We were a little disappointed to find that the broadcast cuts 113 measures out of the middle of the performance we recorded; you can click on this link [mp3, 5.5MB] to hear the whole thing as we played it last Fall at home.

    

An audible hum of audience interest and enthusiasm was in the air during Saturday evening's Berkeley Symphony concert, as Associate Conductor George Thomson and pianist Jerry Kuderna offered a refreshing and rather adventurous alternative to "run-of-the-mill" programming... [in the Carter Piano Concerto] Thomson somehow coordinated the diverse elements amid constantly fluctuating tempos, dynamics, and difficulties of pacing. Bravo to everyone (not least the Berkeley Symphony players) for a thrilling performance... [in Stravinsky's Firebird Suite] Thomson's precise, understated, but always musical handling of the orchestra seemed to allow the players to relax, giving us a clean, flexible, and satisfying account of the piece, without the applied emotiveness and grandiloquence often encountered. In this performance Stravinsky's debt to his teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov was appealingly clear.

Music education isn't just an academic exercise -- it's about cultivating the next generation of artists and keeping our cherished performance traditions alive.

That point was made in thrillingly musical terms Wednesday evening at Zellerbach Hall, as 14-year-old violinist Nigel Armstrong joined the Berkeley Symphony in a bravura performance of Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64.

...He certainly was ready for his turn in the spotlight. Led by Berkeley Symphony associate conductor George Thomson -- who is also music director of the Music Education Program -- the performance introduced a young musician of remarkable skill and technical assurance.

Playing a 1943 Carl Becker instrument, Armstrong managed to project both the charm and the athleticism of Mendelssohn's beloved concerto; the central slow movement came across with a particularly lovely blend of grace and grandeur. Thomson and the orchestra lent the soloist strong support, and he responded admirably.

The rest of the program featured music of the Americas, which, in characteristically eclectic Berkeley Symphony form, encompassed a wide variety of eras, styles and influences.

Thomson achieved winning results in these works as well -- particularly in the second half's dynamic performance of Carlos Chavez's Symphony No. 2, "Sinfonia India." This is one of the most attractive, brilliantly colored orchestral works by Chavez, the Mexican composer who was a pioneer in bringing folk themes and indigenous rhythms into the concert hall. Under Thomson's taut direction, it came across sounding wonderfully vibrant.

The music in the first half was also well-chosen. Of particular interest was "Symphony Seven" by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Charles Wuorinen, a co-commission by the Berkeley, Milwaukee, Toledo and New Hampshire symphonies, making its West Coast premiere on this program. Wuorinen writes attractively for the orchestra, and Thomson marshaled his forces well; the result was one of the orchestra's finest, most cohesive performances in recent memory. ...

After 25 years of operation, Berkeley Opera tonight offered its first Handel. It turned the 1718 pastoral masque "Acis and Galatea" into a contemporary beach party, where nymphs and shepherds are babes and dudes, but that didn't matter.

...What's important about "Acis and Galatea" is its gorgeous, melodic, memorable music. As long as the stage direction doesn't interfere with it, you can have all the surfboards and hamburger grills on stage the director wants. And the good part, the music, prevailed tonight, in a memorable way.

In a quarter century, Berkeley Opera hasn't come close to the orchestral performance that graced Handel tonight. In his local opera debut, Berkeley Symphony's George Thomson conducted a vital, well-balanced, affecting performance. With a chorus of five (!) and an elite orchestra of a dozen, Thomson brought the music accompanying Acis' death to such excellence and emotional impact that eyes were glistening all around the Julia Morgan Theater.

This is the first Handel opera presented by the Berkeley Opera in its 25-year history, and is a perfect choice for this small, artistically ambitious company. The supple and oftentimes sublime m usic that Handel has created for Ovid’s Book Thirteen—“Acis and Galatea”—from his collection of myths, is exquisitely rendered by conductor George Thomson and his carefully selected company of gifted singers and players. It is a joy to hear at last a fine, committed, and excellently prepared orchestra in the Berkeley Opera orchestra pit.  (read the complete review at http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=05-14-04&storyID=18871)

Sunny, sexy and musically vibrant, the new production -- the first Baroque offering in Berkeley Opera's 25-year history -- takes Handel's pastoral drama for a decidedly contemporary spin, with the shepherds, shepherdesses, gods and monsters of the original transformed into a group of fun-loving, freewheeling surfer dudes and dude-ettes. Call it Greek mythology meets the Endless Summer; directed by Mark Streshinsky, the concept works surprisingly well. And, with musical direction by George Thomson, the production sounds as good as it looks.

...Thomson led a sparkling reading of Handel's lovely score. The conductor set fleet tempos and the orchestra responded with agile, springy playing. Thomson's a member of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (the Bay Area's premier early music ensemble) and a quick glance at the program revealed that he'd imported a number of musicians from that group for these performances. The sound was focused and precise, with the low strings supplying pinpoint rhythm and the treble instruments offering an elegant sense of musical line. It was as fine a Baroque performance as one could wish for in this music.