31 January 2011

fun stuff I may or may not get to: February

February 4-6, Magnificat presents works by Renaissance women composers (Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda, and Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre).

The Conservatory of Music’s Hot Air Music Festival has an utterly fantastic line-up on February 6; unfortunately for me I will have to miss most or most likely all of it, but if I didn’t have a conflict I would be there from opening to closing, because it all looks that good. Check it out and tell them I said hello.

Another interesting event on the afternoon of the 6th: Old First Concerts presents the Wooden Fish Ensemble in songs, piano works, and a new piece for koto ensemble by Young-ja Lee, in honor of her 80th birthday.

The Shotgun Players present Josh Kornbluth’s Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews? from February 9 through the 27th.

February 12, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival takes over the Castro Theater for its winter event, featuring several of Chaplin’s Mutual shorts; L’Argent, a 1928 French film based on Zola’s novel; and the King Vidor La Boheme, with Lillian Gish and John Gilbert.

San Francisco Performances has Hilary Hahn and Valentina Lisitsa on the 19th, playing Tartini (arranged by Kreisler), Beethoven, Ives, Bach, and Antheil; and Jenny Lin on the 27th, playing selections from The Well-Tempered Clavier and from Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues.

Ensemble Parallele has two programs this month: On the 5th at the Conservatory of Music they celebrate the 100th birthday of Paul Bowles with music by Bowles, Michele Reverdy, and Maurice Ohana. And on the 26th and 27th they present one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated shows: their circus-inflected production of Philip Glass’s Orphée (based on the Jean Cocteau film).

Cal Performances has the Vienna Philharmonic, but they have them mostly on days when I have conflicts, even if I were willing, with my new-found consciousness of poverty, to pay those ticket prices – I realize this is something special, but for that price I want a full opera (and in the front row), not just the orchestra. They also have Robert Lepage’s group, Ex Machina, in the intriguing-sounding Eonnagata, and I might have blown it with that one by not including it in my choose-your-own subscription, because I thought it was in Zellerbach Playhouse, where they had their last Lepage production, The Andersen Project (Andersen as in Hans Christian Andersen, and Project as in what everyone calls every artistic endeavor these days). Put off by the asinine 8:00 start time in the middle of the week, I figured I’d see how I felt when it came around, because the Playhouse is a manageable size, so that even if I couldn’t get the front row I would have a seat that would be, I will somewhat grudgingly admit, OK. It turns out I should have read the brochure more carefully, because it’s in cavernous Zellerbach Auditorium, and there were no acceptable (to me) seats available last time I checked. Ah well – it’s still at an idiotic time, so maybe that will be a night I sleep well. Maybe. Of course, if I’m not going, it’s bound to be spectacular, so do feel free to rub in what I missed.

The San Francisco Symphony presents Feldman’s Rothko Chapel and Mozart’s Requiem, February 23-26.

And on Monday, February 28, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players presents works by Ligeti, Du Yun, Ronald Bruce Smith, and Brian Current.

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