Choices for February 23–25, 2024

This month will end with the first “busy weekend” of the New Year. As is often the case, this article will be a “first pass,” which may well be updated as information about other events gets added to the list. I shall be using the Facebook site for The Rehearsal Studio to notify readers of any updates. As in the past, the dates will be hyperlinked to Web pages with further information. Also, since the month will end with the next round of San Francisco Symphony (SFS) performances to be led by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, there will be a summary of the other two concerts that he will conduct. That said, here are the current options:

Friday, February 23, and Saturday, February 24, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, February 25, 2 p.m., Davies Symphony Hall: Salonen will begin his next round with a pairing of Igor Stravinsky with Johannes Brahms The first half of the program will be a complete performance of the music that Stravinsky composed for the “Pulcinella” ballet. The score was heavily inspired by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and it requires three vocalists. Those soloists will be mezzo Sasha Cooke, tenor Nicholas Phan, and baritone Luca Pisaroni. The second half of the program will see the return of violinist Julia Fischer as soloist in a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Opus 77 violin concerto in D major.

Ticket prices range from $25 to $169. The hyperlink attached to the above dates may be used for online purchase. Tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-864-6000 or by visiting the Box Office in Davies Symphony Hall, whose entrance is on the south side of MTT Way (Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street.) The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Box Office is also open only for tickets to the Sunday performance two hours before the concert begins. The other two concerts will take place at the beginning of next month as follows:

• Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 3, 2 p.m.: This will be another “pairing” program, which will also involve vocalists. The second half of the program will present a performance of Béla Bartók’s one-act opera “Bluebeard’s Castle.” The title role will be sung by Gerald Finley, who will be making his debut in the SFS Orchestra Series. The only other role is that of Bluebeard’s newest wife, Judith, who will be sung by mezzo Michelle DeYoung. The first half of the program will be a “multi-sensory production” of Alexander Scriabin’s “Prometheus.” This will be the world premiere performance of a production that enhances the music with a light show augmented by olfactory curation, the latter conceived by Mathilde Laurent, in-house perfumer for Cartier. On the musical side Jean-Yves Thibaudet will be the piano soloist and Jenny Wong will prepare the SFS Chorus. Ticket prices range from $37.50 to $150, and seating will not be available in the Terraces.
• Thursday, March 14, 2 p.m., Friday, March 15, and Saturday March 16, 7:30 p.m.: The final program before SFS embarks on its three-concert tour of Southern California will be devoted entirely to the music of Jean Sibelius. This will be the one overture-concerto-symphony program in the current round. The concerto soloist will be violinist Lisa Batiashvili performing the violin concerto. The symphony will be the Opus 39 (first) in E minor. As might be guessed, the overture will be “Finlandia!” Ticket prices range from $25 to $199.

Saturday, February 24, 7:30 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: This will be the San Francisco debut of Vox Humana SF, conducted by Founding Artistic Director Don Scott Carpenter. The ensemble is a 24-voice professional choir, whose repertoire extends from the Renaissance to the immediate present. On the program to be performed, the latter will include “Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae” by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, while the earliest music on the program will be by Johann Sebastian Bach. In addition, mezzo Catherine Cook will join the choir in a performance of Aaron Copland’s “In the Beginning.”

Ticket prices are $25 for general admission and $45 for premium seating. Tickets may be purchased online through a City Box Office Web page. The church is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of Franklin Street.

Saturday, February 24, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, February 25, 2 p.m., Blue Shield of California Theatre, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: The latest “update” of a Gilbert and Sullivan (G&S) operetta to be presented by Lamplighters Music Theatre will be RUDDYGORE or, The Bruja’s Curse. The operetta being updated is, of course, Ruddigore, the “ghost story” in the G&S canon. As may be guessed, the setting has been transplanted from England to Mexico, more specifically, Real del Monte, which acquired a large Cornish population during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Thus, the familiar G&S characters will be combined with folklórico dancing; and the ghosts of the narrative will now reflect the Day of the Dead.

Ticket prices are $65 to $80. In addition, there will be a livestream of the Sunday afternoon performance available for $25. Hyperlinks for all of these options are available on the event page. Tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-392-4400. The venue is located at 700 Howard Street, on the southwest corner of Third Street.

Saturday, February 24, 7:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre: San Francisco Performances (SFP) will host the return of violinist Leila Josefowicz. She will be accompanied at the piano by John Novacek. As usual, she has prepared an adventurous program that will begin with Claude Debussy’s sonata for violin and piano in G minor, one of his last works. This will be followed by Karol Szymanowski’s Opus 30, a suite he entitled Mythes. The second half of the program will begin with “Conversio,” a duo for violin and piano by the Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür. The program will then conclude with the divertimento that Stravinsky extracted from his one-act ballet “Le baiser de la fée” (the fairy’s kiss).

This performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 24. The venue will be Herbst Theatre, on the first two floors of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Tickets are being sold for $75 for premium seating in the Orchestra, the Side Boxes, and the front and center of the Dress Circle, $65 for the center rear of the Dress Circle and the remainder of the Orchestra, and $55 for the remainder of the Dress Circle and the Balcony. They may be purchased through an SFP secure Web page or by calling 415-392-2545.

Saturday, February 24, 8 p.m., Noe Valley Ministry: The next program to be presented by the Volti contemporary music vocal ensemble is entitled From the Depths to the Ecstatic. The repertoire will explore historic concepts of spiritual diversity, largely from the writings of female medieval mystics, as expressed by contemporary composers. The program will feature the world premiere of “De Profundis,” a setting of Psalm 130 by the rising young Bay Area composer Jens Ibsen commissioned by Volti.

This performance will begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 24. The venue will be the Noe Valley Ministry, located at 1021 Sanchez Street. Ticket prices range from $15 to $40. They may be purchased through a Tix Web page. Volti can be reached by telephone at 415-771-3352.