Previews

The upcoming performance of two works by British composer Ralph (pronounced "Rafe") Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) has Marin Symphony musicians lavishing superlatives as if they were CEO bankers planning year-end parties during the housing boom.

If there is any man who wants you to participate in Thomas Jefferson's "true secret, the grand recipe for felicity," it must be Charles Amirkhanian, the executive and artistic director of the Other Minds Festival.

Walking into Paul Dresher’s studio, a casual observer might think it was a rehearsal space, an experimental sound lab, or an inventor’s workshop. It’s actually all those things, and Dresher, the award-winning composer, musician, instrument maker, and founder of the acclaimed Paul Dresher Ensemble, presides over each aspect with the eyes and ears of a Renaissance master.

Now in her absolute prime, Cecilia Bartoli has established herself as one of the greatest singers of this or any age. It’s not just her phenomenal technique and unique, rapid-fire coloratura, both of which will be amply demonstrated in her presentation of María Malibrán’s Salon Romantique. Nor is it simply a matter of vocal beauty, which she supplies in abundance.

Stanford Lively Arts has been at the forefront of local Messiaen centenary year celebrations. In their last presentation, Christopher Taylor returns to the Bay Area with Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus for solo piano, a lyrical, mystical, and profoundly virtuosic meditation on the nature of the Christ child.

It has been more than 20 years since the debut of Helgi Tomasson’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake for the San Francisco Ballet. This time around the most-cherished and well-known of ballets gets a complete restaging featuring scenery and costumes by European designer Jonathan Fensom, who will try to avoid that “museum piece” feel.

San Francisco Symphony’s new Phyllis C. Wattis Composer Residency program starts with two weeks devoted to the music of the Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina. The first of the programs features The Light of the End, which the composer herself describes as a dramatic work in which much of the drama arises from the nature of musical instruments themselves.

Music in Twelve Parts, written in 1974, was a breakthrough work for Philip Glass, a giant summing-up of his style and musical explorations to that point. The Philip Glass Ensemble, with the composer on keyboards, comes to San Francisco for the first live West Coast performance of this four-hour landmark in late-20th century music.

The TAGI ensemble, previously known to fans as the New York Lyric Chamber Players, is celebrated for their innovative programming that jumps around different genres. TAGI takes its name from the three Russian musicians: Tatiana Goncharova, piano; Grigory Kalinovsky, violin; and Igor Begelman, clarinet … with no word (or letter) on the Italian-born cellist Francesco Mastromatteo.

For a young (21-year-old) violinist, Chloë Hanslip has taken on some off-the-wall recording assignments. (John Adams’ Violin Concerto? Benjamin Godard’s?