San Francisco Classical Voice

Berkeley Festival and Exhibition
The Berkeley Festival and Exhibition of early music returns after a four-year hiatus, and continues through June 11. Highlights of its concert schedule include: Le Poème Harmonique in a concert of music by Michel Richard de Lalande on June 7; the semifinal and final rounds of the American Bach Soloists and Henry I. Goldberg International Young Artists Competition on June 7 and 9; Le Poème Harmonique and Le Centre National des Arts du Cirque in a recreation of the Roman Carnival season, complete with processions, singers, banquets, and commedia dell'arte on June 9 and 10; and the King's Noyse and the Whole Noyse in "Ornament and Splendor," a concert of 17th century German music on June 10. Most concerts are at Hertz Hall or Zellerbach on the UC Berkeley campus or First Congregational Church in Berkeley; for complete information on the varying concert pricing, times, and venues, consult the Web site at http://bfx.berkeley.edu/bfx/.

This year's Exhibition, an opportunity to try out and purchase period instruments and meet publishers and early musicians, is on June 8, noon to 5 p.m., and June 9-10, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Berkeley's First Congregational Church; admission is free. The Early Music for Families demonstration also gives kids a chance to hear, see, and touch a variety of instruments as young musicians play (June 10, 2 p.m., International House, free).

The official festival isn't all there is, though. The Fringe Festival, organized by the San Francisco Early Music Society, features several dozen additional events in various Berkeley locations. These include: the Artists' Vocal Ensemble (AVE) concert titled "666: Music of the Apocalypse" on June 6; a Vox Populi concert devoted entirely to 15th century master Guillaume Dufay on June 7; Pedro Jesús Gómez playing Spanish and Italian Renaissance vilhuela music on June 8; a presentation by Peter Hallifax and Julie Jeffrey of the complete viol works of Antoine Forqueray each morning through June 9; a recorder play-in sponsored by the American Recorder Society on June 10; a performance of motets from Couperin, Bernier, and others by Pacific Collegium on June 10; and chant and polyphony from the 12th century by the St. Ann Consort on June 10. Fringe: Through June 11, times and venues vary, www.sfems.org/fringe2006.htm. (L.H. and M.B.)

Romantic Visions: From Paradise to the Abyss
James Conlon leads the San Francisco Symphony's annual June Festival in three programs encompassing both popular and rarely heard works. Six performances of Verdi's operatic Requiem, with the Symphony Chorus and soloists Christine Brewer, Stephanie Blythe, Frank Lopardo, and Vitalij Kowaljow, anchor the festival. The concert version of Alexander Zemlinsky's opera A Florentine Tragedy receives its San Francisco Symphony premiere on a program of works inspired by Oscar Wilde. Its ripe, late-Romantic style isn't far off that of Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten. Also on the program are Strauss' "Dance of the Seven Veils" from Salome and dances from Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg (The Dwarf) and Franz Schreker's The Birthday of the Infanta. The third program, heard only once in its entirety, consists of Tchaikovsky's Francesa da Rimini and Liszt's "Dante" Symphony. The Liszt may also be heard on a Friday 6.5 Series concert on June 23.

Conlon himself gives the preconcert Inside Music talks for all three programs, and he leads a symposium titled "Out of the Depths to the Light" on June 7, in which S.F.S. musicians will also participate. June 7-25, concerts at 8 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. (depending on date), Davies Symphony Hall, $35-$107, symposium $20; (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org/juneFest2006/. (L.H.)

Summer Opera Offerings
As an authentic repertoire freak, I am always most interested in fresh musical experiences. So the usual excites my appetites most, and this summer offers numerous temptations. San Francisco Opera's summer season presents Puccini's Madama Butterfly (June 8, 11, 16, 18, 21, and 25) — see the review in the last issue. And for the connoisseur, the jewel of the summer will be Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans, his Joan of Arc opera based on Schiller's play (June 9, 14, 18, and 28). Written after Eugene Onegin, Swan Lake, the first four Symphonies, and the First Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky's Maid has only begun to creep into the international repertory, although it contains one of his most beautiful arias, Joan's "Adieu, forêts," which mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick sings in the title role. Plus baritone Rod Gilfry as Lionel (see review).Precise times and ticket prices are available at (415) 864-3330 or www.sfopera.com. (H.T.)

Malcolm X
Oakland Opera presents Anthony Davis' X, the Life and Times of Malcolm X, tracing the Black Muslim leader's life from childhood to his founding of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, and finally his assassination. Davis, composer of the score for the stage presentations of Angels in America and Perestroika, followed Malcolm X, his first opera, with the science-fiction Under the Double Moon; Tania, about the abduction of Patricia Hearst; and Amistad, about a shipboard uprising by slaves. Deirdre McClure is music director, Michael Mohammed is stage director, Martin Bell is responsible for the production. The seemingly ever-present Joseph Wright sings the title role. June 9-10 at 8 p.m.; June 11 at 2 p.m., Oakland Metro, $28-$32, (510) 763-1146, www.oaklandopera.org. (J.G.)

The Pilgrim's Progress
The brand-new Trinity Lyric Opera of Castro Valley will make its debut with an ambitious presentation: Ralph Vaughan Williams' seldom-performed The Pilgrim's Progress, a work based on the John Bunyan allegory. Jason Detwiler sings the lead role; Alan Thayer, Trinity's founder-director, conducts. June 16-17, 8 p.m.; June 18, 2 p.m., Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, $12-$30, (925) 943-SHOW, www.trinitylyricopera.org. (J.G.)

