San Francisco Classical Voice

Rudolf Buchbinder
After beginning his studies at the Vienna College of Music at the age of 5, pianist Rudolf Buchbinder has since developed into a protean artist. He's a regular guest at all the major music festivals, and will soon mark the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth by playing 12 of the composer's piano concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic. This is his third consecutive year as a guest to Berkeley where he continues his epic traversal of the complete Beethoven sonatas, a multiyear project at Cal Performances, in two separate programs. On the first is the "Pastoral" and "Pathétique" and on the second you'll hear "Tempest" and "Moonlight." Feb. 25, 3 p.m.; March 4, 3 p.m.; Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, $42, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (C.G.)

Nicole Foland
As an Adler Fellow and afterward, soprano Nicole Foland sang roles small and large, from Orlinde and Kate Pinkerton to Donna Anna, Freia, and Musetta. Here, she brings her creamy voice to songs by Schubert, Debussy, Ives, and Marx. Bryndon Hassman is at the piano. Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m., Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, $17-$20, (415) 355-9988, ext. 11, www.musicat meyer.com (L.H.)

Christine Brewer
Christine Brewer appeared last fall as one of several singers in a concert titled "Playing Favorites." The sensational Wagnerian now brings her gorgeous voice and way with words to a solo recital that will include works by composers from the obvious Wagner and Strauss through to Arlen, Carter, and Barber. She is partnered in this concert with pianist Craig Rutenberg. March 1, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $29-$47, (415) 392-2545, www.performances.org. (L.H.)

Elizabeth Blumenstock and Mary Wilson
Baroque violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock performs two dynamic works by J.S. Bach, including her own transcription of the famous Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, in what is likely to be a restoration of that work to its original form. Soprano Mary Wilson performs bravura solo works by Handel's Deutsche Arien and Vivaldi's Nulla in mundo pax sincera. March 2, 8 p.m., St. Stephen's Church, Belvedere; March 3, 8 p.m., First Congretional Church, Berkeley; March 4, 7 p.m., St. Mark's Lutheran, San Francisco; March 5, 8 p.m., Davis Community Church; $10-42, (415) 621-7900, www.americanbach.org. (C.G.)

Jonathan Biss
Pianist Jonathan Biss makes another Bay Area appearance, courtesy of San Francisco Performances. Although young, he can no longer be called up-and-coming. He is a consummate interpreter of the works of Robert Schumann — a composer notorious for giving pianists fits. On his March program, Biss includes Schumann’s Kreisleriana, in addition to Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Sonata in D Major, Op. 28; the Mozart Sonata in F Major, K. 533; and Anton Webern’s Variations, Op. 27. March 3, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre, $29-$47, (415) 392-2545, www.performances.org. (M.Z.)

Murray Perahia
Pianist Murray Perahia combines a flawless technique with uncommonly high sensibility to keyboard timbres. His recital — a Bach partita, Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 15, Schumann's Fantasiestücke, and Chopin's Ballade No. 4 — should be on your must-hear list. March 5, 8 p.m., Davies Hall, San Francisco, $25-$91, (415) 864-4000, www.sfsymphony.org. (C.G.)

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
As part of its "New Works From California Composers" program, Left Coast features three Bay Area composers. Two works on are premieres: Andrew Imbrie's Sextet for Six Friends violin, viola, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet; and Miguel Chuaqui's Desde el Límite (From the Border) for violin, viola, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, and electronics. Ross Bauer's Piano Quartet (West Coast premiere) and Robert Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat Major round out the program. Feb. 22, Throckmorton Theater, Mill Valley; Feb. 26, Green Room, San Francisco; Feb. 27, Andrews Hall, Sonoma; $15-$20, (415) 474-1608, www.chambermusicpartn.org. (C.G.)

Early Romantics Festival
Festival host and featured pianist Mack McCray presents the Santa Rosa Symphony Chamber Players' second concert in a series of four exploring early Romantic music. The all-Mendelssohn program features Songs Without Words, short character pieces that were meant to be played in the home, in the same spirit as a poetry recital. The composers' Sextet for Piano and Strings is joined by the Piano Trio No.2 in C Minor. Stay tuned for the fesitval finale in April at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts conducted by George Thomson and featuring scholar-pianist Robert Winters. Feb. 24, 2 p.m., Sonoma Country Day School, Santa Rosa, $23-$31 (707) 546-8742, www.santarosasymphony.com. (C.G.)

