Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's 2012-13 season launches with a dynamic program of works both familiar and new when Music Director Jeffrey Kahane conducts and performs as soloist. It features two highly anticipated West Coast premieres, including LACO Composer-in-Residence and Pulitzer Prize-finalist Andrew Norman’s The Great Swiftness, commissioned and premiered by the Grand Rapids Symphony in 2010. Inspired by the city’s signature Alexander Calder sculpture, La Grande Vitesse, the piece prompted the Grand Rapids Press to describe it as “sliding down the giant sculpture's graceful arms.” The other West Coast premiere, True South by James Matheson – recipient of the prestigious $200,000 Charles Ives Living Award and heralded by The New Yorker as “an early thirty-something American composer who is ignoring style labels and writing synthetic, satisfying music that avoids the glib theatricality of postmodernism” – was commissioned and premiered in 2010 by the New York Philharmonic with influences ranging from Judas Priest to Nietzsche. Kahane himself is the featured soloist in Ravel’s jazz-infused Piano Concerto in G major. The program concludes with the LACO debut of 28-year-old German violinist Augustin Hadelich performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, the composer’s only violin concerto and one of the most venerated works in the violin repertoire. Kahane calls Hadelich, winner of the 2009 Avery Fisher Grant, “one of the great violinists performing today,” and The New York Times states, “(he) stands out amid gifted young violinists for his prodigious technique, gorgeous tone and ability
to deliver.”
Both Norman and Matheson are participating in LACO’s Concert Preludes, pre-concert talks providing insights into the music and artists, which are held one hour prior to curtain and are free to ticket holders.
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is considered one of the nation’s premier orchestras as well as a leader in presenting wide-ranging repertoire and adventurous commissions. Its 2012-13 season, the orchestra's 44th, features a compelling mix of beloved masterpieces and genre-defying premieres from firmly established and notable up-and-coming composers programmed by Jeffrey Kahane, one of the world’s foremost conductors and pianists, who marks his 16th season as LACO’s music director.
Tickets ($25 – $110) are on sale now and may be purchased online at laco.org, by calling LACO at 213 622 7001, or at the venue box office on the night of the concert, if tickets remain. Discounted tickets are also available by phone for seniors 65 years of age and older and groups of 12 or more. College students may purchase rush tickets one hour before curtain; also available for college students is the $25 “Campus to Concert Hall All Access Pass” – good for all seven of LACO’s Orchestral Series concerts at either the Alex Theatre or UCLA, LACO’s Discover Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 at Ambassador Auditorium and for all three Westside Connections concerts at The Broad Stage, plus other benefits.
30 Eylül 2012 Pazar
2 West Coast Premieres Conducted by Jeffrey Kahane at LA Chamber Orch Season Openers
Taken for Granite, 1st mvt of String Quartet No. 1 Skimming Rock & Skipping Stones
Inspired by the Anthem Rock bands of the 70's and 80's – groups like Yes, Kansas, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Anthem Rock has hard driving beats with intricate melodic lines and layers of different sounds – all features of the classical music I gravitate toward. This is not a pastiche of any particular song or band, but rather a homage to the artistry of these musicians.
Skimming Rock & Skipping Stones has three movements. As word play, colloquialisms, and double entendré are common for song and album titles in the rock world, I indulge in the same practice.
"Taken for Granite" - 1st Movement
"Salt of the Earth" - 2nd Movement
"Clean Slate" - 3rd Movement
Even the title of the entire piece is a play on words "Skimming Rocks & Skipping Stones"
In geological terms there are three types of rock
Igneous
Sedimentary
Metamorphic
Granite is igneous, salt is sedimentary and slate is metamorphic. I then tied these rocks to colloquialisms.
The Edinburgh Quartet premiered this piece in June 2008.
"Taken for Granite" is a movement with pyrotechnics for the 1st Violin, playing the roll of guitar riffs and solos indicative of the anthem rock genre. While the piece is performed completely acoustic, many of the distortion effects are emulated through performance techniques.
