Garrett Harris

San Diego

Columnist at San Diego Reader

Saving Classical Music from itself. New episodes on Mondays and Thursdays.

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Articles

Welcoming the 2025 San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival

3 weeks ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

The 2025 San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival promises an exhilarating celebration of classical music, bringing together world-renowned musicians, innovative performances, and a rich array of events that cater to both seasoned aficionados and newcomers to the classical music scene. Known for its distinctive emphasis on the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the festival also seeks to explore the breadth and impact of his influence across different genres and time periods of classical music.
Mahler's Third concludes the San Diego Symphony's season

4 weeks ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

I like my Mahler to be dark and moody and defiant The San Diego Symphony concluded the 2024-2025 Jacob's Masterworks Series with three performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3. I attended on Saturday, May 24. San Diego Symphony music director Rafael Payare conducted. Mahler’s Third has traditionally been outside the canon of Mahler symphonies I know well. My list is Mahler Two, Five, Six, Eight, and Nine. The reason the Third hasn't been in there is the first movement.
Bruckner was the pizza at San Diego Symphony

1 month ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

That is, the thing for which you are willing to wait The San Diego Symphony concert on Sunday, May 11th was not quite everything I was hoping it would be. The concert started with a cello concerto by Unsuk Chin, but I was there to hear Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7. This wasn't exactly a bait and switch situation; rather, it was the pairing a piece of music that no one would go to hear on its own merits with a piece of people that people would go to hear.
Mid to fantastic at the San Diego Symphony

1 month ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

Sometimes, the conversation is the best part of concert-going The San Diego Symphony is in the home stretch of the 2024-2025 Jacobs Masterworks Season. On Sunday, May 4, they presented a concert entitled Czech Masterpieces and a Saxophone Concerto. The first item on the concert was something of a suite from Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. This is famous crowd-pleasing music, but the overture had some issues.
Why love classical music?

1 month ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

Especially when love means the possibility of heartbreak? From time to time, I wonder why I love classical music and opera. I do know it wasn’t a choice. My parents didn’t sit me down and present various types of music and then tell me to choose the one I liked the best and stick with it for the rest of my life. That’s not the way the world functions. But the fact remains: I have a love of classical music. Why?
Final Month of the Season at San Diego Symphony

2 months ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

These aren't just concerts, these are events The San Diego Symphony is set to wrap up the 2024-2025 Jacobs Masterworks series with several exciting concerts in May. These concerts will conclude the Jacobs Music Center’s maiden season. These aren’t just concerts, they are events. The programming highlights the symphony's commitment to presenting both timeless masterpieces and innovative contemporary works.
Dvořák at the gym

2 months ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

A deep dive while staving off dotage I spend a significant amount of time walking and going to the gym each week. Besides staving off the days of my dotage, it gives me a chance to listen to a lot of music. I’m not sure where the thought came from, but I realized that I wanted to take a week to listen to only Antonín Dvořák. I had listened to his Symphonies 7, 8, and 9 for decades, but had barely touched his other symphonies.
La Traviata at San Diego Opera

2 months ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

The final production of the San Diego Opera 2024-2025 season is Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata; it opens on Friday, April 25, at The San Diego Civic Theatre. Composed in 1853, Traviata followed Verdi's Rigoletto and Il Trovatore, capping off what could be considered the greatest stretch of operatic hits a composer has ever managed. Traviata has remained the most popular of the three, due to its emotional content and, of course, the music.
Beethoven's Fifth Cures Cancer

2 months ago | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

Did you know that Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 kills 20 percent of cancer cells? It’s true; I know because someone posted it on Facebook. I thought it seemed interesting so I investigated it with the all-knowing power of Google search. According to Snopes.com, the claim is based on a study from 2011. It was performed by a team in Brazil, and the effect was observed on cells in petri dishes.
Salome at San Diego Opera

Mar 28, 2025 | sandiegoreader.com | Garrett Harris

Good to hear local singers, but still not a memorable production I saw Salome by Richard Strauss at San Diego Opera on Sunday, March 23. Let's start with the positives. I like the way the current administration uses local singers for the roles that were written for local singers. During the Ian Campbell regime, out-of-town singers were routinely brought in to sing minuscule parts. I guess that would have been fine if the singers were good, but we in the chorus were often perplexed.