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To pianists, Chopin’s formidable Études have always seemed akin to waterboarding. Canadian pianist Louis Lortie certainly earned his place among those who attempt them by recording the entire set in 1986, and since then has made the program an important component of his career.

A recent BluePrint concert offered a disconcerting, echoing trope in a major new work offered at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, just one piece in a series of experimental works that impressed.

I’m a curious cat, intrigued by unusual things, so I went to a double-bass recital as part of the Music at the Mission chamber music series. The lesson of the evening’s repertoire was that composers who write solo pieces for the double bass are apt to be slightly eccentric.

Any singer who has performed Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis can attest that this is one piece not for the faint of heart. It therefore takes some gumption to tackle this work, yet this is precisely the challenge adopted by the 100-voice Cantare Chorale, led by David Morales.

A few of our writers take their pick of concerts coming from now until June; everything from recitals and choral, opera, orchestra, and beyond.

The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra closed its 2010-2011 season with a concert at Zellerbach Hall that both segregated and showcased the ensemble’s considerable musical assets.

Something special is happening at the Livermore Valley Opera, which has taken the care to stage Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with a cast that does the opera and the company proud.

To prolonged high-pitched cheers and applause, Munich-born tenor Jonas Kaufmann, 41, strode onto the stage of Zellerbach Hall for his Bay Area debut, offering a unique instrument and experience; one of the most versatile, compelling, and vexing recitals in memory.

The latest release from the Bay Brass, an ensemble made up of some of the best musicians in the S.F. Symphony, Ballet, and Opera orchestras offers attractive compositions and more than belies prejudices often conjured up by brass ensembles, with excellent playing and first rate sonics.

Since winning the lieder prize at the 1997 Cardiff Singer of the World competition, Christopher Maltman has ascended to the top ranks of operatic baritones. Yet Maltman is an avid recitalist. He talks with SFCV about his upcoming performance, his voice, and the future.