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Music>>
September 29-October 5, 2016 • BAY AREA REPORTER • 39
Italianate thrills by Philip Campbell
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he first month of the San Francisco Symphony’s new season ends this week with Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas conducting a world premiere commission and exciting works by Igor Stravinsky. Pianist Yuja Wang plays Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with gifted SFS trumpeter Mark Inouye adding his own diamond bright solos. It’s a chance for locals to catch works and artists to be included on the orchestra’s upcoming tour of Asia, featuring 10 concerts in six cities, Nov. 9-22. Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng’s Overture to Dream of the Red Chamber is a stand-alone piece not intended for use with the new opera. His music is an intriguing blend of East and West. Sheng will probably be jaywalking between Davies Symphony Hall and the War Memorial Opera House to observe both premieres of his SFS and SFO commissions. DSH has been jam-packed with excitement all September. Last week, an especially attractive program featured some operatic delights starring a singer who is building a huge Bay Area fan base. Tenor Michael Fabiano, notably admired from his appearances at SFO, tore the roof off DSH with Italian arias and songs. His performance in the second half of the all-Italian program ended with the thrilling call-to-arms from Verdi’s Il corsaro. Ragnar Bohlin’s sonorous SFS Chorus joined in the exciting charge to end an evening that stimulated one of the biggest audience ovations in recent memory. The Chorus started the second portion of the bill with a beautifully molded rendition of Verdi’s Te Deum from Quattro pezzi sacri. One wouldn’t have guessed the beloved composer never really considered himself a man of god; MTT either, as he led the orchestra (most notably the brass) to an almost unbearably
Courtesy SFS
Tenor Michael Fabiano sang Italian arias and songs at Davies Symphony Hall.
bright level of exaltation. The first half of the big night celebrating Italian composers began with SFS Principal Oboe Eugene Izotov beautifully leading and playing Marcello’s delightful Oboe Concerto in C minor. It was a wonderful if cleverly calculated introduction to what followed. We were in a mellow mood to receive Luciano Berio’s fabulous Sinfonia for Eight Solo Voices and Orchestra (1969). It was planned to “rock your world,” as MTT predicted, and for the next half-hour the auditorium was filled with a babel of languages, singing and declaiming poetry ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. The legendary Swingle Singers, in their latest incarnation, navigated the dauntingly virtuosic terrain with breathtaking and often quite beautiful results. The section devoted to the name and memory of Martin Luther King still resonates today, especially in the context and turmoil of current national events. The sound of the Swingle Singers remains uncannily close to the group’s original membership, and hearing them work with MTT, as their elders once collaborated with Leonard Bernstein in the early days of the Sinfonia, was electrifying. The orchestral musicians also had plenty of work to do. The fourth part,
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with its references to Mahler and great works of the repertoire, anchored Berio’s breathtaking invention with swift and haunting flashes of familiar symphonic scores. The Sinfonia still sounds freshly minted. The avantgarde cry of the late 60s continues to ignite an amazing response today. The previous week MTT presented another fabled symphonic work in a concert of discovery that started with an engaging lecture and ended with a full performance of Beethoven’s game-changing Symphony No. 5 in C minor. It was a Sunday matinee, separate from the week’s subscription concerts that also featured the Fifth. The regular programs also gave us a first half devoted to works in the key of C: C Major, that is. Haydn’s Symphony No. 69, Laudon (1779) finally got its first SFS performances, and the Sibelius Third (1907) was sandwiched in but still managed to shine in MTT’s typically impassioned and intelligent reading. The Beethoven Fifth is in C minor, and a world apart from any other Symphony before it. MTT’s absorbing lecture, with musical examples provided by members of the SFS Chorus and Orchestra, helped even jaded listeners to a renewed appreciation. His charming wit and congenial, infectious enthusiasm guided us to the full performance. Aficionados and neophytes spontaneously rose to applaud. It seemed a wonderful way for newcomers to become accustomed to the pleasures and challenges of classical music, and a way for old-timers to recharge their batteries. October approaches and brings welcome return visits from conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and young cellist Alisa Weilerstein. MTT also gets back on the podium at DSH one more time, with the Brahms Symphony No. 2, before heading off to Asian halls and the ambitious November tour.t
