Symphony Silicon Valley

Truly loved the concerto,,,,loved the guitarist was willing yo play an additional beautiful piece of music. Did not love the strauss piece, but did love the violin and appreciated the skill it took to play it, Thank you!

It was a powerful accord for season closing. The orchestra sounded so good and the choice of the masterpieces was great!

Great concert from first to last note! Symphony Silicon Valley is a true Bay Area Gem! Add to your "must see" events when you come to the Bay Area!

Each piece in this performance told a story: one of growing up in China during a turbulent time through a modern orchestra and ancient Chinese instruments with evocative sounds, another by a mesmerizing violin in Scheherazade, and the first one was about a woman killed for naught by unfounded suspicions written by Rossini. Wonderful contrasts across three widely different music styles, but showing how music can tell us stories. Well performed, Mayforth in solo violin and then blending into the violins, just like Scheherazade in the story, with Gelfand, Corner, Kramer, and Hakl providing lovely supportive solos. The three soloists for Gordon Lee's "Young Impressions of the Old City" were marvelous: I hope to hear more of these instruments, new to me, in the future. All conducted smoothly by Paul Polivnick, bringing passion to the fore. Loved the concert!

A passionate and moving program, the energy of the professional musicians of The Silicon Valley Symphony flowed into the California Theatre on Saturday night, filling the audience with the sweet nectar of the western and eastern Orient. Three pieces well chosen and well played! Our Rossini aperitif loosened our ties and got us into the mood where the impulses of imagination might very well steal the goblet from reason as the rhythm of military imperative ferments itself into a lively lilting waltz. Take my tragedy and turn it into comedy, please, with this piece as fun to play as it is to hear. The program continued with a world premiere trip to Old Beijing, with the soloists, three fine masters of the traditional Chinese sheng, pipa, and erhu, instruments rarely seen or heard in the concert halls of the west. Gordon Lee's stunning and meditative musical memoir and travelogue through the streets and shops and alleys of the old city guide us with an auditory showcase of the incredible range and abilities of these three instruments to express the untranslatable soul of Chinese music. Welcome to an urban pastorale peopled with the characters we might meet only in a dream. Finally, in the piece de resistance, Maestro Polivinik's operatic resume served us well with this unforgettable interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov's most popular (and most performed) Scheherezade, with soloist Robin Mayforth giving us a gold-medal sample of her best work. Thank you Silicon Valley Symphony, for a fine evening, and a most wonderful musical feast.

I liked the choice of music for the evening. The premiere of Gordon Lee's "Young Impressions of the Old City" was fresh and interesting but the two accompany choices, "La gazza ladra Overture" and "Scheherazade" made the evening very worthwhile.

A great addition to the holiday season--our third year of attending.

For the second year, I treated myself and family to the Carols in the California. I am looking forward to year 3.

The singers were great and the conductor good humored. I also loved that it was a sing-a-long!

Silicon Valley has something to be proud of! An afternoon of beautiful music in a stunning venue is well worth the ticket price. I brought my daughter and niece along for their first attendance at a live symphony, and both thoroughly enjoyed it.

I bought these tickets because I love Valvidi's Four Seasons and I was not disappinted. Christina Mok did an amazing job as the violin solist, I would go again today if I did not have another committment,

Last night''s performance had energy and grace. The soloists played their hearts out and the orchestra was right there with them.. They had my complete attention thoughout the Four Seasons. That familiar piece never sounded so good. And don't miss the pre-concert lecture. It was informative and fun ,and nicely set us up for the evening's concert

Ingrid fliter was fantastic @ sundays show, showing who was boss on the ivory and black. She was in sync with the symphony, I wish she could have played longer, but I enjoyed every minute.

