The San Francisco Symphony Returns

June 19, 2021

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In a world that has been plagued by great losses in the past 15 months, there may be some who do not complain about the long stifling of the performing arts. But for those crowds who find incalculable rewards in live performances, some of the recent emotions in the Golden State are almost inspiring.

At the beginning of this month, on June 6th, the Los Angeles Opera presented Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex” in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with an orchestra, choir and soloists of 99, almost half exposed, in front of 675 spectators in a moving and contemporary performance.

Now, in the north, the San Francisco Symphony has started the inauguration of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s music directorate, which had stalled until then. Mr Salonen’s tenure was due to begin last fall with a variety of imaginative programs and a much-touted partnership with eight cutting-edge cultural figures. But the pandemic thwarted these plans. Instead, recently based in Europe, Mr Salonen has unexpectedly returned to the US to oversee several programs throughout the summer that are neither part of the discarded 2020-21 season nor an early start to the soon-to-be-announced 2021 season. 22nd season.

The first bill, which belatedly marks the public debut of Mr Salonen as music director of this orchestra, came yesterday evening and will be repeated this evening. It represents something significantly more than just dipping a toe into familiar waters, but less than fully immersing it. The original program, which was later changed, included Bach, Bernstein, and the work of an aspiring British composer named Daniel Kidane. But as restrictions eased – masked music lovers occupied 946 of the 2,743 seats in the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall on Thursday – the orchestra welcomed more of its members back onstage, though it meant sacrificing some of the novelty of this original program. And so Bach (“Brandenburg” Concerto No. 3) and Bernstein (his underrated “Serenade”) made way for Richard Strauss and Brahms, although Mr. Kidane’s “Be Still” and the soloist of the program, the esteemed European-American violinist Augustin Hadelich stayed.

The play by Mr. Kidan, which received its American premiere, could hardly have been replaced because, as Mr. Salonen explained from the stage, “Be Still” was written in response to the pandemic, and its first performance took place in January via a live Stream held from Manchester, England. Almost entirely for strings, the work is meditative, but not sluggish. It tenses and relaxes repeatedly until a twisted version of its subject takes hold (perhaps a manifestation of our collective fear). A crescendo also destabilizes things. The coda begins when the first violinist performs a kind of duet with a nearby percussionist, who, with a bow against Crotales, evokes the faintest tinted tabulations until an abrupt silence ends the nine-minute work. It may sound like a joke to say that the music seemed to last longer on this occasion, but the observation is intended as a compliment.

This was preceded by Strauss’ Serenade in E flat major, Op. 7, for 13 wind instruments, including four of the French horns that this composer so revered. Such works of his youth – he was only 17 when he wrote them – are usually not worth rehearsing, but this work is an exception, a Mozart confection that mixes different timbres wonderfully. Mr Salonen led it with cool, elegant pull, the record was remarkable considering how long these players were absent from each other’s company.

Normally a break would have separated Brahms’ violin concerto from the rest of the program, but Covid-19 protocols still exist here. (The symphony rules also require masks for the strings and percussionists, but how long is unclear.) It gathered 55 members of the orchestra, the most allowed so far and closest to the pre-pandemic numbers.

The fact that the gifted Mr. Hadelich was the soloist only made the moment even more expensive. His assertive temperament matched his grand tone, yet he crafted his phrases carefully, even in an outwardly defiant performance like this. The closed and powerful sounding orchestra complemented him completely. And it was a pleasure to have the violinist perform his own dazzling cadences. The slow second movement was particularly touching, and the lively finale combined open optimism with an almost breathless quality. After a well-deserved, if predictable, standing ovation, Mr. Hadelich offered an unexpected solo encore, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Louisiana Blues Strut,” which he sent off with no less authority than he gave to the Brahms.

Mr Salonen will bring a similarly extensive program by Gabrieli, Strauss and Schumann to Davies on June 24th and 25th, if the audience restrictions are completely removed. He will continue this mode in July while dividing his concerts into indoor and outdoor locations. With September comes the new season and the likelihood of ever greater flexibility in programming. Progress has been slow and there have been setbacks, but the performing arts are steadily regaining lost ground here and elsewhere.

-Mr. Mermelstein writes for the journal for classical music and film.