Reviews

Sometimes playing from memory, several Latin American ensembles stood out at a chamber music festival.

In the second of three concerts in their season-opening Salon Series weekend, the Cypress String Quartet looked comfortably at home at SFJazz.

In a generous recital at Davies Symphony Hall, Yuja Wang showed her trademark command, while also revealing gaps in artistry.

Garrick Ohlsson’s greatness is revealed yet again in his incomparable playing of Liszt, Debussy, Brahms, and Chopin.

One of America’s old-school quartets raises the bar in an unsurpassable, elegiac performance.

Transparent choral sound and pristine accompaniment mark Cal Bach Society’s performance of Monteverdi’s monumental Vespers.

Out of character and in recital Bryn Terfel is always wonderfully himself. In his first appearance in the beautifully resonant acoustic of Weill Hall, his warmth, charisma, and interpretive skills were on impressive display.

The West Bay Opera Tosca has it all: a stellar orchestra, musical direction, impressive performances by the principals, and a production that belies the size of the company.

In the centennial year of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, comes the new, perplexing and engaging dance/theater piece A Rite.

Two unfamiliar works paired with an old standby featured outstanding singing and a somewhat typical audience reaction to newness.