No national anthem, no flashy gowns, no speeches or glamour and glitter — instead, the San Francisco Symphony kicked off its 101st season with a regular subscription concert on Wednesday. All the hoopla will have to wait until next week’s Opening Gala, for this evening was just about music. It made for an almost symbolic start to the new season: a sign that, after a successful but busy centennial year, everything is back to normal.
The real reason that the Gala is postponed is, of course, much more prosaic: Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas, who is entering his 18th season as S.F. Symphony’s music director, is currently on tour in Europe with the London Symphony Orchestra, of which he is principal guest conductor. This is actually the first time since his appointment in San Francisco that MTT did not open the season.
Still, Semyon Bychkov was an excellent substitute. He displays a musical rapport with the musicians that few conductors can match, and he brings out the very best in this orchestra. He has shown that many times before.
Bychkov displays a musical rapport with the musicians that few conductors can match.
Bychkov brought along his friend Pinchas Zukerman to play the solo in Max Bruch’s first violin concerto, and the rest of the program was of an equal vein: Wagner’s overture to Tannhäuser and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. These are both warhorses, according to some, though I wish there was a term or phrase with more positive connotations, one less vague than “traditional repertoire.” There is, of course, inherent value in hearing well-established masterpieces again and again. It’s even better if the performance is great, which is likely to happen when you put Bychkov at the helm of the S.F. Symphony.
Bychkov’s view of the Tannhäuser overture was appropriately dramatic and grand, without being grandiose, and light and playful in the midsection. In the final chords of the overture, the orchestra showed that it can actually sound like a majestic pipe organ.
Zukerman displayed a similar degree of intensity in his approach to Bruch’s first violin concerto. This may not have been his ultimate performance of this concerto (should that even exist), yet he was both brilliant and convincing, and the central Adagio was quite breathtaking.
If this concert was any indication, this will be another exceptional season for the San Francisco Symphony.
Unfortunately for Zukerman, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony suspended any memory of his playing, at least until after the concert’s conclusion. Bychkov’s reading of this masterpiece sounded fresh and energetic, unlike anything you would expect from a warhorse. The dramatic impulse of this symphony is unparalleled, especially in the second movement, and the composition as a whole is an ideal display case in which every section of the orchestra has a chance to shine. And that’s exactly what happened. If this concert was any indication, this will be another exceptional season for the San Francisco Symphony.