Extremely entertaining and funny. The vocal performances were very good, the comedy was hilariously entertaining , and the fifty-piece symphony orchestra led by William Liberatore did a fine job. During several of the songs the orchestra really was swinging. Generally, all the players contributed to the success of the production. Individually, Christine Andreas, in the role of Kate, sang beautifully and showed fine comedic talent as well. Additionally, Ms. Andreas demonstrated she has one of the thrilling voices among Broadway performers. Richard White in his role of Petruchio also was superb. The show was a delight to attend

Everything about it was amazing. Orchestra played with enthusiasm, it was obvious they were enjoying this performance. The singers were great and played their roles magnificently. Highly reccommend this show.

After spending $165 for two tickets for Meiyu and myself, we arrived at the theater, got seated and wondered where the scenery was because the orchestra filled almost the entire stage. On the stage front were 1/2 dozen microphones and about a dozen chairs on each of the stage left and stage right. Puzzled, I went to ask an usher who informed me that this is not the Broadway play presentation. There is no scenery. Various actors portray the various parts (on the front portion of the stage) that go with the singing for each song as they read their lines out of the notebook they each have in hand.

The California Theater and the Silicon Valley Symphony are already a winning combination. Add the amazing local and guest artist talents of the Kiss Me Kate cast and you have a show of outstanding entertainment. Hats off to Bill Liberatore who was obviously having the best time conducting these wonderful musicians. Broadway in Concert is a fantastic addition to our arts community!

My wife and I did not care for the Ravel pieces. There was not coherence to the music and too atonal for our taste. Brahms 4th Symphony was a powerful rendition full of life and fire. The surprise encore of a Strauss waltz medley was pleasant surprise that ended the evening on a light and happy note.

The dancers are all very talented but I thought the show was very bizarre. Not my type of choreography of choice. The routines started out great but there was no build up, no spark or hightlighted moment. The routines and music just dragged on and on and on. I apologize for my brutal honesty but I paid $80 to see this show and was expecting something fantastic. I can appreciate creativity but this was a little bizarre at times and made no sense to me. But on a happier note, the dancers were great!

Once again, I was in awe. Each piece was incredible, and "The Winged" came together beautifully. Best piece of the night: "Tomorrow". I cried, then I laughed so hard that I cried AGAIN. Beautiful show danced by amazing dancers, and a wonderful job by iDANCE. Great balance of comedy, athleticism, and heart.

It was grand way to celebrate Mother's Day: sitting by my wife of 44 years and enjoying some of our absolutely favorite music--played warmly and competently by our Symphony Silicon Valley. We are blessed to have such a fine regional orchestra close to us...and in the shadow of MTT and the SFSO. John Adams' "The Chairman Dances" is a demanding piece, both for the musicians and for the audience. Minimalist compositions are on the whole, I think, an acquired taste. But once on board with Adams' relatively narrow range of musical line and his amazing use of rhythm and percussion, the listener is rewarded with a an unrivaled experience of contemporary sound. Though Andres Cardenas is no Jascha Heifitz (who played the premier of this piece in 1947), his performance of the Korngold Violin Concerto was warm and lyrical. We enjoyed it thoroughly and joined the large audience in a lengthy ovation that lasted through three curtain calls and was rewarded with an elegant and well-played encore performance of a J.S. Bach partita for violin. As for Leonard Bernstein's "On the Waterfront" suite, I confess that I love it too much. That 1955 film is, on the whole, the finest cinematic work ever done in America. I saw it as a teenager, and it still lives in me after more than half a century. And our orchestra did it very well--even thrillingly. Conductor Paul Polivnick understood it from the inside out and elicited it fully from his players. Finally, Gershwin's "An American In Paris" brought the house down...and deservedly. What a musical feast for us territorial and home-loving Americans.

Powerful, moving, great experience. The only reason why I do not rate it amazing is that the sound came too strongly from a nearby speaker. We had to cover our left ear; it was deafening, but also produced a stereo sound rather than a live music sound of the chorus.

what a perfect afternoon with the symphony and choir! our seats were in the middle so we had a great view. the music is lovely and well put together by the symphony silicon valley. we will definitely be going back to see them again.

Beautiful! The human voice, 70 of them, the 65 or so orchestra blended together to male exquisite sounds of life. I decided that this performance wil be performed for all souls as they enter heaven!

