DVORAK & BRAHMS: A PERFECT NIGHT

DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL, San Francisco, Friday, March 13, 2026 — Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Opus 104. Brahms’ Symphony No. 2, in D major, Opus 73. The two great compositions were beautiful, totally original, complex. The works were performed by Daniele Rustioni, conductor, and cellist Daniel Mutter-Schott. Rustioni conducts with every ounce of strength, mentality, and love for all of the music. Mutter-Schott masters this gorgeous Cello Concerto and that Concerto masters the cellist making his wonderful tone, his intellect trained on the music, and deep understanding of the complexity of Dvorak’s work.

The San Francisco Symphony played the Cello Concerto with great heart. They followed Rustioni as he jumped, crouched over to look at a musician, reached out to the clarinets and then brought out the horn. It was something special to watch and listen to at the same time

Daniel Muller-Schott

Both the Cello Concerto and Brahms’ Symphony No.2 included songs that the composers worked into the larger. In the Concerto, Dvorak used his song, Leave Me Alone (originally in Czech), Opus 82, no. 1. It was Josefina’s, his sister’s in law favorite song. During the time Dvorak was completing the Cello Concerto, he learned that Josefina was very ill. Once he returned to Prague from America, she passed away. That emotional trial led him to change the the third movement, Finale: Allegro moderato. The Cello now also changes his mood to a more inward look. There are elements of folk-music and yet not any wildness. The cello becomes very quiet until is is silent. A forceful crescendo is taken up by the entire orchestra. And it is gone. Dvorak had loved Josefina but married her younger sister.

(Leave Me Alone: “Leave me alone with my dreams, do not disturb the rapture in my heart!…Leave me alone!…Do not ask about the magic that fills my, you cannot comprehend the bliss his love has made me feel…Leave me alone with my burden of passionate torment, of blazing ecstasy.”)

Brahms wrote the second symphony in a few months. He certainly composed it without the amount of struggle he lived with for his first. The Symphony No. 2 has been called “sunny” or pastoral; actually, it strikes me in a different way. The first movements, Allegro non troppo and then Adagio non troppo, felt stormy, threatening. Brahms wrote, “I would have to confess that I am a very melancholy person and that dark wings are constantly rustling above me.” I am aware that Brahms did not write music that makes a picture, vision, or story. However, the music can affect the listener. Brahms cannot get away from himself.Daniele Rustioni, Conductor

Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 73, is a miracle from Brahms. The opening movements are almost frightening and then Brahms gives us the sunshine.

His song, Wiegenlied (Lullaby) Opus 49, no.4, which was known to me as Brahms’ Lullaby when I was a very young person, is distributed in bits or pieces or given different harmony. Near the end of the movement, the Allegro non troppo soothes the music and now might briefly calm an adult. The second movement, Adagio non troppo struck me as Brahms’ most inward gaze. The third movement, Allegretto grazioso, plays as though on a school field, running and occasionally jumping. The orchestra has moved away from horns, violas, bassoons to the oboe, violins, woodwinds. We are moving out of our dark thoughts which took over for two movements and bits. The finale, Allegro con spirito, starts with the strings playing quietly, a contrapuntal harmony, the flute takes the stage, and the full orchestra and the brass welcome a happy day.

Brahms’ Lullaby

Lullaby, and good night, with pink roses bedight
With lilies o’er spread, is my baby’s sweet head
Lay thee down now, and rest, may thy slumber be blessed!
Lay thee down now, and rest, may thy slumber be blessed!
Lullaby, and good night, your mother’s delight
Shining angels beside my darling abide
Soft and warm is your bed, close your eyes and rest your head
Soft and warm is your bed, close your eyes and rest your head
Sleepyhead, close your eyes. mother’s right here beside you
I’ll protect you from harm, you will wake in my arms
Guardian angels are near, so sleep on, with no fear
Guardian angels are near, so sleep on, with no fear
Enjoy more lullabies to soothe the soul

Joshua Bell & The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields: Brilliant

Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, March 1st — Violinist Joshua Bell played majestically. He led the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. His musicians assimilated the precision and passion of their leader. It was an amazing performance to see and hear the fine musicians demonstrating their live music; their lives are music.

The selections for the program were ideal. Charles Ives’ Variations on “America” was terrific. I am an Ives fan and had not heard this before. It is unusual for Ives as the tune of “America” is recognizable despite or because of the varying variations. His father taught him music; his music was for everyone in America. The father, George Ives, was “different.” He liked to have two bands march from different directions until they met in the center of town. The band leader, George Ives, would get a kick out of hearing music in different keys merge into the air.

