San Francisco Classical Voice

Rostropovich and the San Francisco Symphony
Mstislav Rostropovich, a close friend of the late composer, conducts the works of Dmitri Shostakovich at two San Francisco Symphony subscription series concerts at Davies Hall. The second concert set features the Second Violin Concerto (with SFS concertmaster Alexander Barantschik as soloist) and the Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar. March 30 – April 1, 8 p.m., Davies Hall, San Francisco, $20-$107, (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. (J.G.)

San Jose Symphonic Choir
The 81-year-old, 110-voice volunteer chorus presents the premiere of the full orchestral version of San Jose composer Henry Mollicone's Beatitude Mass, in a benefit for the homeless of Santa Clara County. The work's libretto, by William Luce, intersperses Latin texts with English-language interviews of homeless people in San Jose and Oregon. The concert is part of a celebration of Mollicone's 60th birthday, which includes the San Jose Chamber Orchestra's "Mostly Mollicone" event on April 9 and a new work on each of San Francisco Choral Artist's programs in March-April (see below) and June. SJSC, March 31 – April 1, 8 p.m., St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica, San Jose, $10, (408) 995-3318, www.sanjosesymphonicchoir.org; SJCO, April 9, 7 p.m., Le Petit Trianon, San Jose, $20-$40, (408) 295-4416, www.sjco.org/index.html. (M.B.)

Pacific Mozart Ensemble
The Pacific Mozart Ensemble is celebrating its 25th anniversary in an unusual way, putting its own twist on yet another Mozart Year offering. On the program is Mozart's incomplete Mass in C Minor, filled out not with sections of earlier Mozart masses, as has sometimes been the practice, but with newly composed settings of the unset portions of the text by Meredith Monk, Dave Brubeck, and David Lang. Hard to know exactly what to expect from those three composers on an assignment like this, but it's bound to be interesting. April 1, 7:30 p.m., Green Room, Veterans' War Memorial Building, San Francisco; April 2, 5 p.m., St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Berkeley; $15-$35, (415) 705-0848, www.pacificmozart.org. (M.D.T.)

San Francisco Choral Artists
Contemporary music specialists San Francisco Choral Artists present a concert blending East and West titled "Wisdom of the Ages: Sages and Seers," which features a feast of world premieres, many from local composers, including Henry Mollicone (SFCA's 2006 composer in residence), L. Peter Deutsch, Benjamin Taylor, Frederic Himebaugh, Wayne Eastwood, and Herbert Bielawa. April 1, 8 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco; April 2, 4 p.m., St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland; $12-25, (415) 979-5779, www.sfca.org. (M.B.)

Magnificat
Early music virtuosi Magnificat explore the 17th century composer Johan Rosenmüller's Annunciation Vespers, in one of the liturgical recreations for which director Warren Stewart is well-known in the area. March 31, 8 p.m., First Lutheran Church, Palo Alto; April 1, 8 p.m., St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Berkeley; April 2, 4 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco; $12-$25, (415) 979-4500, www.magnificatbaroque.org. (M.B.)

The Drowning of the City of Ys
"Drowned cities" have a rich and sad tradition in Celtic folklore. Considering the poor plight of our own drowned city of New Orleans, a look back at past ways of grappling with the story might just be in order. Shira Kammen (vielle, medieval harp, voice), Peter Maund (percussion), and Patrick Ball (harp and storyteller) present a program of medieval English and traditional Breton music, along with one of the most well-known ballad tales of Brittany's lost city of Ys. April 2, 5 p.m., MusicSources, Berkeley, $15-$18, (510) 528-1685, www.sfems.org/musicsources. (M.B.)

Helikon, from Moscow
Helikon, a company apparently well-known in Russia but not at all in the U.S., is coming to Mondavi Center at UC Davis to perform Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus and a program of opera classics, including the music of Bizet, Puccini, Verdi, and others. Only 16 years old, Helikon is known for "rollicking, irreverent versions of classics," and it is subsidized by the city of Moscow. It now employs more than 300 people and is taking on hefty touring schedules. March 30-31, 8 p.m., Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis, $19.50-$59, (530) 754-2787, www.MondaviArts.org. (J.G.)

Conservatory Mozart at Fort Mason
On its next outing to Cowell Theater, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Opera Theater presents Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, marking the debut of the program's new director, Richard Harrell. The conductor is Judith Yan. Both Harrell and Yan have worked with the S.F. Opera Center. Conservatory students will sing the work in Italian, with English supertitles supplied. The double-cast roster features Philip Sokolov and Paul Murray as Figaro, Sepideh Moafi and Jennie Litster as Susanna, Patrycja Poluchowicz and Elizabeth Amisano as the Countess, and Adam Meza and Justin Smith as the Count. April 6-8, 7:30 p.m.; April 9, 2 p.m.; Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco, $15-$20, (415) 345-7575, www.sfcm.edu. (J.G.)

Sergey Khachatryan
This is a young violinist to watch, and he follows up his performance of the Khachaturian Concerto the weekend before last with a recital at the Florence Gould Theater in San Francisco's Legion of Honor. On the program are Mozart's B-flat Sonata, K. 378; Schumann's First; and the Franck. The pianist is his sister, Lusine Khachatryan, a prizewinning player in her own right. March 29, 8 p.m., Florence Gould Theater, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, sold out, (415) 398-6439, www.performances.org. (M.D.T.)