Amazing Sopranos, Bass, etc. and choir. Great great venue and beautiful piece.

Mt Jaffe may be a good "pop" conductor". He gets lost conducting a serious piece. The chorus was, well, fairly good. Te orchestra was solid as usual but the conduction was thin and unimaginative. The soloists seemed not have looked at the score before the performance, the soprano loud, the baritone barely audible. At times it sounded like the Verdi piece I love and respect. Went home yearning to listen to a respectable recording.

The soloists were the highlight. The soprano, Christina Major, gave a 5- star performance. The mezzo and baritone weren't far behind. For the most part, they sang well together \u2014 the two women, especially. The tenor had a very nice voice, but did not have the power to sing with the others.

This even was well organized and the quality was really good, the orchestra and singers were impressive, I would surely attend this event again...

We have never attended anything at the CA Theater and did not know what to expect. The seating was very comfortable, acoustics where just fine, really enjoyed the program. The show was well detailed/explained and a very interesting, unusual production. The whole evening was very entertaining \u2026 even got better as it went along. Would highly recommend and will certainly attend another.

It was wonderful. The singers and the orchestra were fantastic. Lisa Vroman is a great talent.

The Chorale once again delivered to the audience an excellent Christmas concert. The little known carols were beautiful and sung with great feeling. Some familiar carols were chosen to invite the audience to sing a long. The Silicon Valley version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," was entertaining and just plain fun! Elena Sharkova interacted with the audience in a charming way as well. "Carols in the California" is an annual concert not to be missed!

I was fortunate to have a seat in the first row where I could see Serkin and Cleve's communication very well and see, for the first time in my life, what it takes to play Brahms from a near perspective. Not the best for sound quality, but who cares! I ended up in awe of the music, thankful that there are a few pianists that can play it and that George Cleve continues commanding complete control of the orchestra and team with Serkin in a performance that will be rarely repeated anywhere. The Silicon Valley Orchestra did quite well, certainly it is not the Vienna Philarmonic, but we have nothing to be ashamed of here in San Jose.

Very good experience, two great concerts, excellent violin soloist.

I very much enjoyed the Rossini overture and Beethoven's 5th symphony. The Romeo and Juliette and the Hungarian Rhapsody were OK but they were somewhat handicapped because these pieces are just not great music IMO. The Symphony Silicon Symphony is of very high quality and I look forward to more concerts in the future.

It was a delight to watch Mr. Polivnick cast his magic wand while the orchestra rewarded us with a beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable program. I wanted more.

Most excellent production of this timeless piece of music. The conductor thoroughly engaged the musicians and gave an excellent performance.

The Sibelius Symphony was very exciting. The finale was especially rousing.

Great concert. The Grieg was enjoyable to hear. The Rachmaninoff Rhapsody (Paganini) was excellent and the piano soloist Mr. An was very expressive with great technique. He was generous with an encore. The Sibelius was wonderful too. The orchestra played an encore also, a treat! Conductor Boughton celebrated the Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee with Shostakovich's arrangement of "Tea for Two". A lovely end to a wonderful afternoon concert.

It was a fabulous performance from beginning to end!

I love the Beethoven, I thought the orchestra did great. I usually like Bach but the solo violins were difficult to hear.

Second half was definitely better. Larger group of instruments, and longer musical pieces. Not really into the chorale, but they only sang on one piece. The theatre was gorgeous! And don't think you can get away with NOT eating a warm chocolate chip cookie during intermission...you smell them as soon as you walk out of the theatre!

Fabulous performance! First chair cello player was amazing to watch her talent.

It was the revamped version of when I saw Guys and Dolls a few years ago. When I first saw it, it was a real play or musical. A lot more dancing. I even thought about leaving early, but I didn't. I wish I knew before that it was a different version of Guys and Dolls. Would I go see it again? no, not this version.

Excellent! It was very entertaining and singers were very very good!

Great music! Wonderful cast! Awesome night at the theater!

