Don't have to leave to experience music world

THE VIEW through the antique lace curtain reveals a towering conifer, its dark green limbs stirring ominously in the wind. The temperature outside is hovering around 25 degrees F. and the sky is a steely gray. The tree almost, but not quite, hides the steep burnt- orange tiled roof of a house and the still-green meadows, ice- streaked ponds and heavily wooded hills beyond.

I am in a little village a few miles outside of Prague, in the Czech Republic -- and thinking about what a vast and diverse -- yet at the same time steadily shrinking -- world this is.

My immediate mission here is musical: Tonight I will attend a performance in Prague's sumptuous Baroque Rudolfinium Concert Hall to hear Sylvie formidable 2002 oratorio "Juda." While the oratorio's theme is timeless, it resonates in an almost heart-stopping way with our own times, as it describes the struggle between two major Middle Eastern powers back around 160 B.C. It is scored for a large symphony orchestra, mixed choir, children's choir, three conductors, soprano, tenor and baritone soloists, one female narrator, and three male narrators.

Borodova, a vibrantly youthful 51-year-old of Hungarian, Slovakian and Czech ancestry, is perhaps the most performed and recorded Czech composer of her generation.

Ah, but music-lovers and musicians don't have to leave the terra firma of the Bay Area to experience the art and culture of the rest of the world. Here's a sampling of the varying geographical and historical eras that will be brought to life by musical organizations around the Bay in coming days.

To enjoy the aura of Prague without having to pay airfare, attend the free concert of the Prazak String Quartet at 3 p.m. Sunday in the McKenna Theatre of the Creative Arts building at San Francisco State University, at 1600 Holloway Ave.

The Prazak four will perform an authentic Czech program of works by Bedrich and Bohuslav. Iis noted for his ability to musically "paint" the landscapes and features of his native country.

The group has earned rave reviews that included words not usually called upon to describe string quartets: The New York Times called their playing "hot-blooded and richly textured," while the L.A. Times praised their "poetic and powerful" playing and said their performance "grabbed you by the collar and refused to behave."

The performance is part of the Morrison Artists Series, San Francisco's longest-running chamber music series. For more information, visit

Dances of China

Now zip across the International Date Line, so to speak, to experience a bit of China. The premier dance school of that ancient land, the Shanghai Dance Academy, presents a program of traditional old and new modern dances of China at

8 p.m. today at the Smith Center on the Ohlone College campus, 43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont. While this is the Shanghai Company's first visit to the United States, its alumni are dancing professionally all around the world -- including Yuan, the vivacious prima ballerina of San Francisco Ballet.

Jolly ol'

Those who might have a yen to visit 19th-century Victorian England and consort with the likes of Sherlock Holmes and his denizens need only head down to Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco at 8 p.m. Saturday. Upon entering the concert hall, the streets of San Francisco will be left behind as you are let in on "Victoria's Secret, or, An Inconvenient Ruth." This is the typically wild and witty title of the Lamplighters Music Theatre's 41st Annual Champagne Gala and fundraiser.

A merry evening it will be, as the champagne flows and the tale unfolds in an original musical spoof that will involve three Sherlock Holmeses investigating the apparent murder of Queen