tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post6718428724079739837..comments2024-03-17T12:16:42.048-07:00Comments on Civic Center: San Francisco Symphony 2009-10 PreviewCivic Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-33345713116217034942010-05-23T10:21:35.652-07:002010-05-23T10:21:35.652-07:00Hi. Let me ask, if you still know Markus Crouse ?...Hi. Let me ask, if you still know Markus Crouse ? He is about 43 years old and Georgetown University and moved to LA in 2000 (a teacher). I am a friend who lost touch. If you know him can you pass along my email? My name is Loy Halm, a Cambodian he knows. My email address is LoyOfBos on yahoo. Thank-you. I would love to hear from him, that he is OK (i hope).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-4969685486807636102009-08-27T05:55:37.882-07:002009-08-27T05:55:37.882-07:00Aren't those hanging baskets full of flowers j...Aren't those hanging baskets full of flowers just gorgeous!!!!!AphotoAdayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08581940419934089601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-35270722791231627832009-08-26T19:33:50.220-07:002009-08-26T19:33:50.220-07:00Dear rootlesscosmo: Baroque era music doesn't ...Dear rootlesscosmo: Baroque era music doesn't usually fare too well in the cavernous Davies Hall, but I've heard a few exceptions.<br /><br />Dear Patrick: You're absolutely correct that my analogy was faulty. Let me put it another way. It would be like going to see MTT conducting "Sheherezade" in SF as a tourist, and it being astonishingly good. You'd think it was like this every week, and it ain't necessarily so.<br /><br />Dear Mark: As a former Los Angeles boy, I've always known that city was culturally richer in just about every way than San Francisco. Having said that, I will always prefer the San Francisco Opera House to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Haven't been inside the Disney Hall yet but am looking forward to it. Also, don't count out Chicago.<br /><br />Dear Matty: Los Angeles just feels perched on the edge of disaster in ways that are unique. It's also one of the most beautiful natural settings in the world which has been thoroughly scarred over the last 100 years by car culture in the most hideous ways. That adds to the feeling.<br /><br />Dear Louisa: Thanks for the confirmation. See you this fall.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-47943743845862193752009-08-26T15:09:59.455-07:002009-08-26T15:09:59.455-07:00Yes, you got it exactly right Michael. Information...Yes, you got it exactly right Michael. Information about the Symphony's rush ticket policy can be found here:<br />http://www.sfsymphony.org/season/default.aspx?id=644#terrcen<br /><br />Thanks for giving us all your season highlights!<br /><br />Cheers,<br />Louisa <br />San Francisco Symphony PR Dept.LouisianaJoneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05804062381831128220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-51002677494097693892009-08-26T14:36:43.389-07:002009-08-26T14:36:43.389-07:00Dear Janos:
I think what they mean about the $15 ...Dear Janos:<br /><br />I think what they mean about the $15 Center Terrace tickets being available at SOME performances is that they won't be available at programs where the chorus is featured because that's where they sit, stand and sing. Otherwise, I think they're available at all the other performances.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-55310430275505212352009-08-26T14:28:47.490-07:002009-08-26T14:28:47.490-07:00About those $15 tickets to SFS (I mused in http://...About those $15 tickets to SFS (I mused in http://www.sfcv.org/article/music-news-august-11-2009#anchor6 whether on MTT's 40th anniversary - ins'allah - the price will go to $40...:) - I will believe when, and what, I see. <br /><br />The small print says the $15 tickets are available at SOME performances, and I'd like to hear from the first actual person who actually takes advantage of this alleged stimulus program. Signed, Skeptical-of-All-Marketing-Campaigns.Janos Gerebenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09970876142767455788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-73950390539266328862009-08-26T08:19:19.498-07:002009-08-26T08:19:19.498-07:00Mike, You may well be right that a whole season of...Mike, You may well be right that a whole season of standards in Philadelphia would ultimately disappoint me, but as you and others have pointed out, the ultimate proof is in the concerts themselves.<br /><br />Rostropovich conducting Shostakovich was a special event anywhere. Dutoit conducting Shostakovich is standard programming in Philadelphia. So your point isn't quite clear to me -- are you saying MTT (or his conducting of certain composers) is the problem?<br /><br />The Philadelphia Orchestra doesn't bask in a reputation for adventurous programming. The San Francisco Orchestra does, and I think the reputation is undeserved. I'm not saying they don't do a lot of great stuff. They're just not living up to their hype.<br /><br />I haven't checked Philadelphia's upcoming season, but I'm happy to take your word for it. As far as websites go, though, I don't think SF's is particularly good either. I was toying with the notion of doing a sort of "monthly preview" entry but abandoned it because the symphony website was just too much of a pain to deal with (and that was for the slow month of July).Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-39531857943006931462009-08-26T05:39:12.426-07:002009-08-26T05:39:12.426-07:00So, what are we in San Francisco? Two bad days fr...So, what are we in San Francisco? Two bad days from the apocalypse? Three?<br /><br />It's certainly no more than one bad week away. Or maybe it's that I live in Oakland.Matthew Hubbardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17769958949302039878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-36475458891713913412009-08-25T23:03:51.611-07:002009-08-25T23:03:51.611-07:00When I first read through SFS's schedule for t...When I first read through SFS's schedule for the upcoming season I was also initially disappointed, but during a second examination I found there are perhaps a dozen concerts I would happily attend. Having said that, I don't see anything that holds the promise to thrill like some of last year's concerts did, but I know I'm going to be proven wrong on that count at some point during the season.<br /><br />The unhappy truth for San Franciscans is that Los Angeles is undoubtedly the most adventurous orchestra in the country and has been for a few years. Salonen took the LA Phil to level few would have ever thought possible and it looks like Dudamel is going to at least make a real effort to carry on the challenging programs that are a large part of Salonen's legacy.<br /><br />Add in a comparison of SF's and LA's opera companies (not to mention theater,other performing arts and museums) and it should be obvious to anyone interested in the arts that the city so oftened ridiculed for being a vapid cultural wasteland has quietly become a mecca for them, only surpassed in this country by New York.<br /><br />Now bring on the hate if you must, but it's all true. Read it, weep and then get online. Thankfully, fares on Southwest remain low so I'll be down there a few times over the next nine months to see and hear programming that won't be found in these parts.John Marcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17616296400880495672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-83294322671682674992009-08-25T22:41:55.185-07:002009-08-25T22:41:55.185-07:00Dear Patrick: So you heard one great Shostakovich ...Dear Patrick: So you heard one great Shostakovich Fifth with the Philadelphia Orchestra. I heard one great Shostakovich Fifth with Rostropovich conducting the San Francisco Symphony right before he died, and it was an awesome performance. However, that has little to do with how the same orchestra plays the same piece for MTT (not so awesome). And if you were going to every concert this year in Philadelphia, I doubt if you'd be in consistent bliss.<br /><br />Please do check out the Philadelphia Orchestra website. It's sort of a navigational nightmare trying to find out their actual schedule, and then when you do find it, I'm warning you. It's Case Book Study Boring Symphonic Classics. I like Dutoit but Jesu, the programming reads like a Reader's Digest Classical Music 10-LP set.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-78696111940641243102009-08-25T21:16:36.427-07:002009-08-25T21:16:36.427-07:00I actually had other things to point out even befo...I actually had other things to point out even before I ran across myself pointing out the superiority of Boston's Hall.<br /><br />I think SFCV is making a valid point about the lack of living local composers (and they had quite a list of possibilities, not just Imbrie and Heggie and Getty). On the other hand, the Boston press made the same point about Ozawa back when I lived there.<br /><br />And they're both right. Just because our symphony is on the slightly less conservative end doesn't mean it's actually adventurous. It means all American symphonies do a bad job supporting contemporary or risky music.<br /><br />Yes, the audience is partly to blame for that, but so is the administration and the marketing department, particularly when the symphony and the city itself like to consider themselves adventurous. I have no problem with people pointing out they really aren't all that daring. It's a way of calling them on their pretenses.<br /><br />And I have to say about Dutoit and Philadelphia: I was a bit disappointed that when I was there last June the warhorsey program was Debussy's Images and the Shostakovich 5 (the week after I could have heard the Berlioz Requiem). But their playing of the Shostakovich, in particular, was just brilliant and blew SF out of the water. If warhorses were always played like that I'd be happy with a warhorse schedule.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-43901506611678193582009-08-25T21:15:19.300-07:002009-08-25T21:15:19.300-07:00I heard them do Brandenburg No. 5 a few years ago ...I heard them do Brandenburg No. 5 a few years ago and it wasn't fun. For whatever reason, they gave the (very difficult, very exposed) harpsichord part to Robin Sutherland, who, being a pianist, was unused to the lighter touch, so that while he played all the right notes he also played a great many others that lay in between them. This was especially painful during the big first movement cadenza which was just a schmear.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com