Lang-Lang is the antidote to recessions and deaths of classical music. There are only a few others than the Chinese piano superstar who can sell out Davies Symphony hall on a Tuesday evening for a solo recital of Beethoven, Albeniz and Prokofiev, as part of the SF Symphony Great performers series. more ›

We want to sing a happy birthday to San Francisco Performances, they start their 30th season tonight. Thirty years of bringing amazing chamber music ensemble and world class singers and talented recitalists to (mostly) Herbst theater: that's an accomplishment we can salute and be proud of. SF Performances is the brainchild of Ruth Felt, who is still running the organization, and whom you have seen on the front page of your Sunday Examiner a couple weeks back, on your doorstep whether you wanted that copy or not. more ›

So foul and poor a play we haven't seen. At least, not during this San Francisco Opera season. That is, until now: behold, the vile production that is Macbeth. more ›

MTT's conducting of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde is so good, it should be recorded and kept for the posterity. But wait! It was! The series, which concludes tonight, will be taped and processed, and included in the Mahler recording cycle, the on-going endeavor to put all of Mahler's symphonic work onto a CD. more ›

The SF Symphony returned from its trip to Europe and kicks off its 2007-08 season tonight, with a sold out opening night gala featuring MTT and Renée Fleming. We find it ironic that they will play Aaron Copland’s "Fanfare for the Common Man" -- a piece riddled with leftist political overtones -- to SF’s high society. Well then, it looks like the SF symphony is more subversive than we give them credit for this time. Good for them. more ›

Thesis: classic Italian opera represents the core tradition of the art form and success as a singer means being able to master the genre. Anti-thesis: opera is an evolving live form, and the work of contemporary composers is relevant, forget about the old dead ones. Synthesis: let’s toss a little bit of everything on the wall, old and new, domestic and foreign, we’ll see what sticks, and call it the Merola Grand Finale. more ›