From the brief but delightful piece of Ives, Bell took a dive into Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Opus 77. This concerto is extremely difficult to perform and those difficulties make the listeners fascinated by Brahms and Bell. Watching Bell conduct his orchestra is a unique, physical wonder. To do it he must sit and twist his back to indicate which instruments he wants to play and how. His gestures involve his whole arm and sometimes the violin’s bow. He is in charge. The orchestra watches him, not occasionally but always. The first movement, Allegro non troppo, is expressive by changes. It begins with hints of folk-music origin, and then the key changes for the violin solo and the violin’s partner timpani. The long first movement has a cadenza that was composed by Joseph Joachim, the violinist, composer, and conductor. In the performance on March 1, the cadenza was written by Bell. Audience members stood to applaud the music and technique. The middle movement, Adagio, features a lovely oboe singing while the other winds dance in their harmonies. However, the oboe would bring the solo violin causing disarray and competition in the family.Then, they smooth out their problems.

The closing movement is described, Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo. That “giococo” takes it but with a joking kind of play. Brahms asks that it would not be too wild. This is the part of the concerto that my brain can replay — not when I want to turn it on — just when it wants to hear it again. This movement has faster rhythms and then faster than previously. It is a gift to hear the Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, Opus 77 played by Joshua Bell and conducted by Bell. Watching his exactitude and hearing the results, it is a gift.

I was very happy to hear these two Romantic composers – one from near the early era and the other near the close of it – on the same program. For a long time, I did not hear Robert Schumann, but recently he has been revived. To be rediscovered in Springtime is just right for Symphony No. 1 in B-flat major, Opus 38, Spring. The music begins with a fanfare and the movement is Andante un poco maestoso – Allegro molto vivace. It is fitting for the time the leaves come up, but slowly, and then the flowers in bright colors appear and sway in the breeze. The Larghetto is beautiful. The program writer, Rene Spencer Saller, gives the reader this note: “it is the only movement that Schumann left nearly untouched during his long revision process.” The trombones and bassoons have their moments in the gentle Larghetto. The Scherzo changes to G minor. Somehow there was a suggestion in the Larghetto that something new is coming. The finale, Allegro animato e grazioso, brings back a brass fanfare. There are moments for soft horns, flute, and solo oboe. The finale designs a thrillingly, glorious happiness. Closing our thought of the Symphony dedicated to Spring; Schumann reminds us that there is something serious to remember: “I want to tell you that I would like to describe a farewell to spring, and therefore do not want it to be taken too frivolously.” *

*Schumann to conductor Wilhelm Taubert

NEW BOOK! Coming Home to India

A wonderful new book appears this spring. It is about Leslie Friedman’s experience in her first time in India. It has stories about travel, history, and dance. Leslie was awarded a Fulbright Lectureship to introduce American modern dance through her performances and lecture-demonstrations. It was also a time to learn more about India’s 9 classical dances and music.

Stanford’s program, A Company of Authors, has invited her to talk about the new book. That will happen at Stanford’s Humanities Center, April 18th, 1:00 – 5:30 p.m. Leslie will chair the group: The Wide World. Its time is 2:25-2:45 p.m.

It is a “hybrid” presentation in person and over Zoom. THE PROGRAM IS FREE! Do not miss this! The program always has a variety of topics: history; science; you name it. It will be there presented by eloquent and knowledgeable writers. You will find books to buy — Coming Home to India will be on your list!

Leslie Friedman

The travels had their ups and downs. The National School of Drama in New Dehli had invited her, and then they had to call it off due to internal difficulties. Would the Fulbright find an affiliate to maintain the Grant? She was affiliated with the Viswas Bharati university, in West Bengal, founded by Tagore, the prize winner of the Nobel Prize of Poetry.

She circled India to perform and present lecture-dems and then, every place where she had already performed invited her to return and perform in grand venues.

She learned India history in village India, New Delhi, over many centuries of architecture and art.

WATCH THIS SPACE to learn more about A Company of Authors.

Yefim Bronfman Brings The Best

Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, February 8 — The recital by Yefim Bronfman could not have been better. The program itself was a work of art. Robert Schumann, Arabesque in C major, Opus 18 (1839); Johannes Brahms, Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Opus 5 (1853); Claude Debussy, Images, Book Two (1907); Ludwig Van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Opus 57, Appassionata (1853). Strange, Brahms’ work and Beethoven’s were written in the same year.