I kept having to look at the price on my ticket stub. I thought I was in a $200 seat at Davies Hall, listening to a cast of 100% professional musicians. The acoustics of the church are great. Organ, orchestra and singers blended perfectly and all performed superbly.

The orchestra was absolutely wonderful. The acting was great and we really loved it. The venue was so pretty. I loved the hot chocolate chip cookies.

First time attender to this theatre, beautiful and well appointed. The production itself was very entertaining. The gentleman who played the Tulsa character did a fabulous job of dancing and singing, although on Saturday evening his mic was off half way through his performance. Loved the three ladies who were the strippers, they were perfectly cast. I will and would attend another event there and also recommend friends do so. Can't say enough about the orchestra they were wonderful.

The program Corigliano, Mozart and Tchaikovsky was extraordinary. Very memorable! The music was gorgeous and brilliantly performed by the orchestra and soloists, Patricia Whaley on viola and Robin Mayforth on violin, incredible soloists! Conductor Mitchell Sardou Klein is such a fantastic, dynamic conductor I didn't ever want to close my eyes - he is so much fun to watch as one listens. Patricia Whaley played masterfully, exquisitely, gorgeous tones on the viola, my very favorite string instrument, as did Robin Mayforth. Standing ovation!!! They were amazing! A concert I will always remember, it was a definite highlight in my experiences and attendance of concert symphonies all over, particularly NYC and the Bay Area. The conductor also added enriching information of the pieces chosen. Not many conductors do this as a prelude to the musical pieces and this generosity of thought and intellect is tremendously appreciated! Bravo!

We had a wonderful afternoon at the symphony. The musicians were marvelous...we will be back!

I personally really like Nakatsu's play on Chopin piano concerto and his solo in two encores. Symphony was okay until the 3rd one, I could not appreciate/understand the 1st and 2nd symphonies. The clarinet miss some important solos.

We were very impressed with the symphony, as we are regular SF symphony attendees. However Nakamatsu was the star of the evening. His playing continues to be technically superb with exquisite phrasing and emotional depth. If you get a chance to here our "local artist" do so - he is world class!

The Rameau did not bring out Nakamatsu's finest. I loved the interaction with the audience to introduce the Listz piece. Parts of the Listz were luscious and Nakamatsu was fabulous through-out. All of the Chopin however was enjoyable, and amazingly more so with the full symphony. Nakamatsu and the symphony were tight.

Heard of Jon before. Living in the bay area, he's like the local pride pianist:) Saw him for the first time yesterday. What an amazing Perfromance. I watched the concital, which is a new concept for me where the artist gives a recital first half and a concert second half. While Rameau piece is not my cup of tea, although seems popular these days, his Perfromance of Chopin was epic! Both the grand Polonaise and he piano Concerto #1. Great great Perfromance. Keep it up ,

We had never heard this piece. It is a thrilling and exihilarating piece. We enjoyed it emensly.

What i first saw in the original Ad was a full orchestra with the group in the background and would perform at the theater, what we got was no orchestra on a crowded stage, the singing was OK

Voices were phenominal, especially the soprano lead that was highlighted. I was expecting Russian songs similar to the ones I heard while traveling through Russia, but only heard Vespes sung in Latin. The voices were great, but the selection expectations weren't met. There was one Russian folk ditty (last song), which was fun to hear.

The two Jons, along with the orchestra, complement each other so well. Their program shows how versatile Jon Nakamatsu is. Jon Nakamatsu's playing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto was outstanding. It is one of my favorite classical pieces. It was so powerful.

I so enjoyed the entire concert. the clarinetist was truly a virtuoso, not to mention nakamatsu. I enjoyed having a tuba begin a piece and with such skill. One distraction: the first Horn, constantly emptying spit, turning it around and around. Because it is such a large, shiny instrumet, it immediately attracts your attention...even during solo encore...very unprofessional. And was she reading something during one of the encores?? I could not believe the difficult rhythmic passages that were so well executed both by the conductor and the the players. I'll be back.

