Reviews

If you want to see a literal corps de ballet, or body of the ballet, you have to see the Mariinsky; the company has returned to Cal Performances with a Swan Lake.

If the prolonged cheers and standing ovation of the opening-night audience
are any indications, the outlook for Jake Heggie’s latest opera Moby
Dick is smooth sailing.

Starting to settle into its beautiful new hall, with its superb acoustics, the Santa Rosa Symphony launches its current season with high hopes and fine playing.

The always-intriguing Ives Quartet plays a quirky Cowell work, an emotionally gritty Smetana, and an ethereal Haydn.

Bohemians in Paris populate Livermore Valley Opera’s lively, well-sung production of the Puccini classic.

In their concert British tenor Mark Padmore and American pianist Jonathan Biss fused words and music in a supreme partnership that conveyed emotions with transcendent, eye-opening profundity.

Paul Dresher’s invention, the quadrachord, posed unanswered questions in a concerto that showed off the composer’s considerable gifts.

Performance, conducting, and solos impress at the San Francisco Symphony in a program that was intricate, complex, and pulled-off with elegance.

Launching its season with terrific dancers and successful explorations of new repertory, Smuin Ballet appears poised to climb to a higher level in the regional ballet firmament.

Dipping into later-than-real-Baroque territory, Philharmonia Baroque clearly loves to perform Brahms Serenades, which it plays as if living in the style of his era.