San Francisco Ballet, Program 3: ”Trio,” “Francesca da Rimini” and “Le Carnaval des Animaux.” Through Feb 26. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave, S.F. $20-$285. (415) 865-2000. www.sfballet.org.

The difference 3D brings to Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, which is a modern classic in that it refreshes and reinvigorates what is fundamentally a film about trade disputes through some mind blowing visuals which catapult themselves at the audience so thick and so fast that there isn’t a moment to be distracted or bemused by even Natalie Portman’s bizarre acting which is so wooden at times you wonder if she was auditioning for a modern female portrayal of Pinocchio.

The colors are bright. The CG is smooth. The characters larger then life in their new environment. The sound fantastic. The whoosh of light sabers could be felt in the company theatre although they were next to your ears.

If you ever have a friend or family member who gets the opportunity to work at Lucas and then give you a tour, always inquire about the special show reels you can only see on Friday in the the cinema as it is the most fantastic space with a sound system perfectly designed to give full force to the creative projects the company is behind. Holding probably around two to three hunded, maybe more, the space is quiet when you walk in, you feel you could hear a pin drop or a mouse scurry across a board, except that to find a mouse in here, you would be lucky as more likely it would be an alien mouse on the big screen. Absolutely perfect for such a mesmerizing performance.

Was it worth it? Absolutely yes. Will you have to enjoy it without company perks, perhaps, but that won’t detract from the legend which suddenly comes to life in front of you.

(Almost the entire work is made up of 389 stanzas of iambic tetrameter with the unusual rhyme scheme “AbAbCCddEffEgg”, where the uppercase letters represent feminine rhymes while the lowercase letters represent masculine rhymes. This form has come to be known as the “Onegin stanza” or the “Pushkin sonnet.” )

Love. Betrayal. Revenge. The three great themes of a passionate tale cumulate in a whirlwind of color and movement that captivates  the audience from beginning to end. John Cranko’s masterful adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s heartbreaking tale of unrequited love between Russian aristocrat Eugene and the beautiful Tatiana takes the audience away to a world where social boundaries are broken at the cost to the heart and with breathtaking set design and a fine attention to the details of  Santo Loquasto’s costumes, the audience is swept from  the scenes of the dancing to the forest dual with such smooth transition that the heart skips a beat when revolvers are drawn.

With any performance of this kind, the questions must be asked as to whether the original freshness of the text can be smoothly translated to the stage without losing any of its passion. Does a less well known story tell itself within the dancing without excessive need for program notes? And will the audience be receptive to the unfamiliar story transcribed through the footwork of the dancers? In all cases, San Francisco pulls off the above and does so with so much smoothness and gloss that the eyes are betwitched by the stage and performers.

For those unfamiliar with the story a brief introductory synopsis is that the ballet is based on the poetic novel Eugene Onegin by the Russian literary icon Alexander Pushkin. The story is simple with Tatiana the naïve country girl falling in love with Onegin the city dandy. Introduced to Tatiana by his friend Lensky, fiancé of the girl’s sister Olga. Onegin not only rejects Tatiana, he decides to meddle in the love lives of Olga and Lensky. He succeeds in raising tensions to the point where a dual is called for by Lensky, wherein Onegin kills Lensky. Onegin leaves the countryside and years later returns to find that Tatiana has married an older man, Gremin, and is content with her marriage and her life. Onegin pursues her however although Tatiana still has feelings for him, stays true to her husband and sends Onegin on his way in a beautiful cumulation of dance movements which show the transition from girl to woman, naivety to understanding.

The biggest challenge for the dancers was to master the choreography while transcending the difficulty of the steps to tell the story, and full credit must be given to the corps which supported the principles excellently. Which they did with subtle attention to deal detail makes the performance a delight for the eyes.

Tchaikovsky fills the auditorium with power and depth and mesmerized the audience from start to finish. However as Geri Jeter, in the California Literary Review commented:

”Martin West and the SF Ballet orchestra performed admirably, but they were hampered by what is the only significant flaw in Onegin. Over the years, having seen this ballet several times, from the original Stuttgart Ballet production to the National Ballet of Canada, one aspect always has bothered me — the orchestrations. Most of it is all right; it’s hard to go too wrong, given the quality of the base material, an assemblage of Tchaikovsky piano and symphonic works. However, all the pas de deux are at the same level; at no time are character pairings given music that specifically embodies the individual couples.

It would be one thing if the orchestration drawbacks were accidental, but they aren’t. “In arranging the music,” said orchestrator Kurt-Heinz Stolz, “I felt was important not to depart too much from the typical Tchaikovsky orchestration.” But what Stolz used was typical Tchaikovskysymphonic orchestration, not the composer’s ballet construction, which adjusts for character and plot nuances.

