Mozart

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.

On March 4, radiant melodies converged in Zellerbach Hall as the Cal Performances program gleamed through eras both baroque and classical, injecting the auditorium with vivid, sapid sound.

“Nocturne” tunes all of its cinematic instruments to play a serious, thrilling horror piece, but it delivers a disappointingly flat performance.

With vehement downbeats, principal guest conductor Pinchas Zukerman led the philharmonic to fill Zellerbach Hall with sound and fury on Sunday.

The highlight of the program, Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E minor, Opus 64” was performed by María Dueñas, an extremely impressive soloist who garnered the crowd’s attention from her first note.

As you walk through the city of Vienna, the magnificent baroque buildings on every block give it a sense of poise and beauty that no other European country can match. Not only is it gorgeous to behold, but the food scene is what truly stole my heart.

Beilman, 28, and Tyson, 31, have played together for nine years, and tonight is the final recital of a three-day Bay Area run.

This week holds something in store for everyone. Grab your friends, make your way to one of the Bay Area’s big cities and prepare for an unforgettable time.

Each year, the days surrounding the Fourth of July are packed with an exciting mix of indoor and outdoor, family-friendly and over-21 events — and this year is no exception

Because I wasn’t immediately learning what I wanted to play, I wasn’t interested. I didn’t pay attention at all for the first two months of lessons. Apparently, during that period he taught me how to read music, and I missed all of it.