Posts by Ken Herman
Matthew Aucoin and the San Diego Symphony Lift Up Music’s Future in Both Past and Present Modes
As the San Diego Symphony’s ambitious, engaging festival “Hearing the Future” takes its victory lap, Festival Curator Matthew Aucoin led the orchestra in an exuberant concert in Copley Symphony Hall Friday, January 25. His refreshing approach to program design completely ignored the traditional overture-concerto-symphony formula: each half of the concert offered seven shorter works or…
Read MoreTenor Scott Quinn May be the Villain in San Diego Opera’s ‘Rigoletto’–but He Has the Best Music
Tenor Scott Quinn, a gregarious Texan, can hardly wait for the curtain to go up on San Diego Opera’s production of Giussepe Verdi’s popular opera “Rigoletto.” “The reward of playing the Duke of Mantua in this opera is that I get to sing Verdi’s great music, and the Duke gets all of the best music–or at least the most tuneful music–in this opera.”
Read MoreGuest Conductor Michael Francis Brings His Panache to the San Diego Symphony
With numerous 20th-century and newer works played in the San Diego Symphony’s current “Hearing the Future” festival, I felt a sense of backsliding attending Michael Francis’s program of familiar standard repertory from the early 19th century Friday, January 18, at the San Diego Symphony.
Read MoreChamber Music on the Cutting Edge from Franz Joseph Haydn to Matthew Aucoin
“All music was new at one time,” quipped Matthew Aucoin Tuesday as he welcomed the audience to his “Hearing the Future” festival chamber music program in the Auditorium at TSRI. Following his festival theme, Aucoin chose pieces that were pivotal when they were written, displaying approaches that pointed to a musical future barely on the horizon.
Read MoreMatthew Aucoin: the Genius Behind San Diego Symphony’s ‘Hearing the Future’ Festival
Music Director Designate Rafael Payare’s heady concerts with the San Diego Symphony last weekend marked the opening of the orchestra’s bravely titled “Hearing the Future” festival. In an interview at the Jacobs Music Center, Festival Curator Matthew Aucoin explained what the curious title means and how it came about. “When I was first talking to…
Read MorePayare Celebrates Shostakovich and Britten in Second Festival Performance
Culinary comparisons may be approximate at best, but if Music Director Designate Rafael Payare’s Thursday San Diego Symphony program was a buffet of tantalizing appetizers, his Friday program (January 11) at Copley Symphony Hall was clearly the substantial main course.
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