A week after being appointed the next Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong-born Elim Chan – who made a highly praised New York Philharmonic debut in March, 2024 – returned to Geffen Hall to conduct a diverse program including her own suite drawn from Prokofiev’s whimsical ballet Cinderella.
The evening began with Japanese composer Koide’s Swaddling Silk and Gossamer Rain. A 12-minute work commissioned by BBC Radio 3, it received its world premiere in 2022 at BBC Proms Japan in Osaka. Inspired by Mariko Asabuki’s 2018 dreamily surreal novel,Timeless, the sparely scored piece employs unusual techniques – violins rubbing pencil ends back and forth between strings, open low strings muted by right hand brushes and musicians rapidly opening and closing their mouths – to mimic the sounds of swishing water and pattering rain. After opening with an ultra-pianissimo chord on the vibraphone, so soft it was hard to know where the piece actually began, the mysterious, mostly dreamlike music proceeded, occasionally interrupted by louder but equally ethereal passages and – more annoyingly – by two incidents where things accidentally dropped somewhere in the hall. With singular authority that belies her petite physical stature, Chan maintained masterly control over Koide’s intricate and unconventional score, successfully sustaining its meditative mood and evoking the delicate imagery suggested by its title.
In stark contrast to the hushed intimacy of the Koide was the next offering, Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto with Carter Brey as soloist. After a brilliant 30-year career as the Philharmonic’s Principal Cello, Brey recently announced that he will retire from his position at the end of this season. On this occasion, the first of his final solo performances as a member of the orchestra, he delivered a powerfully poignant rendition, warm and authoritative, of this frequently heard concerto, demonstrating that his musicianship remains as focused and deeply felt as ever. After boldly diving into the opening Allegro non troppo, he navigated the rapid-fire passagework and gracefully lyrical themes of the single movement structure with great zest and strong, muscular tone. Under Chan’s precise baton, Brey’s Philharmonic colleagues provided perfectly balanced, consistently supportive accompaniment.
In response to the roaring applause (and a loud shout of “We love you, Carter!”) from an upper tier, Brey offered a moving, deeply personal encore: his own solo cello arrangement of Abel Meeropol’s Strange Fruit – the 1939 civil rights anthem made famous by Billie Holiday – as a soulful memorial to George Floyd.
After intermission came the most anticipated item on the program, selections from Prokofiev’s Cinderella ballet and suites, arranged in narrative order. Chan demonstrated absolute mastery of Prokofiev’s brilliantly melodious score throughout, as the players brought this familiar fairy tale magically to life. After the bright woodwinds and gorgeous string sounds of the Introduction, the steady but playful rhythms of the ensuing Veil Dance seemed especially light and mysterious. Following the delightfully humorous and chaotic depiction of The Sisters Dress for the Ball, the wonderfully balanced melodies of the waltzes vividly conveyed the magic of the ballroom. The most exciting music came in Midnight, the chilling sequence where loud brass and timpani cracks suggest the walls steadily closing in on Cinderella. The most beautiful moments were in the concluding Amoroso, where the serenely rhapsodic lyricism of the music captured the Prince and Cinderella finally united and brought the evening to a romantic end.
