Reviews

Stanford Lively Arts’ “Sundays With the St. Lawrence” series has become one of the more consistently rewarding events on the Bay Area music calendar. Stanford’s ensemble in residence since 1998 returned with a special guest to continue its ongoing exploration of the chamber repertoire.

Giselle might have seemed merely an ordinary start to the San Francisco Ballet’s 78th season were it not for the sharply contrasting talents of two of the world’s most interesting ballerinas: Yuan Yuan Tan and Sarah Van Patten.

Michael Morgan and the Oakland Symphony and Chorus blessed concertgoers at the Paramount Theatre with a taste of heaven — an earnest and wonderfully played performance of Brahms’German Requiem.

When lauded strangeness becomes vastly public, it may herald a change of fashion. Such seem to be Simone Dinnerstein’s Bach interpretations, which bring elements of romanticism back into baroque performance practice. Bach: A Strange Beauty is will not disappoint her new-found fans, nor will it convince her detractors.

An S.F. Symphony program that looked uncannily symmetrical, concerts that began and ended with the best known works of each of the composers, offered rich and gratifying music and an orchestra under David Robertson’s baton in sweet accord.

A concert of small pleasures from the Vertavo Quartet combined a collection of tentative works that came off as quietly riveting. 

The Miró Quartet offered more than a chance to test a theory on "late style" on Sunday in Burlingame, played divergent works with the utmost dedication and coordination, enveloping without overwhelming the intimate space of Kohl Mansion’s hall.

Marc Teicholz of the San Francisco Conservatory gave an exquisitely sensitive and skillful recital there on Saturday, featuring new transcriptions, music associated with Segovia, and extraordinary contemporary compositions.

Circus Maximus is a scream, an impressive piece of workmanship, if a debatable work for the ages. In its latest incarnation as a high-definition Blu-ray disk, it’s a first-class device for showing off your latest surround-sound system.

Led by guest conductor Marek Janowski, the all-Beethoven program at Davies Symphony Hall proceeded in a entirely unexpected order, yet one with exceptional verve and focus, and results that were both bracing and a little disorienting.