# San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, January 8, 2014

MTT conducts Beethoven and Bates featuring the [San Francisco Symphony](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2013-2014/Beethoven-and-Bates-MTT-Conducts.aspx)  
2014-01-08  
[Davies Symphony Hall](http://www.sfsymphony.org)  
[201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=201+Van+Ness,+San+Francisco,+CA&hl=en)  
8:00 PM, Wednesday, January 8, 2014

## Set One

[7:57 PM the musicians takes their places; 8:00 PM lights down, announcements, tuning]

### Beethoven: Romances for Violin and Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Romances for Violin and Orchestra, featuring Alexander Barantschik

01. [8:03 PM] Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G major, Op. 40 (1802)  
[8:09 PM pause for a moment]
02. [8:10 PM] Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in F major, Op. 50 (1798)  
[set ends 8:18 PM; pause ~5 min to reset the stage]

### Mason Bates: the B-Sides

Mason Bates: the B-Sides for orchestra & electronica (2009), dedicated to MTT

01. [8:25 PM] Broom of the System
02. [8:30 PM] Aerosol Melody (Hanalei)
03. [8:34 PM] Gemini in the Solar Wind >>
04. [8:00 PM] Temescal Noir >>
05. [8:00 PM] Warehouse Medicine  
[set ends 8:48 PM]

## Set Two

### Beethoven: Symphony No. 7, Op. 92 in A

[9:09 PM noodling; 9:10 PM lights down]

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony No. 7, Op. 92 in A major (1812)

01. [9:11 PM] Poco sostenuto – Vivace
02. [9:26 PM] Allegretto
03. [9:34 PM] Presto – Assai meno presto (trio)
04. [9:43 PM] Allegro con brio  
[set ends 9:53 PM]


## Performers

* Alexander Barantschik: violin;
* [Mason Bates](http://www.masonbates.com/): composer, laptop & electronics;
* [Michael Tilson Thomas](http://www.michaeltilsonthomas.com/): conductor, music director;
* SF Symphony symphony members vary by program, see [[http://www.sfsymphony.org/About-Us/Musicians-Conductors|the current list]].


## Notes

As is not that unusual, the Symphony made an unannounced switch in the program, swapping out Mason Bates' _Alternative Energy_ for +the B-Sides_. While I understand they may have compelling reasons for the change, it's awful frustrating to advertise one thing when tickets go on sale and then deliver something entirely different!

Stephen Smoliar posted a promo article on the [Examiner website](http://www.examiner.com/article/mtt-and-sfs-to-present-the-music-of-mason-bates-a-beethoven-context?CID=examiner_alerts_article),

Mason's program notes are posted on [his website](http://www.masonbates.com/work/work-bsides.html),

Joshua Kosman posted both a [promo interview](http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Composer-Mason-Bates-experiments-with-new-sounds-5118961.php) and a [show review](http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/SF-Symphony-review-Mason-Bates-B-Sides-5129039.php) at SFGate.

I enjoyed the show, though I was mightily distracted with a cold -- trying to suppress a cough the whole night makes for a poor listening experience! With the program subtitled as "The Power of Beethoven. The Energy of Today" it was pretty clear that MTT and SFS were trying to give Bates a bit of a marketing push. But aside from somehow implying this anoints Bates as the "new" Beethoven, I heard little in common between the two. Bates writing is quite modern, and while interesting, has minimal overlap with Beethoven's compositional style.
{{tag>music San_Francisco_Symphony Michael_Tilson_Thomas Alexander_Barantschik Mason_Bates Davies_Symphony_Hall Beethoven}}

This program repeats daily through Saturday, January 11.

[[2014#January_events|Back to the calendar!]]