2012 cultural events
This page lists 54 cultural events I attended in 2012. Movies are listed on my films page, not here. The program index page displays thumbnails of all the printed program images. Cities are in California, except as noted.
Highlights of 2012 to date:
- It has been a good year for theater, especially for sons-of-Pickles. We loved both Lorenzo Pisoni's Humor Abuse and Dan Hoyle's The Real Americans. Also loved Stage 3's Red (ask me about the set!).
- The American Mavericks series from MTT / SFS has been wonderful too, especially an entertaining Lou Harrison concerto for organ and percussion and Henry Brant's fabulous orchestration of Ives' Concord Sonata. A Bates / Adams / Feldman / Varèse program contrasted the relatively middle-of-the road present with the whacky past; it's clear who the revolutionaries are in that lineup. Keep up the great work, MTT!
- Earplay's spendid March concert included a stunning performance of Ives' Piano Trio. Wow! I'm always awed by the technical proficiency of the Earplayers, and proud to be associated with them, but this performance was really out-of-scale special for me. To quote Pam (Shelley Duvall) in Annie Hall: "The only word for this is transplendent; it's transplendent."
- Cinnabar Theater's Don Giovanni, with everything I love about intimate opera productions: wonderful voices, great musicians, imaginative staging; really fun. The reduced orchestral forces bring even greater clarity to Mozart's matchless vocal ensembles.
And on the downside:
- Muti and the CSO: to my ear and my taste, not up to the astonishing standard of the Solti years, when I was in Chicago often enough to hear them many times. In the 1980s, the CSO put our locals to shame. A couple decades later, the SFS is vastly improved, and now CSO sounds plodding and ordinary by comparison, at least at the concert I heard.
- Too much Rachmaninoff! Both Yuja Wang (in No. 3) and Khatia Buniatishvili (in No. 2) were fun to watch and played well, but this tired repertoire does absolutely nothing for me.
I started keeping event data in the format used by this page in 2010, so data from 2010 to date is accurate. I started keeping appointment calendar data in .txt format in August 2005. I later extracted 2005-2009 event data ex post facto, so data for 2005 to 2009 is less complete and a bit less accurate. I have older pocket calendars and hard copies of event programs going back to 1963, but I have not yet scanned programs for years before 2010 or entered event data for most years before 2005.
See also: 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1971 1981 1982 1983 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 All
Click on a heading below to sort the list accordingly. Click on a Program link to see the printed program for an event. Enter a search string (e.g., "Mahler", "Berkeley", "piano") below to filter the output.
| Date | Category | Description | Performers | Venue | City | Works | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/05/12 @ 10:00 | Rehearsal | San Francisco Symphony | Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Christian Tetzlaff, violin |
Davies | San Francisco | Program | Liszt: Prometheus Ligeti: Violin Concerto Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 'Winter Daydreams' |
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| 01/25/12 @ 10:00 | Rehearsal | San Francisco Symphony | Pinchas Zukerman, conductor / violin / viola | Davies | San Francisco | Program | Mozart: Adagio Mozart: Rondo Hindemith: Trauermusik Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 Mozart: Symphony No. 40 |
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| 01/27/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Richard Egarr, conductor / harpsichord | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Handel: Symphony from Saul Locke: Music from The Tempest Purcell: Suite from The Fairy Queen Arne: Concerto for Harpsichord Lawes: Consort Sett Handel: Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 5 Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba from Salomon |
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| 01/28/12 @ 20:00 | Theater | Humor Abuse | Lorenzo Pisoni | Geary | San Francisco | Program | Pisoni / Schmidt: Humor Abuse | |||
| 01/29/12 @ 16:00 | Chamber | Noe Valley Chamber Music | Clerestory | Holy Innocents | San Francisco | Program | ||||
| 02/06/12 @ 19:30 | Chamber | Earplay | Mary Chun, conductor | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Peterson: Excursion Feldman: Nature Pieces Hills: 1958-1961 Rodriguez: Crepitum Chen Yi: Tunes from My Home |
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| 02/08/12 @ 10:00 | Rehearsal | San Francisco Symphony | Herbert Blomstedt, conductor | Davies | San Francisco | Program | Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 | |||
| 02/12/12 @ 15:00 | Chamber | Tokyo String Quartet | Tokyo String Quartet Jean-Michel Fonteneau, cello |
Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Haydn: String Quartet Op. 77 No. 1 'Lobkowitz' Bartok: String Quartet No. 3 Schubert: Cello Quintet |
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| 02/15/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | Chicago Symphony Orchestra | Ricardo Muti, conductor | Davies | San Francisco | Program | Schubert: Entr'acte from Rosamunde Clyne: Night Ferry Schubert: Symphony in C 'The Great' |
