San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, June 18, 2017

San Francisco Symphony with guest conductor Vasily Petrenko presents Joshua Bell
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
2:00 PM, Sunday, June 18, 2017

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• Glinka: Capriccio brillante on the Jota Aragonesa
• Lalo: Symphonie espagnole
• Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1

[2:00 PM lights down, announcements, band out]

1. [2:02 PM] Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857): Capriccio brillante on the Jota Aragonesa (1845/49; SFS premiere)
   [work ends 2:11 PM; pause to reset the stage for the next piece; 2:15 PM tuning]

Édouard Lalo (1823-1892): Symphonie espagnole for Violin and Orchestra (1874)

1. [2:16 PM] Allegro non troppo
2. [2:24 PM] Scherzando. Allegro molto
3. [2:29 PM] Intermezzo. Allegro non troppo
4. [2:36 PM] Andante
5. [2:43 PM] Rondo
   [set ends 2:50 PM; applause and bows, then all off after a minute or so]

[3:12 PM lights down, tuning]

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1 in D Minor (1897; SFS premiere)

1. [3:13 PM] Grave. Allegro ma non troppo
2. [3:27 PM] Allegro animato
3. [3:36 PM] Allegro con fuoco
4. [3:48 PM] Allegro con fuoco
   [set ends 4:01 PM; applause and bows, all off by 4:04 PM]

San Francisco Symphony

• Michael Tilson Thomas: music director;
• symphony members vary by program; see the current list.

• Joshua Bell: violin;
• Vasily Petrenko: conductor.

Setting the tone this afternoon was Glinka's fabulous mood piece, Capriccio brillante, and the symphony pulled it off with flair and élan. It was surprising to me to read that this was an SFS premiere. Next up was Lalo's masterful violin concerto, Symphonie espagnole. Joshua Bell made it look easy, playing from memory and tossing off grace notes and other syncopated flourishes as if to emphasize his exuberant joy at playing, but it was obviously tough work, and he paused to wipe the sweat from his brow at each break.

It was kind of stuffy in the hall today, so we headed outside at break, but as it was even hotter out there on the front deck along Van Ness, we turned heels and headed back to the air conditioned comfort of the lobby. I thought it was strange that the air was cooler in the lobby than the main hall: maybe that choice was made in order to keep the instruments at a more constant temperature?

Given the tangled history of the Rachmaninoff symphony, it was less surprising to find that this also was an SFS premiere; I don't recall having heard it previously, either live or from a recording. And Petrenko pushed the symphony to deliver that emphatic Russian oomph with drama and zing: it was fun watching him lead the show. Great fun!

David Bratman posted a review of the Thursday performance with SFCV.

James MacBean posted a rather dry review with the Berkeley Daily Planet.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!