Music I'm Listening to: Two San Francisco Symphony Concerts (February-March 2017)

It's been a busy month. I've had little time to write. It's been more than two weeks now since I attended the February 24th performance at Davies Symphony Hall. Michael Tilson Thomas conducted Scheherazade.2 by John Adams and selections from Romeo and Juliet, by Prokofiev. The former, written for Leila Josefowicz (the soloist during the February performances) is not quite a violin concerto. I think Adams described it as a "dramatic symphony." Adams appeared on stage before the music began to discuss the piece, summarizing what was in the program notes. Adams conceived of the violin part as expressing Scheherazade, but Scheherezade as a strong, modern woman, and I can think of no violinist active today better to play it than Josefowicz, who is muscular in her playing but beautifully nuanced at the same time. I've seen her play three times now. I've been impressed each time. Scheherazade.2 is a complex piece, hard to take in on a single hearing, but I enjoyed it and enjoyed seeing Josefowicz wrestle with it. The performance brought the entire hall to its feet. Conductor Thomas and Josefowicz were eager to acknowledge Adams afterward, pointing to him in the balcony seats and insisting that he stand and be recognized.

The Prokofiev was familiar music from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, but it's a piece I'd never heard live before, and its always fun to hear a familiar piece live for the first time. It makes you acutely aware of who in the orchestra is doing what when. I was pleased my favorite part of the ballet, the section knows as "Dance of the Knights" was one of the selections—but, of course, it would be.

On the evening of March 10, I was back at Davies Symphony Hall for a concert featuring another fine violinist, this time Arabella Steinbacher. Marek Janowski was the guest conductor. The program included Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and the Brahms Symphony No. 4. Steinbacher was soloist in a performance of the Hindemith Violin Concerto, an unfamiliar piece that she handled with aplomb.

Steinbacher never lacks the ability to play lyrically when that is called for, but she excels at precise, staccato, modern music like the Hindemith, and her violin, which is rather gritty in the low register, suited the music. Janowski and the Symphony gave us a fine performance of the Brahms as well, receiving an extended standing ovation at its conclusion, with the symphony players at one point refusing to stand so that Janowski could be recognized alone. He looks a trifle frail, but he gets the job done. On the occasions I've seen him work, I've always had the impression that he's particularly good at communicating with the San Francisco performers and that they respond to him deeply, in a way that they don't with some other conductors.

Photographs of John Adams and Arabella Steinbacher courtesy of The San Francisco Symphony. Photo of Steinbacher by Jiri Hronik. Photograph of pointing Josefowicz by the author.

Music I'm Listening To: San Francisco Symphony with Arabella Steinbacher and Alban Gerhardt, Marek Janowski Conducting

I attended the May 17 (Friday) performance of the San Francisco Symphony led by guest conductor Marek Janowski. On the program were Schumann's Manfred Overture, the Brahms Double Concerto in A Minor (for violin and cello), and Schumann's Symphony No. 3 ("The Rhenish").

This is the third time I've heard Steinbacher live in San Francisco, having heard her perform Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4 with Herbert Blomstedt wielding the baton, in March 2011, and playing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with Charles Dutoit conducting, in March 2012. When I first heard her, I was impressed, but felt the Mozart didn't show off her talents or the characteristics of her violin well. Her recording of the two Bartok violin concertos with Marek Janowski conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Pentatone Classics, PTC 5186 350) is what really got me excited about her. It's become among my favorite recordings of those pieces.

The Brahms Double Concerto is a meaty piece of music with a lot going on. It's almost  tiring to watch, but Steinbacher and cellist Alban Gerhardt were electrifying. They played as if they've been playing together for years--although that's not the case (at the CD signing after the concert, I asked them: Gerhardt told me they had played together only once before this series of concerts, and that that was 14 years ago). It didn't show. The back and forth between the violin and the cello seemed perfectly timed. It would have been hard to ask for more. Their instruments seemed particularly nicely matched as well. I've remarked on the gritty, throaty sound of Steinbacher's violin when I've written about her before. Gerhardt's cello has a similar earthy grittiness to it. The pairing worked wonderfully. Gerhardt plays a cello made by Matteo Goffriller (1659-1742), a Venetian luthier active between 1685 and 1735. Goffriller is noted especially for his cellos. I certainly liked the sound of this one and Gerhardt played it with breathtaking precision but also with enormous enthusiasm and verve. Both Steinbacher and Gerhardt appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely as they played. Conductor Janowski succeeded in drawing the best out of everyone. Steinbacher wore a particularly beautiful dress in burnt sienna and gold, colors that seemed calculated to complement the colors of her violin and Gerhardt's cello.

Photo of Arabella Steinbacher by Robert Vano, courtesy of www.arabella-steinbacher.com. Photo of Alban Gerhadt courtesy of www. albangerhardt.com.