March roars with ton of great music for Bay Area classical fans

Jake Heggie, SF Symphony, SF Opera, Cal Performances, more offering new music and streaming; with live productions not far off.

Four dazzling new recordings and a half-dozen streamed shows offer a range of classical works for March. Here’s music you won’t want to miss.

Sorrowful ‘Songs’

Two of today’s most influential artists — San Francisco composer Jake Heggie and Canadian author Margaret Atwood — have teamed up for a dramatic new song cycle.

Composed by Heggie with texts by Atwood, “Songs for Murdered Sisters” was conceived by Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins, whose sister, Nathalie Warmerdam, and two other women were murdered by Nathalie’s ex-boyfriend five years ago in Ontario. Heggie is best-known for his operas, including “Dead Man Walking” and “Moby Dick,” but his contributions to the song repertoire have also been significant, and Hopkins, accompanied by the composer on piano, gives this new work a moving performance.

Co-commissioned by Houston Grand Opera and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, and directed by James Niebuhr, “Songs for Murdered Sisters” makes a powerful statement about the tragedy of domestic violence. Watch it on multiple streaming platforms until March 21; a CD recording is being released March 5 on the Pentatone label to coincide with International Women’s Day. Details at www.houstongrandopera.org.

‘Violins of Hope’ revisited

Heggie’s music also appears on “Violins of Hope,” a live recording of a 2020 concert at Kohl Mansion in Burlingame marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Bay Area residency of the title instruments, owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. Heggie’s “Intonations,” which made its world premiere at the concert, is the recording’s centerpiece, with lustrous singing by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and violinists Daniel Hope and Sean Mori joining a string quartet featuring Kay Stern, Dawn Harms, Patricia Heller, and Emil Miland. Works by Schubert and Mendelssohn complete the program. Go to www.pentatonemusic.com.

S.F. Symphony: from ‘Berg’ to Post:Ballet

Adding to the impressive list of live recordings on the SFS Media label is this shapely 2018 performance of Alban Berg’s 1935 Violin Concerto, with music director Michael Tilson Thomas and the orchestra joined by violinist Gil Shaham. Also included are Berg’s powerful “Three Pieces for Orchestra” and the composer’s “Seven Early Songs.” In the latter work, beautifully paced by Tilson Thomas and featuring soprano Susanna Phillips as the radiant soloist, the listener can almost see the floating mists, silver-lit paths and garlands of stars it evokes. It’s available at sfsymphony.org/berg.

Meanwhile, the Symphony is partnering with Berkeley’s Post:Ballet in a new series melding music and dance. “Playing Changes” features Symphony violinist Helen Kim playing scores by Samuel Adams, Philip Glass, Elizabeth Ogonek and others, accompanied by contemporary dance works by choreographers including Robert Dekkers (the company artistic director) created in collaboration with the performing Post:Ballet members. Filmed by cinematographer Ben Turquin at Oakland’s historic 16th Street Station, the series launches  March 4. Details: access is free; www.sfsymphonyplus.org/playing-changes.

The Danes have it

The Danish String Quartet has made a big splash with its Prism recordings, and now the celebrated foursome is set to release its third installment. “Prism III,” featuring music by Bach, Beethoven and Bartok, is performed with the same verve and precision as its predecessors. Here’s hoping the quartet, named Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year in 2020, returns to the Bay Area in the future to play this music in person. The ECM label recording is due out March 12.

March streams

Here are virtual concerts and performances to catch.

Ringheads unite: Among the San Francisco Opera’s spring offerings — which include a production of “Barber of Seville” and live concerts at a Marin Civic Center drive-in — fans of Wagner’s monumental “Der Ring des Nibelungen” have thrills in store. The company will stream all four operas — “Das Rheingold,” “Die Walkure,” “Siegfried” and “Gotterdammerung”– from its heralded 2018 Ring Festival. Curated “Ring” talks and other ancillary events round out the schedule. Details: March 5-30; $15 each performance, festival passes $99-$144; www.sfopera.com.

Cal Performances At Home: The series launched last fall continues with Persian-American musician Mahan Esfahani. He’ll play Bach’s devilishly difficult Goldberg Variations — not on piano, as many artists do, but on the harpsichord, Esfahani’s principal instrument, and the one for which Bach composed this iconic score. Also this month, the always-brilliant Mitsuko Uchida returns with a program of Schubert works for solo piano. Details: Esfahani, streaming 7 p.m. March, available n demand through June 2; Uchida, 7 pm. March 18, through June 16; $12-$60; calperformances.org.

Bliss with Biss: San Francisco Performances’ Front Row Premium series presents American pianist Jonathan Biss in an all-Beethoven program featuring the composer’s Sonatas in E-flat Major, Op. 7; A-flat Major, Op. 110; and F-sharp Major, Op. 78, “a Therese.” Details: Available March 4; membership and a link to the concert are free with email signup; sfperformances.org.

Bullock at SoundBox: In her role as a San Francisco Symphony collaborative partner, soprano Julia Bullock returns this month as curator/performer in a new SoundBox event. Titled “Lineage,” the concert features Bullock in works by Poulenc, Nina Simone and others; the program also includes pianist Sarah Cahill in works by Bach, George Walker and Elizabeth Ogonek. Details: Available March 11; $15; www.sfsymphony.org.

Gold Coast’s “power couple”: It’s one of classical music’s great romances: Robert and Clara Schumann, whose love for music was intertwined with their love for each other. Under artistic director Pamela Freund-Striplen, the Gold Coast Chamber Players welcome the Delphi Trio — Liana Bérubé (violin), Tanya Tomkins (cello) and Allegra Chapman (piano) — in works by the great 19th-century husband-wife duo. Details: streams 7 p.m. March 20, available on demand one week following performance; $30; www.gccpmusic.com.

In the Pocket: San Francisco’s much-loved Pocket Opera is presenting “Offenbachenalia,” its 2021 Virtual gala in honor of company founder and artistic director emeritus Donald Pippin, with performances and an auction on March 21. And check out the company’s “PocketWatch” series, with three-song “mini-concerts” and live talkbacks, streaming through June 20. Details: More information is at www.pocketopera.org.