Previews

Akram Khan, who credits his international brigade of dancers as collaborators, draws inspiration from Sufism and the Persian poet and mystic Rumi.

The Kirov Ballet, based in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), has reverted to calling itself the Mariinsky Ballet, but its Swan Lake, choreographed in 1950 by Konstantin Sergeyev and based, of course, on the 1895 Petipa/Ivanov version, prevails, uninterrupted by the vagaries of history.

The Bad Plus come to San Francisco Performances for a re-imagning of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

On the cusp of its 30th anniversary, the Alexander String Quartet continues its residence at Mondavi with a performance of Schubert’s String Quartet in C Minor, D. 703, “Quartettsatz”; and his String Quartet in A Minor, D. 804, “Rosamunde.”

The Ives Quartet is a locally based ensemble with a tough-grained and determined style.

Sergio and Odair Assad have been the preeminent classical guitar duo of the last 40 years, having set the standard for technical excellence, sensitive musicianship, and innovative repertoire choices.

Based on the Italian story that yielded Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, this opera features some exquisite arias, especially Giulietta’s “Oh quante volte” from Act 1. 

In the time it has taken Mark Padmore to make his recital debut in San Francisco, he has grown into a lieder singer to be reckoned with.

The California Symphony opens its conductor search with Robert Moody fronting the orchestra in a straight-down –the-middle program.

This is music that we’re used to hearing from the Bay Area’s old hands, so it will be interesting to hear the NextGen interpretations.