For more information about the music of Chip Michael visit my website:
ChipMichael.com
Roy Mueller Appointed Ex. Dir. of LA Children's Chorus
Long-Time Arts Administrator Previously Served as Executive Director of San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum and Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum
Roy Mueller, a highly regarded non-profit arts administrator with deep roots in Southern California, has been appointed Executive Director of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) following a nationwide search, it was announced by LACC Board Chair Joanne Crawford-Dunér. Mueller, who is also an accomplished musician, previously served as Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, where he led the museum through a successful four-year $5.2 million capital campaign to design and build a new facility. Prior to that he was Education Director of Pasadena Kidspace Children’s Museum, where he developed innovative art and science education programs for a diverse community audience.
“I am pleased to welcome Roy to the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus,” says Crawford-Dunér. “His exceptional non-profit arts leadership skills and keen fundraising abilities, as well as his creative program development, educational background and music performance experience are an ideal match for the position of Los Angeles Children’s Chorus Executive Director. I look forward to working closely with Roy on a number of exciting initiatives during this exciting time in the LACC’s evolution.”
“It is an honor to lead this extraordinary organization,” states Mueller. “During my tenure at the Pasadena’s Kidspace Children’s Museum, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a variety of Los Angeles area arts organizations including the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Pasadena Symphony and Shumei Arts Council. I am highly impressed by LACC’s artistic excellence and its mission to serve the community. I look forward to working with LACC’s Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson and am pleased to return to Southern California to take the administrative helm of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.”
In his role with the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum, Mueller, who has more than 16 years of non-profit leadership experience, articulated the vision for the new children’s museum and built the organization from the ground up, strategizing and implementing successful fundraising initiatives, including the $5.2 million capital campaign. He developed and managed operational budgets, cultivated community relationships and mentored a staff of 20 to support the vision and mission of the museum. He received a Bachelor of Music (performance) degree from the University of Louisville and a Master of Music (performance) from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He also earned a Certificate of Jazz Composition and Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston. For more than 15 years, Mueller performed as a classical oboist/English hornist in South America, Europe and the United States, composed music for classical, jazz and theatrical genres, and taught music at the university level.
Described as “astonishingly polished,” “hauntingly beautiful,” and “one heck of a talented group of kids,” LOS ANGELES CHILDREN’S CHORUS is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost children's choirs. Founded in 1986 and led by Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson, LACC performs with such leading organizations as LA Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and POPs, Jacaranda, and Calder Quartet. The chorus' roster includes more than 400 children aged 6-18 from 60 communities across Los Angeles in six choirs and First Experiences in Singing classes and ensemble for young singers. LACC has toured South Africa, North and South America, China and Europe, and produced the world-premiere of “Keepers of the Night,” an opera by Peter Ash and Donald Sturrock. The chorus appeared on LA Master Chorale’s Decca recording “A Good Understanding,” and Plácido Domingo’s Deutsche Grammophon recording “Amore Infinito” ("Infinite Love") and, in 2011, gave the U.S. premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “Dona Nobis Pacem.” The subject of a trilogy of documentaries by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock, LACC is featured in the Academy Award-nominated “Sing!,” about a year in the life of the choir; “Sing Opera!,” documenting the production of LACC’s commissioned family opera “Keepers of the Night”; and “Sing China!,” chronicling its groundbreaking tour to China just prior to the Beijing Olympics. LACC has performed with John Mayer on NBC's “The Tonight Show,” and was featured on Public Radio International's nationally syndicated show “From the Top,” among other credits. Open auditions for LACC take place each May. LACC also offers 6-7 year old children a non-auditioned program, First Experiences in Singing, which serves as an enriching and fun introduction to music.
St. Louis Public Radio & the St. Louis Symphony announce third season of Saturday evening concert broadcasts
Today, St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU and the St. Louis Symphony announced the renewal of their partnership to include live broadcasts of all 2012-13 Saturday night Wells Fargo Advisors Orchestral Series concerts. The performances will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio’s main channel, 90.7 KWMU and will be streamed live at www.stlpublicradio.org. This is the third year of the partnership.