The selections are each different from each other and yet each adds to the philosophy and beauty of the whole. Opening with Schumann’s Arabesque brought something delicate and strong at the same time. It is simply beautiful, but beauty is not simple. One might draw a picture of a tree with one line for the trunk and circles for the leaves, but that is not all there is. Before the thoughtful music ends, there is an inward pull of the ropes and then we have a dream.

The Piano Sonata No. 3 by Brahms is a work that could have been a symphony. It has deep developments playing into the five movements which Brahms took to move from an Allegro maestoso, onward to an Andante expressivo, Scherzo: Allegro energico –these descriptive names shape so much of human stories all of which powerfully move in experience and emotion. Bronfman mastered the strength that Brahms designed into all of the music from Allegros to Andantes. It was unbelievably difficult technically, a big sound and precise playing; it is like the concentration of a quarterback running zig zag to miss being brought down. The runner and the brain and the pointed feet going where he knows to go. Watching Bronfman is a gift to see what he is doing and and hear the music that reaches our hearts.

Claude Debussy has created many new sounds in his Images. We hear the Clair de lune and the L’Apres-midi d’un faune/Afternoon of the Faun, but the three Images Bronfman presented are seldom presented. Debussy was attracted to the sounds of the gamelan. In the program book, Scott Foglesong quotes Debussy on Javanese music: “Their academy is the eternal rhythm of the sea, the wind in the leaves, thousands of tiny sounds which they listen to attentively without ever consulting arbitrary treatises.” The three pieces are Cloches a travers les feuilles (Bells heard through the leaves); Et la lune descend sur la temple qui fut (And the moon sets over the temple that was); Poissons d’or. Each of the Images takes the listener to Debussy’s magical genius, and the genius of it is that the music and the images are not magic, they are real.

Now, it is Beethoven. The Appassionata overwhelms every breath the listener makes. The long first movement, Allegro assai, is almost ready for the explosive. Bronfman’s strength is focused on every theme. Beethoven finds so many ways to approach that movement: quietly, twisting it upside down, roaring, a fire-truck is coming but too late, stand there and see the flames. Oh, the fire is also beautiful. The pianist has to be able to get ahead of all this, and Yefim Bronfman completely knows what to do. The Andante, at first, seems to step away from the fire to some place for a restful time out. No way. Instead it lets the Allegro ma non troppo go Presto. Bronfman is riding the waves or maybe dancing over a volcano. He plays faster and outplays the challenges from Beethoven. It has become an array of nature’s ways to move and blow up. The audience was stunned, thrilled, checking into fabulous stars. Bronfman was able to perform everything that Beethoven offered him. It was sensational.

The audience could not let him go. The two encores were October, from Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons; Liszt’s, “Paganini” Etude No.2. Yefim Bronfman is brilliant. Find him and listen.

Barantschik, Nel, Wyrick Find the Hidden Treasure

January 18, 2026 — The Chamber Music concert at the Gunn Theater, California Palace of the Legion of Honor — was splendid and exciting. The trio of marvelous musicians manage to discover hidden treasure of music composed by great composers. On Sunday, the little known music thrilled the full house audience.

The program opened with Franz Schubert’s Notturno in E-flat major, D.897 (ca.1827). Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)

It seems that Schubert might have planned the piece to be an adagio in his Piano Trio in B-flat major. That did not happen; the Adagio/Notturno had its own life. Sadly, tragically, Schubert passed away just one year after this composition. Notturno in E-flat major was not published until 1846. It is a brief beauty. Its eight minutes received bad reviews. Some of the writers accused the work of being too long. Sometimes reviewers do not appreciate the glory before them. The piano presents a gentle theme; the strings begin a pizzicato weaving into the piano’s theme which could have grown from the composer’s suspended thoughts. There are two variations. The first is active in the piano’s arpeggios. The Notturno finds itself in a calmer, quieter variation through new arpeggios as the three instruments find unity as the music flies away on a dragon fly’s wings.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)

Mozart’s Violin Sonata in B-flat major, K.378 is a brilliant sonata. It is one of a group of four that he had published in 1781. Often musicians complained that this sonata, and other music by Mozart was too hard to play. Barantschik smiled playing it. Nel was playing the piano brilliantly. The two-some know each other’s over the top abilities. This sonata is from a revolutionary time for music. The harpsichord was still in use, but it was giving way to the piano. In Mozart’s sonatas the violin and the piano can be equal stars. They play together, starting, changing, each instrument accompanies the other. Dancing higher and higher above what would be a mere A+; Up there the musicians live the music.

Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)

One learns early that re-writing can bring forth something different, maybe better, maybe fewer typos, too. Brahms rewrote his Piano Trio No.1 in B major, Opus 8. He rewrote 37 years after the first version. He cut off a third of the original. The differences show up in comparing the titles of the movements. The first movement has more energy as Allegro con brio; it had been Allegro con moto. The third movement had been Adagio non troppo; now it is simply Adagio.The fourth and final movement had been Allegro molto agitato, but now it is Allegro. Thirty-seven years of successful composing gave Brahms confidence and skills. His rewriting led him to tweak the structure of his work. The inner, delicate scaffolding with one more relation of each tone and rhythm. As this majestic trio opened, I settled in to be as close as I could to hear and see Brahms’ world. There I find the treasure. It is our earthly treasure, our passion for living.

The Monkey King Opera

The San Francisco Opera presented the premiere of The Monkey King opera. It is a strange kind of premiere since the novel which it is based on, Journey to the West, was written in 1592 and has thrilled audiences ever since then. It is considered among the four most important Chinese classics. It is a story with wars, humor, singing, dancing, martial arts, and, of course, flying. The creative team includes: Huang Ruo, music; David Henry Hwang, libretto; Conductor, Carolyn Kuan; Director, Diana Paulus; Choreography, Ann Yee; Puppets & Sets, Basil Twist; Lighting Design, Ayumu “Poe”Saegusa; Costume Design, Anita Yavich.

Cast of the Monkey King

The opera opens with Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, chanting Buddhist prayers. She knows that Monkey has been locked up in a cave for 500 years. When the audience sees Monkey for the first time, he is angry and fed up, especially because he does not have much more than trash to eat. Mei Gui Zhang was a beautiful Guanyin. Her posture and stage presence make her seem to float. Her voice was calming and soars without pushing to the notes. She expresses mercy through the music. The Monkey gets out of his cave and a mass of monkeys decide to follow him and make him King. Monkey wants to find the secret of eternal life to protect his children from death. Kang Wang as the Monkey King was perfect. He was able to project all the emotions he feels when he is up against the Jade Emperor. Konu Kim was appropriately wicked, scary, and hangs out with the other crooked rulers. When Monkey gets to Heaven, he sees that the gods are corrupt and very mean. One suggests that The Monkey King should be bar-be-qued, but The Monkey King comes out of the oven bright eyed and powerful.

Mei Gui Zhang, Guanyin; she is suspended above the stage.

There are additional Monkey Kings. There is a Monkey King Dancer, Huiwang Zhang; Lord Erlong Dancer, who knows how to fight the King and a puppet Monkey King. It makes sense to have the cast represent all aspects of the Monkey King. Their talents express the fullness of the King. This opera has an overwhelming, active, gorgeous production. This is the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea; making a scene under water is a fabulous event.

Early in the first act, The Monkey King finds a master to teach him.The teacher gives him a new name, Sun Wukong. Jusung Gabriel Park, was both the teacher, Subhuti, and Buddha. He has to have Buddha’s patience to teach the Monkey. The Monkey did not realize that his teacher was Buddha. As the Monkey wins most of his battles, he feels powerful. However, his teacher warns Monkey: Power is not enough.

The Five Element Mountain.

Monkey has misbehaved in a very big way. He has no humility and does not care about the suffering of others. Guanyin reminds him that he heard the teacher but did not listen. Buddha challenges Monkey to jump out of Buddha’s palm. Monkey was sure that it would be simple to do since he has escaped and fought in so many situations, but he is wrong. The Five Elements Mountain was Buddha’s hand. Monkey joins the followers of Buddha and goes forth with his spirit to help all beings reach the Land of Bliss.

Only thing wrong with this opera: I want to tell my friends in Chicago and St. Louis and Portland to go to see it, and it is not available. Not yet. I must learn patience.

Photos by Cory Weaver; Thanks to the San Francisco Opera.

3 Composers PLUS Great Conductor & Pianist

San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall welcomed stellar artists and amazing music, 11/6 -11/8. The SF Symphony made a performance to remember with the outstanding pianist, Alexandre Kantorow, and the conductor, Karina Canellakis. Both truly blew us away. In the last season, her audience was thrilled by the unity and inspiration that she and the SF Symphony experienced together. Kantorow has presented world wide audiences astounding performances. He is the first French pianist to win the gold medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition along with the Grand Prix.

