Reviews

In San José, Symphony Silicon Valley opens its new season with just plain good music, well played.

Clerestory performs a program, "The Bard," based entirely on the words of William Shakespeare — musical settings of Shakespeare, written by composers mostly born in the 20th century.

The New Century Chamber Orchestra excelled at audience-wooing, thanks to their superb skills and those of two composers, one for each fashion, new and old.

Carmen, with its string of great tunes that never fails to lure audiences to the opera house, lacks the spark of life at Livermore Valley Opera.

A program of substantial fare on the first half, including a brilliant, big-hearted performance by Emanuel Ax, also revives six miniature works on the second half, to great effect.

Bodytraffic dance troupe finds a clear lane in highly entertaining works at the ODC Theater.

Ondine recognizes the 50th anniversary of Hindemith's death with a release of three of his finest works.

There is no question of the San Francisco Symphony’s mastery of Mahler’s symphonies, as they proved again last week.

Opera with cocktails? Following the Classical Revolution formula, opera is given the informal treatment again.

In concert, Itzhak Perlman's playing puts amplification concerns to rest, proving he would be just as beguiling on an electric violin as on a Stradivarius.