San Francisco Symphony
Friday, April 27th, 2001
Davies Symphony Hall
San Francisco, CA
  
All Photos © 2001 Randy Vogel
 
 

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 Keyhole Composition #1
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 Randy & Mom
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 A Full Stage for Lizst
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 A Closer Look at the Rolls
 

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Tonight's programme at the symphony exemplified the eclectic mix often scheduled by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

The show opened with Gyorgy Ligeti's Atmospheres, a dreamy, soothing work that drifts along like clouds in a bright blue sky, devoid for the most part of anything resembling melody. Mom didn't much care for it, "sounds like they were tuning up for the past ten minutes" was her summary, but I liked it.

Next up was another relatively modern work, Bela Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. I thought the performance was quite gripping, but again, mom thought otherwise.

The second half of the program consisted of pieces aimed at satisfying the more traditionally-minded listeners. First was Chopin's Second Piano Concerto, featuring Jean-Yves Thibaudet in the lead role, and next was Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2. As might be expected, the audience greeted both of these more familiar works with great enthusiasm.

You can read what the S.F.Chronicle's Joshua Kosman had to say about the previous night's performance of the same program in his review:
Magnificent Bartok enthralls audience / Chopin outshined at the Symphony.