Arts & Events

Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula which to my knowledge was last seen in the Bay Area in a 1985 San Francisco Opera production featuring Frederica von Stade as Amina, the sleepwalker, tenor Dennis O’Neill as Elvino, and Samuel Ramey as Count Rodolfo, is currently enjoying a run by Alameda’s Island City Opera. In performances at Alameda’s Elks Lodge, La Sonnambula runs from March 7 to March 18. I attended the Sunday matinee on March 11; and La Sonnambula will also be given on Friday, March 16, and Sunday, Marc h 18. A trip to Alameda will be well worth your effort, for Island City Opera’s production of La Sonnambula is stellar. The cast is uniformly excellent; and the staging by director Olivia Stapp is both witty and intellectually stimulating. -more-

There is a heavy list of city meetings for the upcoming week with most meetings earning only a quick scan. The meetings of importance are:
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Pipa player Wu Man made a name for herself in America, where her lute-like instrument isn't so well-knpwn, by her virtuosic playing with the Kronos Quartet and Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. While playing folk music from Shaanxi Province, she discovered the Huayin Shadow Puppet Band, bringing them to Carnegie Hall for the China Festival there in 2009. Now on tour in North America, Wu and the Shadow Puppet Band will perform this Sunday at 3 at Hertz Hall on the UC campus, close to College & Bancroft. Tickets are $42-$68. calperformances.org or 642-9988. -more-

Founded in 2009 by noted baroque oboist Debra Nagy, Les Délices specializes in long neglected works by lesser-known composers of the Baroque period. Les Délices is comprised of Debra Nagy on oboe, Julie Andrijeski and Adriane Post on violins, Emily Walhout on viola da gamba, and Mark Edwards on harpsichord. On the weekend of March 2-4, Les Délices presented concerts in Palo Alto, Berkeley, and San Francisco. I attended the Saturday evening concert in Berkeley’s St. Mary Magdalen Church. -more-