Pocket Opera
The endlessly inventive Donald Pippin and his Pocket Opera present Verdi's tragic Rigoletto. As usual, the forces will be tiny (piano with a smattering of strings and winds), the translation graceful, the staging economical. Most of the performances are in the tiny Florence Gould Theater at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, where the singers don't have to push to be heard and the acting can be more natural and intimate than in larger spaces. With singers Shouvik Mondle, Pedro Betancourt, Heidi Moss, Kathleen Moss, Roger McCracken, Mel Leroy, Brad Kynard. June 16, 18 [and July 7, 9], times vary; Florence Gould Theater, Palace of the Legion of Honor, [also June 25, Napa Valley Opera House], $18-$32, (415) 972-8934, Ticketweb. (L.H.)

Happy End
A.C.T. presents the West Coast premiere of Happy End, a musical comedy written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill in Berlin in 1929, to take advantage of the great success of The Threepenny Opera. Set in a mythical gangland, supposedly Chicago on the cusp of the Roaring Twenties, Happy End follows the struggle of the passionate Salvation Army lieutenant Lillian Holiday to save the soul of down-and-out mobster Bill Cracker, whose gang is led by the mysterious Lady in Grey (also known as "The Fly"). June 8 – July 9, Geary Theater, San Francisco, $25-$70, (415) 749-2ACT, www.act-sf.org. (J.G.)

Vox Populi Vocal Ensemble
Vox Populi performs music of the 15th century Burgundian master Guillaume Dufay, including Missa Ave Regina Coelorum and various motets. One of the latter, Nuper rosarum flores, was written for the dedication in 1436 of Florence Cathedral, and its musical proportions are identical to the physical proportions of the great church in which it was first performed. June 7, 6 p.m., Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea, 2316 Bowditch Ave., Berkeley, $10-$12, (510) 843-3608, www.vox-pop.org/performance.php. (L.H.)

Pacific Boychoir
The Pacific Boychoir sings locally in June before jetting to Brazil for a summer tour. June 10, 7:30 p.m., St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Oakland, (510) 452-4PBA, www.pacificboychoir.org. (M.B.)

San Francisco Choral Artists
The final San Francisco Choral Artists' concert of the season, titled "Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Song," has a typically varied program with works by many composers, from the 16th century masters Lassus and Marenzio to Elgar, Holst, and Stanford. SFCA commissions new works regularly, and this concert includes premieres by Henry Mollicone, Wayne Eastwood, Jerry Mueller, Robert Ward, and Matt Van Brink. The concert is given around the Bay Area in a trio of excellent venues. June 11, 4 p.m., St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland; June 17, 8 p.m., St Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto; June 18, 4 p.m., St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco; $18-$25, (415) 979-5779, tickets@sfca.org. (L.H.)

Summer Early Music and Dance Workshops
Early music fans can immerse themselves in the music for a week at a time at these popular summer workshops. A highlight for parents is the Music Discovery Workshop at Berkeley's Crowden School, which features instruction in recorder, harpsichord, violin, cello, viola da gamba, theory, and eartraining from top Bay Area teachers and performers; at the end of the workshop, the kids will create an English masque in honor of Glorianna, Queen of England. In June: Baroque Music and Dance Workshop, June 18-24, at Dominican University, San Rafael, $410 (tuition); www.sfems.org/workshops.htm. (M.B.)

String Competition at SFSU
Finals of the 21st annual Irving M. Klein String Competition take place this week at San Francisco State University. Some of the world's most promising young cellists, violinists, and violists are competing for large cash prizes, fame, and fortune at events charging low admission prices. June 9, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 2-5 p.m.; June 10, 7 p.m., McKenna Theater, San Francisco State University, $5-$10, (415) 282-7160, www.kleincompetition.org. (J.G.)

Peter Grunberg presents Music From the Magyars
Pianist Peter Grunberg, S.F. Symphony first violinist Victor Romasevich, and S.F.S. associate principal cellist Peter Wyrick play a program of Hungarian chamber music. From the Romantic period come a pair of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies and his Czardas Macabre. The balance of the program is from the 20th century: Kodály's Sonata for Cello and Piano, Bartók's Second Violin Rhapsody, and selections from Kurtág's Jákétok (Games). June 10, 2 p.m. (preconcert talk at 1:30), Florence Gould Theater, Palace of the Legion of Honor, $27-$32 (415) 392-4400, City Box Office. (L.H.)

Duettos World Premiere
To be danced to live music performed by members of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Duettos includes 12 duets, featuring Mark Foehringer Dance Project stars Brian Fisher and Katherine Wells. The world premiere production is an evening-length work about a mentor, his student, and the evolution of their lifelong relationship. Choreographed to string quartets by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Duettos is an affectionate homage to Foehringer's own mentor in Brazil. June 8 and 9, 8 p.m.; June 10, 2 and 8 p.m.; June 11, 2 and 6 p.m., $15-$20, ODC Theater, San Francisco, (415) 863-9834, www.odctheater.org. (J.G.)

MTT-Goode: Stay Together
Michael Tilson Thomas is the composer, Joe Goode is the choreographer for the upcoming world premiere of the Joe Goode Performance Group's Stay Together, marking the company's 20th anniversary — and MTT's first contribution to dance. Starting with the composer's theater song by that name, described by MTT as a "mordant homage to a bygone era of pop," the music director and Goode developed, expanded, and reshaped the music for movement. June 9-10, 8 p.m.; June 11, 7 p.m., Yerba Buena Center Theater, $16-$40, (415) 978-27887, www.ybca.org. (J.G.)

Luana DeVol Master Class
The opera star Luana DeVol returns to the Peninsula to perform for her hometown community, arriving directly from her critically acclaimed debut engagement with the Metropolitan Opera as Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin. Having performed last week with the Masterworks Chorale in San Mateo, she will now conduct a master class. June 10, 2 p.m., Palo Alto Art Center, (650) 424-9999, www.wbopera.org. (J.G.)