San Francisco

Branford Marsalis as you’ve never heard him before, on solo saxophone, in a ranging program of styles, in the cavernous, holy confines of Grace Cathedral.

Great music and gift ideas for classical music lovers (and how to get hold of them quickly).

Traditional jazz still flourishes in New Orleans and elsewhere, kept alive by groups such as the Rebirth Brass Band.

Four new mind-boggling, jaw-dropping, ear-seducing recordings by Cecilia Bartoli, Dominque Labelle, Alice Coote, and Nathalie Stutzman give pleasure almost beyond words.

At the SFFCM Music Day featuring several acts in the three performance areas bubbles with enthusiasm and portends good things to come.

On Sept. 23 a newly remastered 69-CD box set of Maria Callas’ entire studio discography became available from Warner Classics.

The wondrous mezzo Joyce DiDonato, now at the very top of her game, sings bel canto arias to a fare-thee-well, both the rare and the familiar, the tragic and the camp.

On The Last Southern Gentlemen, Delfeayo Marsalis unites with his father, Ellis, on a project that encompasses his musical upbringing and training, and his view of jazz tradition.

On four releases: The windswept visuals of the new DVD of Peter Grimes are real on a Britten DVD; plus: three must-hear voices, Olga Peretyatko, Meredith Monk, and Christiane Karg.