Mark Anderson and Tamriko Siprashvili
Two-pianist concerts are all too rare, even though piano four-hands music was once a staple of middle-class home entertainment. You can have fun watching pianists Mark Anderson and Tamriko Siprashvili go at it in two-piano performances of Stravinsky's Petrushka and Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice (among other works) while doing good: The concert is a benefit for the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council's Arts in the Schools Program. Feb. 24, 8 p.m., Amador Theater, Pleasanton, $15-$25, (925) 931-3444, www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us.html (L.H.)

Amedeo Modigliani Quartet
The young Amedeo Modigliani Quartet, formed in 2003, has already won first prize in the Young Concert Artists European and International competitions. It's playing a grand program at the Kohl Mansion: Wolf's Italian Serenade, Ravel's only string quartet, and Beethoven's Op. 59, No. 3 ("Razumovsky"). Feb. 25, 7 p.m., Kohl Mansion, Burlingame, $19-$39, (650) 762-1130, www.musicatkohl.org. (L.H.)

Consolation and Comfort
Paul Flight leads a concert of the great choral works of the Baroque period. Heinrich Schütz, the most renowned German composer of the 17th century, leads off the program. The high premium he placed on text expression is evident in the monumental Musikalische Exequien. J.S. Bach's early cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, also known as Actus Tragicus, is especially poignant because of the unusual and archaic scoring of two recorders and two violas da gamba. March 2, 8 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco; March 3, 8 p.m., All Saints' Episcopal Church, Palo Alto; March 4, 4 p.m., St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Berkeley; $10-25, (415) 262-0272, www.calbach.org. (C.G.)

Rachmaninoff Vespers
The Grammy Award-winning Pacific Boychoir occupies a unique spot among children's choirs, as its home is the West Coast's only full-time academic choir school. In this concert the boys perform the Rachmaninoff Vespers in its original boy-choir setting, as well as Barber's Agnus Dei, the choral setting of the Adagio for Strings. March 2, 7:30 p.m., Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; March 3, 7:30 p.m., St. Augustine Catholic Church, Oakland; (510) 652-4PBA; www.pacificboychoir.org. (M.B.)

Volti
The exemplary contemporary music specialists present an evening of new Volti commissions and other works, including the winner of the organization's Choral Arts Laboratory, Amy Beth Kirsten. March 2, 8 p.m., St. Mark's Lutheran Church, San Francisco; March 3, 8 p.m., St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Berkeley; March 4, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, Sacramento; $8-$20, (415) 824-7393, www.voltisf.org. (M.B.)

Creative Voices
These first-rate singers feature the choral works of Francis Poulenc, including the stirring La Figure Humaine. March 4, 4 p.m., The Dance Palace, Point Reyes Station; March 10, 8 p.m., St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Berkeley; March 11, 4 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco; April 1, 4 p.m., Holy Cross Church, Santa Cruz; (415) 861-3680, www.creativevoices.org. (M.B.)

Other Minds New Music Séance
Composers of hypnotic music will be channeled in three concerts in a single day at San Francisco’s Swedenborgian Church. The New Music Séance vibe is accented by the Swedenborgian Church's handmade chairs, candlelit interior, and rustic decor. Sarah Cahill will introduce the earliest score of composer, painter, and humanistic astrologer Dane Rudhyar Prayer, Op. 1, as well as such rarities as Peggy Glanville-Hicks’ Prelude for a Pensive Pupil, Ned Rorem’s Three Barcarolles, and Ernst Bacon’s Pig Town Fling. Kate Stenberg and Eva-Maria Zimmermann, violin-piano duo, will perform rarely heard works by Josef Matthias Hauer. Also on the program: works by composers ranging from Webern and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen to George Antheil and a premiere by Ronald Bruce Smith. Séance producer Charles Amirkhanian makes cameo appearances on drums and piano. Feb. 24, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 8 p.m., Swedenborgian Church, San Francisco, $23-$31 (800) 838-3006, www.otherminds.org. (C.G.)

