Lisa Hirsch is a Bay Area music writer. She studied music at Brandeis and Stony Brook and blogs about classical music and opera at Iron Tongue of Midnight.
Cellist Matt Haimovitz suits the age-of-anxiety mood of Philip Glass’ cello concerto, based on his movie score and recently expanded to concerto dimensions.
In a program apparently designed to show off the glorious Symphony Chorus, this week's Poulenc and Berlioz extravaganza, led in masterly fashion by guest conductor Charles Dutoit, is a majestic occasion.
The Alexander String Quartet celebrates two giants of chamber music, doing more than justice to Benjamin Britten’s centennial, not to mention Béla Bartók.
While it’s hard to explain the artistic alchemy that makes Robert Wilson and Philip Glass’s opera a success, it is surprisingly entertaining in the theater.
The Cabrillo Festival celebrates 50 with an engaging program: a road-racer, a mult-cult piece by Golijov, a Harrison symphony, and a commissioned work by a mere youngster.
Strongly cast, beautifully played and produced, the opening performance affirmed Nixon in China's standing as a musical and theatrical masterpiece and one of the great operas of the 20th century.
A semistaged production of Debussy's Martyr offered transporting performances, retaining spectacular elements of the original work, while emphasizing its beautiful music and religious mystery.
