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1st appeared 16 May 2000 NINA'S ARTS NOTES The season of performing and visual arts used to wind down at this time of year, like the TV serials season. But instead of reruns, some of the major SF arts organizations are giving us programs as important as those we saw during the fall and winter. Here are a few personal selections. SMUIN BALLETS Michael Smuin, former Director of the San Francisco Ballet and award-winning choreographer of many Broadway shows and movies, created his own company here in 1994. Ever since, Smuin Ballets has been performing his exciting new works and touring them around the Bay Area and as far as Colorado, Los Angeles, and New York. Smuin Ballets annual May season offers imaginative blends of dance works drawn from diverse cultures and set to wide ranges of music. Smuin’s dancers are vibrant and highly accomplished. In the Yerba Buena Theater with its excellent sightlines, you are closer to the stage and become more involved in the dances than is possible in the 3,000-seat Opera House. Program B, a special treat for families and children, has an added matinee on May 20: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (world premiere) Pinocchio, QaV, Dream.
Program C: May 17 through 21: Shinju (contains "highly charged eroticism") Homeless (world premiere), Les Noces, and reprise of vivid Suenos Latinos. Yerba Buena Theater, 700 Howard Street at Third. Tickets & Info. 415/978-2787. http://www.smuinballets.com GREAT TALKERS City Arts & Lectures’ wonderful programs are winding down but there are still famous and fascinating speakers to hear: May 16, 8 pm, California Academy of Sciences: Paul Theroux, Novelist, Travel Writer May 22, 8 PM, Herbst Theatre (Civic Center): Terrence McNally, playwright, author of libretto for new opera Dead Man Walking to be premiered in October by SF Opera May 31, 8 PM Herbst Theatre: Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient and new novel Anil’s Ghost June 7, Herbst: Russell Banks, novelist, screenwriter June 12, Herbst: Anchee Min, author, Becoming Madame Mao, Red Azalea Tickets from City Box Office, 415/392-4400. THE FACES OF LOVE San Francisco Performances has enriched our lives immeasurably in the 20 years since it was founded by the remarkable Ruth Felt, bringing music and dance to San Francisco which we would otherwise not have the opportunity to enjoy. SF Performances’ programs of recitals, chamber music, jazz, and contemporary dance feature artists and companies both new and well-known, always of great interest and quality. Their new brochure for 2000-2001 is just out and full of tantalizing programs. For a copy call 415/398-6449 or 398-6439. On May 24, SF Performances closes its current 20th anniversary season with a very special concert: The Faces of Love, which could also be called Frederica von Stade and Friends. Mezzo soprano von Stade, called Flicka by her legion of friends and admirers, is a Bay Area resident, a unique, extraordinary, and delightful musical communicator who performs all over the world in leading opera houses and recital halls.
Heggie’s songs are published and performed in recitals by such prominent artists as Brian Asawa (another SF resident,) Renée Fleming, Jennifer Larmore, Sylvia McNair, Dawn Upshaw, and Carol Vaness, as well as von Stade. His first CD, also called The Faces of Love and featuring many of these singers, was released last fall. Flicka will be joined at this SF Performance by sopranos Kristin Clayton and Nicolle Foland, countertenor Brian Asawa (another SF resident) and cellist Emil Miland, with Heggie at the piano. Playwright McNally will also take part in a preview of his and Heggie's new opera. The Faces of Love, Wednesday May 24 at 8 PM, Herbst Theatre, Van Ness at McAllister (Civic Center,) Tickets 415/392-440, online. OPERA IN THE GARDENS Take a picnic, stretch out on the grass at Yerba Buena Gardens, and listen to a concert by tomorrow’s stars of opera. It’s free! And it¹s a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the city. Program will be conducted by Ian Robertson, SF Opera Chorus Director, and will feature SF Opera Center Adler Fellows, exceptional young singers who have already embarked on professional careers. You'll hear vocal and orchestral highlights from the upcoming opera season and other operatic favorites. Judging by previous years, the big lawn at Yerba Buena soon fills up, so get there early. Many bus lines and Powell Street Muni Metro nearby; parking in Mission and Fourth St. Garage. Opera in the Gardens, 1:30 PM, Sunday, May 28, Yerba Buena Gardens Esplanade, Mission between Third and Fourth Streets. For more information call 415/978-2787 or log on to http://www.yerbabuenaarts.org. OSTWALD MEMORIAL
Peter F. Ostwald was a prominent member of the UCSF Department of Psychiatry for 40 years. He was also a gifted violinist and writer who combined his disciplines in ground-breaking psychobiographies of composer Robert Schumann, dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, and pianist Glenn Gould. Ostwald also founded and directed the UCSF Health Program for Performing Artists, a pioneer group of UCSF clinicians dedicated to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of ailments commonly encountered by performers. Ostwald died in 1996. The second annual memorial lecture-recital to honor him is being organized by the SF Conservatory of Music and the UCSF Department of Psychiatry. Prominent faculty members of both institutions will take part. This year¹s event will also honor the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. Dr. Peter F. Ostwald Memorial: Lecture: June 7, 4 to 5.30 PM, UCSF Toland Hall. Admission Free. Information 476-7521. Recital: June 8, 8 PM, Hellman, SF Conservatory of Music, 1201 Ortega Street at 19th Avenue. Information: 415/759-3475. 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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Among
the composers who have written music especially for her is the brilliant
Jake Heggie, who lives in San Francisco and whose first opera, Dead
Man Walking, with libretto by Terrence McNally, will have its world
premiere in October at San Francisco Opera. Not bad for a man of 38!