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Recent Reviews
- Camerata Singers – Considering Matthew Shepard
- Chamber Music Monterey Bay — Escher String Quartet
- Aizuri String Quartet — Fabulous Artistry
- YMMC March Concert – Migration
- Ensemble Monterey’s Tribute to an Early Spring
- Pianist Kevin Lee Sun in Aptos Keyboard Series
- Monterey Symphony presents: Ovation
- The Thoughtful Muse: A Recital by Pianist Daria Rabotkina
- Stravinsky – Music & Dance in Miami
- Ehnes Quartet in Beethoven Quartet Cycle
- Heavy Stuff – A Recital by Vladimir Feltsman
- Santa Cruz Symphony: Catharsis
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Recent Previews
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List by Category
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Carmel Music Society presents Philharmonia Baroque
The Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players returned to Sunset Center in Carmel on Sunday afternoon to charm us with a variety of selections, all the more novel, because the program contained three major works that we were not hearing in their usual versions, but in interesting transcriptions. The beautiful Harpsichord on Sunset Center’s stage was a generous loan from Jerry & Christine Baker.
Archived in these categories: Baroque, Carmel Music Society, Chamber music, Concerto, Harpsichord, Strings
Mensa Sonora California in Concert — Bach’s Inspirations
David Wilson, Charles Sherman, John Dornenburg & Anthony Martin
On a lovely Sunday afternoon, a small invited audience of approximately thirty people had a unique opportunity to hear an intimate concert by “Mensa Sonora California,” a baroque ensemble consisting of period violins played by Anthony Martin and David Wilson, John Dornenburg playing viola da gamba and Charles Sherman playing harpsichord. Mensa Sonora California has dedicated itself to performing works by composers who were important in their own time and influenced Johann Sebastian Bach, but whose works have lapsed into relative obscurity and are largely unknown to today’s audiences.
Archived in these categories: Baroque, Chamber music, Concerto, Harpsichord, String trio
“Bach’s Brunch” — Lunchtime concert in the Sunset Center Foyer
Yuko Tanaka & Robin Carlson Peery
(Peninsula Reviews photo prohibited by Carmel Bach Festival)
Today we heard “Bach’s Brunch – Week One” as Robin Carlson Peery and Yuko Tanaka performed an early afternoon program of works for flute and harpsichord in the Sunset Center Foyer. This intimate setting, with surprisingly good acoustics and excellent sightlines, has the audience seated in chairs on the floor of the foyer with the harpsichord nicely elevated by being placed on the stairs leading to the theater.
Archived in these categories: Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival, Chamber music, Harpsichord, Woodwinds
Musica Pacifica & Friends — A Standing Ovation!
On Sunday afternoon, March 2, a good-sized Carmel Music Society audience enjoyed an excellent concert by the baroque ensemble Musica Pacifica. The acclaimed long-standing group was joined by musical friends to present “A Family Affair: The Father, Sons, & the Godfather” featuring music by Johann Sebastian Bach, his sons Johann Christian, Carl Philip Emmanuel and Johann Christoph Friedrich, and the godfather to his sons, Georg Philip Telemann. The program consisting mostly of concertos featured a wonderful range of soloists sharing the spotlight and showcasing a range of beautiful historical instruments, which many members of the audience had an opportunity to examine at close range during intermission by approaching the stage.
Archived in these categories: Baroque, Carmel Music Society, Chamber music, Concerto, Harpsichord
Bach’s Brunch – Yuko Tanaka performs Bach & Couperin
During Johann Sebastian Bach’s youth, French music was very popular in Germany. He studied and mastered the French styles of keyboard playing through the compositions of, among others, Jean Henry D’Anglebert, Louis Marchand, and François Couperin. It is known that Bach corresponded with Couperin although no correspondence has survived. Ms. Tanaka explained in program notes that she selected this program to offer the audience an interesting variety of keyboard works written around 1722.
Archived in these categories: Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival, Harpsichord
