After a three-month hiatus from the San Francisco Symphony, Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas returned for an entertaining and informative interview with The New York Times in SoundBox at Davies Symphony Hall. For the last two weeks he has been back on the podium at DSH leading typically thrilling performances of musical programs that will be repeated during the orchestra's East Coast tour beginning this week. The opening concert at Carnegie Hall, on Wed., April 13, is a slightly disjointed split between several obscure but seminal works by Aaron Copland and Robert Schumann's darkly magnificent Symphony No. 2.
Before launching into Copland's spiky Orchestral Variations recently, MTT cautioned us to fasten our seatbelts. For listeners accustomed to the composer's more accessible "prairie" style of Americana, it was good advice, but game SFS audiences can roll with the punches, and after a suitably moody quarter-hour spent with the serial work Inscape, everyone was primed for the appearance of Israeli soloist Inon Barnatan and the knuckle-busting Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.
Barnatan ripped through the bracingly jazzy Concerto with precision and style. The influence Copland would have on a generation of composers, notably Leonard Bernstein, was clearly displayed in the energetic synergy between soloist and conductor.
The Schumann Second was being recorded for the SFS Media label as part of the much-anticipated complete set of symphonies, and it didn't disappoint. MTT is showing a wonderful feeling for these much-loved but often misunderstood masterpieces. Taking a characteristically lean and more transparent approach to Schumann is the hallmark of MTT's approach, and his willingness to linger during expressive moments adds insightful personality. The slow third movement was deeply satisfying.
Last week MTT and his loyal band quietly tore the house down with stunning performances of Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth ). I pray that by the time New Yorkers hear it at Carnegie, the orchestra and soloists are still capable of maintaining their intensity. The concert began with a very slow and shadowy rendition of Schubert's Symphony in B minor, Unfinished, that set the mood for a reflective and emotionally draining experience.
MTT's understanding of Mahler is still expanding, years after the completion of the remarkable recordings with the SFS. Originally, Das Lied was set to disc with male soloists Thomas Hampson, baritone, and Stuart Skelton, tenor. This time the tenor was New Zealander Simon O'Neill making an overdue SFS debut. His stentorian sound has made his international reputation, and his stated fondness for the style of an earlier generation of singers, most notably the great Jussi Bjorling, has created a lot of buzz locally.
Unfortunately, I find more power than beauty in O'Neill's instrument, and his voice has a slightly dangerous quality that seems to threaten to go off the rails when it is pressed. His best moments came during lighter moments, and there is no denying that he has the kind of pipes that cut through a big orchestra. He can thrill without engaging us much, but in the context of MTT's actual interpretation of the demanding score, his performance proved satisfying.
The real depths of Mahler's feelings were left to explore by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke in a rendition that left the audience numb with emotion. A favorite of local audiences and MTT, Cooke continues her remarkable ascendance with a voice that seems more beautiful with each new hearing. The closing Der Abschied (The Farewell), as long as all of the other songs combined, was both an exercise in musical purity and a sublime meditation. Cooke's perfectly focused tone was meltingly lovely, and her intense involvement softly shattering.
Too bad the orchestra can't release this latest version as an addendum to the complete SFS Media set, but KDFC is rebroadcasting the concert soon, and listeners can at least hear the awesome performance. Lucky East Coasters will also see the moving visual side of the event.
Before MTT returns from the tour, dynamic Pablo Heras-Casado keeps the orchestra busy with some exciting bills that end the month of April with a premiere work by popular Mason Bates and a personal favorite, the Shostakovich Symphony No. 9.