# San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, March 31, 2016

[San Francisco Symphony](http://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2015-2016/MTT-conducts-Copland.aspx) presents [Michael Tilson Thomas](http://www.michaeltilsonthomas.com/) conducting the [San Francisco Symphony](http://www.sfsymphony.org), with [Inon Barnatan](http://www.inonbarnatan.com/), featured piano soloist  
2016-03-31  
[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, Thursday, March 31, 2016

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## Tentative Program

* Copland: Orchestral Variations
* Copland: Inscape
* Copland: Piano Concerto
* Schumann: Symphony No. 2

## Set One

[7:59 PM lights down, announcements, comments from MTT]

01. [8:03 PM] Aaron Copland (1900-1990): Orchestral Variations (1957)  
[work ends 8:17 PM; pause until 8:19 PM]  
 
02. [8:22 PM] Aaron Copland (1900-1990): _Inscape_ (1967)  
[work ends 8:35 PM; pause until 8:43 PM]

### Copland: Piano Concerto

Aaron Copland (1900-1990): Piano Concerto (1926)

03. [8:45 PM] Andante sostenuto
04. [8:52 PM] Molto moderato (molto rubato) — Allegro assai  
[set ends 9:02 PM]

## Set Two: Schumann: Symphony No. 2

[9:22 PM lights down]

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61 (1846)

01. [9:24 PM] Sostenuto assai — Allegro, ma non troppo
02. [9:37 PM] Scherzo: Allegro vivace
03. [9:45 PM] Adagio espressivo
04. [9:56 PM] Allegro molto vivace  
[show ends 10:05 PM; all off after a few minutes of applause]


## Performers

* [Inon Barnatan](http://www.inonbarnatan.com/): piano;
* [Michael Tilson Thomas](http://www.michaeltilsonthomas.com/): conductor, music director;
* symphony members vary by program; see [the current list](http://www.sfsymphony.org/About-Us/Musicians-Conductors).


## Notes

It was good to hear a bit of Copeland's output beyond _Appalachian Spring_ and _Hoedown_. Too many programs seem to rely on the same old same old instead of digging deeper into the available possibilities. I suppose the notion is that the safe bet makes the most money. I doubt there much chance of a better payoff on the risky program choices: you either sell out the house, or you don't. Thus we tend to get programming that appeals most to the least adventurous listener.  Kudos to MTT for resisting that tendency!

I enjoyed each of the Copeland works in the first half tonight, and I liked that each piece seemed to evidence different aspects of Copeland's creativity. Inon Barnatan was great, performing the Piano Concerto from memory -- it's always amazing to witness feats beyond the reach of the lazy masses.

I guess I'd argue that the second half programming was a retreat towards the status quo, but all in all it was thoroughly enjoyable and quite well performed. As Roger Waters once wrote, "You can't have your pudding if you don't eats your meat."

Niels Swinkels posted a [review](https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/San-Francisco-Symphony/MTT-and-the-SF-Symphony-Study-the-Academic-Side-of-Copland-and-Schumann) of the show on SFCV.

{{tag>music San_Francisco_Symphony Inon_Barnatan Davies_Symphony_Hall Michael_Tilson_Thomas }}

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