# San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, June 12, 2014 [San Francisco Symphony](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2013-2014/Britten-MTT-with-Janine-Jansen.aspx) presents [Gamelan Sekar Jaya](http://www.gsj.org/), then the [San Francisco Symphony](http://www.sfsymphony.org) with [Gil Shaham](http://www.gilshaham.com/) 2014-06-12 [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) 2:00 PM, Thursday, June 12, 2014 [[2014-06-11|Back to the previous event]] ☸ [[:#section2014|Back to the 2014 yearbox]] ☸ [[:2014#june_events|Back to the 2014 event list!]] ☸ [[2014-06-13|On to the next event!]] ## Original Program Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 with Janine Jansen Britten: Excerpts from _The Prince of the Pagodas_ ## Set One [2:01 PM lights down, announcements, then MTT introduces GSJ] ### Traditional Works for Gamelan Ensemble Traditional Works for Gamelan Ensemble, featuring [Gamelan Sekar Jaya](http://www.gsj.org/) [Program Notes](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/TRADITIONAL-Works-for-Gamelan-Ensemble.aspx) 01. [2:04 PM] _Legong Pengeleb_: Dance work arranged for _gamelan gong kebyar_ [set ends 2:16 PM] [pause to clear the Gamelan from the stage, then set up the chairs and stands for the symphony; ready to go at 2:20 or so PM; sound cloud lifted as the SFS tunes up] ### Prokofiev: Violin Concerto in G minor Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 63, (1935) featuring [Gil Shaham](http://www.gilshaham.com/): violin. [Program Notes](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/SHOSTAKOVICH-Violin-Concerto-No-2-in-G-minor,-Opus.aspx) by Michael Steinberg 01. [2:28 PM] Allegro moderato 02. [2:39 PM] Andante assai 03. [2:49 PM] Allegro, ben marcato [set ends 2:56 PM] ## Set Two [3:11 PM SFS sawing away; waiting; lights down] ### Britten: Suite from The Prince of the Pagodas Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) (arranged by Donald Mitchell and Mervyn Cooke): Suite from the Ballet _The Prince of the Pagodas_, Op. 57 (1956) [Program Notes](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/BRITTEN-Suite-from-The-Prince-of-the-Pagodas,-Opus.aspx) by Michael Steinberg 01. [3:12 PM] Part 1: Prelude   Part 2: The Four Kings 02. [3:m PM] Variation of the King of the North: Quick and heavy 03. [3:m PM] Variation of the King of the East: Slow and languorous 04. [3:18 PM] Variation of the King of the West: Moderately quick 05. [3:m PM] Variation of the King of the South: Quick and heavy. Energetic   Part 3: The Strange Journey of Belle Rose to the Pagoda Land 06. [3:21 PM] Belle Rose is Borne in by Frogs 07. [3:m PM] Pas de deux: Male and Female Flames 08. [3:m PM] Coda: Male and Female Flames and corps de ballet of Flames   Part 4: The Arrival and Adventures of Belle Rose in the Kingdom of the Pagodas 09. [3:m PM] Very free: Slow 10. [3:m PM] Pas de deux: The Prince and Belle Rose   Part 5: The Pagoda Palace: Darkness to Light 11. [3:m PM] Slow. Same tempo 12. [3:m PM] Pas de six: Entrée: Quick and energetic 13. [3:m PM] Pas de deux: Broadly 14. [3:m PM] Pas de trois: Flowing   Part 6: Finale 15. [3:m PM] Waltz time 16. [3:m PM] Boys of the Pas de six 17. [3:m PM] The Emperor and the Fool 18. [3:m PM] Girls of the Pas de six 19. [3:m PM] The Prince of the Pagodas 20. [3:m PM] Belle Rose 21. [3:m PM] Apotheosis: Quick. Broadly. Quick [show ends 3:m PM] ## Performers ### San Francisco Symphony [San Francisco Symphony](http://www.sfsymphony.org) * [Michael Tilson Thomas](http://www.michaeltilsonthomas.com/): conductor, music director; * symphony members vary by program, see http://www.sfsymphony.org/About-Us/Musicians-Conductors for the current list. ### featured soloist * [Gil Shaham](http://www.gilshaham.com/): violin. ### Gamelan Sekar Jaya [Gamelan Sekar Jaya](http://www.gsj.org/) * I Dewa Putu Berata: guest music director; * Emiko Saraswati Susilo: company director, guest dance director. ## Notes Today's matinee program was certainly unusual: it' s rare that a Symphony performance begins without any symphony members present onstage, but after an introduction that was both warm and heartfelt and somewhat mealy mouthed, MTT slipped off, leaving the stage empty until GSJ filed in to their places in the front. I feel lucky to have been assigned today's seat -- smack dab in the center of the fourth row, and absolutely perfect for watching the dancers and performers. Molto bene! While my untutored recollection is that Legong is typically advertised as the 'dance of the virgins' and performed by preteens, todays quintet of dancers were all certainly of college age if not even a decade or two past that. For me, this changed the dance quite a bit, making it a less alien spectacle. Probably also a lot easier to find adult legong dancers in Berkeley, but I have to say that I haven't searched for any, so my opinion is unsubstantiated. I thought the concluding work on today's program, an arrangement of Britten's 1957? ballet, _the Prince of Pagodas_, by Donald Mitchell and Mervyn Cooke, was darn interesting. Britten (or Mitchell and Cooke?) did a really fine job of orchestrating the parts to approximate the sound of a gamelan. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Britten was leaning hard on LP's that he picked up in Bali to tune his aural memories while writing the work. It's a shame that the piece was presented out of context -- without costumed ballet dancers or theatrical backdrops -- but that's not too surprising given the nature of the event, and not really even a complaint, just an observation that I'd have liked the extra sensory input! Unfortunately, I seemed to have mucked things up with the set timing, and my data for the second set has been lost. I hate it when that happens! Andrew Gilbert wrote a nice [promo article](http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Music-of-Bali-has-a-home-in-Berkeley-5532661.php) about Gamelan Sekar Jaya for SFGate. David Wiegand penned a [promo article](http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Trip-to-Bali-inspired-Britten-s-score-5532658.php) about the Britten work. {{tag>music San_Francisco_Symphony Gil_Shaham Gamelan_Sekar_Jaya Davies_Symphony_Hall Michael_Tilson_Thomas I_Dewa_Putu_Berata Emiko_Saraswati_Susilo}} [[2014-06-11|Back to the previous event]] ☸ [[:#section2014|Back to the 2014 yearbox]] ☸ [[:2014#june_events|Back to the 2014 event list!]] ☸ [[2014-06-13|On to the next event!]]