Previews

Renowned lutenist Hopkinson Smith has transcribed Bach's Suites for Solo Cello for the theorbo (a bass lute). Bach lovers can see him play the first three of them at concerts for the San Francisco Early Music Society this weekend.

The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble premieres three new works this weekend on the theme of childhood in what promises to be a real variety show.

A Mozartian mash-up at Stanford cleverly hangs some of Mozart's most beautiful and accessible arias on the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins in selections from The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, La Clemenza di Tito, Idomeneo and more.

With all the Bay Area choral groups around (more than 300 and counting), you may be forgiven if you've missed a few, here and there. But Schola Cantorum is worth going out of your way to hear, even if it does spend most of its time hiding its light under bushels.

Fans of orchestral music are heading for the San Francisco Symphony this weekend, where Osmo Osmo Vänskä is set to lead the orchestra in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

Dubravka Tomsic is one o f those really wonderful pianists who never seem to garner the accolades and recognition their excellence deserves. She's back at S.F. Performances.

Stile Antico, a great vocal group from England that's young but much-heralded, appears at Calvary Presbyterian Church this weekend.

Chances are, with all the concerts going on this weekend, Jennifer Stumm's is the only viola solo recital. Presented by the Mill Valley Chamber Music Society, Stumm is going for the gusto: Rebecca Clarke's extraordinary, underplayed sonata, one of Brahms' Op. 120 clarinet sonatas in transcription, and Benjamin Britten's inspired Lachrymae.

This weekend's American Bach Soloists concerts allow you to discover a recently unearthed concerto by the underrated, yet adventurous, composer Telemann, in a concert set that features virtuoso Judith Linsenberg on recorder.

One of the least noted, but potentially most exciting, upcoming Bay Area premieres is the Calder Quartet introducing Christopher Rouse's third string quartet at Stanford Lively Arts on Wednesday.