BENITA VALENTE

BORN INTO A FARMWORKER COMMUNITY in the San Joaquin Valley, the great American opera and concert soprano, now 81, has been recalled in a series of CDs from Bridge Records recorded in the 1980s. Vol. 2, just released, includes songs by Schubert, Schumann, Strauss and Wolf. Valente began serious singing studies at Delano High School then went on to study with Lotte Lehmann and Martial Singher. Highly recommended.

JAZZ LEGEND METHENY LAUDS BACH

DURING A RECENT INTERVIEW by Timothy Hazlett, Pat Metheny said, “Hands down the most important composer in the general realm for me was J.S. Bach. His music has a place in my life that rivals that of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane in that in addition to loving it as a fan, any time spent under the hood with it also has an instant pragmatic effect on the specifics of what I aspire to achieve in music myself.”

TAYLOR SWIFT: REAL OR VIRTUAL?

POP MUSIC chose her as its agent. John Seabrook’s The Song Machine explores how the industry creates its vehicles and explodes its mythology. Click HERE

ALL-AMERICAN MONTEREY SYMPHONY

PLAYS THE REGIONAL premiere of Edward MacDowell’s Second Piano Concerto with Orion Weiss. Max Bragado also conducts Charles Ives’ Second Symphony and Copland’s Letter from Home. Click our CALENDAR for details (or on the ad, left.)

VÂN-ÁNH VÕ FOLLOWS UP

ON HER APPEARANCE with Youth Music Monterey County on November 8. The program included music by Do Bảo, but with no comment about him. She wrote, “There is much information about Do Bảo but all is in Vietnamese as he is based in Vietnam. In brief, Do Bảo is an award-winning composer who worked with me on my CD “She’s Not She,” which was released in 2010. His music is beautiful, poetic at times as well.” Regarding the đàn bầu monochord, “It is not difficult to play the instrument but the most challenging part lies in the left hand. The reason is the left hand not only helps to create all the “missing notes” but also helps to create different ornaments of our different music genres. As our music reflects our language, if you do a wrong vibrato on a wrong note, you can push your listeners from listening to northern folk song to southern opera, like if you say you want to have a bowl of BÚN (noodle) but forget to raise your voice up, you can accidentally order a bowl of BÙN (mud).”

ENGLISH, A SERIOUSLY ‘WEIRD’ LANGUAGE

IN AEON, JOHN MCWHORTER turns it against itself entertainingly. Click HERE

PERFORMING ARTS PEOPLE

JAN DERECHO, as executive director, along with two music directors, has brought the Santa Cruz Symphony to unprecedented heights. Click HERE

FRESH REVIEWS

JASPER QUARTET debuts new Kernis “River” String Quartet in Carmel. Santa Cruz Symphony features 16-year-old cello soloist Zlatomir Fung in Watsonville. Click HERE

JEWEL THEATER debuts at the new Colligan Theater in Santa Cruz with Guys and Dolls, MPC Theatre Company introduces Almost, Maine, and Mel Brooks’ The Producers takes the Western Stage. (Our Philip Pearce has been running himself ragged!) Click HERE

Scott MacClelland, editor