The series’ first live broadcast from Powell Hall will be Saturday, September 29 at 8 p.m. St. Louis Symphony Music Director David Robertson will be at the podium, conducting LutosÅ‚awski’s Concerto for Orchestra, Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (featuring pianist Emanuel Ax) and Respighi’s iconic Pines of Rome.
A complete list of all live broadcasts can be found on-line at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/programs/symphony.php#.UFii91F15nw
St. Louis Public Radio’s Robert Peterson returns to host the live broadcasts. The St. Louis Symphony’s Adam Crane will again join Peterson as broadcast commentator.
“We are very excited to have the Symphony as our broadcast partner again this year and look forward to a phenomenal season from one of the world’s finest orchestras. In addition, with the station’s new Grand Center location we look forward to further collaborations with the Symphony,” said Tim Eby, Director and General Manager of St. Louis Public Radio.
Lang Lang releases his first All-Chopin Recital Recording - “The Chopin Album”
INCLUDES DELUXE LIMITED EDITION WITH BONUS DVD “MY LIFE WITH CHOPIN”
AVAILABLE OCTOBER 9
The Chopin Album – Lang Lang’s third album for Sony Classical – includes the second set of Chopin’s Études (op. 25), the Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise and a selection of shorter works that he has long enjoyed performing, including three Nocturnes and the Waltz op. 64 no. 1, popularly known as the “Minute” Waltz.
Chopin “speaks with such a universal voice,” Lang Lang says. “I genuinely believe he’s a true ambassador for classical music among the great composers. He appeals to everyone.”
Chopin has accompanied Lang Lang throughout his career. One of the first pieces he learnt was the Grande Valse brillante in E-flat major op. 18 (included on this album), and it was Chopin’s music that also carried him through a number of career-changing competitions, including Ettlingen (Germany) in 1994 and the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Sendai (Japan) in 1995, when he took First Prize performing Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto. And it was with the Chopin Études that Lang Lang made his now-renowned Beijing Concert Hall recital at age 14 – a performance that led to his studying with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.
“The reason that Chopin’s Études hold such a special place for pianists”, says Lang Lang, “is that they provide the training for so many different elements of technique. But they’re not just studies, not just normal exercises – not just for your fingers – they help you develop how your mind works, and how you control the different layers of your emotional response.”
Included with the Deluxe Limited Edition is a bonus DVD on which Lang Lang talks about the various musical milestones in his life and explains how Chopin has been a close companion. The video contains archive footage of Lang Lang playing Chopin, with excerpts from his early concerts and competitions – the 1994 Ettlingen competition, the 1995 Beijing concert and Tchaikovsky Competition in Sendai, and part of a 1996 concert of the Études in Beijing. It also includes complete performances of the Grande Valse brillante in A-flat major op. 34 no. 1 (recorded live in Vienna), the “Heroic” Polonaise in A-flat major op. 53 (recorded at Berlin’s Berghain Club), and the “Black Keys” Étude in G-flat major op. 10 no. 5 (recorded at London’s Roundhouse during the 2011 iTunes Festival).
29 Eylül 2012 Cumartesi
San Francisco Opera 2012 Fall Preview
When the wooden planks and white roofs of society party tents start going up in the neighborhood, it is a sign that the foggy San Francisco summer is about to end, and the High Culture Season is about to begin.
The San Francisco Opera has an oddly weighted schedule this fall, probably out of a need to economize on the cost of union stagehands tearing down and reassembling repertory productions every day. September starts with one production double cast for twelve performances, followed by three operas in repertory through October and the first half of November, and ends with another single opera with a double cast for twelve performances.
September belongs to a revival of Verdi's Rigoletto in the old Michael Yeargan production which is serviceable and not much more. Though I have problems with the opera itself, particularly the deliberate cruelty of its anti-royalist story and the chirpy masochism of the innocent heroine Gilda, the music is great and the A-Cast Rigoletto is the Serbian baritone Željko Lu�ić, who is being hailed as the best singer of the role in the world right now. There's also the luxury casting of Italian bass Andrea Silvestrelli in the role of Sparafucile, the scary assassin for hire. Music Director Luisotti is conducting and will probably be fabulous in this music.
