Open Rehearsal
Beethoven 5 & Seong-Jin Cho
January 22, 2026
Overview
Finnish conductor John Storgårds makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with an exhilarating program centered on Beethoven’s monumental Fifth Symphony. Beethoven’s subject wasn’t the individual but the human condition, the fate we heroically create for ourselves, one choice at a time. Has any transition from C minor to C major ever felt more blissful, more fully earned? Less familiar but equally powerful is Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen’s visceral and life-affirming The Rapids of Life, heard in its US premiere. Pianist Seong-Jin Cho and SF Symphony Principal Trumpet Mark Inouye perform Shostakovich’s sprightly and intelligent Piano Concerto No. 1, an underperformed gem that spans the silly and the sublime. Initially conceived as a trumpet concerto, the work still gives that instrument plenty of love: this is a double concerto in all but name.Concert Extras
A preconcert talk will be presented from the stage one hour before the concert. Free to all ticketholders.
Program
Outi
Tarkiainen
The Rapids of Life
United States Premiere
Dmitri
Shostakovich
Piano Concerto No. 1
Ludwig van
Beethoven
Symphony No. 5
Sponsors
Open rehearsals are endowed by a bequest from The Estate of Katharine Hanrahan.

John Storgårds, conductor

San Francisco Symphony
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