Arts & Events

The March 13 City Council meeting includes items of contention that were left unsettled and rescheduled. Comments emailed early council@cityofberkeley.info have the best chance of being read.
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Pablo Heras-Casado, who was last seen here in 2016 conducting the San Francisco Symphony in works by Mozart, Schumann, and Dvorak, returned to Davies Hall this weekend, March 1-3, to conduct Helix by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Violin Concerto No. 2 in C-sharp minor by Arnold Schoenberg, and Symphony No. 1 in C minor by Johannes Brahms. Heras-Casado, as I noted in reviewing his 2016 appearances here, exudes confidence and charisma, and he conducts with an extremely energetic style. In fact, he’s almost too energetic. Orchestra members don’t really need to have every single phrase acted out for them by a conductor. Nor should audiences require such coddling. While dynamic energy has its place, that place is hardly each and every moment of a work being performed. In conducting, less is sometimes more. (Take Herbert Blomstedt, for example.) -more-

In the second of his three programs this season under the auspices of San Francisco Symphony, pianist Daniil Trifonov teamed up with his mentor, Sergei Babayan, to perform music from the four-hand piano repertory. Their concert took place on Tuesday evening, February 27 at Davies Hall. Having studied with Sergei Babayan at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Daniil Trifonov welcomed the opportunity to perform together with Babayan, saying “it’s a great pleasure to be on a stage with him.” -more-