The three repertory operas start with a new production of Bellini's "I Capuleti e I Montecchi" or as the SF Opera is calling it "The Capulets and The Montagues," distantly related one presumes to the Hatfields and McCoys. The narrative follows the Italian version of the tale rather than the Shakespeare adaptation, which means that Romeo and Juliet are already secret lovers before the curtain goes up, and the two families are warring political clans. Romeo tries to bring about peace but Juliet's father is a warring badass, and you know the rest of the story with Father Lorenzo and poison and lots of bel canto singing while dying.
This production premiered last year at the Bavarian State Opera, and from the photos at the operacritic site, it looks spectacularly beautiful. The costume designer is none other than Christian Lacroix, and if he's good enough for Patsy and Edina of AbFab to worship, he's good enough for me. The luxury casting here is mezzo Joyce DiDonato as Romeo and bass Eric Owens as the bad daddy Capellio.
Sharing the stage with the Bellini is a new opera based on Melville's Moby Dick by Jake Heggie that has received reviews in Dallas and Calgary that ranged from happily surprised to rapturous. Ben Heppner shares Ahab duties with Jay Hunter Morris, and baritone Robert Orth returns in a character role. I have not been interested so far in any music that Heggie has written, but maybe this will be the revelatory moment. Or not. In any case, the world premiere production is reportedly very good simply as theatre.
This plays in repertory with Wagner's Lohengrin, the tale of a mystical knight and a swan and an evil mezzo and baritone conspiring against beauty and purity as represented by a tenor and soprano, for four-plus hours. This was the opera that sent Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria completely around the bend in his worship of Wagner. The production is from the Houston Grand Opera which coproduced it with the Grand Theatre de Geneve (click here for some production stills). The midcentury Stalinist updating by British director Daniel Slater supposedly doesn't get in the way of the medieval fairy tale story, according to reviews of the 2009 Houston production which starred this summer's Chairman Mao, none other than Simon O'Neill. San Francisco will be hearing Brandon Jovanovich as Lohengrin in his role debut while music director Luisotti will be conducting his first Wagner opera at the house. This could spell either disaster or triumph (or both).
The season ends with twelve performances of Puccini's Tosca, with Angela Gheorghiu and Patricia Racette swapping duties as the tormented diva. Even though I admire both Gheorghiu and Racette immensely, life is too short to waste time and energy at another Tosca ever again. If you are an opera newbie, it's not a bad starter opera: short, melodramatic, and with recognizable tunes. But if you have seen it one too many times, the damned thing is painful.
San Francisco Symphony 2012 Fall Preview
The San Francisco Symphony is giving San Francisco society ladies a break this year, holding their gala opening two weeks from now on Wednesday the 19th, rather than within days of the San Francisco Opera gala opening this Friday. The schedule change is necessitated by music director Michael Tilson Thomas and his jet-setting, multi-city obligations, but Society is probably breathing an appreciative sigh of relief nonetheless.
Officially opened or not, the San Francisco Symphony is still offering two weeks' worth of concerts starting this Wednesday, with the Russian conductor Semyon Bychkov above in charge. This week he's joined by violinist Pinchas Zukerman playing the warhorse Bruch concerto followed by Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. The following week is when things gets interesting. The original program announcement was for Shostakovich's 7th Symphony, the World War Two era Leningrad Symphony. For some reason, possibly just to confuse unwary arts editors who put mistakes into print forever, the program has been changed to Shostakovich's Eleventh Symphony, subtitled The Year 1905 about the Russian Revolution. San Francisco has a great Shostakovich orchestra, and it's always interesting listening to a Russian at the helm with his music.
After a week of French bonbons for Opening Week, Tilson Thomas above conducts Mahler's Fifth Symphony with a first half curtain raiser by John Adams' composer son, Samuel Carl Adams. The last time I heard MTT conduct Mahler's Fifth was in 2009, and it wasn't a very good performance, but it's impossible to tell ahead of time whether the conductor and the composer are going to be sublime together or slightly out of joint. I've heard both over the years, so let's pray it's the former.
