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by
Nina Beckwith
1st appeared 14
December 1998
NINA'S ARTS NOTES
More Holiday Attractions
The holiday season brings so many wonderful opportunities to see and hear arts events of
all kinds that Daybreak cannot possibly list them all. We gave a brief selection of
theater, music, and dance events last week. Here we give more dance, music, and visual
arts notes with the hope that you will call and/or consult websites for more information
and for tickets.
Viva SB/SF!
Have to enlarge on Dance Note of December 7 about
Smuin Ballets/SF Christmas show because it is simply terrific. Smuin, award-winning
choreographer of many Broadway musicals and a former director of SF Ballet, has selected
music for the dances in The Classical Christmas, the first part of his program,
which begins with Bach's Magnificat and the Et Misericordia of Claudio
Monteverdi, one of opera's inventors in the early l600s, and continues with Palestrina,
Mozart, Corelli, and traditional Jewish and Hanukkah melodies. Each of the short dances is
different, each one clever and original: their foundation is classical ballet, elegantly
performed by soloists, ensembles, and at times the entire company, all costumed in white.
For The Cool Christmas half of the program, the same wonderful dancers put on
bright red and lounge around to Satchmo's sultry "Christmas in New Orleans" and
jump to a spicy "Cajun Christmas." While Eartha Kitt sings "Santa
Baby," the dancers act out almost everything she wants. A sexy jazz pas de deux shows
what happens when "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and there's a shark rescue in
Hawaii, Irish dancing, the amazing tap number of nine-year old Robert Cisneros, and a lot
more.
Smuin Ballets/SF Christmas Ballet runs through December 27 at the
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, which has excellent sightlines from all
seats, 700 Third Street at Howard. Box Office 978-2787.
* * * * *
Viva SFS!
At Davies Hall, agleam with festive lights and two tiers of huge beautifully decorated
Christmas trees, the SF Symphony's Messiah features its own
splendid chorus, directed by Vance George, with soloists Anna Netrebko, soprano (who has
just ended her starring role in the Kirov's magical Bethrothal in a Monastery
across the street in the Opera House); Nancy Maultsby, alto; Gregory Turay, tenor; and
bass Richard Zeller. Messiah will be performed at 8 p.m. December 18 and 19.
Two chances to take the family to Peter and the Wolf,
Prokofiev's fabulous tale, narrated by Danny Glover, at 1 and at 4 on the
afternoon of December 19, part of a delightful SFS Youth Orchestra
program, conducted by Alasdair Neale, who will also lead a sing-along.
Christmas Pipe Dreams on December 20 at 2 and
at 7 with David Hicks at the keyboards of North America's largest pipe organ, the
magnificent 9,000-pipe Ruffatti. Guests will be Phantom of the Opera's Lisa
Vroman and the Bay Brass, members of the SFS Brass sections making the hall resound with
the sounds of trumpets, horns, and trombones.
Call 864-6000 or order by email: tickets@sfsymphony.org
* * * * *
Nutcracker with 150 kids
It's Nutcracker time again, and l50 youngsters aged 8 to 18 from
all over the Bay Area will perform 74 roles double-cast in SF Ballet's traditional Nutcracker,
one of the most imaginative and elaborate productions of this beloved ballet anywhere.
Absolutely not to be missed. Even if you've seen it before, Tchaikovsky's glorious music
and all the magical characters are freshly enchanting every time.
SF Ballet, America's oldest professional ballet company, was the first to premiere Nutcracker
in the US, back in l944. Every year, about l50 students from the SF Ballet School give up
their holiday break for intensive Nutcracker classes and rehearsals, and the
chance to perform with the stars on the great stage of the War Memorial Opera House.
In collaboration with the SF Firefighters Toy Program, in the Opera House Lobby at every
performance the SF Ballet will collect donations of new unwrapped toys and books for
families in need.
Nutcracker runs from December 15 through the 31st. There are two
performances every day except the l6th & l7th. Ballet Box office open noon to 6 p.m.
in the Opera House or charge by phone 865-2000. Tickets also at BASS outlets.
* * * * *
Mexican Masterpieces
For 40 years, Beverly Hills art dealer Bernard Lewin and his wife Edith collected some
2,000 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by the outstanding Mexican artists of our
time. Last year, the Lewins gave their collection to the LA County Museum, making it into
North America's center for modern Mexican art.
A sampling of 65 works from the Lewins' collection is on exhibit at the SF Mexican
Museum in Fort Mason. Included are 27 paintings from all periods by Rufino
Tamayo, one of Mexico's most renowned artists, each painting more profound and fascinating
than the last, and works by Carlos Merida, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente
Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Also take a peek at the Museum's Permanent Collection
where you will be bowled over by a wild and wonderful Tree of Life made by Alfonso Sotero
of ceramic in all imaginable colors and shapes.
