Accumulated Matter

Lots going on:

• San Francisco Early Music Society presents the Boston Shawm & Sackbut Ensemble and Friends this weekend. One of the friends is countertenor Paul Flight, who is a wonderful singer as well as chorus director. Concerts in Palo Alto, Berkeley, and San Francisco; details are here.
• Mahler's Eighth approaches, at San Francisco Symphony, and tickets are still available.
• With ticket sales slowing, San Francisco Opera has a half-price ticket offer on the well-reviewed Elisir. I'm not a Donizetti fan; on the other hand, Ramon Vargas. Email me for details or sign up for their email alerts.
• Esa-Pekka Salonen is in his last year at the Los Angeles Philharmonic (sob). In his honor, the orchestra has put up a huge web site that includes photos, a timeline, interviews, and, best of all, lots and lots of performances. I'm sorry that there are only snippets of Salonen's own compositions, but you'll find complete works by Steven Stucky, Dutilleux, Lindberg, Hillborg, and Lim among the living, and Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms, and Stravinsky, among the dead. I only wish Les Noces were the great four-piano version rather than Stucky's orchestration....h/t to Mr. Noise for the link.
• Meanwhile, just across the street from Disney Hall, LA Opera will be putting on the Ring, and they have their own web site about the production. If only the cast were better! Vitalij Kowaljow, yes; John Treleaven, no.
• But it also seems the whole city of Los Angeles is catching Ring Fever: the opera company has arranged a huge, city-wide look at Wagner and his epic by a range of arts organizations. Click Ring Festival at the link just above.
  
• Jake Heggie's Three Decembers is on at Zellerbach for three performances next month. I have not decided whether I'm going or not. I love Flicka, but...
• Opera Tattler reports that Faust is on at San Francisco next season, and since she heard it from David Gockley at a post-Elisir talk....god, WHY? It's not 1883.
• Across the sea, London's English National Opera is now taking ticket orders for their spring season, which includes Doctor Atomic and (be still, my heart) L'Amour de Loin. Gerald Finley once more reprises Robert Oppenheimer, but not, alas, Jaufre Rudel.