Joana Carneiro Announces Departure From Berkeley Symphony

"Intention to step down" means "stepping down," more or less now. Here's what I have of the press release, care of a friend, because I haven't received it yet:

*Joana Carneiro announces her intent to step down as Music Director of Berkeley Symphony after nine seasons.*

Joana Carneiro, whose adventurous artistic vision and leadership has garnered both critical acclaim and audience praise, has announced that she will step down as Berkeley Symphony’s music director as of the end of the 2017-2018 season and after nine seasons at its artistic helm. Carneiro will stay on as Music Director Emerita. 

A committee has been formed to seek the next Music Director and to determine the best approach for the future of Berkeley Symphony. 

Guest conductors Ming Luke, Jonathon Heyward, Christopher Rountree, and Christian Reif have been scheduled to conduct the four symphonic concerts planned for the 2018-2019 season. Full 2018-2019 season details will be forthcoming.

Between living in Portugal and her family responsibilities (birth of triplets plus a fourth baby this year), she has been absent a lot the last couple of years. Wishing her the best, of course.

When Kent Nagano stepped down, the search process took two years and eight conductors were among the finalists. I'm in favor of bringing back William Eddins, whose program was fantastic and who had the orchestra sounding the best I have ever heard it.

Current list of known openings, which I have attempted to put in chronological order. Some of these posts must have been filled, and I will research that this weekend.

• Hamburg Symphony, following death of Sir Jeffrey Tate
• Orchestre National de Lyon: open now, with Leonard Slatkin's departure
• Opera North: open now, with Aleksandr Markovic's departure
• Opera Theatre of Saint Louis: 2017 is Stephen Lord's final season as MD
• BBC Philharmonic when Juanjo Mena leaves at the end of 2017-18
• Berkeley Symphony, when Joana Carneiro leaves at the end of 2017-18
• Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich when Lionel Bringuier leaves at the end of 2017-18
• Washington National Opera, departure of Philippe Auguin at conclusion of 2017-18 
• San Francisco Opera, departure of Nicola Luisotti at conclusion of 2017-18
• Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which Leonard Slatkin leaves at the close of the 2017-18 season.
• MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony: 2018 departure for Kristian Jarvi
• Scottish Chamber Orchestra: 2018 departure for Robin Ticciati
• Vienna RSO: 2018 departure for Cornelius Meister
• Toronto SO: 2018 departure for Peter Oundjian
• Winnipeg SO: 2018 departure for Alexander Mickelthwate
• Dallas Symphony Orchestra (when Jaap van Zweden takes up his new post at the NYPO). Rumor heard that James Gaffigan is under consideration for this post.
• Orchestre de Paris, when Daniel Harding leaves at the end of 2018-19
• Sarasota Orchestra after Anu Tali  leaves at the end of 2018-2019
• Singapore Symphony: 2019 departure for Lan Shui
• Dresden Philharmonic: 2019 departure for Michael Sanderling
• Sydney Symphony Orchestra: David Robertson will be leaving the SSO at the end of 2019. So he really will be without an orchestral home as of 1/1/2020.
• San Francisco Symphony! when MTT leaves at the end of 2019-20
• Montreal Symphony Orchestra: Kent Nagano is leaving the OSM after 2019-2020. 
• Royal Opera, when Antonio Pappano leaves in 2020
• Opera de Paris, when Philippe Jordan leaves in 2020
• BBC National Orchestra of Wales when Thomas Søndergård leaves for his new job
• Milwaukee Symphony
• Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

Conductors looking for jobs (that is, as of the near future, or now, they do not have a posting):

• Lionel Bringuier
• Juanjo Mena
• Antonio Pappano
• Ludovic Morlot
• Sian Edwards
• Jun Markl
• Ingo Metzmacher
• Bramwell Tovey
• Jac van Steen
• Mark Wigglesworth
• Simone Young 
• David Robertson
• Peter Oundjian as of the end of 2017-18
• Philippe Auguin
• Kwame Ryan
• Ilan Volkov
• Aleksandr Markovic
• Lothat Koenigs
• Henrik Nanasi
• Kent Nagano
• Leonard Slatkin (73 and done with being an MD)

