Bang on a Can video revives evocative ‘John Henry’ oratorio

United StatesUnited States Julia Wolfe, Steel Hammer: Bang on a Can All-Stars / David Bloom (music director), soundtrack recorded at the Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, and David’s Studio, New York, for video made exclusively for Cal Performances, Berkeley. Streamed first on 6.5.2021, and available on demand through 4.8.2021. (HS)

Singers Molly Netter, Rebecca Hargrove and Sonya Headlam

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Esa-Pekka Salonen harnesses 900 years of ‘Patterns’ into a compelling Minimalist program

United StatesUnited States Various: Musicians of San Francisco Symphony / Esa-Pekka Salonen (curator & music director). Recorded at Davies Symphony Hall and first streamed on 15.4.2021. (HS)

Salonen conducts ‘Saltat sobrius’: Fantasy upon ‘Sederunt príncipes’

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Getting virtually around the Ring with San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera’s Ring Festival passes the halfway mark More than halfway through San Francisco Opera’s virtual Ring Festival, it is clear that a good deal of thought and creativity have gone into it, even beyond director Francesca Zambello’s decidedly American take on Richard Wagner’s four-opera marathon. Before the wrap-up on the weekend of 27-28 March, … Read more

From Munich via San Francisco Julia Bullock finds revelatory connections in 900 years of music

United StatesUnited States SoundBox, ‘Lineage’: Julia Bullock (curator, singer), San Francisco Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Girls Chorus, members of San Francisco Symphony / Daniel Stewart (conductor). Recorded at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco and Bavaria Musik Studio in Munich. Presented by SFSymphony+ and first streamed 11.3.2021. (HS)

Julia Bullock

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San Francisco Opera to mount a virtual Ring Festival in March

San Francisco Opera’s Ring Festival 

There is nothing in music quite like a Ring Festival. As with a cricket test match or a baseball World Series, the four-day sequence of Wagner operas stands as a pinnacle of the form, draws the attention of aficionados from near and far, and often plays out with ancillary events that broaden the scope beyond the main affair.

Greer Grimsley (Wotan) and Iréne Theorin (Brünnhilde)
in Die Walküre final scene (c) Cory Weaver/SFO

San Francisco Opera announced plans on 16 February to stream videos of its excellent 2018 Der Ring des Nibelungen on four weekends in March, along with a new set of lectures, interviews and panel discussions on Zoom. Similar to events that were presented with the series when it was mounted in 2018, these live sidebars focus on individuals from the cast and creative team.

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Zakir Hussain gets symphony musicians into a North Indian mood

United StatesUnited States CURRENTS – Rhythm Spirits: Zakir Hussain (curator, tabla), Kala Ramnath (Indian classical violin), members of San Francisco Symphony. Recorded at Davies Hall, San Francisco, and first streamed 18.2.2021. (HS)

Violinist In Sun Jang and tabla master Zakir Hussain playing Sands of Time

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