Arts & Events

On Sunday, February 15, 2015, Chamber Music San Francisco presented French violinist Renaud Capuçon and Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili in a concert at the Marines Memorial Theatre. Individually, these young artists – Capuçon is 39 and Buniatishvili is 28 – have carved out careers in major music venues around the world. Together, they have also carved out a wonderful chemistry in chamber music, beginning with their mutual love for César Franck’s immortal Sonata for Violin and Piano in A-Major. This was one of the works they played in San Francisco. -more-

Tours start at 10:00 am and end at approximately 12:00 noon EXCEPT APRIL 25. Sometimes they are slightly longer, so some extra time should be allowed in case the walk meets an informative passerby or dwells at an interesting site. Tours are limited to 30 paying participants unless noted otherwise. Prepaid reservations are required and tickets are not refundable. Tours are conducted in rain, shine or Berkeley fog and are wheel chair accessible unless otherwise noted. -more-

Artist Ai Weiwei is a political prisoner under house arrest in Beijing. Because he is not permitted to travel outside China, he helped install this extraordinary exhibit from there. He says, “When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.” In this case it landed on our windowsill at Alcatraz. The exhibit is installed in parts of the former prison that have never before been open to visitors. The show runs through April 26, 2015. -more-

French pianist Hélène Grimaud joined the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin in two performances, Sunday-Monday, February 15-16, at Davies Symphony Hall. Monday evening’s concert, which I attended, featured two works by Maurice Ravel, Ma Mère l’Oye/ (Mother Goose) Suite and the Piano Concerto in G-Major, as well as Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major. -more-