And closed:

• Kent Nagano is now the Generalmusikdirektor of the Staatsoper in Hamburg
• Rafael Payare to San Diego Symphony
• Bayerische Staatsoper when Vladimir Jurowski joins in 2021.
• Clarinetist Martin Frøst becomes chief conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in 2019 when Thomas Dausgaard leaves for Seattle.
• Thomas Zehetmair is going to the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra in 2019
• Matthias Bamert is going to the Sapporo Symphony in 2018 
• Lorenzo Viotti was named music director of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, as of 2018
• Joana Mallwitz appointed GMD in Nuremberg, effective 2018
• Philippe Jordan to the Vienna Staatsoper / VPO (Dominique Meyer not planning to appoint a WSO MD; his contract expires in 2020.)
• Semyon! Bychkov! fills the vacancy at the Czech Philharmonic, following the death of Jiří Bělohlávek
• Dennis Russell Davies becomes music director of the Brno Philharmonic, which had been open since 2015, as of the 2018-19 season.
• Nicola Luisotti becoming an assistant music director at the Teatro Real, Madrid, 2018.
• Seattle Symphony, where Thomas Dausgaard will succeed Ludovic Morlot; announced early October, 2016
• Vancouver Symphony; Otto Tausk comes on in 2018
• Orchestra Nationale de France; Emmanuel Krivine takes the post in 2017.
• NDR Elbphilharmonie: Alan Gilbert becomes MD (or chief conductor) in the 2019-20 season.
• St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Stéphane Denève to succeed David Robertson
• Hong Kong Philharmonic; Jaap van Zweden's contract extended through summer of 2022
• City of Birmingham SO; Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla appointed 2/4/2016, succeeding Andris Nelsons
• New York Philharmonic; Jaap Van Zweden appointed, 1/27/16, succeeding Alan Gilbert
• National Symphony Orchestra; Gianandrea Noseda appointed, 1/4/2016, succeeding Christoph Eschenbach.
• Leipzig Gewandhaus: Andris Nelsons appointed, 9/9/2015
• LSO: Simon Rattle appointed, 3/2/2015
• Orchestra de Paris: Daniel Harding, 6/11/2015
• Berlin Philharmonic: Kirill Petrenko appointed, 6/22/2015
• BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Thomas Dausgaard succeeds Donald Runnicles in September, 2016

Giovanni Porta's Ifigenia in Aulide at Ars Minerva

Ars Minerva's next Baroque revival will be Giovanni Porta's Ifigenia in Aulide, which they'll perform on November 30 and December 1 at 7:30 at ODC Theater and in an abridged concert version on November 9th at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church on Channing Way in Berkeley.

Tomato Tuesday 1

Intermittently tracking the progress of my tomatoes.

I'm growing tomatoes again this year. The first year I lived in this house, I dug out a big plot and grew ten plants of tomatoes, meaning I was pretty overloaded and gave away a lot. I grew tomatoes often in the 90s, but not much this century. Two years ago, I had four pots of tomatoes, all of which caught some kind of fungus or blight, barely produced, and died prematurely.

This year, I've got four pots again, and I'll see how they do. There's more sunlight where I stuck the pots - I think.

Tiny Tim

Will be very small. It's a red cherry tomato.

Mid-season, 60 days.

Defiant

Supposed to be disease-resistant.

Mid-season, 70 days.

Taxi

Early season, 65 days.

Yellow fruit.

Gold Nugget

Early season, 55 days.

Yellow cherry tomato

Museum Mondays

Angel playing an organ

Bavarian National Museum, Munich

August, 2015

Sunday Event Miscellany, Bay Area & NYC Edition

Upcoming!