The Lewin Masterpieces show is on view only until January 3, l999.
The SF Mexican Museum and all the colorful wares in its adjoining shop are in Building D
at Fort Mason Center, Laguna St. and Marina Blvd., Wed. through Fri., noon to 5 p.m.; Sat
& Sun 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free parking; Muni bus #28. Information 202-9700.
* * * * *
Also at Fort Mason, the New Pickle Circus
invites you to Step Right Up! Two of San Francisco's most
beloved clowns, Pino and Razz, are back in the center ring along with astonishing Russian
performers Yuri and Svetlana Gololabova, masters of balancing and acrobatic clowning, and
with six world-class Chinese acrobats, the SF Mime Troupe's comic Amos Glick, and of
course the red-hot Pickle Jazz Band. Tandy Beal directs this year's show.
The New Pickle Circus continues the tradition of intimate witty shows begun by its
predecessor, the Pickle Family Circus. Its commitment to a wide range of audiences
includes modest ticket prices, ticket donation to disadvantaged youth, seniors, and
handicapped.
Matinee and evening performances from December 16 through January 3, l999 are at
the Cowell Theater right on the Bay in Fort Mason Center. Free parking; Muni bus
#28. Showtimes vary slightly each week, so call 441-3687 for information and tickets.
* * * * *
Fort Mason's wonders never cease. In Building A you'll
find the SF Craft and Folk Art Museum where more than 35 Christmas
creches from Europe, Mexico, India, the Philippines, Africa, and Central and South America
are on exhibit until January 3, l999. The creches are three-dimensional
panoramas showing the Nativity: the Holy Family, and often the Three Kings, angels,
shepherds, farm animals, and wondering villagers gathered around.
* * * * *
Sunday, December 20, at 7 p.m. is the time for the annual holiday concert
by The Boys Chorus of SF. The place is St. Ignatius Church, which has
great sound, at Parker and Fulton Streets. Boys Chorus director is Ian Robertson, who does
the same job so superbly at SF Opera.
Tenor Christopher Pucci of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Program is the featured
soloist. On the program are Mozart's Spatzenmesse and traditional holiday music.
Tickets at the door, or phone 665-2330 for advance reservations.
* * * * *
Picasso at the Legion
Throughout World War II, Pablo Picasso remained in France, as he had during the Spanish
Civil War when he kept in touch with friends in Spain and with his mother and sister who
stayed in heavily bombarded Barcelona. His art of that period embodies his response to the
terrible events in Spain and to the long agonizing years of war, during which he lived in
Paris under Nazi occupation.
Picasso was neither a collaborator nor active in the
Resistance, but "No other artist of the twentieth century left so sustained a visual
account of the devastating effect of war on life and the human spirit," in the words
of Steven A. Nash, chief curator and organizer of the stunning exhibition Picasso
and the War Years: 1937-1945 at the Legion of Honor until January 3,
l999. Whatever it takes, try to get to the Legion to see these unforgettable
images. They have never before been exhibited together.
In the first gallery are documents and newsreels, including some German wartime footage,
which give a vivid sense of the WWII atmosphere in France. With the works created during
the Spanish Civil War, seen in the next gallery, Picasso's art had become political,
notably in the Dream and Lie of Franco and the still-shocking Guernica,
perhaps his most famous painting, expressing his reaction to the German bombing of
civilians in a Basque village (seen here in a life-size reproduction as the original is
now too delicate to travel).
While a sort of false peace prevailed in l938-39, Picasso painted the monumental Night
Fishing at Antibes, to me the most mysterious and mesmerizing of all his works. The
exhibition continues with galleries devoted to Picasso's women, in which we see his
portraits marvelously varied from the softly naturalistic to the most angular Cubism, and
to his still-life and studio subjects. The final gallery is entitled Hope and
Commemoration, showing works in which dedication and sacrifice for the common good
can be read, such as the great bronze sculpture of l943 Man with a Lamb.
The Legion of Honor is in Lincoln Park; the entrance drive is at Clement and 34th Avenue.
Hours are Wed. through Sun., 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; first Wed of the month 9:30 a.m. to 8:45
p.m. Exhibition hotline 1/800/863-3330; www.thinker.org
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Artists Among Us
A San Francisco resident for 20 years, Nina
Beckwith is a longtime arts writer and music critic and a former Time magazine overseas
correspondent. She was founding editor of the UC Berkeley Library newsletter Bene Legere
and worked for six years with the late Dr. Peter Ostwald, Director of the UCSF Health
Program for Performing Artists. |
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