The whole program was really great! We loved the music selected and all the great talent we heard.

Nakamatsu is an engaging, powerful, yet seems humble, pianist. Have seen several times and each has been enjoyable. Plays for the audience, rather than for accomplished critics. Would see him again in an instant.

This was an amazing concert. Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamtsu are both incredible artists. The Cape Cod Files by Paquito D'Rivera was a world premier of the orchestrated version of this piece. It is fantastic! It was made even more special by the appearance by the composer. You should read his bio. Very accomplished and influential man! The Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto was sublime. Standing ovations all around!

An absolute must see ! A powerful, funny, and enchanting story ! The entire cast was brilliant and simply poetry in motion on stage, and the symphony and conductor were superlative and simply among the best I have ever heard. It was if James Harms as Don Quixote had worked his entire life to deliver this one performance for his endearing audience. I took my Dad and we had the time of our lives we will never forget this performance on that fateful dark and rainy night. I love Les Miserables and Phantom dearly, but this will always remain my favorite and most enduring work of musical theatre.

Superb soloists and chorus did a fantastic job. Orchestra was wonderful as always. Highly recommended.

It was an altogether beautiful performance. Lovely voices, and brilliant flute and oboe, as always, all these many years.

Excellent orchestration and very precise singing. Both soloists were wonderful and the conductor was extremely connected to all his performers. I look forward to seeing their next performance.

As the director pointed out at the beginning, they have no orchestra pit. The symphony is onstage with the actors on thrust tacked onto the front of the stage. The set consisted of spanish-style chairs. This was quite enough to provide a beautiful performance. The acting was spectacular. The singing even better. Easily one of the best shows I've seen in years.

The music and the singing voices were exceptional-- they filled my heart, and took me to a heavenly place of total beauty and joy. Thank you so much.

The show was stupendous. Well received, and definitely merited a longer run.

When we first entered the theater we were somewhat disappointed that the stage had only places for a small orchestra and some stools and benches. We thought that there would be no dialogue, only songs. Instead there was the whole play very cleverly staged with just this minimum furniture and very well performed. The theme was quite touching and one of our favorites.

The performance was very enjoyable. The vocalists were excellent. This format of the presentation was interesting and enjoyable.

This was amazing from start to finish. Wonderful voices, well acted and the ochestra was perfect.

Great musical, great cast! Even though it was not a fully staged production, it was absolutely delightful.

This was quite a surprise as the actors and voices were tremendous!! My Fair Lady can't be beat!!

We enjoyed the show immensely, the principles were extremely good and the ensemble also, especially the young red head. This was our first visit to the symphony doing Broadway shows, it will not be our last.

Seeing and hearing the young and old, men and women, girls and boys sing together on a grand stage like California Theater touched my heart. Different arrangements of familiar melodies made the concert a fun and warm experience in this holiday season. Elena is truly amazing in reaching out to the audience with her wit, smile, and passion for the music.

The setting was beautiful, the banter was heartwarming and the music was spectacular. Loved the contrasting styles with a more serious and formal first half followed by a light-hearted and lively second half. Left the theater with a song in my heart and filled with the Christmas spirit!

Concerto for French horn - Mozart, Soloist Meredith Brown was very good. But Maestro Giampaolo Bisanti rose the conversion of the California Theater into a concert hall. His conduction of Schubert and particularly Rossini should not be missed!

Sergio Tiempo is an artist in every sense. He is endowed with phenomenal technique and has profound musical sensibilities. This was an unforgettable concert. My sole disappointment was in his performance of the selected Chopin etudes. This was the only place in the concert where musicality was eclipsed by technique. He clearly has the 'chops' to play these exceedingly different pieces, but the results were often ugly to the ear. Otherwise, an exceptional concert.

Frank Jr. was beyond my wildest expectations! His phrasing, tonal quality, and styling made me feel as if he was singing directly to me from the heart. The accompaniment of the San Jose Symphony was the sugar on top of a fantastic performance!