Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
The Classical Girl I’ve never attended the symphony before with the sense that I might not stay for the program’s second half, but that was my thinking when I entered San Francisco Symphony’s Davies Hall on a recent Sunday afternoon. The first of the program’s two semi-staged works was Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye (“Mother Goose”) featuring dancers from … Read more
To celebrate Mother’s Day all month long, enjoy the recently released Other Stages, for 99 cents through May, a “motherhood meets the performing arts” conclusion to the Ballet Theatre Chronicles. Today I wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day, and I mean everyone. Because, however the dice rolled for you in that department, someone gave birth … Read more
You know the phenomenon: you hear some beautiful yet unfamiliar classical music being played on the radio, but you don’t have access to the details like its title or its composer. It stops you in your tracks because it’s so beautiful and fresh, and you mentally scroll through possibilities. Mozart? I had, after all, overheard … Read more
When I heard the news last week that Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director of the San Francisco Symphony, had announced he would step down as music director of the San Francisco Symphony next year, I was so distraught by the news, I’ll admit it: I wept. I love classical music and Esa-Pekka that much. He was only … Read more
Thirty years of success as a ballet company is most decidedly something to celebrate, and this coming weekend (March 22-23) Diablo Ballet will mark this landmark anniversary with a “Stars & Stripes Jubilee” program. Lauren Jonas, the company’s longtime artistic director and cofounder, reflected that it has taken all of those thirty years to arrive … Read more