If Helen Mirren, this year’s SBIFF
honoree for outstanding performance, also wins the 2007 Oscar for
best actress, it will be in no small measure due to what is surely
the year’s most peculiar action sequence.
Dreamgirls, which is based on a
Tony-winning Broadway show by the great Michael Bennett of A Chorus
Line fame, fictionalizes the story of Motown’s Supremes, with Jamie
Foxx in the role of Curtis, the Berry Gordy-like producer who
controls everything and restructures the group around Deena, the
Diana Ross-like character played by pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles.
The new conductor yielded to the guest conductor for this concert, and deep, sparkling, and thought-provoking music emanated from our beloved orchestra under the baton of visiting English maestro Grant Llewellyn. The opener was by British composer Robin Holloway, who flew in just to catch the performance. His Scenes from Schumann, Seven Paraphrases for Orchestra, Op. 13 puts a stringent, at times stony modernism in the service of seven beautiful Romantic songs, in the process turning 19th century music quite on its head.
The fact that large-venue, solo violin recitals still exist is a testament to the nearly unbelievable courage of performers like Hilary Hahn. Imagine: virtually every night she enters a concert hall carrying nothing but a violin and bow.
Graced with the formidable talent of guest soloist Jennifer Frautschi, Adrian Spence chose to court controversy at this concert by introducing one of the most challenging and deliberately absurd pieces in the entire violin repertoire: “Klangwlfe,” by Mauricio Kagel.
He has rivals for the title, but James Brown, the untutored, eccentric, and largely self-made singer and bandleader who died early on Christmas Day may well prevail as the most influential American musician in history. That’s quite a claim on behalf of a composer who left behind no manuscripts and never learned to read music, yet even a casual listen to the broad range of genres that have emerged worldwide since the 1970s reveals James Brown’s funk popping up virtually everywhere. From hip-hop to juju, from Afro beat to vintage disco, and from bubblegum to house and even techno, almost all of today’s pop sounds are at least a little reminiscent of James Brown-and usually more than a little if it’s any good.
Sitting in the terraced garden of Fred Sidon’s gracious Hope Ranch home, Philippe Larrieu looked and acted every inch the career French diplomat, from the correctness of his attire to the charm and intelligence of his conversation.
The riches in store for classical music fans in Santa Barbara this season surpass even the wildest of expectations, proving the city has become America’s foremost mid-sized destination for classical music of every kind. In addition to the new festival format of Opera Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Symphony and several other area organizations including the Museum of Art and PCPA are
collaborating on the first annual Santa Barbara Guitar Festival.
Maria Callas came to life in this entertaining and moving play about her unique approach to teaching young opera singers. Karen Kondazian was wonderful as Callas, more than holding her own in a role that requires expert timing, an indestructible will, and above all, sensitivity to the many moods and motives of this extraordinary artist and personality.
Stephen Malkmus, who will play SOhO on Saturday night with The Jicks, was the leader of Pavement, the best rock band of the 1990s. Fine, Nirvana sold way more records, and yes, so did Oasis, but for legions of college-educated, upper-middle-class rock fans, Pavement was it-the ultimate matador act, a perfect wonder of intelligence, credibility, and goofy rock exuberance.