Country ’tis of thee by Gregg Shapiro
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nown for putting her money where her mouth is, versatile Tony Award-winning diva Cyndi Lauper is an outspoken supporter of the LGBT community. But it was her singing voice and distinctive fashion sense that initially caught our eye. After forays into pop, dance music, standards and the blues, Lauper lends her remarkable vocal range to a set of country numbers on Detour (Sire). Joined by country legends Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris, Lauper leaves her “unusual” mark on mid-20th century country classics, including Wanda Jackson’s “Funnel of Love” and Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces.” She knows when to use country’s trademark catch-in-the-throat on heartbreakers “Misty Blue” and “Begging to You.” Duets with a yodeling Jewel (“I Want To Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”) and Alison Krauss (“Hard Candy Christmas”) are also standouts. Has Bob Dylan run out of his own things to say? Fallen Angels (Columbia), Dylan’s second album of covers of songs associated with Frank Sinatra, steps up the torchy twang of its 2015 predecessor. Dylan uncovers the country possibilities of standards by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer (“Come Rain or Come Shine,” “That Old Black Magic”), Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael (“Skylark”), Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn (“All the Way”), Van Heusen and Johnny Burke (“Polka Dots and Moonbeams”), Isham Jones and Gus Kahn (“It Had To Be You”) and others. Depending
Brickell, takes place in the early 1920s. It involves literary ambition and babies born out of wedlock, presented in a vintage country-music setting. Stephanie Rice, Colonial Blue’s out lead vocalist, has a solid grasp of the concept of from-a-whisper to-a-scream on songs “Break You Bones” and “My Treason” from the band’s debut album Dear Misery (colonialblueband. com). The daughter of a preacher in a small town, Rice has a coming out story involving being tossed out of the house and fending for herself. Music was Rice’s refuge, and these 10 songs prove that was a good thing. If you ever wondered what Louisiana glam rock might sound like, listen to Dolls of Highland (Sub Pop), the irresistible debut album by Kyle Craft. Imagine Randy Newman channeling David Johansen via Van Dyke Parks on “Eye of a Hurricane,” “Lady of the Ark” and “Three Candles.” Country music is filled with legacy artists. Amy Helm, daughter of The Band’s Levon Helm, and Trixie Whitley, daughter of Chris Whitley, are two of latest examples of what can come from good genes. Helm, who helmed her own band Ollabelle, makes her solo debut with the stormy Didn’t It Rain (E One). Her voice sure to appeal to fans of Shelby Lynne, Helm performs covers of “Gentling Me” (co-written by lesbian singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier and Beth Nielsen Chapman) and Sam Cooke’s “Good News.” Whitley does her late father proud on Porta Bohemica (Unday). She shares his musical tastes (“Faint Mystery”) while channeling Annie Lennox (“Soft Spoken Words”).t C
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on how you feel about Dylan as an interpreter of other people’s songs (read: singer), Fallen Angels could be heaven or hell. Sturgill Simpson’s breathtaking rendition of Nirvana’s “In Bloom” is one of many reasons to get his fantastic third album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth (Atlantic). A musical letter to his newborn son, the nine songs are delivered in a retro style that incorporates soul alongside the Southern comfort, as on the magnificent opener “Welcome to Earth (Pollywog).” Prepare to be swept away by the gorgeous “Breakers Road” and shaken up by “Brace for Impact (Live a Little).” In the early days of his standup comedy career, Steve Martin’s material could best be described as unconventional. But the banjo he played hinted at a more traditional side to his talents. Through the 21st century, Martin has recorded and released well-received bluegrass albums, including collaborations with Edie Brickell, and earned Grammy Awards. Martin and Brickell have taken their collaboration to a new level with the Tony Award-nominated musical Bright Star. Based on a story by Martin and Brickell, Bright Star (Ghostlight), with music and book by Martin, music and lyrics by
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“EROTIC!” –THE VILLAGE VOICE
“SEXY!”
–David Lamble, THE BAY AREA REPORTER
“A MINOR MASTERPIECE.” –Gary Kramer, SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES
SPA NIGHT STRAND RELEASING PRESENTS
A FILM BY ANDREW
AHN
strandreleasing.com
STARTS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
SAN FRANCISCO ROXIE THEATER 3117 16th St (415) 863-1087 www.roxie.com
IN PERSON! Director Andrew Ahn for Q&As after the 7:00pm show Fri 9/30 & Sat 10/1 & 3:45pm show Sun 10/2
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