Conductor Karina Canellakis with SF Symphony

Antonin Dvorak, composer (1841 – 1904)

Scherzo capriccioso, Opus 66 has the name of a light-hearted, even playful music, but this is not. Written in 1883, Dvorak’s mother had died recently and three of his children had passed away during earlier years. There is a darkness behind the sunny music. This piece was written before his time in America, 1892 – 1895. He was devoted to Bohemia’s music and wanted to let his home be heard by Czech and German audiences. He asked his publisher to put the title page in both languages. Dvorak told him, “I just wanted to tell you that an artist too has a fatherland in which he must also have a firm faith and which he must love.” The composer wisely allowed both audiences to feel the music was their own. The piece is only 12 minutes long, but Dvorak knew what he wanted to keep. The opening has a mood that could be anxious; it has starts and stops. The music is always fascinating: which way will it go? There is a waltz that may be sweet but ironic. The slow middle plays seriously before the English horn and clarinet perform a beautiful passage. The two instruments alternate playing the lovely melody. The final part of the brings in special parts for horns and the harp. The entire orchestra, called by a solo horn, perform what might be a happy, all notes running as though at a picnic. However, the on and off rhythms and repetitions still let us guess what is in Dvorak’s heart. It is a marvelous piece played with knowing understanding.

Sergei Prokofiev, composer (1891 – 1953)

Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Opus 26, helped launch Prokofiev’s works in America. The composer did not fall in love with the USA. His first visit was in 1918. The Spanish ‘flu was killing many. He had come for a 4 month tour but stayed for nearly 2 years. 1918: the Russian Revolution, World War I, and the ‘flu. A dangerous time. Prokofiev’s work seemed too edgy to the Americans. The modernist music put off potential audiences. Serge Koussevitzky, a Russian conductor, became the conductor of the Boston Symphony, starting in 1924. He was a supporter for Prokofiev’s work. In 1918, Frederick Stock, conductor of the Chicago Symphony, heard Prokofiev’s music and liked it so much that Chicago hosted Prokofiev 5 times beginning in 1921 with the premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 3. The music of this Concerto is an exciting roller coaster. The energy comes from a mix of neoclassical, modernist, and traditional styles. There are often so many things happening that there is no point in keeping one’s ears in enjoying the castanets or the piano flying through unusual syncopation variations. The music seems to take on sounds that are played simultaneously but from different directions. The orchestra and piano challenge the differences and hear all of them as one majestic piece. It is the bassoons that bring on the piano and create a back and forth race to the end. It would need hearing again in order to analyze the music: What is doing what to which phrase or instrument? Yet the music is so exciting it is more than worth hearing it again. Prokofiev was the foremost pianist in the St. Petersburg Conservatory. It is appropriate to have Alexandre Kantorow step into Prokofiev’s pianist life. Kantorow played Liszt’s transcription of Wagner’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde as his encore.

Pianist Alexandre Kantorow and Conductor Karina Canellakis with the SF Symphony

Jean Sibelius wrote the Four Legends from the Kalevala, Opus 22 (1896) when he was becoming interested in the Finnish epic, the Kalevala. In his childhood, he spoke Swedish. Finland was controlled by Sweden and then became a grand duchy ruled by Russia. He did not learn Finnish language until his mother put him in a Finnish speaking school. He was around 11 years old. He began to adopt Finnish music, folktales, and Finnish culture when he moved to Vienna. His friend and future wife, Aino Jarnefelt, wrote to him in Finnish; he would respond in Swedish. In a letter he stated that he would reply in Swedish “so that it does not take five minutes to write out each word.” This was the era in which authors, composers, scientists, historians were seeking their communities’ identities through folk tales and music. The hero of these tales is Lemminkainen. The 4 legends are: Leminkainen and the Maidens of the Island, the hero lands on an island with many young women all of whom he seduces. Then the island’s men return and the hero must leave; The Swan of Tuonela, the Swan swims in the waters of Tuonela, the place of the dead; Lemminkainen in Tuonela, the hero is taken into the water and killed. His mother comes to Tuonela to bring him home and give him life; Lemminkainen’s Return, the hero’s mother brings him home, puts the pieces together with special honey, and he is whole. He goes to Pohjola for revenge, but the mistress of Pohjola puts frost over the water, his boat, and all his crew. The hero keeps the Frost away, though he and his companion have to go home by walking on the ice. Some of the instants remind one of Ulysses’ adventures and other creatures which might do him in. The music is beautiful. Sibelius began the parts of the Legends in 1893, but started over. He made a new work of the Swan of Tuonela. He revised it in 1939; the 4 pieces were published in 1954. Each legend has its own environment in sound. The Swan of Tuonela has a sad English horn over the strings. There are 17 parts. The third and fourth ending display the battles, struggles, and homeward travel. Without the story, it is still deeply moving and beautiful. Sibelius reaches into the rhythms of the epic poetry and the sounds of language turned into gorgeous music.

