Preparing for the fall symphony season, I have my favorites — some to be named in another article next week — but for now, I wanted to find out what one of the San Francisco Symphony administrators thinks, expecting insight and a bit of understandable boosterism.
Richard Lonsdorf is associate director of artistic planning, responsible for programming along with Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, Executive Director Brent Assink, and former Director of Artistic Planning Nicholas Winter.
Lonsdorf's first pick is the Sept. 30-Oct. 3 concert series, with MTT conducting Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony (Pathétique) and Barber's Knoxville, sung by soprano Susanna Phillips. But Lonsdorf singles out the concert-opening work, Ted Hearne's Dispatches:
It’s always exciting to talk about commissioned works because it’s a chance for us to share something that the local audience has not heard before. Ted Hearne is our most recent New Voices composer, and his work Law of Mosaics for String Orchestra was a great success at last season’s final SoundBox performances.
I am looking forward to hearing what he will bring to the table with Dispatches, which Ted says was influenced in part by the music of Stevie Wonder.
I wholeheartedly agree with Lonsdorf's enthusiasm about the return of Susanna Mälkki to Davies Hall for two weeks of concerts:
This is a conductor we have started to do great work with in the past few seasons, and it’s so exciting to see her relationship with the Orchestra develop. She is bringing two great programs: the first one allows Mälkki to show off the full range of orchestral color with Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, with Christian Tetzlaff (!).
In the second week, we get a chance to hear her personal “taste of Finland” both with Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5, and also with a wonderful Yukka Tiensuu piece, Soma. There is such an active musical community in Finland, which she knows so well; this piece serves as a great “calling card.”
András Schiff has long been welcomed to sold-out performances in Davies Hall as a great pianist, but this fall, there will be an "András Schiff Week," beginning with his varied recital on Oct. 4 of Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert, and going on to a fascinating series conducted by Schiff. Londsdorf says:
Personally, I’m very excited about this because not only are we getting a great orchestral performance that includes Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass — gorgeous and charming music - but the night then transitions into an evening of Schubert Lieder, with Schiff at the piano, and the vocal soloists each performing individual selections, along with members of our chorus. I think it’s a very creative programming choice on Schiff’s part, and a real treat for the audience because they are essentially getting a bonus recital as part of an orchestral evening.
Among the Symphony's special events — family, youth, holiday, etc. concerts — Lonsdorf singles out:
The Día de los Muertos community concert, which is going to be wonderful. We are taking it up a notch with two performances this year, because it has turned into such a popular tradition with our audience.
The multi-Grammy-award winning singer Lila Downs will be making her symphonic debut with us, which is so thrilling. Her new album, Balas y Chocolate, has a strong Day of the Dead theme, and these performances serve as the finale for her U.S. tour. She is such a phenomenal singer and compelling performer that this collaboration will be a treat not only for her many fans but also those who don’t yet know her music.
The list of season highlights continues unabated, but it's time to bring this report to a close.