San Francisco Symphony with Yuja Wang at Davies Symphony Hall, May 22, 2014

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the San Francisco Symphony featuring Yuja Wang
2014-05-22
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
8:00 PM, Thursday, May 22, 2014

Back to the previous event ☸ Back to the 2014 yearbox ☸ Back to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

• Tchaikovsky: the Tempest
• Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 4
• Debussy: Images pour orchestre

• Tchaikovsky: the Tempest
• Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1
• Debussy: Images pour orchestre

• Fauré: Pavane
• Schubert: Entr’acte No. 3 in B-flat major, from _Rosamunde_
• Dvořák: Legend No. 6
• Grieg: The Last Spring
• Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1
• Litolff: Scherzo from Concerto Symphonique No. 4
• Debussy: Images pour orchestre

[8:01 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [8:06 PM] Gabriel Urbain Fauré (1845-1924): Pavane in F-sharp minor, Op. 50 (1886)
2. [8:13 PM] Franz Schubert (1797-1928): Entr’acte No. 3 in B-flat major, Andantino, from Rosamunde, D.797, Op. 26 (1823)
3. [8:20 PM] Antonín Leopold Dvořák (1841-1904): Legend No. 6, from Legends for Orchestra, Op. 59 (1881)
4. [8:25 PM] Edvard Hagerup Grieg (1843-1907): Våren (The Last Spring), Op. 33, no. 2 (1881)
   [work ends 8:31 PM]

Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953): Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major, Op. 10 (1912),
featuring Yuja Wang, piano
(written and performed as a single movement)

1. [8:33 PM] Allegro brioso
2. [8:4m PM] Andante assai
3. [8:4m PM] Allegro scherzando
   [work ends 8:51 PM]

Henry Charles Litolff (1818–1891): Scherzo (2nd movement) from Concerto Symphonique No. 4, Op. 102 (ca. 1852),
featuring Yuja Wang, piano.

1. [8:52 PM] Scherzo. Presto
   [work ends 8:59 PM to wild applause from the masses; set ends 9:01 PM]

[9:22 PM lights down, announcements]

Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Images pour orchestre (1912)

1. [9:23 PM] Gigues
2. [9:31 PM] Ibéria: Par les rues et les chemins
3. [9:38 PM] Ibéria: Les parfums de la nuit
4. [9:45 PM] Ibéria: Le matin d'un jour de fête
5. [9:m PM] Rondes de printemps (“Round dances of spring”)
   [show ends 10:00 PM]

• Michael Tilson Thomas: conductor, music director;
• Yuja Wang: piano;
• symphony members vary by program, see the current list.

While it was kind of annoying to walk in and find that tonight's program had been changed AGAIN, the opening miniatures were interesting enough, and I appreciated hearing them, particularly the closing piece by Grieg.

I was quite happy with my seat tonight; while not quite good enough for a view of Yuja's keyboard work, the sound was excellent, with great resonance– like my head was inside the piano. Her concerto and “encore” were both appropriately flashy, with lots of fortissimo runs and crashing chordscapes. Makes me look forward even more to next year's solo recital!

Debussy's closer was also quite nice. I think I enjoyed the second movement, Iberia, with its obligatory Spanish tinge, best of the three.

Stephen Smoliar posted a laudatory review of the show for the Examiner.

Back to the previous event ☸ Back to the 2014 yearbox ☸ Back to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!