On one point rather sore, / But, on the whole, delighted!

The San Francisco Symphony announced its upcoming season today, and kindly invited me along, thanks to the far-reaching influence and benevolent intervention of sfmike.* Luckily for concert-goers, though perhaps not for readers looking for fireworks (disappointment brings out the best in me), I thought the season looked extremely promising, despite one glaring omission, which would be the failure to mark the centennials of Olivier Messiaen and, especially, since he is American and still living, Elliott Carter.

There was a question session, but I didn’t bother asking about their absence; Michael Tilson Thomas had said earlier, in discussing Mendelssohn, who apparently is having one, that he didn’t really pay attention to anniversary years, and even I can’t really imagine that the marketing department is going to urge him to go all out for Carter and Messiaen. And clearly he just doesn’t have much affinity with those composers; otherwise they’d be showing up more often on the schedule, saleable anniversaries or not. Maybe Levine in Boston will come up with something and I’ll be able to afford a trip by then (oh, it’s springish today, which means I can barely breathe due to allergies, so I feel entitled to some traditional seasonal optimism).

Also, as is often the case, the questions that were asked just seemed kind of silly to me – I figure if I could have answered them for MTT, there’s no point in taking up everyone’s time. For instance, someone asked why Sofia Gubaidulina had been chosen as the first Phyllis C. Wattis Composer-in-Residence (big excitement about this from me, by the way). Tilson Thomas, who had been smooth, low-key, and charmingly amusing for a whole hour, and though he must be practiced at that it seems like a lot to ask of anyone, seemed slightly flummoxed and eventually said something along the lines of “it was a good place to start.” I could have come in off the street and answered the question: Because we can; because she could; why the hell not? I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that there are a lot of Russian immigrants in this area, and also an interest in women composers. So why ask why there wasn’t a token performance just because of a birthday?

In fact the Symphony seemed to be trying for a more in-depth approach, which is preferable anyway. Not only is there the new Composer-in-Residence program, but Lang Lang will be here for a week of activities, there will be a series of events celebrating the Ruffatti Organ’s 25th anniversary (and there's a concert for a Handel anniversary; hmmm, maybe that “we don’t pay attention to anniversaries” remark was a more calculated evasion than was apparent) including both a new work by Gubaidulina and a Halloween showing of the Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera (though am I the only one for whom organ music automatically conjures up silent movies? maybe this connection shouldn’t be emphasized), and a Schubert/Berg Festival at the end of the season. That’s an exciting pairing. Tilson Thomas said he felt there was an “achey lyrical connection” between the two. He spoke at length, quite movingly, about the Schubert Mass No. 6 in E-flat Major, D950, especially the Et incarnatus est, which he described as a combination of complex choral writing against a simple, compelling melody, “almost country western . . . it would be perfect for Elvis to sing in Heaven, and I say that with the greatest respect.”

Mason Bates, a young composer now living in this area, spoke about his upcoming commission, The B-Sides. For once I actually got something out of hearing an artist describing his work; it gets played up that Bates works as a DJ, as if some club-hip cool is going to rub off on Davies Hall, but I’ve never found electronic music (or club-hip cool, for that matter) very interesting (technology is seductive, but new systems can easily substitute themselves for new thoughts). But he was quite thoughtful and interesting, discussing how he might do something “that didn’t involve lots of cables”, while incorporating the elements and effects of electronic music that he liked. I did want to hear the piece after hearing him. Both he and Tilson Thomas made some interesting points about the cost and elaborate preparations involved in cable-based music, and how quickly the technology of these pieces gets outmoded, rendering them unplayable. You don’t have that problem with pianos, just as an electronic “book” will be outmoded soon, but a regular printed book can be read centuries later. I’m just saying. . . .

Everyone will have different works or soloists that look appealing, and I can’t say I’ve fully absorbed the whole season schedule, what with having to go right back to work and take plentiful allergy medications, but offhand I can think of quite a lot I want to hear. Maybe this time I will actually be able to get a ticket to the Mahler 8 (and if I can't they promise to record it this time); and there are a couple of pieces by Ligeti, including the Requiem, SF premieres by Schmidt and Szymanowski, and works by Ades, Higdon, and Knussen. Kristian Zimerman is playing the Lutoslawski Piano Concerto and Martha Argerich is playing the Ravel. Hilary Hahn is playing the Tchaikovsky violin concerto and Joshua Bell is playing Ravel and Saint-Saens. And I’m pretty thrilled to see the Beethoven 9 on the schedule, which I really haven’t heard live all that often, and Anne-Sophie Mutter is playing not only the US premiere of Gubaidulina’s Violin Concerto No. 2, but also the Mendelssohn. Apparently the Stradivarius played by the SF Concertmaster is the one on which the concerto was first performed; Tilson Thomas implied Mutter might use it (“grab it from the concertmaster” is closer to what he said, actually) for the performance.

And I’m already really excited about the season end, which is the SF Symphony premiere of Iolanthe. Oddly enough, about a week ago I suddenly had the urge to listen to Iolanthe over and over, and I was wondering if the Lamplighters were going to be putting it on anytime soon, or if there was a decent DVD available. And now here it is (well, in a year and half), semi-staged! It’s almost as if Tilson Thomas and I are psychically connected, except that, you know, we’re not. Now all I need to do is hope that they don’t body-mike the (TBA) cast, as they sometimes do for musicals in Davies. I think Gilbert and Sullivan are actually pretty difficult to perform well – there’s always the temptation to emphasize the archness, which makes it awful, instead of playing it straight, and there are scenes of genuinely moving dramatic power in many of their works.

*Update: Click here for Mike's excellent round-up of the press conference, with nice photographs and several anecdotes I omitted.