Please note: Photos are by Brittany Hosea-Small by courtesy of SF Symphony. Quotation from Sibelius is taken from the SF Symphony program notes found by Alicia Mastromonaco.

Photos by Brittany Hosea-Small, by courtesy of SF Symphony

ITZHAK PERLMAN: SUBLIME & MORE THAN PERFECT

Itzhak Perlman is “the reigning virtuoso of the violin.” His playing is perfect, and his joy of life is playful, too. He comes to Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, usually once a season; but his appearance is not always a recital. On November 4, 2025, it was just him, the violin, his pianist, Rohan de Silva, and the piano. It was a performance in which every note was the best of every note. His playing reminds his audience to treasure each moment.

Itzhak Perlman

He offered three pieces: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Sonata in G major, K.301 (1778), Cesar Franck’s Violin Sonata in A major (1886), and Antonin Dvorak’s Violin Sonatina in G major, Opus 100 (1893). Mozart’s Violin Sonata was a delight. The music has a special place in history. In the past, the violin did not have as much music to play or presence as the piano. Mozart changed this. When he was 22 years old, he wrote five violin sonatas in Mannheim, published them in Paris, and found success. In the first movement, Allegro con spirito, each of the instruments play together, collaborate, or even pluck notes from the other instrument’s harmony. They fit together.The second movement, Allegro, is a Rondo with a rondo’s repetitions. The music is delicious; we are happy to have Mozart come close to repeat while making key changes and gracious decor.

It seems that Cesar Franck’s family, especially his father, held him back from his ability in music. He was allowed to study at the Paris Conservatory. He was good in piano and composition, but not considered brilliant. He returned to his home in Belgium and became an organist and teacher. He married against his father’s permission. That brought him out of his shell, but his bride was as controlling as his father. In 1872, he was promoted to the professorship of the organ at the Paris Conservatory. He felt the new status, and it gave him a chance to take hold of his own music. His students included successful composers such as d’Indy and Chausson. Franck reached into new directions in his compositions; his students may have picked up his discoveries. Conservatory colleagues were taken aback by the freedom Franck developed and what might be an assault on tradition. The works he wrote in the last decade of his life are full of imagination and sensuality. In the Violin Sonata in A major, he explored new techniques and musical romanticism. There is a cyclical theme that winds through all four movements. Virtuosic music, deeply Romantic, lyrical; its sounds are original. The Recitativo-fantasia, the third movement, makes order of a different order. Then, in the fourth movement, Allegretto poco mosso, the listener hears and feels oneself flinging self and emotion into the wild.

Antonin Dvorak, composer, (1841 – 1893)

The story of Dvorak spending time in America is probably well known. Jeannette Meyers Thurber wanted to start a conservatory. She wanted to include women, disabled, and minority students. The National Conservatory of Music of America began in 1885. Ms Meyers Thurber wanted to receive national funding. It did not come through. She wisely sought an internationally known musician; Dvorak became the director in 1892 and left in 1895. Dvorak told his publisher that the Sonatina in G major, Opus 100 was written in part so that young people “(dedicated to my two children)” and “adults, should be able to converse with it.” As Scott Foglesong wrote, it “was stripped of Wagnerian complexities,” though it kept Classical traditions of sonatas and rondo. He included in this Sonatina, and other compositions, America’s native music including African American and Native American. The Sonatina includes folk themes and rhythms. Itzhak Perlman’s incredibly fast playing stood out and became faster and faster, but without losing the model of folk dancing. It would have to be light footed folk doing the jumps and turns. Fast jumps and turns. Perlman, the master of Franck’s attraction by lyrical music reaching out for a slow embrace, Itzhak Perlman is also the virtuoso of Dvorak’s intercultural American music.

The performers presented the wonderful ritual of Perlman & De Silva encores. After many bows, the three persons required for the encores return. The violinist, the pianist, and the page turning woman who returned to the stage carrying a stack of music books. The straight forward fiddling around deciding which piece Itzhak Perlman would play is hysterical. They think maybe this one but no, they might do this other one. Here is the list of encores on Nov. 4, 2025.

Fritz Kreisler – Liebesfreud
Christoph Gluck – “Melodie” from “Orfeo ed Euridice”
Fritz Kreisler – Tambourin Chinois
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Chant sans paroles
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Humoresque
John Williams – Theme from Schindler’s List

Each one was superb music. We do not get to hear enough of Kreisler. The encores and Perlman humor are unique. And then, he played Schindler’s List to remind us that music and life are real.

