Janos Gereben

Many enthusiastic Gilbert & Sullivan fans are not familiar with The Yeomen of the Guard.
And yet, when you finally get to this atypical, unusual work — currently presented by Lamplighters — there are great rewards to be found, including some of G&S' best music and most clever lyrics. 

Let us speak, then, of movies extolling music and musicians. It’s a narrow focus, because writing about classical music’s intersection with films in general presents an embarrassment of riches.

In a delightful recital Tuesday night, Lang Lang — probably the best pianist around, and once likened to Elvis in stature — presented a different pianist, who was also subtle, self-effacing, while exhibiting the highest level of artistry.

Music truly is the international language. Case in point at the San Francisco Symphony: A French conductor leads an American orchestra in an all-Russian program — and it all sounds amazingly authentic, and mostly excellent.

When you first encounter the quiet, eerie, achingly stretched opening chords of Bartók’s first string quartet, you know that you are in the presence of something magnificent. That the Alexander String Quartet’s would present the complete cycles of Bartók’s six and Kodály’s two string quartets is newsworthy enough, but there is more to the story.