Music truly is the international language. Case in point at the San Francisco Symphony: A French conductor leads an American orchestra in an all-Russian program — and it all sounds amazingly authentic, and mostly excellent.
A classical concert followed by "a feast of roast pork pie, king's cake and wassail" (a kind of English sangria or hot mulled cider) is a rare happening.
When you first encounter the quiet, eerie, achingly stretched opening chords of Bartók’s first string quartet, you know that you are in the presence of something magnificent. That the Alexander String Quartet’s would present the complete cycles of Bartók’s six and Kodály’s two string quartets is newsworthy enough, but there is more to the story.
San Francisco Symphony opens the 2011 portion of its 99th season with great music presented through the collaboration of a world-famous French pianist and a rapidly emerging young Ukrainian
When looking at the hundreds of symphony, opera, chamber music, and dance performances coming to the Bay Area during the first half of 2011, there has to be some touchstone to narrow
Production details are set for Christopher Theofanidis' new work set to premiere at the San Francisco Opera, continuing a tradition of commissioning new operas.
Casually asking a few people about their favorite holiday song or music grew like Topsy, and here are a few from among many replies. Most are abbreviated, and any response with "Jingle Bells" or TV commercial soundtracks was ruthlessly eliminated.