Out There :: And A Barihunk Shall Lead Them

Coming up at Davies Symphony Hall, frequent guest conductor Charles Dutoit will lead the San Francisco Symphony in two weeks of intriguing concerts, May 29-30 and June 4-7. The first of the two programs showcases the SF Symphony Chorus in three masterpieces of the choral symphonic repertoire: Poulenc's "Gloria," Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms," and Faure's "Requiem," with soloists soprano Susanna Phillips and bass-baritone Hanno Mueller-Brachmann, making his much-anticipated debut at DSH. Led by director Ragnar Bohlin, the SFS Chorus celebrates its 40th anniversary this season.

The gifted German barihunk Mueller-Brachmann has just begun breaking into the US classical music scene. This is his first SFS appearance and his only performance in the US all year. He's in high demand in opera houses in Germany, and as an early music specialist. Here come the credentials: Mueller-Brachmann made his operatic debut in 1996 in Telemann's "Orpheus" under Rene Jacobs at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. He sang the great Mozart roles of Leporello, Figaro, Guglielmo, and Papageno, as well as his first Wotan under conductor Daniel Barenboim.

He is an acclaimed interpreter of the great Bach "Passions," and has sung with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Kurt Masur and the Monteverdi Orchestra under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Philharmonia Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi, and the Berliner Philharmoniker under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He is also a devoted recitalist, working with pianists such as Andras Schiff and Daniel Barenboim. His festival engagements have included the London Mostly Mozart Festival under Sir Neville Marriner, the Tanglewood Festival under von Dohnanyi, and the BBC Proms, Berlin, and Lucerne Festivals under Masur.

Mueller-Brachmann's recordings include Schubert recital discs for Harmonia Mundi and Naxos Records, a Schumann recital disc for Hyperion Records, "Die Zauberflote" conducted by Claudio Abbado for Deutsche Grammophon (which won Gramophone's "Best Opera Recording of the Year") and Bach's St. Matthew Passion conducted by Riccardo Chailly for Decca.

This year, Susanna Phillips appeared at the Met for her sixth season and was just featured in the live HD broadcast of Mozart's "Cosi fan tutee" and in "La Boheme" in April. She got rave reviews for her recital at Cal Performances last February, but has yet to appear with San Francisco Opera. SFS ticket info can be found at sfsymphony.org.

Magazine Wrack

Besides perusing our own esteemed publication, Out There regularly reads a raft of magazines, newspapers and other periodicals to keep abreast of what's new, what's public and what's dishy. We consider it part of our job. Here's a precis of a few pieces we've read recently.

"Pass the Bong, and Tune Up the Berlioz " by Michael Cooper in The New York Times described the repercussions of the Colorado Symphony's announcing it would hold a series of bring-your-own-pot fundraisers called "Classically Cannabis: The High Note Series." Even though the events were designed as private affairs in order to be on the right side of Lucy Law , the city of Denver pressured the Symphony to extinguish the blaze, thus harshing their buzz.

The Symphony took action: it made the events "invitation-only, removed information about them from its website, and refunded all tickets purchased when the events were advertised publicly." The fundraisers will be open only to people on a closed guest list. Jeesh, all over a few lousy joints.

"The Paradox of Art as Work" by A.O. Scott of The New York Times explored the difficulties that professional writers, musicians, photographers and others have in making a living in this brave new world of "citizen journalists" and iPhone photography. "Digital amateurism sells itself as an alternative route to professional riches. Competitive reality television, Kickstarter campaigns and cooperative self-publishing ventures offer the lure of fame and fortune accomplished without the usual middlemen. The idea that everyone can be an artist sits awkwardly alongside the self-contradictory dream that everyone can be a star.

"Nobody would argue against the idea that art has a social value, yet almost nobody will assert that society therefore has an obligation to protect that value by acknowledging, and compensating, the labor of the people who produce it." What a concept.

"When Deadlines Came Alive," a review by Jeffrey Collins in The Wall Street Journal of "The Invention of News" by Andrew Pettegree (Yale), offered this revelation: "It was the French Revolution that created the modern newspaper. With censorship collapsed and 'an almost inexhaustible supply of subject matter,' advocacy journalism was born. Many leading Jacobins -- including the ferocious provocateur Marat and the tyrant-executioner Robespierre -- acted as celebrity journalists, keeping 'all the trumpets of renown at their disposal.'" If only Marat could see where journalism has gone today, he'd keel over in his bath all over again.