San Francisco Symphony presents Thierry Escaich
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
3:00 PM, Sunday, April 24, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[2:59 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [3:00 PM] Allegro maestoso
   [work ends 3:08 PM]

1. [3:09 PM] Chorale Prelude, Herzliebster Jesu, Op. 122, No. 2
2. [3:11 PM] Prelude and Fugue in G minor, WoO 10
3. [3:14 PM] Chorale Prelude, Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen, Op. 122, No. 8
   [segment ends 3:18 PM; pause for a minute or two]

1. [3:21 PM] Romance
2. [3:28 PM] Final
   [set ends ~3:35 PM]

[3:44 PM lights down]

1. [3:45 PM] Joie et clarté des corps glorieux
   [work ends 4:05 PM]

1. [4:05 PM] Eaux natales
2. [4:11 PM] Le Masque
3. [4:17 PM] Vers l'espérance
   [work ends 4:21 PM; pause for a minute or two]

1. [4:24 PM] Toccata
   [work ends 4:31 PM; pause for a minute or two]

1. [4:33 PM] (untitled improvisation)
   [set ends 4:44 PM; no encore today?]

• Thierry Escaich: organ.

Last show of the series today, and a real winner. Thierry didn't have much stage presence – I don't recall that he uttered a single word to the audience – but his hands and feet were certainly fleet enough, and he discharged the task of transmitting the difficult works on today's program admirably.

I was surprised that Escaich was assisted by a “stop-puller” on several of the works. All the better to keep his hands dancing across the five (?) manuals of the giant Ruffati console, but it still seemed a little like cheating to me. Heck, maybe it's a common thing – I'm still pretty new at following the organ repertoire. Better keep an eye out for that next year, eh?

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!