If you have the opportunity, like maybe Itzhak Perlman is performing less than 500 miles away, get the ticket. Rohan De Silva, pianist, is the tops. Together, they are perfect partners.

and, CELEBRATE ITZHAK PERLMAN’S 80TH BIRTHDAY!!!

Higgins, Grieg, Tchaikovsky: Never Old

The San Francisco Symphony presented an extraordinary concert at Davies Symphony Hall, October 3-5. Is it possible that music lovers love to critique the music that we love? Maybe it is just Opera fans who talk about old war horses. The program sizzled opening with a new piece by Timothy Higgins, Principal Trombone in the SFS since 2008. He has left the SFS to become the Principal Trombone in the Chicago Symphony.

Market Street, 1920s, had its world premiere this weekend. It has two elements for the music. Higgins described the tone of the music fitting the black and white pictures of SF streets with cars traveling around Market Street. There is also an argument. Two individuals take up opposite sides in SF’s issues, especially about alcohol. SF police, it is said, were told to look away from speakeasies and bootleggers. San Francisco’s history includes resistance to the federal government’s decisions. The music also represents “academic” leaning music and the more popular. There are jazz passages that give the music a rhythmic kick. There is no solution to these arguments. Sometime arguing is an athletic sport. This eight minute piece was a happy introduction to the evening. Well done, Tim Higgins. Photo: Tim Higgins talks about his premiere work.

The San Francisco Symphony with Gustavo Gimeno, conductor, and Javier Perianes, piano, perform Timothy Higgins’ “Market Street, 1920s” a SF Symphony Commission and World Premiere, Edvard Grieg’s “Piano Concerto,” and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No.5.” At Davies Symphony Hall on Friday night, October 3, 2025.Photo by Stefan Cohen

Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907) He composed his magnificent Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus 16, in 1868. The first time I heard it, I was surprised that it was Grieg’s work. I had heard his music that was influenced by Norwegian folk music. This is something completely different. It is a wonderful Concerto. The opening of the music, Allegro molto moderato, seems so natural that every note is where it has to be. It shows its lyrical side as well as the strength of the music in its cadenza. The second movement, Adagio, has amazing delicacy. The notes have no weight. I hear them as though it is gentle snow falling. No clumps, no ice, just the lovely snow flakes. I know they are each made of unique designs even though I cannot see their always different presence. The final movement, Allegro moderato molto e marcato, is also something unusual but perfectly the right music. Grieg’s interest in Norwegian folk music shows its character. The movement has the music equivalent of a play within a play. The movement creates another concerto within this movement. Grieg plays on with another cadenza and a false exit. Very new and something to surprise one’s ears. The rest of this mini-me concerto begins slowly, but Grieg has other directions to fulfill this brilliant concert: lots of violins and trumpets. The musical marriage made with two so unlike instruments lifts the concerto and thrills the audience. The soloist was Javier Perianes. He has performed in most venues you can think of around the world. He records for Harmonia Mundi. His performance was exactly right just as every note was the right note. Perianes treated Grieg right just as he deserved. Pianist Javier Perianes photo below. Photo by Stefan Cohen

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) The Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Opus 64, was created in 1888. This has been a beloved, moving symphony since it premiered. In the 1890s, it was attacked for being “ultra-modern” and even for Tchaikovsky’s ancestry. “while in the last movement, the composer’s Calmuck blood got the better of him, and slaughter, dire and bloody swept across the storm-driven score.” Tchaikovsky was not related to this ethnic group in Russia which was actually Buddhist. Fortunately, the composer overcame a depressive attitude toward the 5th Symphony which he had loved as much as its audiences loved it. There are several themes that appear more than once throughout the symphony. It begins with Andante-allegro con anima. It seems to be dark with its clarinets, but Tchaikovsky lets a lovely waltz interrupt the unhappy theme. The end of the first movement has a rough feeling. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza, the second movement, truly moves onward with a charming attitude, but the theme in the first movement invades the second movement. The third movement, Valse: Allegro moderato, dances its way to sunshine and no dark clouds. The signal for the end is the theme from the first movement moving into the springy waltz. The closing movement seems to know how to tame the first movement’s theme. It takes away its threatening just when the finale begins a march rhythm that sets the music into a serious drama. The ending is triumphant. It is a sunny day. Photo below Conductor Gustavo Gimeno, photo by Stefan Cohen

Conductor Gustavo Gimeno led the orchestra to a great performance. He has a graceful way of conducting and is totally in the music. His presence in the music also helped produce excellent performances by all the musicians with solos or featuring of their sections. It was a magnificent evening.

