Reviews

What could be sweeter than hearing terrific playing and thought-provoking lectures at a noted guitar fest in the scenic Sierra Nevada?

Handel’s Alexander’s Feast made a welcome debut on opening weekend of the Carmel Bach Festival.

J.S. Bach’s competitors for a staff position created superb music, examples of which were handsomely performed by American Bach Soloists at its current festival, in a rather dry hall.

Magdalena Kožená scores a win with romantic songs, backed well by husband Simon Rattle and the lush Berlin Philharmonic.

Wes Anderson’s film Moonrise Kingdom, is brimming with fine actors and classical music reflecting childhood from Britten, Schubert, Saint-Saëns, and even Hank Williams.

The latest release by ZOFO, the four-hands-one-piano performers, displays the duos unusual combination of bravura and depth.

The Salkind Piano Duo Festival gets off to a marvelous start, celebrating the golden musical age of Paris, that city of lights.

The silken strings of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra must be heard to be believed, on this exceptional recording of two beloved ballet scores.

The S.F. Symphony crowned the centennial season with the greatest symphonic warhorse of them all, The Ninth, rewarding the audience with an assured, majestic performance by MTT, the orchestra, and especially the chorus.

Nareh Arghamanyan performs piano works by Rachmaninov with passion and technical fluency, on a CD whose program notes run from problematic to sappy.