 Tuned In: Michael Steinberg's S.F. Symphony friends make music to honor his memoryPosted: 02/05/2010 12:01:00 AM PST Updated: 02/05/2010 02:53:52 PM PST
SATURDAY NIGHT'S San Francisco Symphony subscription concert in Davies Hall will be preceded at 5:30 by a free musical event that is both warm tribute and sad farewell. Former symphony associate concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis will host and perform at a memorial to her late husband, music historian and unparalleled program annotator Michael Steinberg, who died in July at age 80. Steinberg, whose witty, informative and thoroughly engaging commentary graced the symphony's printed programs for more than three decades, will be honored in shared personal remembrances of symphony musicians and friends, including solo pianist Garrick Ohlsson, keyboard principal Robin Sutherland, principal oboist William Bennett and others. Among the musical selections will be a chamber version of the Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony and the Largo e mesto movement from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 7. Following the tribute, expected to last about an hour, Michael Tilson Thomas returns with the full orchestra at 8 p.m. to perform S.F. Symphony's first accounting of Charles Ives' "Concord Symphony." The orchestra and the Symphony Chorus also will perform the Schubert Mass No. 2 with soprano Leah Crocetto, tenor Thomas Cooley and bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi as vocal soloists. Another performance of the subscription concert takes place at 8 tonight in Davies Hall. Tickets, at $35-$135, are available at 415-864-6000 or
Advertisement
ESA-PEKKA SNEAK PEEK: On Sunday, Berkeley Symphony's dynamic young conductor, Joana Carneiro, gets ready for her upcoming third subscription program with the orchestra with a thematically linked preview of sorts called "Under Construction." At 7 p.m. in St. John's Presbyterian Church, one work by each of the orchestra's four "Emerging Composers in Residence" will get an airing, all inspired by a "Greek muse" theme and thus related to "Five Images After Sappho." That song set for orchestra and soprano with text from the ancient Greek poetess, composed by former Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor and Carneiro's mentor Esa-Pekka Salonen, will be the centerpiece of Berkeley Symphony's Feb. 11 concert in Zellerbach Hall. Sunday's program unveils San Francisco composer Bruce Christian Bennett's "Of Memory: II. Terpsichore," Aptos composer Don Myers' "The Greek Muse: Shut-up, Socrates," Patricio da Silva of Danville's "No Cruising for the Muse" and "The Veil of Polyhymnia" by Andy Tan of Davis. Concertgoers will be rewarded for their adventurous spirit: Tickets are but $10 general or $20 priority admission. St. John's is at 2727 College Ave., Berkeley. Those whose appetites are whetted for the regular Berkeley Symphony program four days later will hear Jessica Rivera, a young soprano known for her affinity for contemporary works, sing Salonen's "Five Images," a cycle that traces the arc of a woman's life. That program also will include Berkeley composer Paul Dresher's "Cornucopia" and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, the "Eroica." It takes place at 8 p.m. Thursday in Zellerbach, at College and Bancroft in Berkeley. Tickets are $20-$60. Contact 510-841-2800 or www.berkeleysymphony.org for seats to both concerts. OPERA AT THE MOVIES PLUS: San Francisco Opera is teaming up with Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas — in its San Francisco Kabuki Theater outpost — to bring some of its best past productions back to life on the hi-def screen in a plush environment where you can order more than hot dogs or popcorn to augment your opera-going experience. And they're kicking off their "Grand Opera Cinema Series in HD" at 10 a.m. Feb. 13 and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 17 with an entirely appropriate selection for the Kabuki, the opera's fall 2007 production of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," starring incomparable Patricia Racette in the title role with Brandon Jovanovich as Pinkerton and mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao as Suzuki. I can't oversell this production, simply the best one I've ever seen, outstripping for sheer drama even the performance I witnessed years ago at Santa Fe Opera's open-air theater where thunder and a lightning bolt (I kid you not) struck at the exact moment Butterfly plunged the dagger into her kimono. Best of all, you can take this one in for $14, quite a bit less than what the New York Met is charging at theatercasts of its productions. Offerings that follow in the new series include the summer 2007 production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni," starring baritone Mariusz Kwiecien (Feb. 27 and March 3); the fall 2007 production of Saint-Saens' "Samson and Delilah" with Olga Borodina (March 20 and 24) and, also from fall of 2007, Puccini's "La Rondine" with fabulous Angela Gheorghiu (April 3 and 7). The Kabuki is at 1881 Post St., San Francisco. Tickets to the productions can be purchased at the theater box office or in advance at www.sundancecinemas.com, where you will be able to select seating. WHY THE SIZZLE FIZZLES: Sopranos Marie Plette and Elisabeth Russ, tenor Christopher Bengochea and pianist Simona Snitkovskaya will lend a musical hand when Fremont Symphony conductor David Sloss, also artistic director of Fremont Opera, explains why romance in opera is hard-wired to fail. His lecture takes place on Valentine's Day (!) at a 4 p.m. gathering at the Mission Coffee Roasting Company, where food and drink will be served. Theater and table seating will be set up, but come early for a table — the event will be limited to 100 guests. Tickets are $35; reserve them at 510-474-1004 or www.fremontopera.org. Mission Coffee is at 151 Washington Blvd., Fremont. Contact Sue Gilmore at sgilmore@bayareanewsgroup.com. | 
Font Resize