For example, in the first act, Stolz shows no musical differentiation between the Lensky/Olga and the Onegin/Tatiana duets — nothing in the music informs the audience as to the nature of the relationships. The same occurs in Act III. Tatiana’s duet with her husband Gremin carries the same soaring intensity as her final scene with Onegin. But Gremin’s love for his wife is intrinsically more tender and loving than tortured. After all, he did get the girl. Shouldn’t his music be different?” 

In conclusion this is the perfect ballet to start the San Francisco season with and good be enjoyed by a wide audience. Well worth making a trip for, you might even forget yourself in it.

Tickets are still available and run up until the 3rd of February and will be keenly sought after so if you haven’t reserved yours yet we encourage you to do so now.

Onegin: The War Memorial Opera House

Ticket Services:

For additional questions call Ticket Services 415.865.2000 - Monday – Friday 10 am – 4 pm

Approximate program length: 2 hours, 16 minutes.

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko

The Toronto Sun says, “Visually, this production is a stunner, moving from triumph to triumph from the minute the lights come up…”

Sat, Feb 11, 2012 4:00pm

The San Francisco Symphony’s annual Chinese New Year Concert and Celebration will welcome in the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Dragon in colorful style at the Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday 11th of February.  The East and the West will come together in an amalgamation of instruments and music which all the family will enjoy.

From 3pm to 4pm, there will be a festival reception in the Davies Symphony Hill Lobbies.  With performers including Dan the Magic Man with Kat the Acrobat and The Magic of Safire, plus caricature artists, fortune tellers, face painters, balloon artists, Chinese calligraphers, airbrush artists, stilt-walkers, contortionists, Chinese plate spinners, and an arts & crafts station, provided by Henna Garden Events and Entertainment.

Imperial Dinner packages that include premium concert seating are available by calling the Volunteer Council at (415) 503-5500. 

The concert will begin at 4pm and is also particularly special this year because all of the works are by Chinese and Chinese-American composers, including a world premiere orchestral work by Huang Ruo.

o   Conductor Carolyn Kuan returns to lead the concert for a sixth year in a row

o   Sheng (Chinese mouth organ) soloist Hu Jianbing and pianist Jie Chen are also showcased during the concert, which further illustrates the confluence of Eastern and Western musical styles

-    The Chinese New Year Imperial Dinner, inspired by the traditional pageantry of CNY celebrations, is at 6pm underneath the grand Rotunda at City Hall.

The broad range of activities and talent will make the San Francisco Chinese New Year Community Concert a treat for the whole family, catering everyone from children to classical music lovers and maybe transforming the children into the latter. The Davies Symphony Hall is the perfect location for such celebrations and we recommend you book your tickets now before the event sells out.

Conductor/Performers:

Carolyn Kuan
conductor

Hu Jianbing
sheng

Jie Chen
piano

San Francisco Symphony

Program:

Traditional

Lion Dance

Mao Yuan

Credit: Maria kochetkova and Vitor Luiz on Cranko's Onegin. (© Erik Tomasson)

This season is a time for great excitement as Onegin the powerful ballet adaptation of the early-19th century novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, by Alexander Pushkin is brought to San Francisco. John Cranko’s dramatic adaptation seems perfectly suited for the company, where the Russian-born principal dancers Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin and soloist Dana Genshaft who were all weaned on Pushkin, bringing a special connection and passion to the work. (Alexander Pushkin has a status in Russia’s literary firmament which is hard to ignore).

Both opera and ballet of the same name are based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1832 novel in verse (389 stanzas of iambic tetrameter) about challenged honor and thwarted love which Pushkin had experience in each. (He fought 29 duels, the way of saving honour in the century, finally falling victim to one at age 37.)

The passionate story of Russian aristocrat Eugene and his lost chance for love with the beautiful Tatiana, unlocks moving themes of unrequited love, anguish, and tragic irony. Set to a powerful score by Tchaikovsky, this production features lavish scenery and costumes by award-winning designer Santo Loquasto and lighting by James F. Ingalls giving the audience a real feast for the senses.

John Cranko created “Onegin” in 1965 for Stuttgart Ballet with a score constructed together from various Tchaikovsky sources. In 1969, Stuttgart performed the U.S. premiere on ‘Onegin’ but it wasn’t until 1994 that an American company, Boston Ballet, obtained it, and since then several other U.S. companies have added it to their repertoire as well.

The ballet begins on Friday the 27th of January and runs until the 3rd of February.

Onegin

Presented by San Francisco Ballet

Where: War Memorial Opera House, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
When: 8 p.m. Jan. 27, Jan. 31 and Feb. 2-3; 2 and 8 p.m. Jan. 28; 2 p.m. Jan. 29; 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1
Tickets: $36 to $285
Contact: (415) 865-2000, www.sfballet.org

The complete plot can be found on Wikipedia.

