San Francisco Symphony presents Koopman’s Bach: Bach in Leipzig featuring Ton Koopman conducting the San Francisco Symphony
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
8:00 PM, Thursday, May 8, 2014

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[8:01 PM lights down, pre-performance announcements]

J.S. Bach (1685-1750): Cantata, Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten, BWV 207a (1735)

1. [8:02 PM] March
2. [8:05 PM] Chorus: Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten
3. [8:09 PM] Recitative (tenor): Die stille Pleiße spielt
4. [8:11 PM] Aria (tenor): Augustus' Namenstages Schimmer
5. [8:15 PM] Duet recitative (soprano and bass): Augustus' Wohl
6. [8:17 PM] Duet aria (soprano and bass) and ritornello: Mich kann die süße Ruhe laben
7. [8:22 PM] Recitative (alto): Augustus schützt die frohen Felder
8. [8:24 PM] Aria (alto): Preiset, späte Folgezeiten
9. [8:27 PM] Recitative (SATB): Ihr Fröhlichen, herbei
10. [8:29 PM] Chorus: August lebe
11. [8:32 PM] March
    [set ends 8:36 PM after a few minutes of applause]

[8:55 PM lights down, announcements]

J.S. Bach (1685-1750): Missa brevis (Kyrie and Gloria from Mass in B minor), BWV 232a (1733)

1. [8:57 PM] Kyrie elison
2. [9:06 PM] Christe elison
3. [9:12 PM] Kyrie elison

1. [9:16 PM] Gloria in excelsis - et in terra pax
2. [9:23 PM] Laudamus te
3. [9:27 PM] Gratias agimus tibi
4. [9:30 PM] Domine Deus - Qui tollis peccata mundi
5. [9:39 PM] Qui sedes ad dextram Patris
6. [9:43 PM] Quoniam tu solus sanctus - Cum Sancto Spiritu
   [show ends 9:54 PM, no encore]

San Francisco Symphony

• Ton Koopman: guest conductor;
• Bogna Bartosz: mezzo-soprano vox;
• Jonathan Dimmock: harpsichord;
• Tilman Lichdi: tenor vox;
• Klaus Mertens: bass vox;
• Teresa Wakim: soprano vox;
• Raushan Akhmedyarova: second violin;
• Jeffrey Anderson: principal tuba;
• Barbara Andres: cello;
• Lee Ann Crocker: contrabass;
• Luis Baez: associate principal clarinet, E-flat clarinet;
• Alexander Barantschik: concertmaster, first violin;
• Carey Bell: principal clarinet;
• Jeff Biancalana: trumpet;
• Barbara Bogatin: cello;
• Paul Brancato: acting associate principal second violin;
• Steven Braunstein: bassoon, contrabassoon;
• Dan Carlson: acting principal second violin;
• Nicole Cash: associate principal horn;
• Charles Chandler: contrabass;
• David Chernyavsky: second violin;
• John Chisholm: acting assistant principal second violin;
• Yun Chu: first violin;
• Jeremy Constant: assistant concertmaster, first violin;
• Tim Day: principal flute;
• Russ deLuna: oboe, English horn;
• Steven Dibner: associate principal bassoon;
• Cathryn Dovvn: second violin;
• Nancy Ellis: viola;
• Justin Emericht: acting associate principal trumpet;
• John Engelkes: trombone, bass trombone;
• Larry Epstein: associate principal contrabass;
• Gina Feinauer: viola;
• Jonathan Fischer: acting principal oboe;
• Raymond Froehlich: percussion;
• Christopher Gaudit: acting associate principal oboe;
• David Gaudry: viola;
• Chris Gilbert: contrabass;
• Sebastien Gingras: cello;
• David Goldblatt: cello;
• Darlene Gray: second violin;
• Sharon Grebanier: first violin;
• Michael Grebanier: principal cello;
• Tom Hemphill: percussion;
• Timothy Higgins: principal trombone;
• Amy Hiraga: second violin;
• Naomi Kazama Hull: first violin;
• Mark Inouye: principal trumpet;
• In Sun Jang: first violin;
• Katie Kadarauch: assistant principal viola;
• Kum Mo Kim: second violin;
• David Kim: viola;
• Christina King: viola;
• Melissa Kleinbart: first violin;
• Sarah Knutson: second violin;
• Yukiko Kurakata: first violin;
• Kelly Leon-Pearce: second violin;
• Suzanne Leon: first violin;
• Yun Jie Liu: associate principal viola;
• Linda Lukas: flute;
• Leor Maltinski: first violin;
• Brian Marcus: contrabass;
• Carolyn McIntosh: cello;
• Robin McKee: associate principal flute;
• Chunming Mo: second violin;
• David Neuman: clarinet;
• Diane Nicholeris: first violin;
• Jacob Nissly: principal percussion;
• Sam Oliver: first violin;
• Alex Orfalyt: acting principal timpani;
• Florin Parvulescu: first violin;
• Stephen Paulson: principal bassoon;
• Catherine Payne: flute, piccolo;
• Guy Piddington: trumpet;
• Scott Pingel: principal contrabass;
• Anne Pinsker: cello;
• Jill Rachuy Brindei: cello;
• Jonathan Ring: horn;
• Douglas Rioth: principal harp;
• William Ritchen: contrabass;
• Bruce Roberts: assistant principal horn;
• Wayne Roden: viola;
• Victor Romasevich: first violin;
• John Schoening: viola;
• Polina Sedukh: second violin;
• Nanci Severance: viola;
• Jerome Simas: clarinet, bass clarinet;
• Mariko Smiley: first violin;
• Dan Nobuhiko Smiley: second violin;
• Pamela Smith: oboe;
• Adam Smyla: viola;
• Robin Sutherland: keyboards;
• Margaret Tait: cello;
• Nadya Tichman: associate concertmaster, first violin;
• Stephen Tramontozzi: assistant principal contrabass;
• Jessica Valeri: horn;
• Catherine Van Hoesen: first violin;
• Jonathan Vinocour: principal viola;
• Mark Volkert: assistant concertmaster, first violin;
• Robert Ward: principal horn;
• Rob Weir: bassoon;
• Paul Welcomer: trombone;
• S. Mark Wright: contrabass;
• James Lee Wyatt III: percussion;
• Peter Wyrick: associate principal cello;
• Amos Yang: assistant principal cello;
• Matthew Young: viola;
• Chen Zhao: second violin;