The next week brings back one of my favorite young conductors, Vasily Petrenko above. The first half of is his program is the very serious Part and Bartok (the third piano concerto), followed by Respighi's pop trash classics, The Fountains of Rome and The Pines of Rome. If he can make those two overplayed pieces sound interesting, Petrenko will officially be proclaimed a Musical Savior.
In mid-October, the conductor Vladimir Jurowski makes his debut with an all-Russian program of Scriabin, the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto, and an arrangement of the music from the Eisenstein film, Ivan The Terrible (above), complete with soloists and chorus.
On Halloween, the pianist Yuja Wang above will be playing the Prokofiev Second Piano Concerto which she will also be performing during a long tour of Asia in November with the San Francisco Symphony. After the orchestra's return, Davies Hall essentially becomes a Christmas Factory for the month of December before returning for six months of weekly music with some very cool concerts.
Opening Night at the San Francisco Opera 2012
"You're looking great," I said to the woman above, after almost tripping over her dress at the corner of Grove and Gough on Friday evening. "And you've just made my night," she replied, telling me her name was Elizabeth.
"This has been on my bucket list for a long time," she explained. "Not going to the parties, but just attending the opera on opening night."
This was about the 30th San Francisco Opera season opener for me, either with a cheap standing room ticket or onstage as a supernumerary. From that long experience, I can confidently state that Opening Night is invariably a fun public party but tends to provide a reliably lousy audience for a full-length opera.
This is either because of unfamiliarity with the art form or because many of the society patrons are already tipsy on arrival from their pre-performance parties and are waiting impatiently for intermission and the post-performance parties to follow. (Opera House concierge Martin Dias is pictured above.) This was too bad for the performers at last night's Rigoletto, who were almost uniformly great, led by music director Nicola Luisotti in the best sounding version of the Verdi opera I have ever heard live.
Serbian baritone Željko Lu�ić has a perfect voice for the title role, and he was matched by the Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak who has a much darker, richer sound than is usual for the role of Gilda. Their duets were the highlight of the show. The Sardinian tenor Francesco Demuro playing that serial seducer, the Duke of Mantua, wasn't even remotely in the same league, but the great, growly Andrea Silvastrelli as the assassin Sparafucile almost made up for him. The male chorus of nasty courtiers was unusually sharp as were all the male comprimario parts sung by Robert Pomakov, Daniel Montenegro, Joo Won Kang, and Ryan Kuster.
The old Mark Lamos production designed by Michael Yeargan is still ridiculous, with the Duke of Mantua's court hanging out in what looks to be the middle of a street, and the interior of Rigoletto's house looking like an unfurnished Manhattan loft. The staging by Harry Silverstein was fairly clumsy, and the substitution of dancers for the traditional slutty supernumerary women was not an improvement, but none of that much mattered because the musical performance was so good.
The major amusement of the evening was bumping into acquaintances who were nearly unrecognizable in their fancy duds, such as Helen above who I had not seen since she was wearing a Red Army soldier's uniform next to me onstage in Nixon in China this summer.
There was also the dubious pleasure of bumping into Willie Brown, Jr. above, San Francisco's own version of the licentious, power-wielding Duke of Mantua, as he squired his companion Sonya around. La donna è mobile, indeed.
A second set of principal singers open in the same production tonight and alternate with this cast for the rest of September. There's a free live telecast on the big screen at the San Francisco Giants Stadium this Saturday the 15th, but for superb sound the San Francisco Opera House is the place to be.
RIP Albert Goodwyn
Albert Goodwyn died about a month ago at the age of 67. He was an extraordinarily decent person who was the Captain of the Supernumeraries at the San Francisco Opera for most of the 1990s and a few years into the new century. That kind of casting job usually breeds a certain nastiness, but Albert was always the opposite, a genuinely kind soul.
There was a memorial party for Albert at a small theater complex in the Union Square area on Saturday afternoon, and the people who showed up were mostly backstage gypsies who had known and liked the man over the years. Organized by SF Opera makeup artist Denise Gutierrez (above left, with her back to the camera), the event was sweet.
