7/1: Fauré’s Requiem
Conductor Kazuki Yamada leads the SF Symphony and Chorus in Fauré’s tenderly radiant and humane Requiem, an underrated stunner. Pianist Hélène Grimaud performs Ravel’s sprightly Piano Concerto in G major.
Dai Fujikura: Entwine
Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in G minor*
Gabriel Fauré: Requiem, Opus 48**
7/8: Blomstedt Conducts Schubert & Brahms
Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt leads two treasures of the German symphonic tradition, both indebted to earlier masters. Schubert spoke about the “haunting” influence of Mozart when he wrote his Fifth Symphony. Brahms worked on his First Symphony for more than 20 years, fretting obsessively about living up to Beethoven’s example.
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, D.485
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Opus 68
7/15: Esa-Pekka Salonen & Yuja Wang
Esa-Pekka Salonen takes the podium for Debussy’s Images, a work that outlines a vivid realm of ancient dances, sun-splashed Spanish ballads, and intoxicating orchestral colors. Yuja Wang brings her dramatic flair and interpretive finesse to two piano concertos: Maurice Ravel’s dark and intense Piano Concerto for the Left Hand and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s post-modern Piano Concerto No. 1.
Claude Debussy: Gigues from Images pour orchestre
Claude Debussy: Rondes de printemps from Images pour orchestre
Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in D major for the Left Hand*
Einojuhani
Rautavaara: Piano Concerto No. 1, Opus 45*
Claude Debussy: Ibéria from Images pour orchestre
7/22: Chan Conducts All-Tchaikovsky
Elim Chan leads selections from Tchaikovsky’s ethereal and primal fairy tale, Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, Pathétique, inhabits a mood of exquisite longing. He called it “the best thing I ever composed or shall compose.”
Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky: Selections from Swan Lake, Opus 20
Act II: No. 10 Scene Moderato
Act I: No. 2 Valse
Act II: No. 13 Danse des cygnes (IV) Allegro moderato – Pas d’action (V) Andante
Act IV: No. 29 Scène finale
Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Opus 74, Pathétique
7/29: Alsop Conducts Music of the Americas
Conductor Marin Alsop guides the SF Symphony through an exhilarating journey that spans the United States, Venezuela, and Mexico. Gabriela Ortiz’s playfully seductive Antrópolis sets the stage while the Venezuelan composer and pianist Gabriela Montero performs her Piano Concerto No. 1, Latin. Paired fanfares by Aaron Copland and Joan Tower join with Samuel Barber’s primal and propulsive Symphony No. 1.
Gabriela Ortiz: Antrópolis
Gabriela Montero: Latin Concerto
Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
Joan Tower: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, No. 1
Samuel Barber: Symphony No. 1, Opus 9