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble

Left Coast closes the season with a program that includes the rarely-performed Schoenberg Serenade for baritone and seven players, Jemnitz's Trio for Violin, Viola, and Guitar, and Benavides's
Rinconcito for Small Ensemble (world premiere). The first performance was last night, but you can catch the second at the SF Conservatory of Music on Monday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m.

San Francisco Renaissance Voices

Their program is called "To Henry with Love From Venice," Renaissance motets and madrigals. Times & locations, in Berkeley & SF:

Sunday, May 20 - 4:00 pm - St. Clement's Episcopal, 2837 Claremont Blvd, Berkeley

CLICK HERE to buy tickets

Saturday, May 26 - 7:30 pm - Church of the Incarnation, 1750 - 29th Ave, San Francisco

CLICK HERE to buy tickets

New York City Opera Festival

I managed to MISS posting about the first half of this exciting festival of works old and new, but here's what they have coming up in the next several weeks, with links:

 
May 25: Center for Contemporary Opera presents Backwards from Winter
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, Upper Level, New York, NY 10025

May 27: SIGN & SING and American Opera Projects premiere five short operas based on The Dinner Party 
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11238

May TBD: Encompass New Opera Theatre presents Paradigm Shifts Music and Film Festival
Location TBA

June TBA: the little OPERA theatre of ny presents the New York Premiere of This Little Light of Mine: the stories of Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price
Location TBA
 
June 1: Christman Opera Company presents a double bill of Adriana McMannes with the World Premiere of A Metamorphosis
National Opera Center, 330 Seventh Ave, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10001
 
June 1: Opera on Tap presents New Brew Series: OOTmeal
Barbès, 376 9th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215
 
June 2: New Amsterdam Opera presents La Favorita
The Center at West Park, 165 West 86th St, New York, NY 10024

June 13 and/or 14: Opera on Tap presents Hansel and Gretel: The Playground Opera
The playground at Public School 129, 425 West 130th St, New York, NY 10027
 
June 15: Experiments in Opera releases Jason Cady’s Buick City, 1:00 AM
Podcast episodes available online at iTunes, Stitcher, and other podcast sites
 
June 22 – 24: Opera Upper West presents The Impresario
Location revealed upon ticket purchase
 
June 23 & 24: The Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island presents Patience
The Jeanne Rimsky Theatre at The Landmark, 232 Main St, Port Washington, NY 11050
 
June 30: The Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Islandpresents Patience
The Theatre at The Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10027

Berkeley (Early Music) Festival & Exhibition (June 3 to 10)

I have never understood why this event omits the critical phrase "Early Music" from its name, so I have inserted it above for clarity.

As usual, the alternate-years festival has a ton of interesting concerts and master classes coming up. Not so much as usual, they're in conflict with the San Francisco Silent Movie Festival, and I will have to make DECISIONS. The Main Stage events include California Bach Society in choral works of Marc-Antoine Charpentier; soprano Christine Brandes and violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock in a program called Nasty Women; the ensemble Juilliard415 (what it sounds like); Dark Horse Consort; Davis Senior High School Baroque Ensemble (folks, isn't that a little early to be specializing?); Voices of Music; Sequentia; and many other groups.

Friday Photo

Hail accumulated on my back porch

April 16, 2018

Museum Mondays

St. Sebastian

Torturer with Crossbow

Torturer with Long Bow

Bavarian National Museum, Munich

August, 2015

Jenufa, Then and Now

I'll have a full post up about Santa Fe Opera's 2019 season eventually, but one of the two most interesting-to-me productions is David Alden's Jenufa, originally done at the ENO. I don't know most of the singers, but Patricia Racette as Kostelnicka Buryjovka would be enough to get me to Santa Fe next year, and the wonderful Susanne Mentzer is Grandmother Buryjovka.

