Michael Zwiebach

Classical Revolution, a loose affiliation of gigging musicians, is unleashing a deluge of exciting live music of all kinds on San Francisco over three packed weeks.

It’s hard to go wrong with the New Esterhazy Quartet playing Haydn. 

Opera San Jose opens their new season with Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers. 

On Sunday, in Veterans Memorial Park in Napa, the former members of the NVS will present a free concert in the park, as a thank you to their supporters and patrons.

Gioachino Rossini was probably the first composer to become a celebrity. His gastronomic excesses circulated, and food stories about him abounded. There are enough 'alla Rossini' recipes to fill a book: Here are 10 to whet your appetite.

The Merola Grand Finale is the best time to see the young singers the program produces.

Carmina Burana was conceived as a stage work, a “scenic cantata,” but most of the time it is presented purely as a concert. The opera director Brian Staufenbiel adds to the fun of this performance with a little bit of dancing, some costumes and a few other “surprises”.

For the second week of Music in the Vineyards, up in Napa, the Pacifica Quartet takes over for the Borromeo.

If you were to take a chance on a concert this weekend, or get on one waiting list, or if there were a concert worth standing outside with a really winning smile and a sign pleading for spares this weekend, this is the one.

You’ll laugh, or maybe you’ll cry, at some of the hoariest of jokes about music and musicians.