San Francisco Ballet has this nifty little subscription package option wherein I go up to the city for the weekend and attend two performances, one on Saturday night, the other on Sunday afternoon. In the past, I’ve tacked a visit to the ballet on to my more frequent symphony jaunts, making it a stay-in-the-city weekend. Classical music is the greater, more loyal love in my life (the one that didn’t jilt me) which is why the San Francisco Symphony will always get the bulk of my subscription money, six performances a year. But this two-performance subscription option is brilliant, I must say. I get to watch two different programs for the cost of one commute. And as I live in the mountains and San Francisco is a 90-minute haul, that’s a viable perk, particularly as my symphony dates this year don’t match up to the ballet performances I’m interested in attending.
I’ll be seeing Program 3 and Program 4. Here are the details, in case you have a hankering to cast aside all worries and errands and flit up to the city for the weekend as well. Links to reviews follow.
Program 3 – – Running February 26 through March 10
- Ashley Page’s “Guide to Strange Places”
- Mark Morris’ “Beaux”
- World premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s “The Rite of Spring”
Program 4 – – Running March 1 to 9
- Alexei Ratmansky’s “From Foreign Lands”
- Christopher Wheeldon’s “Within the Golden Hour”
- Balanchine’s “Scotch Symphony”
In reviewing Program 3, Alan Ulrich at The San Francisco Chronicle calls “The Rite of Spring” rather “bewildering” and “not so much misconceived as undercooked.” Yikes, reading the review, I can’t wait to check out myself. http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/S-F-Ballet-review-Rite-of-Spring-unhinged-4314539.php
Perhaps more interesting to classical music readers will be Janice Berman’s review of Stravinsky’s (and Possokhov’s) “Rite of Spring.” The reason for the Stravinsky and “Rite of Spring” hoopla is that this May will mark its 100 year anniversary, at which time it apparently created a stir of its own. http://www.sfcv.org/reviews/san-francisco-ballet/possokhovs-extraordinary-rite
And Mary Polizzotti offers appetizer-sized reviews of Programs 3 and 4, perfect for me as I set out later today for my adventure. (http://www.7×7.com/arts-culture/sf-ballets-next-two-programs)
Come back next week to hear (well, read) my thoughts on the two performances.
How exciting for you. I too would love to have such subscription options. Maybe now with the Kauffmann Performing Arts Center open, they’ll begin offering such wonderful deals!
Kauffmann Performing Arts Center is amazing. Although I heard the Kansas City Ballet’s artistic director is leaving, maybe at the end of this season. Crossing my fingers that they get someone good to replace him. He and Todd Bolender were/are really powerhouses, who’ve made the Kansas City Ballet rise to prominence.
Thanks for all your comments, D. It’s great to have you here! Love hearing your opinions and thoughts.