Arts & Events

On Friday, October 29, Afropop superstar Angélique Kidjo returned to Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall to perform a project everyone told her she couldn’t do. This project involved -more-

On a stormy Sunday, October 24, the audience at Zellerbach Hall was treated to a remarkable celebration of German lieder, or art song, performed by noted tenor Jonas Kaufmann accompanied by Helmut Deutsch on piano. Kaufmann, who is surely among the leading tenors of this moment in history, has never appeared with San Francisco Opera and recently canceled several engagements with the Metropolitan Opera, citing his desire to spend more time in his native Germany with his family. So Kaufmann’s appearance in Berkeley under the auspices of Cal Performances offered local audiences a rare opportunity to hear this great singer in a live recital setting. -more-

At San Francisco Opera, American director Matthew Ozawa sets Beethoven’s Fidelio in a modern detention facility with steel cages and elaborate surveillance equipment. The result, alas, is the most ridiculous fairy tale version of Fidelio one could imagine. Critics have long noted the wish-fulfilment fantasy element in Beethoven’s only opera, which portrays the unjust imprisonment of a political dissident, Florestan, who is miraculously rescued at the very moment he is about to be murdered by a corrupt tyrant, his rescue owing in part to the actions of his wife but also, and primarily, to the fortuitous last minute arrival of a benign government leader, who in this fairy tale production, not only saves the life of Florestan and arrests his would-be murderer but also frees all the detention facility’s prisoners. Wow! Could there ever be a more politically correct and totally unbelievable pipe dream version of Fidelio than this? -more-

Worth Noting:

Sunday is the first Berkeley Bird Festival and there are a full range of activities check.

Monday CCCC meets at 12:15 with updates on Maudelle Shirek and Veterans Building seismic and water studies. Labor Commission meets at 7 pm on Fair Work Week.

Tuesday is the Berkeley Police annual report with statistics on incidence of crime in Berkeley.

Wednesday is a full day with FITES on native plants ordinance at 2:30 pm, Rent Board Outreach Committee at 5 pm, Redistricting Commission at 6 pm, Human Welfare at 6:30 pm and Planning Commission at 7 pm on City development agreement with Bayer.

Thursday there is a demonstration on the mapping tool for drawing new council districts at 5 pm. The DRC, Rent Board and Transportation Commission all meet at 7 pm. The Fair Campaign Practices Commission and Open Government Commission meeting is cancelled.

The October 26 City Council regular meeting agenda is available for comment and posted after the list of city meetings. The October 26^th meeting includes carry over items from the October 12^th Council meeting 32. Amendments to ADU ordinance and 36. Objective Standards on Density, Design and Shadows on solar panels.

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Berkeley Bird Festival 8 am – 6 pm -more-

Berkeley audiences at First Congregational Church welcomed the venerable Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra’s long awaited return to live concertising on Saturday evening, October 16, 2021, after a 19-moth hiatus due to Covid 19. This evening’s program was planned under the leadership of the company’s new Music Director, Richard Eggar, replacing Nicholas McGegan, who led Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra for the last 35 years. In something of a new departure, this concert did not feature the company’s signature involvement in music of the Baroque period, though it did contain one piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. Instead, this concert delved into the mid-19th century Romantic period music of Robert Schumann. And it featured two of Schumann’s less familiar works, his Violin Concerto in D minor, and his Symphony No. 2 in C Major. -more-