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.

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
10/20/12 @ 20:00	Theater	33 Variations	TheatreWorks Silicon Valley	Center for Perf. Arts	Mountain View	Program	Kaufman: 33 Variations
05/03/12 @ 20:00	Theater	All the Rage	Marilyn Pittman	Marsh	San Francisco	Program	Pittman: All the Rage
04/14/12 @ 20:00	Opera	Don Giovanni	Cinnabar Theater Mary Chun, conductor	Cinnabar	Petaluma	Program	Mozart: Don Giovanni
10/27/12 @ 17:00	Opera	Einstein on the Beach	Cal Performances	Zellerbach	Berkeley	Program	Glass: Einstein on the Beach
03/07/12 @ 20:00	Theater	Geezer	Geoff Hoyle	Marsh	San Francisco	Program	Hoyle, Geoff: Geezer
01/28/12 @ 20:00	Theater	Humor Abuse	Lorenzo Pisoni	Geary	San Francisco	Program	Pisoni / Schmidt: Humor Abuse
06/08/12 @ 20:00	Opera	Nixon in China	San Francisco Opera Lawrence Renes, conductor	Opera House	San Francisco	Program	Adams: Nixon in China
05/23/12 @ 19:00	Theater	Play & Endgame	ACT	Geary	San Francisco	Program	Beckett: Play Beckett: Endgame
07/14/12 @ 19:00	Theater	Red	Stage 3 Theater	Stage 3	Sonora	Program	Logan: Red
02/29/12 @ 20:00	Theater	Scorched	ACT	Geary	San Francisco	Program	Mouawad: Scorched
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
09/01/12 @ 20:00	Theater	The Imaginary Invalid	Murphys Creek Theater	Black Bart Playhouse	Murphys	Program	Molière: The Imaginary Invalid
03/04/12 @ 14:00	Theater	The Real Americans	Dan Hoyle	Marsh	San Francisco	Program	Hoyle, Dan: The Real Americans
05/18/12 @ 20:00	Theater	White Rabbit, Red Rabbit	Ahou Yazmine Tabibzadeh	International Festival Lounge	San Francisco	Program	Soleimanpour: White Rabbit, Red Rabbit
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
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
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
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'
04/28/12 @ 16:30	Indian	Dhrupad vocals	Gundecha Brothers, vocal	Shirdi Sai Parivar	Milpitas	Program	Raga Multani Compositions
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
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
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
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
01/29/12 @ 16:00	Chamber	Noe Valley Chamber Music	Clerestory	Holy Innocents	San Francisco	Program
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
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
05/06/12 @ 14:00	Blues	O Street Jumps	Alan Stolmack, guitar	Crawdad's Cantina	Sacramento
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
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
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
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'
10/05/12 @ 20:00	Concert	Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra	Nicholas McGegan, conductor	Herbst	San Francisco	Program	Purcell: The Prophetess
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
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
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
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
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)
08/13/12 @ 19:15	Sports	SF Giants baseball	Nationals vs. Giants	AT&T Park	San Francisco
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
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
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
02/08/12 @ 10:00	Rehearsal	San Francisco Symphony	Herbert Blomstedt, conductor	Davies	San Francisco	Program	Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
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
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'
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'
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
12/13/12 @ 19:30	House concert	Tom's Place	Joe Lasqo, piano/electronics	Tom's Place	Berkeley		Lasqo: Pieces Stockhausen: Hymnen