Music I'm Listening to: San Francisco Symphony

Going into the city tonight to hear the San Francisco Symphony. We'll be hearing music from L'Arlisienne by Bizet, Poulenc's Organ Concerto, and The Lark Ascending and Symphony No. 4, by Vaughan Williams, an interesting and unusual program. I know the organ concerto from a recording I've had for years. It should be fun to see/hear it performed.

[Update: After the concert]

I really enjoyed watching guest conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier. Very dynamic--actually jumping up into the air once or twice. I don't know if it was him or the orchestra was just having a particularly good night, but the players were in top form. There was a particular crispness and tightness to the playing tonight. The only exception was the very first of the Bizet pieces, which felt a trifle loose, but it was an excellent concert overall. It was a lot of fun. I recognized the conductor's name immediately, and, as I suspected, he's the son of the famous French cellist Paul Tortelier, whom I know from recordings. 

The organist for the Poulenc was wonderful--and, again, a lot of fun to watch. Playing with his back to the audience, it was easy to see every move of his feet on the pedals, to see his hands moving over the multiple keyboards, and to watch him pulling and pushing the stops. I have always liked the piece, although it's a rather obscure one. I should dig out my recording of it and listen to it again. It was a lot of fun to hear live. The soloist, Paul Jacobs, was impressive.

Nadya Tichman was the soloist in The Lark Ascending, which was well played, I thought. 

The (rather long) program ended with the Vaughn Williams Symphony No. 4. I noticed Joseph Edelberg, concertmaster of the Santa Rosa Symphony, among the violins in the last piece--which employs a huge orchestra including no less than five French horns. I was interested to see that the Poulenc piece is scored for strings only, aside from the organ and a single tympanist. Funny that I had never noticed that in listening to the piece. There are no woodwinds or brass in it at all.

Dinner at Absinthe afterwards. After the concerts, we always seem to end up there. I guess it's because they serve late and usually have room. I like the food generally, the wine list is not bad, and the service is generally attentive, but it can be VERY loud. Had a really good beet soup and oysters with a glass of Vermentino di Gallura--a nice dry white from Sardinia (Gallura, in the north of Sardinia, to be specific).

Photo courtesy of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.