The SF Symphony kicks off its Schubert and Berg journey with a mix-and-match of the Viennese composers. Tonight, and repeating through Saturday (the last show in Cupertino), we hear Berg's Seven Early songs, and Three Pieces for Orchestra, teamed up with Schubert's Rosamunde Overture and Unfinished Symphony.

Three more programs explore the connection between Berg and Schubert, which, honestly, we personally don't hear yet. Hopefully the juxtaposition over the next three weeks will do the trick. Or maybe the point is to show that, despite eating the same strudel with the same Danube views, they are world apart. Oh, MTT, you keep us guessing!

There's no double guessing regarding the quality of the performers who'll join the conductor, starting tonight with Michelle DeYoung. She'll be singing the Seven Early Songs. The mezzo-soprano has already won a Grammy award with the SF Symphony, and she has performed with all the big league conductors: James Levine, David Barenboim, MTT, Pierre Boulez, Colin Davis, you name it, she did it. Believe me, I feel the blessing of it every day, she says of singing with those guys. We jumped on the chance to chat with her, below.

We have been singing "Happy we," thankful that Bostridge was coming to sing at Herbst tonight for SF Performances. Actually, we even were supposed to tease you with an interview, but Ian poor thing got a cold last week, and had to rest for his NY concert and canceled our phone call. Obviously, based on the review, he was fully recovered since stuffy nose is not part of his reputation. Which means you're in for a treat.

If you're aching for an interview, here is one here and here you can find Ian in his own video interview. After the jump, a clip of him singing Schubert, as he will tonight, with tonight piano accompanist, Julius Drake.