RIP, Albert.
Boyish Benjy Britten at New Century Chamber Orchestra
The New Century Chamber Orchestra opened their season with a pair of early pieces by Benjamin Britten, including the 1934 Simple Symphony which he wrote at the age of 20 after finishing an unhappy stint at London's Royal Conservatory of Music. In a letter to a Welsh composer friend, Britten wrote, "I cannot write a single note of anything respectable at the moment, and so--on the off chance of making some money--I am dishing up some very old stuff (written, some of it, over ten years ago) as a dear little school suite for strings--You see what I have come to...!" It was charming and well-played, but even though I am something of a Britten fanatic, never need to hear the symphony again because the composer's distinctive voice was missing. Bartok's mature 1939 Divertimento which followed in another well-played performance, was something of a tonic.
After intermission, we heard Britten's first great song cycle for strings and solo voice, the 1939 Les Illuminations, from a series of poems from the 1870s by Rimbaud. Sitting nearby at the concert was Patrick Vaz, and I asked him to explain who Rimbaud was to my friend Charlie in 30 seconds or less, which Patrick did very well, explaining that the wild teenage poet broke all kinds of conventions in tradition-bound French poetry, while carrying on a love affair with the older poet Paul Verlaine, before leaving France and literature for the Horn of Africa where he was some kind of adventurer/merchant before an early death.
The surreal poems tend to appeal to the young and visionary. Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison and Patti Smith were all acknowledged fans, and when W.H. Auden introduced his friend Benjy to the poet, Britten was entranced. He set a pair of the poems to music for a soprano friend Sophie Wyss before taking off on a trip to North America with his tenor friend Peter Pears. (The two are seen above on Jones Beach in Long Island, where they repaired for a while to the family home of Elizabeth Mayer, a German Jewish refugee's family who essentially adopted them.) The three years in America were a homesick, mostly unhappy time for the pair other than the fact that they fell in love and became partners for the rest of their lives.
Rather like Rimbaud, who wrote the poems while darting from London to Brussels and elsewhere, Britten finished the songs early in their North American trip between stays in Toronto and Grand Rapids and New York. The cycle evolved into an homage for his tenor lover Pears, though it can also be sung by a soprano, as it was here by Melody Moore above. Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg stated at the beginning of this concert that Moore's rendition was "definitive," but it was not. It's the Pears version, which is on disc with the composer conducting, that is definitive and everything else is just interpretation. I didn't much care for Ms. Moore, with her slight hint of shrillness and many strange faces trying to act out the poems, but the chamber orchestra was something else. Their contribution was close to "definitive," and the music has been swirling around my head for the rest of the week, with the strange, idiosyncratic tenor of Pears inserted over New Century's superb string playing.
28 Eylül 2012 Cuma
Pearls of ‘The Pearl Fishers’ at Opera San José
Bizet’s first three-act opera, The Pearl Fishers, wascreated in time of Western idealization of the far away exotic lands, perceivedromantic adventures, and noble sacrifices in lush ornamental environs. It was also the time of merciless Parisian art critics,supported by the habitually demanding public, hardly ever restrained indelivering their unapologetic verdicts to all kinds of artists. Criticized in its day, with librettists Michel Carre andEugene Cormon partially taking the blame, The Pearl Fishers continuously charmstoday’s audiences by maintaining its musical brilliance and its innocentfascination with the beauty and drama of pure theatricality. Picked by the Opera San José for the opening of its 29thseason, the popular piece appears fresh and full of sparkle in its fourthstaging in the last two decades is a suitably-lavish décor of the CaliforniaTheatre. Love vs. vows, rivalry vs. friendship, and merci vs. mobmentality play out along the highs and lows of moral choices faced by the onstagecommunity of Ceylon pearl fishers, never seizing to excite and entertain thepublic throughout the compact, thematically saturated Bizet’s masterpiece.
