Yuja Wang takes on Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto

Yuja Wang was the star we’d all come to see at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall last Sunday afternoon. A change in programming had rewarded us in dividends; she’d be performing not just one but two piano concertos. For most of the audience, I’m guessing, it was Ravel’s intense Piano Concerto for the Left Hand … Read more

10 musical reasons to love Samuel Barber

The list must begin with the Violin Concerto. Because it all began with the Violin Concerto. For me, at least. Sure, I’d heard Samuel Barber’s ever-popular Adagio for Strings, but although I loved it like most people do, it was simply that “that lovely, affecting tear-jerker” from a compilation CD I’d had for years and … Read more

Nutcracker magic returns to San Francisco

In 2004, San Francisco Ballet’s then-Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson took a creative leap with a new production of the perennially popular Nutcracker. Stakes were high; the San Francisco Ballet was, after all, the first U.S. company to stage and produce a full-length version (based on the Ivanov/Petipa 1892 original), which premiered on Christmas Eve, 1944, there … Read more

NaNoWriMo and firing my characters

So I can hear your questions all the way from here. What is a NaNoWriMo, do you eat it or sprinkle it on your carpet after pet accidents? Does it hurt and/or does it involve outer space? National Novel Writing Month, its formal name, is a nonprofit organization that internationally promotes creative writing. It’s best … Read more

Mussorgsky’s spooky “Night on Bald Mountain”

    It’s October, and the urge for theatrical, spooky music always arises for me right about this time. Cue a visit to the blog I wrote years back, “Ten Spooky Classical Faves for Halloween.” Each year, it seems, I have a different relationship with the music and its composers. This year, I’m taking a … Read more