New conductor saves Berkeley Symphony season opener

By Jeffery S. McMillan, 07 October 2013

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Reviewed at UC Berkeley, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley on 3 October 2013

Campion, Ossicles (Tiny Bones) (World premiere co-commission with Cal Performances)

Wagner, Siegfried Idyll

Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, Op.18

Berkeley Symphony

Gerard Schwarz, Conductor

Alessio Bax, Piano

The Shining: powerful psychodrama from Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Hilary Stroh, 11th March

“Here's Johnny!” Paul Moravec’s opera, based on Stanley Kubrick's film of Stephen King's novel, proves gripping in Eric Simonson's production.

*****

A final hurrah for Tasmin Little in Singapore

Chang Tou Liang, 13th February

Tasmin Little's farewell tour yields memorable Bruch in Singapore, with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra led by Gerard Schwarz.

****1

Alessio Bax’s inaugural London Festival of Chamber Music

Charlotte Gardner, 26th March

Alessio Bax's inaugural London Festival of Chamber Music sets off with a spring in its step.

*****

Sweeping Rachmaninov and scorching Barber from the BBC Scottish

Simon Thompson, 8th February

Despite the presence of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto on the bill, it is a gripping performance of Samuel Barber's First Symphony that steals this Usher Hall Sunday matinee.

****1

Triplet of trios sets the tone for Seattle's summer of chamber music

Thomas May, 3rd July

James Ehnes and colleagues launch the 2023 edition of Seattle Chamber Music Society's month-long summer festival on an exhilarating note with trios by Dohnányi, Bartók and Ravel.

****1

Under the spell of Clara Schumann: two belated NY Phil debuts

Edward Sava-Segal, 14th October

A trio of Romantic works are performed under the baton of Giancarlo Guerrero, making his Philharmonic debut alongside pianist Alessio Bax.

***11

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Jeffery S. McMillan

Jeffery holds an MA in Jazz History and Research from Rutgers University and spent ten years as an archivist for the Metropolitan Opera, where he helped develop the MetOpera Database. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes about opera and jazz for publications including Opera News and Musical America.