Davies Symphony Hall

When the Symphony has the opportunity to play with a full orchestra, Davies’ cavernous hall turns into a cornucopia, offering a multi-course meal of sound and texture galore.

The evening’s pairings of two Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart pieces with a famed Joseph Haydn symphony seemed awfully formal, but the San Francisco Symphony kept humor in its arsenal — revealing plenty of secrets from up its starched sleeves.

Kissin graced the stage of Davies Symphony Hall on a brisk San Francisco night to perform a recital spanning mood and musical epochs.

Only Bach could lure Lang Lang to the Bay or, more dauntingly, to the Baroque. The Chinese pianist holds a coveted level of celebrity, known for his sparkling showmanship and Romantic war horses.

Boyz II Men joined forces with conductor Edwin Outwater and the rest of the San Francisco Symphony for two nights of melodically intertwined serenading.

Each of the program’s three pieces ran an impressive length, but under the guidance of conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, the orchestra pulled off the feat with intricate execution.

Throngs of spiffy symphony patrons ambled into Davies Symphony Hall like Amphion’s stones taking their place to experience Beethoven’s “The Creatures of Prometheus."

While many might assume a trip to the symphony to be a formal, stiff outing, “Holiday Soul” was anything but a static experience.

The San Francisco Symphony enunciated its return with a variegated program that showed the group’s aptitude for modern arrangements and revisions to classical repertoire.

There was a lot of eye darting and focus shifting throughout the evening, but both film and orchestra are delightful in their entirety; not knowing where to look was not so much a problem as it was a blessing.