Friday, May 16, 2025

Recent SFS Reviews


Davies Symphony Hall

I reviewed two recent San Francisco Symphony concerts.

  • Giancarlo Guerrero: Saariaho, Stravinsky, Respighi. Note that Pines of Rome is on the September, 2025 season-opening gala, which will make the third time in three years that the orchestra has played this thing, and can't they find something better?
  • Dalia Stasevska: Vaughan Williams, Thorvaldsdottir, Sibelius. The other commissioning orchestras of Anna Thorvaldsdottir's new cello concerto, Before we fall, the Iceland Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Odense Symphony, and BBC Proms. They are getting their money's worth. Other interesting information that had to be omitted: As far as I can tell, this is the composer's first concerto of any kind. And she herself is a cellist. (Watch for a full media roundup later this week.)
Meanwhile, at the LA Phil, Esa-Pekka Salonen led a tribute to Pierre Boulez, and you have to wonder whether SFS's administration nixed a similar program here.

 

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