Since her debut performance with a major orchestra, now over a decade ago, Yuja Wang has established herself as the pre-eminent young female concert pianist.  Over the course of the five performances we have seen her give (from her first appearance in 2009 at the Mondavi Center, on the campus of U.C. Davis), she has […]

Last week Jeb Bush sounded completely flummoxed when he tried to answer a simple question regarding his brother’s 2003 decision to invade Iraq.  His stumbling efforts first to evade the question and ultimately to answer it did little to suggest that he is qualified to be the country’s next president.  Pretending the Iraq invasion is […]

If you’re a confirmed Savoyard, meaning you are a fan of any of the 14 operettas by W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, you don’t need much coaxing to see yet another production of one of the pair’s biggest and most enduring hits.  “The Pirates of Penzance” is one such hit, and, being confirmed Savoyards […]

Berlin is a wondrous city, as I discovered in my recent visit and extended tour.  Actually, it is two cities in one. The first city is historical Berlin, which is marked by the very visible remnants of the Cold War and, to a lesser extent, the World War that preceded it.  The Berlin Wall was […]