Joining the resident company of principal artists thisseason is Cecilia Violetta Lopez, who performs the lead part of Leila on selecteddays, with her crystal-sounding soprano of effortlessly delivered impressiverange, and significant dramatic talent. Principals Alexander Boyer as Nadir, Evan Brummel as Zurga,and Silas Elash as Nourabad create an exceptionally harmonious ensemble, seamlesslysupported by the Opera San José chorus and dancers. 
Conducted by AnthonyQuartuccio, with stage direction by Richard Harrell, choreography by Lise LaCour, set design by Charlie Smith, costume design by Elizabeth Poindexter, lightingdesign by Pamila Gray, and wig/makeupdesign by Jeanna Parham, The Pearl Fishers looks like a perfect season’sopening, and a promise of other wonderful things to come. The opera is sung in French with English supertitles and runsthrough September 23 at the California Theatre, 345 South First Street indowntown San José. Tickets at the Opera San José Box Office, by phone at (408)437-4450 or online at www.operasj.org.De Young Gets A Taste for Modernism from Paley Collection
If we may assume that Picasso saw himself in his Boy Leadinga Horse – a solitary figure with no possessions, moving across an arid planeunder the blind sky, following a road only known to him, ruling a beautifulbeast – it probably won’t be a far stretch to imagine that William S. Paley,who bought the painting on the spot when it was offered to him in a skiinghotel lobby in Switzerland in 1936, also felt a definite affinity toward thesubject matter. In 1905, when the painting was created, Picasso was justentering the Parisian world of modern art, where Henri Matisse’s scandalousfame challenged him, Fernande Olivier’s big heart embraced him, and GertrudeStein’s friendship supported him, helping him realize that his Blue Period wasover, and that the future held plenty of roses for the boy and his art (horse).Paley, a son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, rose to power inAmerica as a broadcasting titan of the 20th century, the founder ofColumbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and made his name known in the world ofmodern art as a trustee and then chairman of the Board of The Museum of ModernArt, New York.He donated Picasso’s Boy Leading a Horse to the Museum, aswell as many other masterpieces by Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne, Henri deToulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Andre Derain, Paul Gauguin, Pierre Bonnard, andothers from his private collection. Paley’s manner of collecting in the 1930s reflected hisindividualist spirit and his appreciation for the new art, mostly characterizedby irreverent bold colors and brushstrokes, bohemian subject matter, and theprevailing mood of pushing the boundaries of public acceptance. Characteristically, the affluent collector limited hisacquisitions in the 1950s, when the market for modernism became safe, inflated,and overcrowded by late-bloomer fans of previously dubious artists. It’s a well –documented fact that Paley was first mostlyimpressed by Cezanne, buying his Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat from the artists’son, and thus starting the private collection geared toward his personal tasteand kept in his primary residence where he could cohabit with the art he loved.
Among the Cezanne paintings from Paley collection, presentedat the current de Young exhibition, there is Milk Can and Apples, a still lifethat reads like a mountainous landscape with descending horizon line, fruitscattered like boulders around the snowy peaks of a crumpled napkin, and wallpaperflowers coming out of their natural environment. It’s paintings like this – intimate in scale, denselysaturated with life (still or otherwise) that made the overall mood of Paleycollection so intriguingly pervasive, reaching out to a contemporary viewerwith the immediacy of here and now. Renoir’s Strawberries, Matisse’s Odalisque with aTambourine, Toulouse-Lautrec’s Mme Lili Grenier, and Manet’s Two Roses on aTablecloth are just a few of the significant modernist artworks the collector felt so strongly about and keptso close to his heart and sight throughout his life.
Gauguin’s The Seed of the Areoi holds a special place in theexhibition. The painting that has a long and controversial history all its own,reflects the artist’s fascination with the Tahitian landscape that he said“dazzled and blinded” him, as well as with the special beauty of the islanderwomen, the legends of the land and the lifestyle of the tribe the artistbelieved was informed of a higher truth, or the better world. If William Paley’s dream world came true in his collectionof modern art, all the art lovers in the world benefit from it today, and withthe traveling show originated by MOMA, The William S. Paley Collection: A Tastefor Modernism is currently reaching the Western frontier at the de YoungMuseum, San Francisco. The show runs through December 30 at de Young Museum, GoldenGate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, California. Call formore information: 415-750-3600 or visit www.deyoungmuseum.org. Images courtesy FAMSF.
