Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
Am I allowed to say that back in 2024, I didn’t love the buzzy world premiere of Aszure Barton’s Mere Mortals? I’m still not sure if I’m brave enough to say “I hated it” because it brought such wide acclaim from critics and audience members alike with only a minority of naysayers. It seemed very clear … Read more
Sizzles isn’t the right word. Or maybe it’s the perfect word. Don Quixote opened at San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House on March 19th on the waning end of a massive California heat wave — meaning, still too hot. But there was a silver lining. San Francisco, normally cool-to-chilly most months of the year, had … Read more
I know what you’re thinking. “It’s winter. It’s the dead of winter. We’re in the grips of the coldest of cold winter this week, and The Classical Girl is talking about … poison oak? She’s in the Northern Hemisphere, right?” Turns out poison oak is a thing, any time of the year. Even in long-dead … Read more
Marius Petipa’s 1898 classic, Raymonda, has long been due for a reboot. Set during the Crusades, it features a courtly knight and his betrothed, the helpless but beautiful Raymonda. In this current Bolshoi staging, the gallant Jean de Brienne heads off to fight the infidels, leaving Raymonda to fend for herself (or not) against a … Read more
Exciting news just announced by San Francisco Ballet: encore performance of Swan Lake with thrilling guest artists. Details below! I know some of you, my dear readers, are classical music fans but not ballet fans. Likewise, some among you are just as happy—maybe you even prefer—to see contemporary ballet works set to jazz, soul, even electronica. … Read more