Beatrice Rana and a Fabbrini piano in a room in Rome full of frescoes

ItalyItaly Bach, Debussy, Chopin: Beatrice Rana (piano), recorded exclusively for Cal Performances at Oratorio del Gonfalone, Rome, 6-7.4.2021. First streamed 13.5.2021, and available on demand through 12.6.2021. (HS)

Beatrice Rana for Cal Performances in Rome

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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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‘Music and the Mind’: Renée Fleming’s scholarly quasi-recital for Cal Performances at Home

United StatesUnited States ‘Music and the Mind’: Renée Fleming (soprano), Robert Ainsley (piano), Ehud Isacoff (neuroscience). Recorded at the Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC., 16.3.2021, for Cal Performances at Home. First streamed on 29.4.2021 and available to 28.7.2021. (HS)

Renee Fleming and Ehud Isacoff

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San Francisco Opera does Rossini’s Barber live at the drive-in

United StatesUnited States Rossini, The Barber of Seville: Soloists and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Roderick Cox (conductor). Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, California, 23.4.2021. (HS)

Lucas Meachem delivers Figaro’s signature aria
from his War Memorial Opera House ‘dressing room’ (c) Stefan Cohen/SFO

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Jeremy Denk’s many-shaded approach to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier

United StatesUnited States Bach: Jeremy Denk (piano). Recorded in the Music Room of the Rosen House, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, NY, on 10-11.3.2021, for Cal Performances at Home. Streaming from 15.4.2021 to 14.7.2021. (HS)

Jeremy Denk plays Bach for Cal Performances at Home

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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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Christine Goerke demonstrates her impressive range – vocal, dramatic and comedic

United StatesUnited States Various, Christine Goerke (soprano) and Craig Terry (piano): Recorded at Art Factory Studios, Paterson, NJ, on 18.2.2021, for Cal Performances at Home. Streaming from 1.4.2021 to 30.6.2021. (HS)

Christine Goerke

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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