Allan Kozinn reviews the delirious Sō Percussion / Matmos show I mentioned below. I would happily have seen it five more times. The first San Francisco Symphony event in American Mavericks week — Cage's Song Books, John Adams's zesty new Absolute Jest, Cowell's Synchrony, and Varèse's Amériques — was last night; no one who was there will soon forget the sight of Jessye Norman typing while Michael Tilson Thomas made a smoothie. Tonight brings the hotly anticipated Sun-Treader / Feldman / Concord program.... I wish the Mavericks lineup had found space for the music of Johanna Beyer, who truly lives up to the ever-debatable name. A 2011 New World release has some of her percussion pieces.... The lineup for the 2012 Look and Listen Festival has been announced — more Sō on the way.... A fund-raiser is under way for a recording of John Luther Adams's percussion masterpiece Inuksuit.... The London Symphony's Gareth Davies, whose Twitter account modestly describes him as "one of the flautists of his generation," amusingly recounts what went down the night Valery Gergiev conducted the Star Wars theme in Shanghai. Take special note of the poster.... Claire Chase, unquestionably one of the flautists of her generation, has a gorgeous new record on the New Focus label, with works by Saariaho, Donatoni, Carter, Boulez, and Fujikura. I've also been listening heavily to New Focus's Drew Baker record, with Marilyn Nonken — the piano as granite outcrop.... Jeremy Denk, a pianist for all generations, is now a Nonesuch artist, with a Beethoven-Ligeti record arriving in May.... The gifted Iranian-born harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani plays at the Frick on Sunday.... Voting for Spring for Music's Ultimate Xtreme Arts Blogger Death Match — did I get the name right? — has begun.... When, in 1896, the arts connoisseur Harry Kessler visited Bayreuth, he found that — oops, my mistake.
