Arts & Events

New: Purcell’s THE FAIRY QUEEN at SF Conservatory of Music

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Wednesday March 16, 2016 - 10:50:00 AM

Henry Purcell died in 1695 at the early age of 36 just three years after the premiere of his semi-opera The Fairy Queen, which in turn came only a year after the great success of his other noteworthy works in this genre, Dioclesian and King Arthur. The genre itself developed in England out of the popular court masques. Semi-operas combined spoken dialogue, acting, instrumental music, singing, and dance. The libretto for The Fairy Queen, by an anonymous author, offers a heavily abridged version of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. This material, usually presented in spoken dialogue, was absent in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s concert version of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, which included all the music Purcell composed for the 1692 premiere as well as the music he added for the 1693 revival. None of the familiar characters from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream have singing roles, so the singing is provided by nymphs, fairies and allegorical figures. I attended on Saturday afternoon, March 12, the second of two performances of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. -more-


Press Release: The Dazzling Divas at Le Bateau Ivre on Wednesday

Arlene Giordano, Le Bateau Ivre
Friday March 11, 2016 - 04:35:00 PM

Opera Divas Kathleen Moss (mezzo) and Eliza O’Malley (soprano), with special guests Deborah Rosengaus (mezzo-soprano) and Maestro Alexander Katsman (piano), will light up the hall with arias, duets and trios from celebrated operas of Puccini, Verdi, Bellini, Bizet, Delibes and a special selection of Irish favorites in honor of St. Patrick's Day. . -more-


New Falcon String Quartet in Vallejo

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Thursday March 10, 2016 - 10:05:00 PM

On Sunday, March 6, the New Falcon String Quartet gave its debut performance under the aegis of Vallejo Symphony Orchestra at Vallejo’s First Presbyterian Church. This group of eminent musicians formed only five weeks earlier, arising phoenix-like out of the ashes of another group, which was to bear the name Peregrine Quartet. Dissension in the first group led to its dissolution as two musicians departed, and a second group was formed, comprising musicians who had performed with the Mendocino Music Festival. Standing before a statue of a falcon in Mendocino, the musicians, mindful of the former name Peregrine Quartet, hit on the name New Falcon String Quartet. It seems a happy choice. The New Falcon String Quartet is comprised of Joseph Gold on first violin, Dan Kristianson on second (and occasional first) violin, Raphael Gold on viola, and Burke Schuchmann on cello. All are experienced as members of Bay Area symphonies, and they have also performed widely in the USA and abroad. -more-


The Lost Trio Plays Monk Plus Originals Saturday Night At California Jazz Academy

Ken Bullock
Friday March 11, 2016 - 12:55:00 PM

The Lost Trio—Phillip Greenlief (saxophone) of Oakland, Dan Seamans (bass) of Berkeley and Tom Hassett (drums) of San Francisco—premiere Bay Area jazz combo founded in 1994, will play Six By Monk, Six By The Lost Trio, 8 p. m. Saturday, March 12, at the California Jazz Conservatory, formerly known as the Jazzschool, 2087 Addison near Shattuck in downtown Berkeley. -more-


Press Release: Pianist Sarah Cahill in Concert at Berkeley Public Library

From Debbie Carton, Art & Music Librarian, Berkeley Public Library
Thursday March 10, 2016 - 10:13:00 PM

Berkeley Public Library welcomes local pianist/writer/producer Sarah Cahill on Sunday, March 20 at 2:00pm at the Central Library, 2090 Kittredge (at Shattuck) in the third floor Community Meeting Room. -more-