumenical” program, which will include the traditional Hanukkah song “Mis Zeh Hidik” (behold the lights) in an arrangement by Jeff Tyzik; and the program will conclude with a “sing-along” of traditional Christmas carols. There will also be selections from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, which will be framed by two secular offerings, the seventh piece in Antonín Dvořák’s Opus 72 Slavonic Dances collection, and Johann Strauss II’s Opus 324, the polka given the title “Unter Donner und Blitz” (thunder and lightning). The conductor will be Wattis Foundation Music Director Radu Paponiu.

For this program, which will be given only one performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 15, ticket prices will range from $15 to $199; and a Web page is again available for online purchase.

Alberto Mesirca Plays with Domenico Scarlatti

I sometimes think that the history of music evolves not through those that simply play music but with those most adventurous individuals that seek out opportunities to play with the music of others. Composer Kevin Swierkosz-Lenart provides a good example of such an endeavor, and his effort can now be appreciated through the latest Omni on-Location video, which was released on YouTube this morning at 10 a.m. This is a solo performance by guitarist Alberto Mesirca, which was captured on video at the Villa Comello in the town of Rossano Veneto, which is in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. (One can find a map on the Rossano Veneto Wikipedia page.)

Guitarist Alberto Mesirca playing Kevin Swierkosz-Lenart’s “Scarlattiana” at the Villa Comello in today’s latest video release from the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts

The title of Swierkosz-Lenart’s composition is “Scarlattiana.” As might be expected, his music plays with a composition by Domenico Scarlatti, his single-movement K. 380 sonata for solo keyboard. This tends to be one of the most familiar of the many (over 500) sonatas that Scarlatti composed. I suspect that many in my generation “discovered” it when Ingmar Bergman appropriated it as music for his film The Devil’s Eye (one of his few films that is a comedy).

Swierkosz-Lenart, however, seems to be more interested in virtuosity than in sly humor. Scarlatti’s music is deconstructed; and the fragments are then woven into a “thicker fabric,” which demands focus on rising to the challenge of each finger-busting elaboration on the underlying theme. Mind you, anyone familiar with the Scarlatti sonata will have no trouble following it, but the fun comes in following all of Swierkosz-Lenart’s digressions!

As one can see above, the Villa Comello is a seriously austere venue. I was therefore struck by some of the “off beat” camera angles (such at the one captured above). I took these be a playful point of view that offsets the austerity of the physical setting, thus reinforcing the prankish approach that Bergman took, when he appropriated Scarlatti’s music for his film. One might even say that the media crew was playing with the visual impressions in the same way that composer Swierkosz-Lenart was playing with Scarlatti.

SFB: Plans for 2024–2025 Season

As usual, the new season of San Francisco Ballet (SFB) will begin next month with a little over three week’s worth of performances of Helgi Tomasson’s choreography for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet score. This will be followed by the 92nd Season Opening Night Gala on January 22. After that, SFB will settle into its annual season of six programs, three of which will be full-length performances of a single ballet.

This year will mark the twentieth anniversary of Tomasson’s staging of this seasonal tradition. The production will be given 37 performances. As usual, the cast will be augmented by the usual 110 SFB School children, performing as bugs, soldiers, mice, and partygoers. Similarly, the setting will remain San Francisco in 1915 during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The scenery has been designed by Michael Yeargan, Martin Pakledinaz conceived the rich diversity of costumes, and lighting was designed by James F. Ingalls. The full list of performance dates and times is as follows:

• Friday, December 6, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, December 7, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Sunday, December 8, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 10, 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 11, 6 p.m.
• Thursday, December 12, 6 p.m.
• Friday, December 13, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Saturday, December 14, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Sunday, December 15, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 17, 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 18, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Friday, December 20, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Saturday, December 21, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Sunday, December 22, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Monday, December 23, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 24, 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Thursday, December 26, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Friday, December 27, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Saturday, December 28, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Sunday, December 29, 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

All performances will take place in the War Memorial Opera House, which is on the northwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street (across Grove from Davies Symphony Hall). A single Web page has been created for purchasing tickets for all of the above dates and times. There is also a single Web page that provides casting information (which is subject to change) for the leading roles, again for all of the above dates and times. Tickets may also be purchased at the Box Office in the outer lobby of the Opera House or by calling 415-865-2000. The Box Office is open for ticket sales Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

SFB Artistic Director Tamara Rojo (from her Instagram Web page)

Dates for the season performances next year have been set as follows:

• January 24–February 1: Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon is a three-act ballet based on the novel Manon Lescaut by Antoine François Prévost.
• February 13–19: Cool Britannia will survey recent works by British choreographers: Christopher Wheeldon (“Within the Golden Hour”), Wayne McGregor (“Chroma”), and Akram Khan (“Dust”).
• March 1–8: Marius Petipa conceived Raymonda as a three-act ballet named after a young noble lady. The narrative concerns the men that vie for her hand in marriage. However, Artistic Director Tamara Rojo has reworked the plot to model the title character on Florence Nightingale and the role she played during the Crimean War.
• March 20–26: SFB will revive the performance of Frankenstein, a full-evening ballet based on the novel by Mary Shelley and choreographed by Liam Scarlett.
• April 5–19: This program will be a tribute to Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen, performing four of his works: “Solo,” “5 Tango’s,” “Grosse Fuge,” and “Variations for Two Couples.”
• April 8–18: Frederick Ashton’s “Marguerite and Armand,” originally created for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, will return to the SFB repertoire; it will be coupled with a revival of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “Broken Wings.”
• April 26–May 4: This will be a second round of performances of Frankenstein.

Tickets may be purchased through the above hyperlinks. Box Office hours are the same as for the Nutcracker performances.

SFP: Anthony Roth Costanzo’s Recital Debut

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (courtesy of San Francisco Performances)

My “first contact” with countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo could not have been more memorable. It dates back to the fall of 2014, when he sang the role of Armindo in the San Francisco Opera production of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 27 opera Partenope. The staging was by Christopher Alden, who was not afraid to inject slapstick comedy into the veins of baroque opera. Costanzo stole the show when Alden decided that Armindo would sing a full-length aria while depicting a drunk trying to contend with getting up a staircase.

As a recitalist, Costanzo was not quite as raucous, but there were no shortage of high spirits. He was accompanied at the piano by Bryan Wagorn, who may have been a bit too heavy-handed for the opening Handel selections. These were arias from Amadigi di Gaula (HWV 11) and Arminio (HWV 36), both of which displayed an abundance of coloratura embellishments. They were a good way to seize audience attention; but the virtues of the evening had more to do with the breadth of expressiveness, rather than mere showboating.

Mind you, it was not particularly easy to keep up with the full extent of that breadth. Ultimately, I was drawn to the unexpected. This was particularly the case when Costanzo chose to conclude the first half of his program with four songs by Franz Liszt. These may have fallen short of the peak of the art song repertoire, but it was still interesting to encounter Liszt occupied with something other than excessive keyboard embellishments!

More interesting were the three selections of songs by Philip Glass. Readers may recall my writing about the Great Performances at the Met telecast of Akhnaten, whose title role was sung by Costanzo. While I was not particularly impressed with that experience, I have to confess that Costanzo’s account of those individual songs was far more engaging. He knew exactly how to wind his voice around Glass’ repetitive structures, while Glass knew how to capture just the right amount of expressiveness in just the right amount of time. On the other hand, when the program closed out with two familiar songs by George Gershwin, neither of the accounts left much of a memorable impression.

However, if the conclusion was not at its strongest, Costanzo bounced back with a delightful encore. He sang the roles of both Almaviva and Susanna in the duet “Crudel! perchè finora” at the beginning of the third act of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 492 opera The Marriage of Figaro. This is a mini-drama of conflicting schemes. Costanzo knew just how to honor the narrative while having a bit of fun with it at the same time.

The Bleeding Edge: 11/19/2024

Readers may have noticed that this week’s Bleeding Edge was pushed back by a day. This is because it was “beaten to the punch” yesterday by the announcement of Ghost Quartet, which will not be performed until the beginning of next month. However, this morning things are “back on track,” even if the “track” is a relatively quiet one. Two of this week’s events have already been announced:

1. The two-set evening at The Lab, which will take place tomorrow (November 20)
2. The next performance by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, which will take place this coming Sunday

These will be balanced by two new events, both of which are “usual suspects,” as follows:

Tuesday (today), November 19, Make-Out Room, 7 p.m.: As was the case last month, this month’s installment of Jazz at the Make-Out Room will consist of two sets, each roughly an hour in duration. The first set will be taken by Ghost Dub. This is usually a quartet; but, on this occasion, it will be limited to the trio, led by Ghost in the House founder David Michalak, who, as usual, will be playing steel guitar and the skatch instruments invented by the late Tom Nunn. He will be joined by Bruce Ackley, playing both clarinet and soprano saxophone, and trumpeter Darren Johnston, who will also provide vocals. They will be followed by the trio of saxophonist Philip Greenlief, Evelyn Davis on keyboard, and drummer Jordan Glenn. As usual, the Make-Out Room is located in the Mission at 3225 22nd Street. Doors will open at 6 p.m. There is no cover charge, so donations will be accepted and appreciated.

Guitarist Zachary James Watkins (from the Bay Area Improviser Web page for his performance on Friday)

Friday, November 22, Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore & Gallery, 7 p.m.: As usual, reed player David Boyce will host the weekly Other Dimensions in Sound series. This week he will perform with Zachary James Watkins (guitars), singer-songwriter Robert Diaz, and Evelyn Davis (keyboards and vocals). The venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. As always, there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.