Jason Victor Serinus

Dolby Labs’ new TrueHD technology enables higher sound quality for action flicks, pop music, and — more aptly here — the S.F. Symphony’s esteemed media projects.

So you’ve been convinced to make the big switch, and now you want to become a downloading Jedi and Master of the Vinyl. Here are some quick audiophile tips to start you off.

Goodbye CDs, hello high-resolution downloads and — surprise! — vinyl LPs. Here’s the why and the how of it.

An unknown piano work by the iconoclastic Lou Harrison will rise from the dead, along with an East–West fusion work for large chorus, La Koro Sutro.

Youthful pianist Orion Weiss plays the racing stripes off Gershwin classic vehicles, with the Buffalo Philharmonic along for the ride.

Judging from this new live recording of Werther, captured in May 2011 at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and conducted by Antonio Pappano, Rolando Villazón remains on top of his game.

French soprano Sandrine Piau brings the sun indoors, in her splendid Berkeley recital, and carries hearts away.

The spell-binding baritone Matthias Goerne and his superb accompanist, Leif Ove Andsnes, take listeners on a transcendent artistic journey.

Handel’s Alexander’s Feast yields a compact masterpiece — fresh, original, beautiful — starring the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale.

A rapt listen to Dead Man Walking recorded from Houston Grand Opera’s 10th anniversary performances confirms that the opera’s brilliantly balanced score amplifies and personalizes the story’s emotional core beyond the realm of words.