Janos Gereben

Janos Gereben appreciates news tips, corrections, and words of encouragement at janosg@gmail.com.

Articles By This Author

Feature

Holiday Music Tips With a Twist

Janos Gereben - November 25, 2008
Religious holidays occur in the context of philosophies favoring the small over the big, the poor over the rich. Accordingly, this report will relegate the usual large and often costly events to an end-of-file roundup. Up front, there will be smaller, less familiar, and less costly events.
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Review

A Sound to Shake Heaven

Janos Gereben - November 25, 2008
Mahler's 1910 Eighth Symphony, called by some (but surely not by high-minded musicologists) "Symphony of a Thousand," is among the most massive works in all of music.
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Review

The Elixir of Generous Casting

Janos Gereben - November 4, 2008
Donizetti's most effervescent music, a simple and heartwarming story, melodies galore — The Elixir of Love is a virtually foolproof opera. Small companies, even schools produce it successfully, and even in a big house, you can't really fault a "prudent" approach to casting young singers, not-quite-stars, and such.
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Review

Godunov, in Short

Janos Gereben - October 28, 2008
Not all Russians are alike. Modest Mussorgsky wrote big, earthshaking operas.
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Feature

Cloning El Sistema in Oakland

Janos Gereben - October 21, 2008

St. Martin de Porres is a small parochial school in North Oakland. It is named for a 17th-century Dominican brother from Peru who was famous for establishing orphanages and children’s hospitals. He was canonized in 1962.

Feature

Cloning El Sistema in Oakland

Janos Gereben - October 21, 2008

St. Martin de Porres is a small parochial school in North Oakland. It is named for a 17th-century Dominican brother from Peru who was famous for establishing orphanages and children's hospitals. He was canonized in 1962. St.

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Review

Bicultural Opera's Grand Spectacle

Janos Gereben - September 16, 2008
"These are the things I know," begins Amy Tan's novel The Bonesetter's Daughter.
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Review

The Demon Barber of Fremont

Janos Gereben - August 26, 2008
David Sloss and the Fremont Symphony proved last weekend that the rave review for the Fremont Opera's inaugural production of La Bohème last year was not the result of a fluke.
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Review

'Wordless' Speaks of Talent, Opens Doors

Janos Gereben - August 26, 2008
Musiciens Sans Frontières have arrived, musicians without regard to genre frontiers, courtesy of the Wordless Music Series, which premiered at Herbst Theatre on Thursday. On the one hand, regional pride is raising its ugly head: We don't need no stinkin' "New York new music" to enliven our concert life.
Feature

'There's a Place for Us, Somewhere'

Janos Gereben - August 19, 2008
The wistful lyrics from West Side Story must have had a special meaning for David Gockley as he contemplated the lack of appropriate performance venues in the city. It was a couple of years ago, and Gockley had just arrived as the new general director of San Francisco Opera.