Jürgen Frank

The Emerson String Quartet

A classical spring is coming to San Diego. The end of March and the entire month of April are bursting with classical music concerts. There’s also opera.

Tosca by Giacomo Puccini opens at The Civic Theatre on Saturday, March 25. The trio of principal artists appears formidable. Soprano Michelle Bradley plays the title role. Bradley performed the title role in Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida in a concert version produced by San Diego Opera in 2018. Since then Bradley has made appearances, in leading roles, with San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, The Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and The Vienna State Opera.

Scarpia, the big bad, is sung by Greer Grimsley. Grimsley has appeared in a number of roles at San Diego Opera starting in 2000 with Teleramund from Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin. He performed Scarpia for San Diego Opera in 2009. He has also performed the role at The Metropolitan Opera. I must admit a personal bias. Mr. Grimsley might be my favorite opera singer who has appeared with San Diego Opera.

The role of the fiery revolutionary, Mario Cavaradossi, is sung by tenor Marcelo Puente. Born in Argentina, Puente has gained widespread recognition as an important lirico-spinto tenor in theaters including the Royal Opera House, Opéra national de Paris, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

On April 14, 15, and 16, The San Diego Opera will present Ghosts. Ghosts is an evening of three one-act, horror-inspired operas by beloved San Diego composer Nicolas Reveles. Nick, as he was known, was San Diego Opera’s director of education and community engagement for 20 years. He passed on March 1, 2023.

The San Diego Symphony will be presenting a number the performances of Sergei Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony on April 13, 14, and 15.

On April 21 and 22, the symphony performs Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 along with Claude Debussy’s Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Rafael Payare will conduct.

The La Jolla Music Society has an entire lineup of heavy hitters ready to go in April. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform at The Civic Theatre with pianist Kathryn Stott on Thursday, April 6.

The legendary Emerson String Quartet swings by on Sunday, April 16 as a part of their farewell tour.

Pianist and Van Cliburn Competition Gold Medal Winner Yunchan Lim is in recital on Sunday, April 23.