Berkeley composer’s world premiere of ‘Cleopatra’ to open S.F. Opera season

With the Bay Area’s classical music schedule finally back in full swing, there can be no doubt about the embarrassment of cultural riches this region has to offer.

We have operas new and old, exciting orchestral premieres and chances to revisit favorite familiar scores, all within the radius of just a few miles. How many others metropolitan areas can boast such a concentrated profusion of musical offerings?

Here is a selection of particularly promising musical events to get us through to Thanksgiving.

Following the traditional gala concert, the San Francisco Opera opens its centennial season amid a flurry of imperial pomp and international intrigue with the world premiere of “Antony and Cleopatra” by Berkeley composer John Adams.

With a libretto drawn from Shakespeare by the composer and director Elkhanah Pulitzer, the commissioned work treats material that has attracted composers from Handel to Samuel Barber. Baritone Gerald Finley and soprano Amina Edris are scheduled to create the title roles, with Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducting.

‘Antony and Cleopatra’

‘The Marriage of Figaro’

The seasonopening production at Opera San José relocates Mozart’s vivacious and tender comedy to India under colonial British rule. The long-awaited reinvention was a pet project for the company’s former general director, Khori Dastoor, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 shutdown.

Now it takes the stage at last, with a cast led by sopranos Maya Kherani and Maria Natale and baritones Efraín Solís and Eugene Brancoveanu. Conductor Viswa Subbaraman is slated to make his company debut, with Brad Dalton directing and choreography by Antara Bhardwaj.

Salonen conducts Mahler:

If there’s a single musical vein that has characterized life at the San Francisco Symphony for the past 30 years, it was Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the music of Mahler. Now, for the first time since taking the reins as music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen plans to put his own stamp on that central piece of the repertoire.

For performances of Symphony No. 2, the orchestra will feature guest appearances by soprano Golda Schultz and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung. As a tantalizing companion offering, Salonen conducts a world premiere by Trevor Weston, the first fruits of the Emerging Black Composers Project.

Magnus Lindberg Piano Concerto:

Having Salonen on hand as music director of the San Francisco Symphony means not only a chance to hear his compositions, but those of his compatriots and longtime friends, composers Magnus Lindberg and Kaija Saariaho. Lindberg comes out of the gate first, with the world premiere of a newly commissioned concerto for piano and orchestra.

Yuja Wang is on hand as soloist, which means that the piece promises to call for both technical dexterity and expressive depth. Music by Carl Nielsen and Béla Bartók completes the program.

Oakland Symphony:

In the devastating absence left by the death last year of longtime Music Director Michael Morgan, the Oakland Symphony has embarked on the search for a successor. This season brings a parade of six guest conductors who are in the running for the position.

The season begins with a guest appearance by Ankush Kumar Bahl, music director of the Omaha Symphony, who is scheduled to conduct music by Carlos Simon, Chen Yi and Hector

‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’

Francis Poulenc’s opera had its world premiere at La Scala in January 1957, and nine months later it was on the stage of the War Memorial Opera House for its North American premiere. Its presence as part of the San Francisco Opera’s centennial season — the first time the opera has been done here in nearly 40 years — is a tribute to the company’s history of innovation.

For this production, a collaboration with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Olivier Py directs a cast headed by soprano Heidi Stober. Music Director Eun Sun Kim will conduct.

Oct. 15-30. $32-$410. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-3330. www.sfopera.com

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra:

For years, the classical music world has been resounding with praise for the Lithuanian conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, while Bay Area listeners have waited for a chance to hear her perform live. Finally, she’s slated to arrive in Davies Symphony Hall with the City of Birmingham (England) Symphony Orchestra, which she serves as music director.

Also on the program is the gifted young British cellist Sheku KannehMason, soloing in Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The rest of the program features music of Britten, Adès and Debussy.

‘Theodora’

One of Handel’s final oratorios, this powerful and occasionally gruesome tale of Christian martyrdom during the Roman Empire continues the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale’s long tradition of engaging with the composer’s vocal music.

Under Music Director Richard Egarr, the unstaged performances feature a starry cast led by soprano Julie Roset in the title role alongside mezzo-soprano

Vincent Pontet Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. It plays Oct.15-30 at War Memorial Opera House.