David Bratman

Top-notch period performances by ensembles both large and small make the Carmel Bach Festival worth a weekend trip.

Emphasizing a through line over episodic diversions, this performance clarifies the piece’s overall design.

For its season finale, the orchestra ambitiously takes on Sibelius’s Second Symphony and an opener featuring high school players.

The orchestra’s passionate playing of four meditative pieces is emotional and gratifying.

The Bennewitz Quartet visits the San Jose Chamber Music Society with a program of Dvořák, Janáček, Smetana, and Hans Krása.

Winds and percussion are featured on a concert of works by Mozart, Richard Strauss, and Lou Harrison.

Alban Berg, Benjamin Britten, and … Grażyna Bacewicz get strong, urgent performances at Stanford Live.

From humor to gloom, these players can craft compelling characters with any composition.

In a cello concerto featuring a hologram soloist, the orchestra conducts something of an experiment.

Working without their late first violinist, these three musicians are bringing in collaborators to great success.