Elegant Shanghai Dining in San Francisco
Dark wood panels, sleek granite counter top around the openbar, elegant dining room furniture, crystal fixtures and red velvet curtains inthe lounge area put recently opened Shanghai restaurant in San Francisco anotch above the many casual eateries of the hip Mission Dolores neighborhood. 
The obvious sophistication of the place doesn’t stop withthe décor. Shanghai menu, conceived by the proprietor Francis Tsai, a native ofShanghai, and the executive chef Leo Gan, who worked as the opening chef forShanghai 1930, is brimming with Chinese delicacies equally intriguing in avariety of tastes and presentations. 
An appetizer combination of our six-course tasting menu fortwo came on a large rectangular plate with smaller square bowls containingbites of traditionally offered fish, tofu, veggie, and meat surrounding the BlastingPrawn cocktail – with prawns grilled in mild honey nectar. The fish was a sweet-tasting sole filet smokedin oolong tea. The tofu was called Vegetarian Duck, and tasted just like aroasted crackling skin of a soy-sauce duck. The veggie came as a crispy hot andsour cabbage, and the meat was presented by Drunken Chicken simmered in Shaoxingwine. 
Lemongrass Hopper cocktail, one of many created by thebeverage director Michael Petri, seemed a great match for the flavor-forwardappetizers, and was made with vodka, mango, Midori, lemon, soda, andlemongrass. 
Our second course was my favorite Xiao Long Bao, a.k.a.Shanghai soup dumplings. They are very delicate, filled with pork and broth,and should be sprinkled with Shanghai black vinegar to reveal their ultimatecomforting effect. These dumplings I eat with a spoon, making a little bite atthe top first, so no delicious broth would escape from the steamed dough purse. 
For the third course, we had Fish Broth – a dense gelatinoussoup of julienned white fish with sweet flesh mixed in with slightly beaten eggwhite. Another comforting dish for a chilly San-Francisco evening!The fourth course of the tasting menu was actually threecourses. 
Chicken Flamb̩ Рwith cubes ofwhite breast meat braised in sweet vinegar sauce. Whole red and green grapes, chunksof pineapple, strawberries and kiwi graced this very special take on sweet andsour chicken. 
Fish on the Vine –a deep fried fish fillet with a red winereduction. This one came decorated with a real vine with shiny green leaves. Napa Cabbage – a small head of cabbage braised in a realcream sauce and sprinkled with bacon crumble. 
Warm and satisfying, this dishmade a great addition to protein-filled plates of more “serious” players. 
The fifth course was poetically called, Two Colden Faces,and presented a nest of crispy noodles over prawns, mushrooms, and three-colorbell peppers in light sweet sauce. 
Our sixth course was rather simple – a plate of sweetenedpan-fried sticky rice with dried berries and a twig of fresh mint, but after alavish meal we just had at spectacular Shanghai no other dessert would do. 
My dessert cocktail, made by the bartender Kent Lisk, wascalled Anna’s Perfect Pink, and contained gin, hibiscus, pisco, coconut, lemon,goji liquor, and orange flower water. I could’ve easily called it, Emma’sperfect pink!
Manager Stephen Lee, present all throughout the night whenwe dined, took care of all the patrons in the dining room, making sure theservice was on par with the ambience and the food at Shanghai. As can beexpected of the restaurant of this level, Shanghai cuisine is prepared with seasonal,locally sourced and mostly organic ingredients. The full bar at Shanghai, besides classic, contemporary andoriginal cocktails and the international wine list, offers a late night HappyHour service with bites menu Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 p.m. to midnight.Shanghai is located at 2029 Market Street, San Francisco. Dinneris served Tuesday through Sunday from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., a dim sum brunch onSaturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and a late night small platemenu. A specialty of the house is private dining and special functions withtraditional Shanghai dishes. Reservations: (415) 701-8866 or SeatMe.com. Moreinfo at: www.shanghai-rest.com.