Handel's Hercules in Berkeley

Artists, have hope! Sometimes it only takes three centuries for your failures to turn into successes. Such is the case with Hercules, Handel's 1744 oratorio that bombed at its London premiere and then was revived to wondrous acclaim in the 20th century. On Sunday afternoon at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances hosted the beginning of The English Concert's short U.S. tour with the three-hour Hercules, which was a magnificent dramatic and musical success. (All production photos, unless noted, are by Kristen Loken.)

The English Concert is an early instrument chamber orchestra formed in London by Trevor Pinnock in 1972. In 2007 Harry Bicket took over as Music Director, and his interest in Handel's music has led to a recent series of global tours with the composer's Italian operas and English oratorios. Last year's Cal Performances visit featured the opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto , and everyone I know who attended raved about the experience. You can now add me to the bandwagon.

One element of the pleasure was the excellence of the chamber orchestra, anchored by keen conducting from Harry Bicket. He also played the harpsichord continuo during the many dramatic recitatives along with Sergio Bucheli on the theorbo and Jonathan Byers on violincello. (Photo by Michael Strickland.)

Another virtuosic element was The Clarion Choir, a 20-person ensemble out of New York City. They have collaborated with The English Concert before and their performance on Sunday included some of the best choral singing I've ever heard. They even contributed a couple of singers for smaller roles, including Jonathan Woody as The Priest of Jupiter, whose rich bass voice was so strong that he sounded as if he could step in and sing Hercules in a pinch. (Photo by Michael Strickland.)

Also noteworthy was Alexander Chance in the nondescript messenger role of Lichas. Chance has a sweet, non-hooty countertenor voice, perfect diction, and a confident stage bearing that draws attention even when he's standing stock still.

The bass William Guanbo Su, whose career is just taking off at major opera houses around the world, gave an excellent performance as the demi-god strongman who returns from conquest with the beautiful young Pincess Iola. Her presence literally drives Hercules's wife Dejanira into jealous insanity even though in this version of the tale Hercules is innocent of any hanky-panky.

Dejamira is the oratorio's major role, here embodied by the 58-year-old Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg in one of the most thrilling performances I have seen on a concert stage. (Photo by Michael Strickland.)

Hallenberg's English diction was exemplary and her acting so strong that it felt as if we were seeing a great actress attack a classic role like Hedda Gabler or Lady Macbeth. She was simply amazing.

The young soprano Hilary Cronin as Princess Iole was perfectly lovely and held her own when confronted by the jealous Dejamira. As my concert companion said at intermission, "Just let her keep singing one beautiful note after another at me, and I'll be happy." (Photo by Michael Strickland.)

The Harmonic Labyrinth with ABS

The American Bach Soloists presented an unusually rich program entitled The Harmonic Labyrinth on Sunday afternoon at St. Marks Lutheran Church. It started with a short secular cantata from 1747 by J.S. Bach, Non se che sia dolore, written as a goodbye present for a friend. The piece is essentially a flute concerto that turns into a soprano and flute duet. Soprano Maya Kherani was the lovely soloist while Bethanne Walker was mellifulous on her original instrument flute.

Next up was Pietro Locatelli's 1733 Violin Concerto in D Major, a virtuosic work with two fiendishly complex cadenzas. Violinist YuEun Gemma Kim was a joy to watch as she tore through the work under the baton of Music Director Jeffrey Thomas.

The second half of the program was achingly gorgeous, with a pair of vocal works devoted to the Virgin Mary. First up was Domenico Scarlatti's final composition, the 1756 Salve Regina for soprano and strings. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit sang the 15-minute work in a creamy, seamless fashion that had everyone in the church pews melting in pleasure.

The major work on the program was still to come, Pergolesi's 1736 Stabat Mater, which was the composer's final work before his early death at age 26. After the work was published, it quickly became a sensation all over Europe, and it's easy to hear why. The music for two sopranos, singing separately and together, is so beautiful that I'm surprised it hasn't been repurposed for commercial purposes everywhere, rather like the Flower Duet from Lakmé that British Airlines was using for years. I have only heard a live performance of this Stabat Mater a couple of times over the decades, and there was always something missing until Sunday's performance, when Maya Kherani and Sarah Coit interweaved their voices with such perfection that the audience floated out in pure happiness. As my late friend Jack Murray once said when handing me an LP of the work as a birthday present, "Don't worry. It's an 'up' Stabat Mater."

The Blake Works at the San Francisco Ballet

Everything was beautiful at the SF Ballet last Friday.

There were bon vivants sipping champagne on the outdoor balcony on the mezzanine level...

...along with couples of all sizes, shapes...

...and gender identities.

The San Francisco Ballet continued its season last Friday with The Blake Works, an evening-length set of ballets by the 76-year-old choreographer William Forsythe set to music by the 37-year-old English pop singer James Blake.

My favorite section was the 20-minute Prologue, where a Blake song was deconstructed into halting musical snippets sandwiched between silence, with principal dancers moving frenetically across the minimalist stage, led by the incomparable Joseph Walsh. (All production photos are by Chris Hardy.)

The second section, The Barre Project, was created during the COVID pandemic, and featured one great dancer after another, like Cavan Conley above, attached to the barre and eventually freeing themselves to encompass the whole stage.

After intermission, there was a reprise of Blake Works I, seen here in 2022, which Forsythe set for individuals such as the enthralling Nikisha Fogo along with complex dances for the entire ensemble.

The ballet was set to seven songs by Blake, whose recorded music eventually became irritatingly boring to me over the course of a whole evening. In her rave review of Blake Works in the SF Chronicle, Rachel Howard maintains: "I’d argue that whether you like the music itself is immaterial. To witness the depth with which Forsythe listens is the point." Half of the joy of going to the SF Ballet for me is hearing their excellent orchestra performing live music rather than prerecorded tracks, so I am not convinced, but as a showcase for exciting dancers, the evening does its job.

Magnificent Magnolias

After a week of rain while being laid out on a couch with a bum leg, I finally ventured out on this exquisitely sunny, beautiful afternoon to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.

February has been Magnolia Month at the Gardens, featuring maps and lots of decorative and explanatory signage.

On our way to the featured attraction, we stumbled across camellias galore...

...not to mention slightly wilting rhododendrons.

The magnolia blooms are near their expiration, with many of them decorating the ground, but they were still a spectacular sight.

According to signage, magnolias are magical medicinal plants which the Chinese have apparently known about for centuries.

There are benches situated throughout the Gardens, and they all seem to have commemorative plaques on them. This one is my favorite.