If Morpheus offers you the choice between taking the red score or the blue score, take the blue one. When maestro Michael Francis got on stage last night, he had the red one on his stand for Rufus Wainwright's Five Shakespeare Sonnets; but he needed the blue one, for Milhaud's La Création du Monde and went backstage to fetch it. I know you're impatient for Rufus, Francis joked, it won't be long, but let's do this first. Good thing he did, it ended up the high point of the evening.

Rufus Wainwright put five Shakespeare sonnets to song for the San Francisco symphony. He drew a younger, hipper audience eager to see their pop icon give it a try at writing and singing for a symphonic orchestra. And most fans of Rufus would have enjoyed the unassuming star's presence. Those who were there for the music, like, ahem, us, were left scratching their head. At least they tried, is the kindest way we would summarize the effort.