HOFESH SHECHTER on the RED CARPET

There was great excitement for the Red Carpet, the new dance from choreographer Hofesh Shechter. “For me, a red carpet first evokes thoughts of glamour.” However, the movements and appearances of the dancers are not glamorous. The choreographer also describes it as “grotesque.” Both are fitting. The major patron of the Paris Opera is Chanel. The costume designs come from CHANEL, and the dancers are from the Paris Opera Ballet. Shechter juxtaposes glam and art; which does the audience want most? Is the glam a sham? The dancers roll their bodies, step over each other, drag themselves or others. They form a circle around the stage with arms stretched high or arms bent in running position. This is more like a mosh pit; dancers are on top of each other or using their arms to create a form. The music came from live musicians who were on the stage but not continually seen.

I wonder whether Shechter is ironic as he speaks about glam vs. art. Can they be the same? Is he noticing what it takes to achieve glam or art? One can certainly do what is claimed to be glam art. Shechter says, “In contemporary dance, the stage is filled with references and expectations…I don’t believe the role of dance is to provide solutions. A ballet must remain open, unresolved; that’s its beauty.”

Paris Opera Ballet’s North American Premiere of Red Carpet by Hofesh Shechter at Cal Performance Zellerbach Hall, photo credit: Chris Hardy

Shechter may have noticed the use of the arms in Alvin Ailey’s Company. In Revelations, the dancers are in a sunburst shape with different sets of arms opening with start-stop rhythm. Probably the first dancer/choreographer to gather dancers in that shape and set their arms opening was Anna Sokolow. “Her choreography of intertwining groups with reaching arms influenced Alvin Ailey (who danced in her Poem) and Jerome Robbins.” Poem was Sokolow’s taboo challenging dance in which dancers touched each other: “her dancers actually touched, sometimes in what could be homosexual embraces.”* I am not suggesting his movements were taken from other choreographers, but visual material lives on. In Red Carpet, the movements seem to be decadent folk dance or natural movements which are alien to technique, ballet or contemporary technique, yet it takes some training to let go. Crawl. Bend over with your back parallel to the floor. Curiously, there were no leaps. Occasionally sort of a hop on one foot with the other leg bent at the knee. There was also a certain version of belly dancing.

Paris Opera Ballet’s North American Premiere of Red Carpet by Hofesh Shechter at Cal Performance Zellerbach Hall, photo credit: Chris Hardy

Contemporary dance traditionally undid traditions, but there is danger in not doing, let’s say Cunningham work, when it reigned and earned grants for the followers. Shechter’s Red Carpet may introduce new ways to produce dance. The first part of Red Carpet showed the dancers in Chanel costumes; someone seated near me commented that they looked like outfits in a resale shop. Being supported by Chanel gives the event glam, but is that superficial pretending? I think that Shechter knew what he is doing. The dancers perform in groups; often it is all thirteen dancers or a group of four or five. I cannot remember more than one or two times when a dancer stood apart from the group, but he will soon be absorbed by the rest. There is also pas de deux dancing, but it happens within the entire group. The costumes make different presences in which the audience can see them, but they are still in the group. Sometimes they are doing the same movements as others or expose their different movements within the group. One costume was a lacy gown with one part of the skirt hanging like a short column half in front of the legs and the other half missing. There was a black dress which looks sequined from a distance. It also had missing spaces of dress.

Paris Opera Ballet’s North American Premiere of Red Carpet by Hofesh Shechter at Cal Performance Zellerbach Hall, photo credit: Chris Hardy

The second half of Red Carpet alters the vision. The dancers are in colored white-flesh tights and body covers more or less. Some have Bermuda shorts length; others more. In this part of the dance, a group of 5 work on the floor rolling and reaching. There seems to be communication through the bodies though they are not always connected to others. There were a few times when it seemed to me they looked like Grecian figures on their vases. Were these dancers armed or simply digging into life? As Shechter said, solutions are not to be found

Paris Opera Ballet’s North American Premiere of Red Carpet by Hofesh Shechter at Cal Performance Zellerbach Hall

One special performer was the giant chandelier. It went up very high and also lowered to just above the stage floor. It did not crash like its cousin the chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera, but it had character. The Phantom’s chandelier was a replica of the chandelier of the Paris Opera House. It would not dare to crash upon the thirteen dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet.

The excitement continued throughout the performance. Red Carpet will be remembered as we await the next Shechter production.

*The Hedgehog, The International Arts Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, November, 2010) pp 4-5.