# Charles Dutoit conducting the San Francisco Symphony & Chorus at Davies Symphony Hall, May 29, 2014 [San Francisco Symphony](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2013-2014/Dutoit-conducts-Faure%e2%80%99s-Requiem.aspx) presents Charles Dutoit conducting Fauré’s Requiem 2014-05-29 [Davies Symphony Hall](http://www.sfsymphony.org) [201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=201+Van+Ness,+San+Francisco,+CA&hl=en) 8:00 PM, Thursday, May 29, 2014 [[2014-05-25-5|Back to the previous event]] ☸ [[:#section2014|Back to the 2014 yearbox]] ☸ [[:2014#may_events|Back to the 2014 event list!]] ☸ [[2014-05-30|On to the next event!]] ## Originally Advertised Program Poulenc: Litanies of the Black Virgin Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms Fauré: Requiem ## Set One [8:00 PM lights down, announcements] ### Poulenc: Gloria Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (1899-1963): _Gloria_ (1960) featuring Susanna Phillips [Program Notes](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/POULENC-Gloria.aspx) 01. [8:03 PM] Gloria in excelsis Deo (G major) 02. [8:05 PM] Laudamus te (C major) 03. [8:08 PM] Domine Deus, Rex caelestis (B minor) 04. [8:13 PM] Domine Fili unigenite (G major) 05. [8:14 PM] Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (B-flat minor) 06. [8:21 PM] Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (G major) [work ends ~8:28 PM] [8:30 PM, long pause to rearrange the stage a bit, waiting while they pull extra chairs off into the basement; 8:38 PM ready to go again] ### Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky (1882-1971): _Symphony of Psalms_ (1930) [Program Notes](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/STRAVINSKY-Symphony-of-Psalms.aspx) 01. [8:39 PM] Prelude 02. [8:42 PM] Double Fugue in C minor 03. [8:49 PM] Alleluia [set ends ~9:02 PM] ## Set Two [9:20 PM waiting as the orchestra files in to refill the stage] ### Fauré: Requiem Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845-1924): Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 (1900) featuring Susanna Phillips & Hanno Müller-Brachmann [Program Notes](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/FAURE-Requiem,-Opus-48.aspx) 01. [9:23 PM] Introït et Kyrie (D minor) 02. [9:31 PM] Offertoire (B minor) 03. [9:41 PM] Sanctus (E-flat major) 04. [9:44 PM] Pie Jesu (B-flat major) 05. [9:48 PM] Agnus Dei et Lux Aeterna (F major) 06. [9:55 PM] Libera Me (D minor) 07. [10:00 PM] In Paradisum (D major) [show ends 10:04 PM, applause until ~10:06 PM] ## Performers ### San Francisco Symphony [San Francisco Symphony](http://www.sfsymphony.org) * Jonathan Dimmock: organ; * Charles Dutoit: conductor; * [Hanno Müller-Brachmann](http://www.mueller-brachmann.com/en/): bass-baritone vox; * [Susanna Phillips](http://www.susannaphillips.com/): soprano vox; * symphony members vary by program, see [[http://www.sfsymphony.org/About-Us/Musicians-Conductors|the current list]]. ### San Francisco Symphony Chorus [San Francisco Symphony Chorus](http://www.sfsymphony.org/About-Us/Musicians-Conductors/SFS-Chorus) * Ragnar Bolin: director; * [performers vary by program](http://www.sfsymphony.org/About-Us/Musicians-Conductors/SFS-Chorus/Chorus-Roster) ## Notes The first piece tonight was rather interesting -- quite French to my ears, in terms of the lush tonality and stretched out vowels. Interesting, if not something I need to hear again soon. The soloist, soprano Susanna Phillips, made an excellent impression on me; I really enjoyed her part in the spotlight. Ooh, and now I am distracted to see not one, but two grand pianos have been lifted onto stage for the next work. And the violin section is empty! Time for a second look at those program notes! Turns out that Stravinsky's strange concepts about sonority explained the mysterious stage configuration. But of course! So as an intellectual exercise in auditory possibilities, the _Symphony of Psalms_ was pretty darn cool. Lots of strange tone colors and interesting writing for the bassoons. Chorally, I found the piece to be a bit less exciting, mostly because of the smeary, indistinct enunciation of the chorus, which made it darn near impossible to follow the text. I was also a bit disappointed that the Alleluia section was mostly quite sedate -- I expected something more spirited nor the expressions of praise. Might be interesting to hear that one again, if only to become better acquainted with the full range of Stravinsky's compositional oeuvre. The Fauré work that closed the evening was another I'll stuff into the "interesting for one listen" group -- although I enjoyed it, it didn't really grab my attention enough to register as a work I'd like to hear again soon. Perhaps being relatively calm and meditative is a bad thing in that respect? I really enjoyed the contributions from Jonathan Dimmock on the organ -- perhaps this is due to Fauré's background as an organist? -- and I was surprised that Susanna Phillips part consisted of hardly more than a few lines of the fourth movement, _Pie Jesu_. Not that I'm complaining, as I thought she delivered them quite well, but it seemed odd to me that she spent way more time as stage decoration than anything else. Hanno Müller-Brachmann got a much more generous solo in the sixth movement, _Libera Me_, and while I'm not usually all that enthusiastic about classical male vocals, I liked his segment enough that I'll be on the lookout for his work in the future! Lisa Houston wrote a very nice [promo/biography article](http://www.sfcv.org/events-calendar/artist-spotlight/oh-susanna-met-star-comes-to-davies-hall) about Susanna Phillips for SFCV. Stephen Smoliar seemed to run hot and cold on the event in writing his [review](http://www.examiner.com/article/charles-dutoit-brings-a-stunningly-nuanced-reading-of-faur-to-davies) for the Examiner. {{tag>music San_Francisco_Symphony Charles_Dutoit San_Francisco_Symphony_Chorus Davies_Symphony_Hall Ragnar_Bolin Hanno_Müller-Brachmann Susanna_Phillips}} [[2014-05-25-5|Back to the previous event]] ☸ [[:#section2014|Back to the 2014 yearbox]] ☸ [[:2014#may_events|Back to the 2014 event list!]] ☸ [[2014-05-30|On to the next event!]]