Stravinsky Double Bill, SF Symphony

Sean Panikkar (Oedipus), Sir Willard White (Creon), Laurel Jenkins (Isemene/dancer), 

Breezy Leigh (Antigone/Narrator) in Stravinsky's Oedipus rex

Photo (c) Kristen Loken, courtesy of San Francisco Symphony

San Francisco Symphony's weekend performances were a Stravinsky double bill, of the composer's opera-oratorio Oedipus rex and the big choral work Symphony of Psalms. Both were splendidly performed by Esa-Pekka Salonen, the orchestra, the chorus, and the soloists. Peter Sellars directed.

About all I have to add to the published reviews is that I saw Sean Panikkar in Philip Glass's Satyagraha in LA a few years ago; he was magnificent. I hope for a revival of the work at San Francisco Opera one of these years.

• Joshua Kosman, SF Chronicle
• Related: Esa-Pekka Salonen and Peter Sellars: 30 years of making hard music sound easy
  
• Lisa Hirsch, SFCV
• Michael Strickland, SF Civic Center