Beethoven's Missa Solemnis ends the regular season at the San Francisco Symphony. This late-period score, as inspired as the Ninth Symphony (and separated from it by just one opus number), is not just the summation of a Viennese Mass tradition. Beethoven went way beyond that, creating a kind of oratorio-symphony that has time to deal with both nonliturgical musical styles and many older musical liturgical traditions. There are quotes from Handel's Messiah (in the Gloria and Agnus Dei), a nod to Palestrina (in the Et incarnatus est), fragments of Gregorian chant, and, of course, references to J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach.
With their Mahler recordings in the rear-view mirror, Music Director Michael Tilson-Thomas has said he'd like to deepen the orchestra's connection to Beethoven. The Mass' titanic struggle with religious belief (ultimately confirmatory, but never easy), seems like the obvious bridge between the two projects, one that plays again to MTT's Mahlerian strengths — the ability to spot a telling detail and make it heard, without losing his grip on the work's continuity. With soloists like soprano Christine Brewer, mezzo soprano Katerina Karnéus, tenor Gregory Kunde, and bass Ain Anger, along with the full Symphony Chorus, the performance should rise to Beethoven's epic challenge.