Controversial Ground
Violinist Graeme Jennings, a former member of the legendary Arditti Quartet who has long been committed to interpreting the fearsomely difficult Brian Ferneyhough’s vision, joins the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players for a concert of contemporary works by four composers. The program — a challenging selection of recent music — includes Ferneyhough's eruptive Terrain for violin and ensemble, striking new works from Ellen Harrison andJames Matheson, as well as the U.S. premiere of Marco Stroppa's mysterious Hommage à Gy. K. Feb. 26, 8 p.m., Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco, $10-$27, (415) 978-2787, www.sfcmp.org. (C.G.)

Martha at the Pocket Opera
Continuing in its tradtion of adventurous programming, the Pocket Opera, now in its 30th season, will perform Friedrich von Flotow's Martha. Pocket Opera has made an impact far beyond its size by introducing a long line of young singers and musicians (of the Pocket Philharmonic) to Bay Area audiences. Flotow's Martha, which tells the story of a woman whose money brings her melancholy and her adventures into servitude bring her smiles, will be perfomed at several Bay Area locations. Feb. 24, 2 p.m., Florence Gould Theater, San Francisco; March 11, 2 p.m., Osher-Marin Jewish Community Center, San Rafael; (415) 444-8000, $18-$35, www.pocketopera.org. (C.G.)

Romeo and Juliet
Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet comes to the San Francisco Lyric Opera. Sung in French with English supertitles, Shakespere's drama that cries out for opera is conducted by Barnaby Palmer and directed by Heather Carolo. Venezuelan Jimmy Kansau sings Romeo and Meagan Todd will sing Juliet. Feb. 23, 24; March 2, 3; 7:30 p.m., Florence Gould Theater, San Francisco, $18-$32, (415) 392-4400, www.sflyricopera.org (C.G.)

San Francisco Symphony Rhapsodies
The San Francisco Symphony plays three great but little-heard rhapsodic works under Carlos Kalmar. SFS’s beloved principal cellist, Michael Grebanier, is soloist in William Schuman’s Song of Orpheus. Dvorák’s Symphony No. 6 is a lyrical gem, with his finest furiant as scherzo. And how often is a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody heard at a formal symphony concert? Feb. 21, 23, 8 p.m.; Feb. 22, 2 p.m.; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, $25-$110, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (D.B.)

Oakland East Bay Symphony
The Oakland East Bay Symphony's February program typically combines the old and the new. On the one hand there's Brahms' majestic Symphony No. 4 and the dashing Sibelius Violin Concerto (played by Margot Schwartz). On the other is Richard Meyer's Celebration!, which will include young musicians from the OEBS Music for Excellence program, and a premiere of a Magnum Opus commission, Pierre Jalbert's Fire and Ice. Feb. 23, 8 p.m., Paramount Theater, Oakland, $15-$62, (510) 444-0801, www.oebs.org. (L.H.)

National Philharmonic of Russia
Olga Kern, winner of the 2001 Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, joins the National Philharmonic of Russia for an all-Russian program. Conductor Vladimir Spivakov leads and music includes Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture and two Rachmaninov works, Piano Concerto No. 2 and Symphonic Dances. Feb. 25, 7 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, $25-$91, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (C.G.)

Marin Symphony
The Marin Symphony, conducted by Alasdair Neale, performs an important Magnum Opus commission, Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, a work incorporating Jewish music and history and featuring a big solo clarinet part. Also on the program are Kodály's Galanta Dances and Beethoven's seventh symphony. Feb. 25 and 27, 7:30 p.m., Veterans Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael, $27-$65, (415) 499-6800, www.marinsymphony.org. (L.H.)

A Flowering Tree
John Adams's first new work since Doctor Atomic, A Flowering Tree arrives in San Francisco in March. Cocommissioned by the New Crowned Hope Festival, the Berlin Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Barbican Center, and Lincoln Center, A Flowering Tree has already been heard in Vienna and Berlin. Adams and director Peter Sellars adapted the libretto from an ancient Indian folk tale, modeling the opera on The Magic Flute. Sellars directs the semistaged performances; Adams conducts. March 1, 2, and 3, 8 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, $31-$114, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (L.H.)