Better Late Than Never

Mozart Requiem

Manfred Honeck, cond.

Photo: Kristen Loken, courtesy of San Francisco Symphony

A couple of years ago, I saw Manfred Honeck, music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony, guest conduct at San Francisco Symphony. I am surprised to see that I never posted about it, because it was Not Good. Joshua Kosman reviewed the concert (gift link) and was not happy; as the headline says, Honeck was a speed demon and the speed served the music poorly.

When the 2025-26 SFS season was announced, I was skeptical about Honeck's program, a re-envisioning of Mozart's Requiem, a problem child of a work if ever there was one. Mozart died before finishing it; his friend and student Franz Xaver Süssmayr completed it and, well, to say the least he was no Mozart.

I sang the Requiem long ago and didn't particularly like it then; recordings I've heard along the way mostly didn't work for me. Too many conductors go at it like it's the Brahms, written in the 1860s, and no, that's not appropriate. I liked Christopher Hogwood's period instrument recording, which sounds like Mozart, but I haven't heard it in 20 years.

I probably would have gone to the final dress rehearsal of Honeck's program if I hadn't had a conflicting appointment, and wasn't really planning to go (demand pricing in action and I was not comfortable asking for a press ticket), but then a friend said it had been phenomenal, and, well, okay, a chance to hear the wonderful Ying Fang and Sasha Cooke, okay.

Well, it turns out that I will have to rethink both Manfred Honeck and the Mozart Requiem.

The Requiem wasn't the only thing on the program; the first half of the program was Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and Haydn's Symphony No. 93 in D major. The Beethoven got a sharp and appropriately dramatic reading in which I was particularly impressed by the energy of the conducting and how Honeck and the orchestra controlled the dynamics within each phrase. By energy, I do not mean speed. Honeck's tempo was just right, neither too fast nor too slow, but underlying every note was tremendous momentum and energy.

The same was true in the Haydn, which has a character quite different from the Beethoven. The cheery first movement was a lively delight. Kudos to the quartet of string players in the opening of the slow movement. (They included concertmaster Alexander Barantschik and principal viola Jonathan Vinocour; I couldn't quite see who was in the cello first seat. I think Chen Zhao was playing principal second violin.) I laughed out loud at the musical joke late in the movement, which was beautifully timed.

Honeck took a broad tempo for the minuet and it worked fabulously well in this bumptious music; the trio was appropriately more sober and delicate. The last movement bustled along nicely.

On to the Requiem.

During intermission, audience members were able to get an electric (I think) candle and place it on the edge of the stage in front of the orchestra, in memory of those no longer with us. The candles remained there until after the concert was over and created a beautiful look and mood for the Mozart.

Honeck contributed a program note, in which he says that we can't know how Mozart would have finished the Requiem, so "I have chosen to perform only the parts that he composed himself." A wise decision and I admire his integrity in making this choice. 

Honeck's conception of the Requiem places the work in the context of "elements that reflect Mozart's time and personal thoughts on death," creating a funeral liturgy around the Requiem. The performance included plainchant (sung by the St. Dominic’s Schola Cantorum), readings from the Book of Revelation, two poems by Nelly Sachs, an excerpt from a letter the composer wrote to his father, the "Masonic Funeral Music," K. 477, the "Laudate Dominum" from the Vespers, K. 399, and the motet "Ave Verum Corpus."

The performance opened and closed with three bell strokes, played by principal timpani Edward Stephan – the only time I've seen him play anything other than timpani. They were a solemn introduction and solemn close to a performance of gravity and majesty.

Honeck led the program with all the virtues of the first half – judicious tempos, crisp phrasing, superb dynamic control – and added a real sense of drama and style. The structure created some of the drama, and Honeck conducted with operatic grandeur and pacing.

Did I mention disliking Brahmsian performances of the Requiem? This performance looked back to the Baroque, emphasizing the counterpoint and antique elements of the work. Honeck used a reduced orchestra throughout the program; the players had more than enough power for the work. Even with the big chorus, the balances were excellent. The Symphony Chorus was a marvel throughout, wonderfully responsive and singing with a most beautiful sound.

Honeck gave special weight to the "Masonic Funeral Music" and the Confutatis of the Requiem.  I loved Adrian Roberts's eloquent readings. Soprano Ying Fang was glorious in the "Laudate Dominum" from the Vespers and so was bass Stephano Park in the "Tuba mirum" of the Requiem. Mezzo Sasha Cooke was, as always, a warmly beautiful presence. Tenor David Portillo was much as he was at Santa Fe Opera in 2024.

All in all, it was a a magnificent performance of a great work. 

These performances were dedicated to the memory Joshua Robison, Michael Tilson Thomas's husband and creative partner, who died earlier this week. Principal oboe Eugene Izotov read a moving personal memory of Robison and his place in the lives of MTT and SFS.

Elsewhere:

• Rebecca Wishnia, SF Chronicle and SFCV
• Joshua Kosman, On a Pacific Aisle (link to follow)