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| 02/25/12 @ 20:00 | Chamber | Bella Trio | Bella Trio | Private | San Francisco | Program | Shostakovich: Prelude Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 7 'Archduke' Päart: Spiegel im Spiegel Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2 |
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| 02/29/12 @ 20:00 | Theater | Scorched | ACT | Geary | San Francisco | Program | Mouawad: Scorched | |||
| 03/01/12 @ 10:00 | Rehearsal | San Francisco Symphony | Charles Dutoit, conductor Arabella Steinbacher, violin |
Davies | San Francisco | Program | Stravinsky: Le Chant du rossignol Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra |
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| 03/04/12 @ 14:00 | Theater | The Real Americans | Dan Hoyle | Marsh | San Francisco | Program | Hoyle, Dan: The Real Americans | |||
| 03/07/12 @ 20:00 | Theater | Geezer | Geoff Hoyle | Marsh | San Francisco | Program | Hoyle, Geoff: Geezer | |||
| 03/08/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | San Francisco Symphony | Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Paul Jacobs, organ |
Davies | San Francisco | Program | Copland: Orchestral Variations Harrison: Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra Ives / Brant: A Concord Symphony |
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| 03/09/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, conductor Steven Isserlis, cello |
Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Mendelssohn: The Fair Melusine Schumann: Cello Concerto Brahms: Serenade No. 2 |
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| 03/15/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | San Francisco Symphony | Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor SF Symphony Chorus St. Lawrence String Quartet Emmanuel Ax, piano |
Davies | San Francisco | Program | Bates: Mass Transmission Adams: Absolute Jest Feldman: Piano and Orchestra Varèse: Amériques |
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| 03/18/12 @ 15:00 | Recital | Stephen Hough | Stephen Hough, piano | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Beethoven: Piano Sonata Op. 27 #2 'Moonlight' Hough: Sonata for Piano '(broken branches)' Scriabin: Sonata No. 5 Liszt: Sonata in B minor |
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| 03/19/12 @ 19:30 | Chamber | Earplay | Mary Chun, ondes martenot | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Feldman: Voice and Instruments II Ulman: Eclogue Harrison, Ellen Ruth: Salad Bar Ives: Piano Trio |
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| 03/26/12 @ 20:00 | Chamber | SF Contemporary Music Players | Steven Schick, conductor | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Ferneyhough: Bone Alphabet Rosenberger: scatter 2.0 Holliger: Ma'mounia Gordon: Fancywork Wilson: A City Called Heaven |
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| 04/14/12 @ 20:00 | Opera | Don Giovanni | Cinnabar Theater Mary Chun, conductor |
Cinnabar | Petaluma | Program | Mozart: Don Giovanni | |||
| 04/15/12 @ 15:00 | Recital | Olga Kern | Olga Kern, piano | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Beethoven: Variations on a Theme by Salieri Schumann: Carnaval Chopin: Polonaise Chopin: Five Études Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 10 & 2 |
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| 04/22/12 @ 19:30 | Concert | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, conductor | First Congregational | Berkeley | Program | Händel: Alexander's Feast Händel: Concerto Grosso 'Alexander's Feast' |
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| 04/28/12 @ 16:30 | Indian | Dhrupad vocals | Gundecha Brothers, vocal | Shirdi Sai Parivar | Milpitas | Program | Raga Multani Compositions |
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| 04/29/12 @ 19:00 | Concert | Academy of St. Martin in the Fields | Joshua Bell, violin/leader | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Beethoven: Coriolan Overture Beethoven: Violin Concerto Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 |
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| 04/30/12 @ 20:00 | Chamber | SF Contemporary Music Players | Steven Schick, conductor | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Gervais: Culture No. 1 Dean: Intimate Decisions Applebaum: Pre-Composition Davis: The Bright and Hollow Sky Harrison: Serenade Campion: Small Wonder (The Butterfly Effect) |
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| 05/03/12 @ 20:00 | Theater | All the Rage | Marilyn Pittman | Marsh | San Francisco | Program | Pittman: All the Rage | |||
| 05/05/12 @ 20:00 | Indian | Bansuri recital | G. S. Sachev, bansuri Swapan Chaudhuri, tabla |
Palace of Fine Arts | San Francisco | Program | Raga Yaman Kalyan Raga Kafi Evening raga |
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| 05/06/12 @ 14:00 | Blues | O Street Jumps | Alan Stolmack, guitar | Crawdad's Cantina | Sacramento | |||||
| 05/10/12 @ 19:30 | Chamber | Earplay | Mary Chun, conductor | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Felciano: Lontano Feldman: Spring of Chosroes Daigger: Strom Huang: Along the River During the Qingming Festival |
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| 05/16/12 @ 10:00 | Rehearsal | San Francisco Symphony | Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Alexander Barantschik, violin |
Davies | San Francisco | Program | Mahler: Blumine Schnittke: Violin Concerto No. 4 Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 'Pastorale' |
