Jeff Dunn

If you ever wondered how today’s symphonies contrast with those of a century ago, a trip to the Marin Symphony to hear Alasdair Neal conduct the orchestra would have been enlightening.

A fascinating, rarely heard Czech symphony by Josef Suk meditates on death, and is well worth a hearing.

Score one for the California Symphony and cello soloist Joshua Roman, who displays major talent.

Two dazzling women — a pianist, a flamenco singer — infused a San Francisco Symphony matinee with a vivacity that thrilled listeners.

A Bay Area ensemble performs a reduced-forces version of a classic American novel, set in opera form by John Harbison.

Lovers of orchestral music are in for something special, even historic, in the spring season. If you can’t spend everything on tickets, let SFCV guide you to the best of the best.

Sage artistry and inconsistently appropriate voice for repertoire characterized Karita Mattila’s recital of French, Finnish and German songs Tuesday night at Herbst Theatre.

Take heart: Fascinating moods of music-to-despair-by comes from Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho.

A Marin audience hails a fine Mahler performance and Kenji Bunch’s pleasurable new piano concerto.

Comfortable on the podium, commanding yet avuncular, Semyon Bychkov led substantial performances of two Richard Strauss works and Robert Schumann’s Second symphony Wednesday night at Davies Symphony Hall.