Month: May 2017

What happens when a rather naïve and unworldly woman in Iowa City – whose major excitement in life is her book club – opens her home to a stranger from the Bronx – a very savvy and streetwise woman who is most decidedly experienced in the ways of the world? Sharon, a lonely soul, whose…

San Francisco Opera’s summer season opens at the War Memorial Opera House this week – a season featuring Verdi’s Rigoletto, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Puccini’s La Bohème. Coinciding with celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of San Francisco’s Summer of Love, each of these works has a different take on the subject of love which –…

The stars are gathering at SFJAZZ this week as three of today’s greatest Latin Jazz pianists pay tribute to the pianist and composer known as the ‘Gershwin of Cuba’ – Ernesto Lecuona. Chucho Valdés, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Michel Camilo – who all appeared in a recent documentary entitled Playing Lecuona – will appear at SFJAZZ…

Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck makes his debut with the San Francisco Symphony this week, in a program of two works – by Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. The Shostakovich Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti, Opus 145 – with baritone Matthias Goerne – is a first for the Symphony, and it’s followed by a work which must…

As another San Francisco Ballet season draws to a close, it’s a good time to turn the spotlight on the magnificent SF Ballet Orchestra, led by music director Martin West, which plays such a vital role in the success of the Company’s performances. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, this Grammy Award-winning ensemble, under West’s direction,…

Roberto Abbado & Veronika Eberle guest with San Francisco Symphony This week’s San Francisco Symphony performances feature two guest artists – Italian conductor Roberto Abbado – Music Director at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, and recently named Musical Director of the Verdi Festival of Parma – and German violinist Veronika Eberle…

Imagine the sight of over 300 musicians on stage at Davies Symphony Hall. It’s quite a thought, and that’s what the San Francisco Symphony has in store for audiences this week, as Charles Dutoit conducts Berlioz’s magnificent Requiem – the Grande Messe des morts – in a series of performances which opened this evening. The…