Reviews of a few performances over the past week or so: Andras Schiff co-hosted by the SF Symphony and SF Performances; the first SF Opera production of Lohengrin in sixteen years; and the SF Symphony debut of conductor Vladimir Jurowski in an all Russian program, including the North American premiere of Prokofiev's Ivan the Terrible.

András Schiff: Doctor András Schiffkenstein used again his dark magic to bring JS Bach back to life. His officiant tunic was a simple black Nehru jacket and his occult implements a black Steinway and a memorized score of the well-tempered clavier, book II, but, as two weeks ago, he attempted to channel the spirit of the composer, and again he succeeded.

Die Götterdämmerung concluded last night the SF Opera's first run though the Ring cycle (part I, part II, part III, two more cycle performances 6/21-26 and 6/28-7/3). We listened to seventeen hours of Wagner, but we have no urge to conquer Poland.We feel sad rather than bellicose: because we got slightly addicted to the music eventually, and because it ends on a desperate lament so beautifully sung by Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde) that we left all teary eyed.

Nina Stemme and the orchestra led by Donald Runnicles were the high points of this cycle, delivering consistently night after night. Last night again, Stemme strong yet malleable voice stood above everyone else. She was so good she made her very able partners sound almost sour and much less passionate. She was the main recurring figure last night, as die Götterdämmering introduces a new cast of characters, and Siegfried (whom she married at the blissful end of Siegfried) had been replaced by a new singer, Ian Storey. Unfortunately for us, he lost his voice in the second act. The joke circulating at the second intermission was that Siegfried had died one act too early.

Act II of the Ring Cycle at SF Opera: last night, die Walküre. Das Rheingold was two and a half hours, just a teaser compared to the next three heavy weight operas, all getting bigger and none shorter than four and half hours. The sequence of starting times goes 8pm, 7pm, 6:30pm and 1pm to match. Die Walküre had an earlier run just a year ago, same Zambello/Runnicles production with some of the same lead singers, so instead of repeating ourselves a lot, let's just do a play-by-play of the evening.

6:45pm We arrive in the press room of the opera house, where the usual coffee pot has been replaced with a giant coffee vat and cans of Red Bulls are kindly offered. Is there a chance a music critic might fall asleep? Oh no sir, not us, no way. But maybe one of the jet-lagged visitors in town for the annual meeting of the Music Critics Association of Northern America.

If the fat lady with a Viking helmet became a symbol for opera, it's both a compliment and a condemnation of Richard Wagner. His staging of the Norse mythology has been influential and pervasive enough to suffuse the wider culture (and inspire costume contests); and at the same time, the cliché conveys the dreariness of many productions relying on the same tired props. Well, SF Opera's Valkyrie last night wore not horned headgear, and it was an exhilarating production where inventive staging, impressive singing and masterful conducting made sure that it would be stay exciting throughout. Four hour and a half of Wagner tedious? Heck no, not last night!

This Walküre picks up where Rheingold left off: Wotan, the father of the Gods, has stolen the Ring that Alberich (the Nibelung) has made from the gold of the Rhine (thus, Rheingold); but Wotan has given the ring to Fafner as payment for building Valhalla. Since the ring is so powerful, Wotan wants it back; but his contractor is licensed, bonded and insured against such treachery, so Wotan needs someone else to steal the ring on his behalf, yet without him ordering the heist. Admire how cunning he is: he fathers a son, Siegmund, leaves for him to find a magically powerful sword (named Notung) and loses him in the woods to fend for himself with only vague words of encouragement to fight off the Gods. Wotan can sit back, relax, and wait for a mere mortal lifetime, and voila, Siegmund will do the deed. But the plan goes off the rails fast when the first person Siegmund intends to slay with the Notung sword is his twin sister Sieglinde's husband, Hunding. See, Hunding is tight with Wotan's wife Fricka and Fricka sees through Wotan's devious plans right away, and puts an end to it.

Lang Lang's appeal draws beyond the boundaries of classical music. Our Chinese friend wanted to come with us because, says she, Lang Lang is "the Yao Ming of the piano." You don't get to become a global mega-star by showing restraint and humility and understated sophistication. Since we last saw him here two years ago, he became the face of the Olympics, performing during the Opening ceremony, and received endorsements by Audi, Sony or Rolex.Ca-shing! Check that clip above of him playing the Yellow River concerto in a red tuxedo on a red piano, and you get everything that can go wrong with him: tacky and kitschy, he's that close from making Elton John look refined. Lang Lang and Chopin, paired in a SF symphony series last week, seemed a match made in heaven: over the top, schmaltzy, Romanticism on steroids. Perfect for swooning teenage girls.