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| 05/18/12 @ 20:00 | Theater | White Rabbit, Red Rabbit | Ahou Yazmine Tabibzadeh | International Festival Lounge | San Francisco | Program | Soleimanpour: White Rabbit, Red Rabbit | |||
| 05/20/12 @ 18:00 | Recital | Noe Valley Chamber Music | Marina Boudart Harris, soprano Laura Krumm, soprano Robert Mollicone, piano |
Holy Innocents | San Francisco | Program | Offenbach: Barcarolle from Les contes d'Hoffmann Gounod: Air de Bijoux from Faust Heggie: Paper Wings Puccini: Flower duet from Madama Butterfly Rossini: Una voce poca fa from Il Barbiere di Siviglia Loewe: Show Me from My Fair Lady Mozart: Arias from Le Nozze di Figaro Bernstein: Somewhere from West Side Story Mozart: Duet from Cosi fan tutte |
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| 05/23/12 @ 19:00 | Theater | Play & Endgame | ACT | Geary | San Francisco | Program | Beckett: Play Beckett: Endgame |
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| 06/08/12 @ 20:00 | Opera | Nixon in China | San Francisco Opera Lawrence Renes, conductor |
Opera House | San Francisco | Program | Adams: Nixon in China | |||
| 06/11/12 @ 20:00 | Chamber | Left Coast Ensemble | Left Coast Ensemble | Gallagher | San Francisco | Program | Chang: Under a Dim, Orange Light de Falla: Homenaje Norman: A Companion Guide to Rome Debussy: Sonata for flute, vioila, and harp |
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| 06/14/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | San Francisco Symphony | Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Yuja Wang, piano |
Davies | San Francisco | Program | Fauré: Pavane Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 |
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| 07/14/12 @ 19:00 | Theater | Red | Stage 3 Theater | Stage 3 | Sonora | Program | Logan: Red | |||
| 08/13/12 @ 19:15 | Sports | SF Giants baseball | Nationals vs. Giants | AT&T Park | San Francisco | |||||
| 09/01/12 @ 20:00 | Theater | The Imaginary Invalid | Murphys Creek Theater | Black Bart Playhouse | Murphys | Program | Molière: The Imaginary Invalid | |||
| 09/28/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | San Francisco Symphony | Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor | Davies | San Francisco | Program | Adams, Samuel Carl: Drift and Providence Mahler: Symphony No. 5 |
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| 10/05/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, conductor | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Purcell: The Prophetess | |||
| 10/11/12 @ 10:00 | Rehearsal | San Francisco Symphony | András Schiff, pianist/conductor | Davies | San Francisco | Program | Mendelssohn: Fingal's Cave Overture Bach: Keyboard Concerto No. 2 Bach : Keyboard Concerto No. 1 Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 |
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| 10/18/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | San Francisco Symphony | Vladimir Jurowski, conductor Khatia Buniatishvili, piano |
Davies | San Francisco | Program | Scriabin: Rêvereie Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 Prokofiev: Ivan the Terrible |
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| 10/20/12 @ 20:00 | Theater | 33 Variations | TheatreWorks Silicon Valley | Center for Perf. Arts | Mountain View | Program | Kaufman: 33 Variations | |||
| 10/24/12 @ 10:00 | Rehearsal | San Francisco Symphony | Asher Fisch, conductor David Fray, piano |
Davies | San Francisco | Program | Brahms: Symphony No. 4 Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 |
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| 10/27/12 @ 17:00 | Opera | Einstein on the Beach | Cal Performances | Zellerbach | Berkeley | Program | Glass: Einstein on the Beach | |||
| 11/04/12 @ 16:00 | Chamber | Noe Valley Chamber Music | Delphi Trio | St. Mark's | San Francisco | Program | Haydn: Piano trio in Eb Grieg: Andante con moto Jalbert: Trio Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 3 |
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| 11/09/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, conductor Emanuel Ax, fortepiano |
Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 Beethoven: Twelve Contradanses Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 |
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| 11/11/12 @ 14:00 | Theater | So Nice to Come Home To | Cinnabar Theater Mary Chun, conductor |
Cinnabar | Petaluma | Program | Evans/Hancock: So Nice to Come Home To | |||
| 11/20/12 @ 20:00 | Theater | The Anarchist | Patti Lupone & Debra Winger | Golden | New York | Program | Mamet: The Anarchist | |||
| 12/07/12 @ 20:00 | Chamber | Old First Concerts | Melody of China Earplay |
Old First Church | San Francisco | Program | Traditional: Flying China Myers: Standing at the Gate Hu: Three Refrains Hu: Joyful Night Huang: Along the River during the Qingming Festival |
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| 12/13/12 @ 19:30 | House concert | Tom's Place | Joe Lasqo, piano/electronics | Tom's Place | Berkeley | Lasqo: Pieces Stockhausen: Hymnen |
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| 12/14/12 @ 20:00 | Concert | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Masaaki Suzuki, conductor | Herbst | San Francisco | Program | Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3 Bach: Cantata Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63 Bach: Magnificat |