I have fond memories of Racette's San Francisco Jenufa in 2001, and earlier this week, I took a look back and found that Joshua Kosman also liked it. (SFCV's review seems to have vanished into thin air, alas.) Here's Tim Page reviewing Racette as Jenufa in the David Alden production that Santa Fe will bring up; the great Jiri Belohlavek, may he rest in piece, conducted.

My second Jenufa, after Racette's, was that of Karita Mattila, in LA in 2007, in the Olivier Tambosi production we had in SF two years ago. I didn't like Mattila nearly as much as Racette; I could not see past her glamorous and womanly presence to the young and somewhat naive Janufa. Racette's vulnerability and the sweetness she brought to the role worked beautifully and she was heartbreaking. I also liked Malin Bystrom's steel-spined and fairly bleak Jenufa, which came at the role in another possible way.

Mattila, though, was an absolutely towering Kostelnicka in SF. I'm looking forward to what Racette does with the role. It will be different in interesting and thoughtful ways, I know.

For a look back at a great Kostelnicka of the past, take a look at this hair-raising excerpt with the great Astrid Varnay; I am linking to it rather than embedding it for possible spoilage. The entire performance, from 1970 and conducted by Rafael Kublek, is also on YouTube.

The Opera Hour

Several years ago, David Gockley, former general manager of San Francisco Opera, succeeded in negotiating the return of opera to the airwaves of San Francisco. We had a few telecasts and some years of monthly radio broadcasts on KDFC of SFO productions, mostly from the previous season but with occasional blasts from the past.

Alas, this seems to be coming to an end. We will now get a monthly one-hour show with Matthew Shilvock and Bill Leuth, call The Opera Hour. At least for now, the opera broadcasts are "on hold," according to San Francisco Opera; according to KDFFC, The Opera Hour "replaces" the monthly broadcasts.

I missed the first installment, which was last Sunday, Maybe 8, at 8 p.m. - if you heard it, I'm curious to hear what it was like. It remains to be seen what shape, exactly, this show will take; previews of upcoming works on the season? Anna Netrebko and Renee Fleming's greatest hits? A little Caruso for fun?

I am not particularly a fan of KDFC or Bill Leuth; even since the station's acquisition, the programming is of the Mozart in the Morning / one movement of a symphony / lightweight variety, with barely a nod to new or very old music, and little vocal music. I can imagine that the Sunday evening opera broadcasts weren't getting much in the way of an audience, because the time was bad and during much of the year they were competing with the Met's Saturday morning (local time) broadcasts).

I'm sure Matthew Shilvock will be an engaging host, because he is unfailingly enthusiastic, knowledgable, and good in front of an audience. Bill Leuth, despite his music degrees, is a radio announcer who has to push KDFC's particular brand.

I'm also still waiting to hear whether the show takes requests....in which case, I'll be asking for some Birtwistle.

SF Opera press release after the cut.

New George Benjamin Opera on Medici.TV

I hardly ever watch opera on DVD or TV or the computer, but on Saturday, May 26, Medici TV will be streaming George Benjamin's new opera, Lessons in Love and Violence, starring Barbara Hannigan (should be enough to get you to watch!), Stephane Degout, and Gyula Orendt. The opera is based on the events in the life of King Edward II of England, his wife Isabel, and his favorite (love?) Gaveston.

It's gotten great reviews, and everyone I know who has seen Benjamin's Written on Skin thought it a great work. I am breaking my usual rules to see this.

For more information, see Medici's page about the broadcast. It's at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time, 2:30 Eastern Time.

Hocus-Pocus

Coming some time in the future to San Francisco Opera: a new production of Hansel und Gretel. How do I know? It says so right here on the Royal Opera House web site: co-production with San Francisco Opera.

I love the Richard Jones production SFO did twelve or so years back, and which lives on at the Met and perhaps elsewhere. Looking forward to this Hansel, though, as the opera is a favorite of mine.