James Conlon conducted a superb Verdi requiem with the SF Symphony five years ago, so we were not particularly surprised he delivered again last night with the same score. Technically, without the score, as he led the proceedings from memory, mouthing every lyric, pirouetting around his quartet of singers to catch his musicians outside of the blind side, almost poking his tenor with his baton in the process. He was a replacement for Fabio Luisi, who is himself replacing James Levine at the Met. more ›

James Conlon, the LA Opera music director is in town for two weeks conducting the SF Symphony, the past week in the Pictures at an Exhibition and this week in the Verdi Requiem (which he conducted here not that long ago), with the fabulous soprano Sondra Radvanovsky. Conlon has a genial, self-deprecating, unassuming way of introducing the works, and his fast-paced, Queens-accented pep talks do go down easy on the audience. more ›

Joshua Bell must have in his attic a painting of himself looking old and playing out of tune. We were convinced the picture on his website were all softly lenses and careful airbrush. But no, we were five rows from him yesterday at Davies Symphony hall, and other than a deal with the devil, how else to explain his real youthful looks, his hair flowing just right, his footwear so pretty it had to be Italian, and his technical perfection with his Stradivarius? He first appeared with the symphony in 1991, he's forty three, he can't be a heartthrob for ever. more ›

Visiting conductor James Conlon twice asked for a perfect silence from the SF Symphony audience in Davies Symphony Hall, during Saturday's performance of Verdi's Requiem. The first time was to shush the house before opening the concert with the softest pianissimo from the cellos, a whisper of a murmur leading to the hushed prayer from the Chorus: Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let everlasting light shine upon them. more ›