Simple, yet magnificent choices of scenery gave place but did not distract from the dancers. The Christmas tree grew tall, lush, fast and thick and the scene changes were so smooth they were non existent courtesy of Michael Yargans seamless attention to detail. Costume design by Martin Pakledinaz did not disappoint. Of particular note must be the costumes of the Sugar Plum Fairy (exceptionally played by France Chung) and her Waltzing Flowers. The Waltzing Flowers spiraled across the stage, their skirts spinning…

Performances through out were of superb quality with the Snow King and Snow Queen gaining wonderful responses from an entranced audience. Personal favorites were Elana Altman, with Anthony Spaulding and Quinn Wharton. The slow measured movements made the trio a sight to be seen as eyes became transfixed to Ms Altmans poise and control.

Children are a vital part of the Nutcracker magic but often, parents sitting on the upper balcony do forget that their elaborate descriptions of what is happening on the stage can be heard by most of the Orchestra seating, so probably the dancers too. (Yes, you were a mature male seated with your daughter on the right hand side with glasses. Great descriptions but we didn’t all need to hear them). While the only other child exception was the infants who cried until taken out. If they are young enough to breast feed they may be slightly premature for Tchaikovsky.

The often unnoticed volunteer ushers serve a pivotal role in organizing parents and children alike. However as most Nutcracker regulars realize, it is not the problem of children which often affects performances. On the whole it is the adult attendees who don’t realize that performances start on time (late admissions aren’t even considered at Covent Garden) and that food and drink are not permitted in the auditorium.

The San Francisco’s Ballets efforts to promote and gain interest prior to the season by interactive online pamphlets, and walks around the city have his year been spectacular. It has been wonderful to see how social media can encourage audience participation in the story and I look forward to seeing how they develop their winning concepts of online marketing with real life experiences such as photographs with the ballerinas and secret children’s sweet grottos downstairs next year. Next year? Well, Christmas isn’t Christmas without the magic of The Nutcracker is it?

For the best tickets phone the box office direct, but be quick. Time isrunningshort.

Where: War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco

When: 2pm and 7 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays, except 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Dec. 24; no performance Christmas Day, closes Dec. 27

Tickets: $22 to $275

Contact: (415) 865-2000, www.sfballet.org/nutcracker

Do you feel a slight sense of confusion or perhaps panic when you open the wine menu at a restaurant? Are there broad categories and new trends on many wine lists with which you have little comfort? Wish you knew a bit more about how to spot great deals on the wine list or what to do when the wine you order isn’t to your liking? When is it appropriate to bring your own bottle into the restaurant and really, which wine is going to pair best with your glazed pork belly or braised short ribs?

The class includes a selection of gourmet cheeses and a tasting of eight incredible wines. Tickets are $60 and with just an extra $15 you can take home an autographed copy of Jordan’s new James Beard award-winning book Secrets of the Sommeliers (co-written by Rajat Parr, wine director at RN74 and Michael Mina)

NOTE: This ticket price of $60 DOES NOT include a copy of Secrets of the Sommeliers. To get your autographed copy for just an extra $15, please bring $15 to the class or email brian@sfwinecenter to purchase one in advance. Copies of Secrets of the Sommeliers will be on hand and Jordan will sign all the books after the class.

San Francisco Wine Center
757 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
415-655-7300
Email: Brian McGonigle

THE BEST TIME OF YEAR:

A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL WITH THE

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY, CHORUS AND SPECIAL GUESTS

Classical Christmas music and carols

Wednesday, November 30 and Thursday, December 1 at 8:00 p.m. at Davies Symphony Hall

THE BEST TIME OF YEAR: A Christmas Special with the SFS    Wednesday, November 30 at 8 pm

Davies Symphony Hall                                                                   Thursday, December 1 at 8 pm

201 Van Ness Avenue

Randall Craig Fleischer conductor

Sarah Jane McMahon soprano

Christopher Feigum baritone

Sonos Bell Ensemble James Meredith, Artistic Director

San Francisco Symphony and Chorus

Classical Christmas music and carols

J. S. Bach Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 – Chorus “Jauchzet, frohlocket!”

Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Leontovich (arr. Kinzel) Fantasy on Carol of the Bells

Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves

Bach/Gounod (arr. Dragon) Ave Maria

Handel “Hallelujah” from Messiah

Traditional (arr. Bennett) Many Moods of Christmas Suite #1

Traditional (arr. Bartsch) “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”

Redner (arr. Dragon) “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

Niles (arr. Sadin) “I Wonder As I Wander”

Traditional (arr. Rutter) ”Go Tell it on the Mountain”

Baker (arr. Simeone) “Do You Hear What I Hear?”

Robert Wendel Christmas a la Valse

Adam (arr. Dragon) “O Holy Night”

Tickets: $25-$68. Half-price for ages 17 and under. Available at sfsymphony.org, 415-864-6000, or the Davies Symphony Hall Box Office on Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street in San Francisco.

Tickets are available at www.appelandfrank.com.