JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

ARTS & CULTURE
Where Fascism, Communism And Bach Meet
By Harriet Gordon Getzels, Contributor
Documentary Filmmaker
When Peter Getzels and I were asked to make a documentary in the Czech Republic about a 90 year-old harpsichordist, I envisioned
SAN FRANCISCO
Organist Paul Jacobs and Soprano Christine Brewer -- This Week at Davies Hall
By Sean Martinfield, Contributor
San Francisco cultural critic
Organist Paul Jacobs and soprano Christine Brewer come to San Francisco's Davies Hall on Sunday afternoon, October 18 to present works from their recording, Divine Redeemer, released last month on the Naxos label.
CULTURE & ARTS
Former Obama White House Chief Releases Record (the Musical Kind)
By Roxane Assaf-Lynn, Contributor
Freelance Journalist | Adjunct Professor | Video Reporter - Sc...
The fact that composer/vocalist Mike Kelleher just released "Mélange," an aptly named album of mixed genres, would be more newsworthy than saying he comes off as a genuinely decent person. But in these cynical times, it's actually relevant - especially given his line of work.
CULTURE & ARTS
Not Into Bach? Take a Little Ride...
By Roxane Assaf-Lynn, Contributor
Freelance Journalist | Adjunct Professor | Video Reporter - Sc...
Anyone who can recall the ballistic fascination of their first pop-up reader would thrill at opening Steven Hancoff's newly released e-book "J. Sebastian Bach: Pablo Casals and the Six Suites for 'Cello Solo." As with other deeply inspired oeuvres, the artist had no thought of a mammoth multi-volume multimedia masterwork when he wandered into a love of performing Bach on acoustic guitar.
RELIGION
Daily Meditation: Air
By Antonia Blumberg
We all need help maintaining our personal spiritual practice. We hope that these Daily Meditations, prayers and mindful awareness
CULTURE & ARTS
Passion Plays and Oratorios, 'Christ Killers,' and the Magic Trick of 'Deus Ex Machina'
By Bernard Starr, Contributor
College Professor (Emeritus, City University of N.Y),psycholog...
Given this horrible history, it's no surprise that for centuries Easter posed great danger for Jews. Good Friday church services have traditionally included passion plays that reenact the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.
CULTURE & ARTS
Cellist Zuill Bailey - On Nico Muhly and Ernest Bloch
By Sean Martinfield, Contributor
Writer, Musician
Cellist Zuill Bailey's latest recording, Muhly & Bloch, combines the world premiere recording of Nico Muhly's Cello Concerto with Ernest Bloch's Schelomo and Three Jewish Poems.
CULTURE & ARTS
First Nighter: Stoppard's Hard Problem Neatly Solved, Last of the De Mullins Deftly Revived, Homer's Odyssey in 60 Minutes
By David Finkle, Contributor
Writer, Drama Critic
Almost immediately after Tom Stoppard's new and intellectually thrilling play, The Hard Problem, at the National Theatre's Dorfman, begins, the just-about-peerless playwright has his characters discourse on the title's reference. It's a good thing he does.
CULTURE & ARTS
A Farewell to Bach
By Pia de Jong, Contributor
Novelist and columnist
Bach was 61 when his portrait was done. He is a stout man with a double chin and an unhealthily ruddy skin. He wears a white blouse with sleeves puffed at the wrists; over it is a black jacket with hard buttons.
CULTURE & ARTS
A Profile of Choreographer Val Caniparoli -- 20th Anniversaries for 'Lambarena' and 'Lady of the Camellias'
By Sean Martinfield, Contributor
Writer, Musician
This season marks the 20th Anniversary of choreographer Val Caniparoli's immensely popular ballet, Lambarena. The work was created in 1995 for San Francisco Ballet and - at the heart of its inspirational force - Principal Dancer Evelyn Cisneros.
SAN FRANCISCO
A Conversation With Bass-Baritone Philippe Sly
By Sean Martinfield, Contributor
San Francisco cultural critic
San Francisco Opera's fourth presentation in the 2014/15 season is Handel's hit from 1730, Partenope. Directed by Christopher Alden, the production debuted in 2008 and is a joint effort with the English National Opera and Opera Australia.
SAN FRANCISCO
A Conversation With Organist Paul Jacobs -- This Week at Davies Hall
By Sean Martinfield, Contributor
San Francisco cultural critic
Bay Area fans of organ concerts feel a sense of celebration whenever Paul Jacobs is in town. The best of The Best is back. This coming Sunday afternoon at Davies Symphony Hall, Mr. Jacobs will be working the magnificent Ruffatti organ.
CULTURE & ARTS
Fab Phils Lusty Rite
By Lew J Whittington, Contributor
arts journalist
2013 marked the centenary of the premiere of the The Rite of Spring (Le sacre du Printemp) the ballet score by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky that caused a riot in its Paris premiere.
SCIENCE
The Sounds of Saturn and Other Space Oddities
By Michael Sigman, Contributor
Writer/editor/music publisher
Robert's Saturn sighting was my favorite bit of stargazing since Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars touched down at
CULTURE & ARTS
Organist Paul Jacobs -- Grammy Award Winner, Teacher and Judge
By Sean Martinfield, Contributor
Writer, Musician
In 2011, the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) went to organist Paul Jacobs.
QUEER VOICES
Van Buuren and Bach on a Rave
By Marten Weber, Contributor
Author, 'Shayno,' 'Benedetto' and 'In the Mirror a Monster''
I discovered trance by accident. I was at a bar with some friends, and "Intense" came on. The violin caught my attention, and it suddenly hit me: This is the structure of a baroque concerto. Bach's music and van Buuren's trance compositions are essentially the same thing.
CULTURE & ARTS
András Schiff Plays Bach at Lincoln Center
By Ayano Hodouchi, Contributor
Journalist, classical music critic and food writer
Fifty-nine-year-old Schiff, who always starts his mornings with an hour of Bach (even before breakfast) admitted that the composer probably had no idea anyone would ever play all six of these suites in one concert.
CULTURE & ARTS
Pianist András Schiff on the 'Bach Project in North America'
By Sean Martinfield, Contributor
Writer, Musician
On Sunday, world renowned pianist András Schiff returns to San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall to play Book II of Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier.
CULTURE & ARTS
The Gift of Music -- My "Fifty @ Fifty" List
By Albert Imperato, Contributor
Arts Promoter and Writer; Co-founded 21C Media Group, Inc.
Not quite sure how it happened, but I'm turning fifty years old in a couple of days. Time sure does fly. To mark these double occasions, I've put together a list of 50 classical music recordings, arranged alphabetically by composer, that have given me particular pleasure over the years.
TECH
I Challenge Verizon to a Public Debate: Piano Optional
By Bruce Kushnick, Contributor
Executive Director
While the executive director for corporate communications at Verizon claims that I've been doing variations on a theme, it would seem that I've been creating whole symphonies of new findings.
ENTERTAINMENT
First Nighter: The Great Barbara Carroll Even Greater at the Algonquin's Oak Room
By David Finkle, Contributor
Writer, Drama Critic
In her mid-80s, Barbara Carroll's still doing what she does best and what few others even begin to do as well as. Nowadays she does it more regularly at the Oak Room, where management is wise enough to turn the paneled room over to her every Sunday brunch.
CULTURE & ARTS
Terrence Malick's 'Tree Of Life': The Classical Music Factor
In an early scene in "The Tree of Life," the new movie by Terrence Malick, an authoritarian patriarch played by Brad Pitt