Chamber Music

This is music that we’re used to hearing from the Bay Area’s old hands, so it will be interesting to hear the NextGen interpretations.

Darius Milhaud is one of those composers who sits on the edge of fame and familiarity.

The brilliant New Century Chamber Orchestra starts its season off with a slice of Benjamin Britten, who will have the 100th anniversary of his birth celebrated in 2013. 

It’s hard to go wrong with the New Esterhazy Quartet playing Haydn. 

After a game of musical chairs in recent years, the Artemis Quartet is still up on its game, as heard on its latest CD of Schubert masterworks.

For the second week of Music in the Vineyards, up in Napa, the Pacifica Quartet takes over for the Borromeo.

If you were to take a chance on a concert this weekend, or get on one waiting list, or if there were a concert worth standing outside with a really winning smile and a sign pleading for spares this weekend, this is the one.

Eric Kujawsky is not intimidated by big pieces: He likes organizing big concerts with his Redwood Symphony. And this week he’s taking on Berlioz — not the puny Symphonie Fantastique, but the full Requiem Mass, performed in Davies Symphony Hall with soloists and over 200 choristers.

The fantastic Borromeo Quartet kicks off this summer’s Music in the Vineyards festival, the smaller, homier wine country festival.

The little Midsummer Mozart Festival will be in full swing this weekend, with pianist Audrey Vardanega, now an experienced soloist at the advanced age of 16, playing the delightful Piano Concerto in G Major, No. 17.