San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony presents ‘Music for Families’ – Photo courtesy San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony presents Music for Families at Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday afternoon in a program entitled Stringing it All Together: The Elements of Music Making. In a concert which includes music by Wagner, Mahler, Brahms, Gershwin, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Beethoven, conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser and members of the Symphony show what goes into making a great piece of music.
For more information, visit the San Francisco Symphony website.
Watch a screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 spy thriller, North by Northwest on Saturday evening, as conductor Richard Kaufman leads the San Francisco Symphony in a performance of Bernard Herrman’s score newly adapted for live orchestra by Patrick Russ – from Herrman’s original manuscripts. Nominated for three Academy Awards®, North by Northwest – starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason – boasts a screenplay hailed by the Writers Guild of America as one of the greatest ever written.
North by Northwest screens at Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday, December 2. For more information, visit the San Francisco Symphony website.
Deck the Halls at Davies Symphony Hall – Photo: Courtesy San Francisco Symphony
On Sunday afternoon, the San Francisco Symphony presents its traditional Deck the Halls concert at Davies Symphony Hall. Led by Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, the Orchestra is joined by guest artists including the San Francisco Boys Chorus (Director Ian Robertson), Trainees from the San Francisco Ballet School (Director Helgi Tomasson) and costumed characters, in a performance of favorites such as Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and, of course, Deck the Halls. After the concert, there’ll be festivities with treats, arts and crafts, and even more entertainment.
For further information and tickets, visit the San Francisco Symphony website.
San Francisco Symphony soloists Alexander Barantschik (violin), pianist Anton Nel, and cellist Peter Wyrick present a concert in the acclaimed Chamber Music Series, in the glorious setting of the Legion of Honor, on Sunday afternoon. The featured works are Schubert’s Piano Trio No 1 in B-flat major and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 2 in C minor.
More information and tickets are available on the San Francisco Symphony website.
On Sunday evening, the brass, timpani and percussion sections of the San Francisco Symphony raise the roof of Davies Symphony Hall with their popular Holiday Brass concert. Led by conductor Edwin Outwater, they perform a selection of works by composers such as J S Bach, Vivaldi, Gabrieli and Franz Biebl, as well as festive favorites from Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Waldteufel and Leroy Anderson.
To find out more, visit the San Francisco Symphony website.
San Francisco Opera
Scene from ‘Girls of the Golden West’ – Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera
On Saturday evening, San Francisco Opera presents another performance of John Adams’ newest opera, Girls of the Golden West. This dramatic work, set against a backdrop of the California Gold Rush of the 1850s, is based on a true series of events chronicled by a doctor’s wife who lived in a remote northern California mining camp at the time, and demonstrates what the composer describes as “…. the very best and the very worst of human traits, from scenes of ugly nativist racism and casual violence to examples of nobility, generosity and ingenuity”.
Grant Gershon conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus in this performance at the War Memorial Opera House. For tickets and more information, visit the San Francisco Opera website.
Scene from Puccini’s ‘Turandot’- Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera
Sunday is filled with the gorgeous sound of music by Puccini – courtesy of San Francisco Opera. There’s a matinee performance of the Company’s production of Turandot at the War Memorial Opera House, with Swedish soprano Nina Stemme singing the role of the icy queen, Turandot, and American tenor Brian Jagde as the suitor who stands to lose his life if he can’t solve the three riddles which she poses.
Conductor Christopher Franklin leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Director Ian Robertson) in a spellbinding performance. More information and tickets available on the San Francisco Opera website.
Arturo Chacón-Cruz as Rodolfo and Erika Grimaldi as Mimi in a scene from Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’ – Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera
On Sunday evening, KDFC – the Bay Area’s classical music radio station – presents its monthly broadcast of a San Francisco Opera production, and this month it’s Puccini’s heartbreaking love story, La Bohème, set in Bohemian Paris around the turn of the last century. Recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House this past summer, La Bohème stars Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi as Mimi and Mexican tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz as Rodolfo.
Carlo Montanaro leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Director Ian Robertson), and members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and San Francisco Boys Chorus, in Puccini’s La Bohème. More information can be found on the websites of San Francisco Opera , or KDFC .