Music

Classical gems await Bay Area music fans all December

Read more at www.mercurynews.com

Music lovers have resigned themselves to a long wait for in-person performances this year. But virtual music needn’t be second best. Here are some streamed and recorded holiday events suitable for at-home enjoyment, gift-giving, and making the season bright.

Shows to Stream

Yo-Yo Ma — “Songs of Comfort and Hope”: Since October, Cal Performances has been streaming top-quality concerts, recitals, theater events and conversations. The parade of hits continues with superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma, appearing with pianist Kathryn Stott in “Songs of Comfort and Hope.” Drawn from the duo’s upcoming Sony Classical release, the program includes Robert Schumann’s “Five Pieces in Folk Style” and traditional songs arranged by Benjamin Britten and Caroline Shaw. It’s available through Dec. 12. Also this month: “Cal Performances at Home” appearances by Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, playing Mozart, Beethoven, and Janacek (Dec. 3), and the Dover Quartet, in a program of Haydn, Ligeti, and Dvorak (Dec. 10). Details: $5-$110; 510-642-9988, www.calperformances.org.

S.F. Opera: You might want to get out your gowns and tuxes when San Francisco Opera presents “Celebrating the Voices of San Francisco Opera,” a 90-minute “gala” featuring star singers in past company performances of music by Handel, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, and others. The event, hosted by general director Matthew Shilvock and music director designate Eun Sun Kim, includes discussion of key works slated for future seasons. Also this month: following the recent showing of “Lucia di Lammermoor” at the Fort Mason Drive-In, the company returns to the site for streaming performances of Puccini’s “Tosca,” with Adrianne Pieczonka in the title role. Details: “Celebrating” premieres 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4, available through Dec. 6; Drive-In “Tosca,” 5 and 8 p.m. Dec. 11-12; $49 per vehicle; www.sfopera.com (tickets must be purchased in advance; it is strongly advised that you check the website before going).

“Deck the Halls”: The San Francisco Symphony takes its annual holiday concert online this year, with traditional holiday fare including music from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” holiday songs sung by the Symphony Chorus and San Francisco Boys Chorus, and a reading of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” by NBC anchor Raj Mathai. Details: 3:30 p.m. Dec. 5 and 19 on NBC Bay Area; 11:30 a.m. Dec. 6 on Telemundo 48; streaming on the Symphony’s website beginning 3:30 p.m. Dec. 5; free; www.sfsymphony.org.

Let “Freedom” Ring: Inspired by chorus director Lynne Morrow, the Oakland Symphony has commissioned composer Michael T. Roberts to write a new work titled “Mass for Freedom.” Morrow and Roberts will discuss it on Dec. 4, followed by a video performance of its premiere. Details: 3 p.m. Dec. 4; free, www.oebs.org.

“Perle Noire”: Soprano Julia Bullock, one of the stars of San Francisco Symphony’s recent season-opening “Throughline,” stars in an oratorio celebrating the life and music of Josephine Baker. Composed by Tyshawn Sorey, with text by Claudia Rankine, “Perle Noire” features Bullock and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble in a performance presented by Da Camera of Houston. Details: 8 p.m. Dec. 11, through Dec. 18; free; www.dacamera.com.

Where’s Nic?: In past Decembers, Nicholas McGegan would have been conducting holiday concerts right here in the Bay Area. But you can see the beloved maestro in action with the Houston Symphony this week, conducting “A Baroque Christmas,” featuring works by Handel and Corelli, with soloists Angela Meade, J’Nai Bridges, Chad Shelton, and Morris Robinson. Details: Dec. 4-6; $29-$99; www.houstonsymphony.org.

A “Triple Treat”: Since October, Livermore Valley Opera has been keeping audiences engaged with its “Opera Lovers’ Triple Treat” performances; the final installment of 2020 comes this weekend, featuring company artists Shawnette Sulker, Christopher Bozeka, Eugene Brancoveanu, and Kirk Eichelberger. Details: 6 p.m. Dec. 5; free on YouTube.

“A Chanticleer Christmas”: Chanticleer’s annual holiday concert has always been one of the season’s can’t-miss events. This year, the 12-man chorus teams with Stanford Live for “A Chanticleer Christmas: From Darkness to Light,” with music spanning Renaissance masterworks to contemporary carols. Details: 12 p.m. Dec. 15-Jan. 1; $25 single, $42 households; www.chanticleer.org.

Love a piano: The Steinway Society’s Home Concert series continues with Russian pianist Vyacheslav Gryaznov, who made a memorable West Coast debut with Steinway in 2016. He returns with a program spanning Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, and Debussy. Details: Dec. 18-21; $20; www.steinwaysociety.com.

A San Francisco treat: The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus takes its holiday concert online for the first time this month, but don’t expect the annual event to lose its sparkle. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the show features special guests, show-stopping numbers, and lots of seasonal music. Details: 5 p.m. Dec. 24; $25 single, $60 groups; www.sfgmc.org.

Kronos shines a light: As demonstrated in their recent “Testimony” program for Stanford Live, the Bay Area-based Kronos Quartet continues to bring musical brilliance to our troubled times. Check out the foursome, joined by the superb vocalist Meklit Hadero, performing “The President Sang Amazing Grace.” Recorded in Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall, it recalls Barack Obama singing during the funeral of state senator and pastor Clementa Pinckney in 2015 in Charleston, S.C. Details: Free on YouTube.

Recordings

Grammy Nods for S.F. Symphony: Adding to the impressive catalog of recordings led by Michael Tilson Thomas during his tenure as San Francisco Symphony music director, two 2020 releases on the SFS Media label have been nominated for Grammy Awards: “Copland: Symphony No. 3,” for best orchestral performance, and MTT’s own “Meditations on Rilke and Diary of Anne Frank,” in the running for best classical compendium. Details: Go to www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/SFS-Media to learn more about the releases and how you can stream or buy them.

Daniel Hope, “Hope at Home”: Daniel Hope has been busy since the start of the pandemic. The violinist and music director of the New Century Chamber Orchestra has streamed more than 50 performances on the ARTE TV network, and this album on the Deutsche Grammophon label features 21 of the highlights.

Lawrence Brownlee, “Amici e Rivali”: In recent years, tenor Brownlee has emerged as a versatile artist in a wide range of opera works as well as an eloquent voice for racial equality in today’s classical music world; his Bay Area appearances have included a SF Performances concert featuring Tyshawn Sorey’s “Cycles of My Being.” On his latest recording, “Amici e Rivali,” he joins Michael Spyres in a vibrant “dueling tenors” collection of Rossini duets. Details: Available to stream or purchase on various platforms.

Daniil Trifonov, “Silver Age”: Trifonov made a big splash with his performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 4 at the San Francisco Symphony last year. This disc, from Deutsche Grammophon, shows his prodigious gifts in music by Prokofiev, Scriabin, and Stravinsky. Details: Available to stream or purchase on multiple platforms.

“Peter Grimes”: One of the significant losses of 2020 was the death of soprano Erin Wall, whose appearances at the S.F. Symphony and Opera were unforgettable. In this new Chandos recording by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, she sings the role of Ellen Orford as part of a fine cast in Britten’s masterful opera, with Stuart Skelton in the title role. Details: www.chandos.net.

Contact Georgia Rowe at [email protected].

Read more at www.mercurynews.com

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