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With Xerxes the S.F. Opera could not have assembled a finer cast, nor chosen a more consistently delightful production for one of Handel’s masterpieces.

A smartly laid out program of violin works, old and new, dexterously conveyed emotion while it purveyed lofty musical ideas.

The Berkeley Symphony, in its third season under Joana Carneiro, continues to celebrate young talent in a concert that was a victory for composer, performers, and audience.

Alan Gilbert led the S.F. Symphony in a brief concert that was long on good graces, establishing close and effortless contact with the orchestra, and polishing off the two similar classics with panache.

A recital by Baritone Simon Keenlyside offers a handsome voice and an audience that leaves smiling at the lovable character with a rare gift for song.

You probably haven't heard the music on these two CDs, but the high quality of the compositions and the playing will make you sit up and pay attention.

Every seat should be taken for a production that delivers the unbeatable combination of Susan Graham and David Daniels. Potentially as rewarding are the San Francisco debut of soprano Lisette Oropesa and the return of early-music specialist and contralto Sonia Prina.

If you’ve been avoiding “modern” music like the plague, you may not realize that fashion has brought new music back into audience-pleasing land. One of the more attractive young exponents of this trend is Kenji Bunch, the Oregon-born, multistylistic composer whose Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra brings back the glory days of melody.

Tragedy and comedy vie for attention in Richard Strauss’ technically demanding, gorgeous score and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s fascinating play-within-a-play libretto.

This month at the Aurora Theatre, a stellar group of artists is coming together to combine three art forms in a new production, co-directed by Tom Ross and Muriel Maffre; it promises one of the season’s most remarkable collaborations.