San Francisco Symphony Chorus

• Ragnar Bolin: director;
• Terry Alvord: alto vox;
• Paul Angelo: tenor vox;
• AnnMarie D. Baines: alto vox;
• Elizabeth Blodgett: soprano vox;
• Todd Bradley: tenor vox;
• Seth Brenzel: tenor vox;
• Melissa Butcher: alto vox;
• Wendy Buzby: alto vox;
• Brianne Cardona: soprano vox;
• Karen Carle: alto vox;
• Adam Cole: bass vox;
• Matthew Curtis: tenor vox;
• Melodi Dalton: soprano vox;
• Thomas Ellison: tenor vox;
• Elliott James Encarnación: tenor vox;
• Ruth Escher: alto vox;
• Rory Everitt: bass vox;
• Corty Fengler: alto vox;
• Jeffrey Fields: bass vox;
• Chrix Finne: bass vox;
• Julia Fischer: soprano vox;
• Kevin Gibbs: tenor vox;
• Coco Harris: soprano vox;
• Bradley Irving: bass vox;
• Maria Janus: soprano vox;
• Jimmy Kansau: tenor vox;
• Catherine D. Lewis: alto vox;
• Katherine M. Lilly: alto vox;
• Peg Lisi: alto vox;
• Peter Dennis Mautner: bass vox;
• David Meissner: tenor vox;
• Gail Nakano: alto vox;
• Anthony Pasqua: bass vox;
• Matthew Peterson: bass vox;
• James C. Pintner: tenor vox;
• Danielle Reutter—Harrah: alto vox;
• Meredith Riekse: alto vox;
• Daniel Rogers: tenor vox;
• Steven Rogino: bass vox;
• Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist: soprano vox;
• Pamela Sebastian: soprano vox;
• Alexandra Sessler: soprano vox;
• Chung-Wai Soong: bass vox;
• Storm Staley: bass vox;
• Joshua Stoddard: tenor vox;
• Joanna Taber: soprano vox;
• Tetsuya Taura: tenor vox;
• Michael Taylor: bass vox;
• Merilyn Telle Vaughn: alto vox;
• Dianne M. Terp: alto vox;
• Makiko Ueda: alto vox;
• Juliana Urban: soprano vox;
• David Varnum: bass vox;
• John A. Vlahides: tenor vox;
• Cindy Wyvill: soprano vox;
• David J. Xiques: tenor vox;
• Datevig Yaralian: soprano vox;
• Shawn Ying: bass vox.

The show starts off in novel fashion when the symphony launches into a march immediately after the collective tuning, after a few moments, the chorus enters by procession split between the two center aisles, followed at end by the four soloists and Ton Koopman, who lept up to his podium and began gesturing wildly to assert his conductorship midway through the first movement. The rest of the cantata unfolded without further surprises, and while it was quite satisfying to me, the rest of the audience seemed caught by surprise at the conclusion, with the silent gap before the ovation growing almost uncomfortably long. Hard to imagine that they were snoozing given the impressively loud and pompous flourishes of the final chorus. Very strange!

Anyways, I took set break as an opportunity to skip over to a open seat in the center of the sixth row. Hooray! Nicer to be a little bit further back and even more, not having to sit crooked to see all the action! And the second set mass is a fine one, even if it's a bit incomplete (having only the start: Kyrie & Gloria – and lacking the Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei of a regular “ordinary” mass). I especially enjoy the chamber sections when the soloist is accompanied by only a pair of instruments – all the better to expose the raw beauty of Bach's compositional ideas. A big plus of the abbreviation of the mass is that it trims the work down to a more listener-friendly length: an hour is good and generous, but not so long that it becomes a chore to attend to the listening task!

Stephen Smoliar posted his review of the show at the Examiner website.

Back to the previous event ☸ Back to the 2014 yearbox ☸ Back to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!