A speedy Beethoven Ninth disappoints in San Francisco

Poétique plus que métaphysique, le Mahler de Michael Tilson Thomas et du San Francisco Symphony a largement convaincu le public de la salle Pleyel ; l'excellence de l'orchestre et la beauté des voix ont compensé sans peine l'apparente sobriété de l'interprétation pour transporter les auditeurs.

Sayaka Shoji and Salonen remain in close dialogue in a riveting performance of Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto. 

As the news breaks that Esa-Pekka Salonen will be leaving at the end of his San Francisco Symphony tenure, he conducts the music of his fellow Finn, Jean Sibelius. 

After 50 years of performances with the San Francisco Symphony, including a quarter-century tenure as Music Director, Michael Tilson Thomas chooses Mahler’s Fifth Symphony for his final subscription concert. 

An exquisite rendition of Mendelssohn's Lobgesang makes one wonder why the work is not part of the regular repertoire.

In a program including both modernist and neoclassical works, Michael Tilson Thomas and the SFO emphasized the common traits characterizing Stravinsky's entire ouevre.