San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
JOSHUA KOSMAN’S CLASSICAL MUSIC PICKS
Escher String Quartet:
The fine young American ensemble is joined by cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau for a recital of music by Borodin and Schubert. 3 p.m. Sunday, June 17. Del Valle Theatre, 1963 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek. 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 18. Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 19. SF Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St., S.F. www.chambermusicsf.org
“Die Walküre”:
The second cycle of the San Francisco Opera’s summer festival devoted to Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelung” continues with the most traditionally popular opera of the cycle, with an all-star cast that includes sopranos Irène Theorin and Karita Mattila, tenor Brandon Jovanovich and bass-baritone Greer Grimsley under the musical leadership of conductor Donald Runnicles. 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 13. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. www.sfopera.com
Nadia Shpachenko:
The pianist, a contemporary music specialist, celebrates the recent release of her CD “Quotations and Homages,” with a program mixing new works by Missy Mazzoli, Isaac Schankler and others with music by Mozart and Stravinsky. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 20. Center for New Music, 55 Taylor St., S.F. www.centerfornewmusic.com
San Francisco Symphony:
Pianist Daniil Trifonov joins Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and the orchestra for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, along with the Sixth and Seventh Symphonies of Sibelius. 8 p.m. Thursday, June 21-Saturday, June 23, 2 p.m. Sunday, June 24. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., S.F. www.sfsymphony.org
Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra:
Music Director Ming Luke conducts performances of Mendelssohn’s oratorio “St. Paul,” with vocal soloists soprano YoonGeong Lee, mezzo-soprano Katherine Trimble, tenor Derek Jackenheimer and baritone André Chiang. 8 p.m. Friday, June 22; 3 p.m. Saturday, June 23 and Sunday, June 24. Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley. www.bcco.org