Shostakovich and Brahms at San Francisco Symphony

Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

Last week, music director Esa-Pekka Salonen led the San Francisco Symphony in Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, with soloist Sayaka Shoji, and Brahms's Symphony No. 4. I attended the Saturday night program because on Friday, I was reviewing Nicholas Phan and Jake Heggie's lovely SF Performances recital.

I had never heard the Shostakovich before. Salonen was fine; I liked the music well enough. (Unlike friends who never liked or who have gotten over Shostakovich, I came late to him and haven't sworn him off yet. Perhaps that day will come.) The concerto has the Shostakovich cheekiness (my partner asked whether this should be "cheesiness" and I said that lots of people think so) and also a big passacaglia as its third movement. That was the thread connecting the two works on the program, because the Brahms ends with a stupendous passacaglia of its own.

While Salonen and the orchestra were at their usual best, the soloist was Not Good. I'm sure that the notes were all there, but there was little music. This is stuff that needs to be played with verve and commitment to be convincing, and she just didn't do that. Her encore - Bach? - was deadly, played with dull and disjointed phrasing.

The Brahms was an entirely different story. I think that the only Brahms Salonen has played here was the so-called Variations on a Theme of Haydn (the theme isn't by Haydn), and I thought that was unmemorable. Last week's symphony, though, was a wow, for sure. He conducted it expansively and with almost Wagnerian grandeur: I heard a touch of Brünnhilde's awakening in the first movement, and detected Rheinmaidens in the last. He used every string available and the orchestra's sound was round and rich, very European, versus the lean and focused sound he often aims for. It was really something.

The third movement was brisker than I'm used to hearing and it worked extremely well; the fourth overwhelming in its power. Special kudos to principal flute Yubeen Kim for his gorgeous solo in the last movement.  

Elsewhere:

• Steven Winn, SFCV and SF Chronicle. He is way more positive about the soloist than Michael and me. Maybe she was better on Friday.
• Michael Strickland, SF Civic Center. How I wish I'd seen Christian Tetzlaff in this! Do check out Michael's recommended recordings by David Oistrakh. As a violinist friend once said to me, you can't go wrong with Oistrakh.
• DB at Kalimac's Corner. I believe the reports from DB and Steven, so I conclude that I saw the wrong night. 
• Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle. He was there Saturday, so he got the lesser performance, and is kinda scathing about the Brahms.