MUSIC REVIEWS
Magnificent Jerusalem Quartet Opens Coming Home Festival in La Jolla’s Acoustically Miraculous Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center
After a star-studded Grand Opening Weekend to inaugurate The Conrad, the La Jolla Music Society’s glistening new performing arts center in downtown La Jolla, on Tuesday, April 9, the organization presented the Jerusalem Quartet in the first full concert of the organization’s lavish Coming Home Festival.
Read MoreHausmann Quartet Pairs Haydn’s ‘Emperor’ Quartet with Terry Riley
The Hausmann Quartet’s latest installment of its Haydn Voyages at the San Diego Maritime Museum on Sunday, March 31, offered a pair of Haydn String Quartets—including the beloved C Major “Emperor”—a plush work by Terry Riley called “G Song,” and three Armenian Folk Songs arranged for string quartet. I was quite taken by Riley’s “G…
Read MoreChristopher Adler’s Avant-garde Monody Follows Aeneas into the Underworld
Under the aegis of San Diego New Music, Colin McAllister and several musical colleagues followed in the footsteps of the 17th-century Florentine Camerata, presenting Christopher Adler’s “Aeneas in the Underworld,” a recounting of one of the stories from Virgil’s The Aeneid in a fashion that might have been recognized by the ancient Greeks, but using a contemporary musical idiom.
Read MoreGinger Costa-Jackson’s Nonpareil Carmen Scores for San Diego Opera
San Diego Opera General Director David Bennett wisely hired Ginger Costa-Jackson to sing the title role of his company’s recently opened production of Bizet’s “Carmen.” Vocally and dramatically, Costa-Jackson’s Carmen is simply nonpareil.
Read MoreSacra/Profana: Luminous Singing for the Lives and Strength of Women
Last weekend, March 22 & 23, 2019, the San Diego choral ensemble Sacra/Profana presented “Gender: X,” an adventurous and challenging collage of works by women composers and poets under the direction of guest conductor Emilie Amrein.
Read MoreSan Diego Symphony and Master Chorale Deliver a Rewarding Surprise: Puccini’s ‘Messa di Gloria’
The March 22 San Diego Symphony Concert with the San Diego Master Chorale, under the baton of guest conductor Courtney Lewis, took the audience on an unexpected Puccini adventure: a compelling performance of his “Messa di Gloria” for chorus, three soloists and orchestra.
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