Conductor Krzysztof Urbański leads an exhilarating program of virtuosic showpieces, featuring Dvořák’s celebrated Cello Concerto performed by Joshua Roman, whose “extraordinary technical and musical gifts” (San Francisco Chronicle) lend themselves perfectly to the elaborate grandeur of this romantic work. Then, hear Mozart’s charming overture to his iconic opera, The Magic Flute.
Floor seats start at $49*.
Urbański on Lutosławski's Concerto for Orchestra.
*Subject to availability.
Inside Music, an informative talk by Scott Foglesong, begins one hour prior to concerts. Free to ticketholders. Learn More.
DVOŘÁK
Cello Concerto in B minor, Opus 104 1895 | 40 mins
Dvořák’s fame grew slowly and began at home in the Czech countryside. In middle age came his lucky break, and in 1891 Dvořák was asked to serve as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. While there, the composer attended a concert by the then-principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera; that experience never left him and, he wrote this cello concerto. LISTEN FOR: The first movement introduces two of Dvořák’s most memorable themes. The one at the beginning—featuring low clarinet, joined by bassoons, with a somber background of violas, cellos, and basses—brings remarkable, oblique, and multi-faceted harmonizations; the other is one of the loveliest French horn solos ever written. The Adagio begins in tranquility, but is interrupted by an orchestral outburst that introduces a quotation from one of Dvořák’s own songs. The song was a special favorite of the composer’s sister-in-law, with whom Dvořák had been madly in love with thirty years prior. She died soon after he returned from the US, and it was in her memory that he added the elegiac music in the finale. Dvořák was skeptical about writing a cello concerto, but he ended up writing one of the best we have.
MOZART
Overture to The Magic Flute, K.620 1791 | 6 mins
PICTURE THIS: The Magic Flute is an allegory about a young prince who must learn to choose between good and evil, and who, undergoing trial by fire and water, becomes worthy of his station and fit to play his role in life. The forces of evil are represented by the Queen of the Night and her court, those of good by the priest Sarastro and his followers (Freemasons in disguise). Papageno speaks for those who don’t give a damn about issues like good and evil. Despite the libretto’s problems—including the misogyny and general priggishness of the supposedly venerable priests—it inspired Mozart. This is music of risky solemnity, deep pathos, sunny innocence, and delicious frivolity. The overture begins in utmost seriousness. The slow introduction is brief, but the coming Allegro is a fascinating mixture of the cheerful and the solemn. High spirits dominate the end.
LUTOSŁAWSKI
Concerto for Orchstra 1954 | 28 mins
An icon of Polish Modernism, Lutosławski made many important musical statements. He adapted to political practicalities by developing an idiom that was decidedly personal and modern, but that nonetheless paid homage to populist folk music. Direct impetus for this piece came from the conductor Witold Rowicki, who asked Lutosławski to write a piece based on folk sources for a performance by the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, which Rowicki founded that year. What he received is a brilliant showpiece that is indeed a virtuoso vehicle for the orchestra.
Jeanette Yu is Director of Publications at the San Francisco Symphony.
Program
Overture to The Magic Flute
Cello Concerto
Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra
Conductor
In September 2018, Krzysztof Urbański entered the eighth season of his tenure as Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in 2015, and he has led the orchestra in Hamburg and on tour in Japan and Europe. With the orchestra he recorded albums of Lutosławski’s works, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, all on Alpha Classics. His discography also includes Chopin’s small pieces for piano and orchestra with Jan Lisiecki and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon and Martinů’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with Sol Gabetta and the Berlin Philharmonic recorded for Sony. With Sinfonia Varsovia he recorded Penderecki's Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima on the Accentus label.
Mr. Urbański maintains an international presence by appearing as guest conductor for numerous orchestras around the world, including the Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Vienna Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the National Symphony, among others. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 2016.
Mr. Urbański served as chief conductor and artistic leader of the Trondheim Symphony from 2010 to 2017; in 2017 he was appointed Honorary Guest Conductor of the Trondheim Symphony and Opera. He also served as principal guest conductor of Tokyo Symphony for four seasons beginning in 2012.
In June 2015 Krzysztof Urbański received the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, becoming the first conductor to have ever received this award.
(May 2019)
©2025 San Francisco Symphony | Privacy Statement & Terms and Conditions