Young Artists Singing for Their Supper ... and More
San Francisco Opera Center's Merola Program participants star in the upcoming "White Nights" benefit concert, a black-tie event complete with dinner and silent auction. Proceeds from the event will benefit the program, which has provided opera training for hundreds of young singers for 49 years. April 1, 6:30 p.m., Four Seasons Hotel, San Francisco, $175 and up, (415) 565-6427, www.merola.org. (J.G.)

Graduate Recital Time
There are dozens of free graduate recitals taking place at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's old home in the Sunset District — the last hurrah for the building before the school moves to its new, plush home on Oak Street. Just as an example, there are at least four such concerts on one day alone. April 1, cellist Megan Koch, 5 p.m., Agnes Albert Hall; singer Irene Chung, 5 p.m., Hellman Hall; pianist Adam Petrocelli, 8 p.m., Hellman Hall; cellist Sarah Lambert, 8 p.m., Agnes Albert Hall; all free, (415) 564-8086, www.sfcm.edu. (J.G.)

Von Stade, Ramey in Benefit Recital
Opera greats Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey will sing at a benefit recital for the Montalvo Arts Center and Opera San José, at an event that includes a reception. April 4, 7:30 p.m., California Theatre, San Jose, $75-$120, (408) 437-4450, www.operasj.org. (J.G.)

Brentano Quartet
Can we stand any more Mozart at this point? Well, of course we can. The Brentano Quartet, with violist Hsin-Yun Huang as guest, plays three of Mozart's string quintets on the UC Berkeley campus. This is another "quartet to watch," and its leader, violinist Mark Steinberg, has lately been making a solo name for himself through his recording of Mozart sonatas with pianist Mitsuko Uchida. April 2, 3 p.m., Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, $42, (510) 642-9988, www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. (M.D.T.)

Skampa Quartet
In one of those awful coincidences that so frequently beset chamber-music fans, the Skampa Quartet's visit to San Francisco falls on the same day as the Brentano Quartet's visit to Berkeley. Whichever side of the Bay you fall on, at least you are assured of first-class playing. The Czech quartet's program, in keeping with the locale, includes John Adams' John's Book of Alleged Dances, together with the Ravel Quartet and the second of the three Mozart "Prussian" quartets, K. 589. April 2, 7 p.m., Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, $26-$42, (415) 398-6439, www.performances.org. (M.D.T.)

Formerly Known as Classical
Matthew Cmiel, 17, and his longhair band, Formerly Known as Classical, present "Since We've Been Born," a free concert of "music written after 1988." Who are these post-classical composers, active in the past 18 years? They range from to such elders as John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, Terry Riley, and David Conte to pianist Preben Antonsen (winner of a 2005 BMI Student Composer Award) and Cmiel himself (winner of a 2005 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award). Cmiel will present his Sonata for Lou Harrison for violin and piano. The Formerly Known players are Cmiel (conductor and guitar); Antonsen (piano); violinists Kitty Wang, Becky Wishnia, Leonard Chiang, and Ted Li; violists Dawn Liu and Midori Witkoski; cellists Jessica Lizardo and Jasmine Lau; Eugène Thériault on bass; pianist Aaron Rosenthal; and guitarist Ariadne Smith. March 28, 8 p.m., Temple United Methodist Church, San Francisco, free (but donations are accepted for Amnesty International), (415) 810-7701. (J.G.)

Under Construction in Berkeley
Now in its 12th year, the Berkeley Symphony's free Under Construction program provides new works with an audience and audiences with a glimpse of how a concert is prepared. Associate Conductor George Thomson leads rehearsals and first performances all in one, and Music Director Kent Nagano is the host, interviewing composers. On tap this time: Scintilla One for orchestra, by Helena Michelson; The Twilight of Our Minds, for orchestra with electronics, by Per Bloland; and an excerpt from Mirrors, a concerto for bass by Mark Winges, with Michel Taddei as soloist. April 6, 8 p.m., St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, free, (510) 841-2800, www.berkeleysymphony.org. (J.G.)

Local Orchestras on the Air
Broadcasts of recent S.F. Symphony concerts are available on KDFC-FM, 102.1, or on the Internet. Upcoming concert broadcasts: San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Mark Janowski with violinist Sarah Chang — Sibelius, Finlandia and Violin Concerto. March 28, 8 p.m. Also: Beethoven, Symphony No. 6. Another SFS concert, conducted by Alasdair Neale, with violinist Elmar Oliveira — Ravel, Gaspard de la Nuit; Saint-Saëns, Violin Concerto No. 3; Haydn, Symphony No. 103. April 4, 8 p.m. (J.G.)

The Met, Live
Just a reminder that the current season of Metropolitan Opera's Saturday live broadcasts is nearing its end, so you may want to partake of the experience before too long. Beethoven's Fidelio is heard at 10:30 a.m., April 1, with the estimable Karita Mattila in the title role, along with Ben Heppner, Alan Held, Kristinn Sigmundsson, and James Morris. Local FM broadcasting is available only from KUSF, 90.3 FM; Internet sites abound; perhaps the best is BBC Radio 3, which archives all programs, including the Met broadcasts, for listening at your convenience. (J.G.)