Irene Roberts’ performance is made possible through the generosity of the Mrs. George J. Otto Memorial Vocalist Fund.
Preconcert talks are supported in memory of Horacio Rodriguez.
Runnicles Conducts Mahler 1
September 26, 27 & 28, 2025
Overview
Mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts joins Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles and the San Francisco Symphony for Berg’s Seven Early Songs. Although Berg was in his early 20s at the time and a devoted disciple of Schoenberg, these surging and sumptuous songs reveal his late-Romantic leanings, too. Occasional touches of Strauss, Mahler, Brahms, Debussy, and Wagner combine with Berg’s rigorous originality in an appealing package. Mahler understood the value of his First Symphony right away, confessing that conducting it “sent shivers down my spine.” Mahler ensures all our senses will be fully engaged from the opening movement, a deliciously drawn-out meditation on D major that deploys harmonics in the strings to create its cosmic drone—an effect he described as “a shimmering and glimmering of the air.” You can best believe it’s still bejeweled.Concert Extras
A preconcert talk by David H. Miller, UC Berkeley Department of Music, will be presented onstage one hour before each performance. Free to all ticketholders.
Now on View: A lobby exhibit in Davies Symphony Hall explores Gaïa—the latest project from cellist Gautier Capuçon, featuring newly commissioned works by 16 composers.
Now on View: A lobby exhibit in Davies Symphony Hall explores Gaïa—the latest project from cellist Gautier Capuçon, featuring newly commissioned works by 16 composers.
Sponsors
Irene Roberts, mezzo-soprano
San Francisco Symphony
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Donald Runnicles
Conductor
Over a career spanning 45 years, Sir Donald Runnicles has built his reputation on enduring relationships with several of the world’s most significant opera companies and orchestras. He is especially celebrated for his interpretations of the Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire which are core to his musical identity.
The 2025–26 season marks both his final season as music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as his first season as the chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic. He also continues to serve as music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival and as the principal guest conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of the 2025–26 season include a 10-city tour to Asia with the Dresden Philharmonic; new productions at the Deutsche Oper of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Korngold’s Violanta, along with two cycles of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in a Stefan Herheim production that he premiered with the company; and guest engagements with the BBC Scottish Symphony in Mahler’s Second Symphony, and his debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony.
Runnicles’s chief artistic leadership roles include the San Francisco Opera from 1992 to 2008, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2016, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s from 2001 to 2007). He was also principal guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony from 2001 to 2023.
Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Runnicles was appointed OBE in 2004, and was made a Knight Bachelor in 2020. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January 1995.
The 2025–26 season marks both his final season as music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as his first season as the chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic. He also continues to serve as music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival and as the principal guest conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of the 2025–26 season include a 10-city tour to Asia with the Dresden Philharmonic; new productions at the Deutsche Oper of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Korngold’s Violanta, along with two cycles of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in a Stefan Herheim production that he premiered with the company; and guest engagements with the BBC Scottish Symphony in Mahler’s Second Symphony, and his debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony.
Runnicles’s chief artistic leadership roles include the San Francisco Opera from 1992 to 2008, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from 2009 to 2016, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s from 2001 to 2007). He was also principal guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony from 2001 to 2023.
Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Runnicles was appointed OBE in 2004, and was made a Knight Bachelor in 2020. He holds honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January 1995.
Irene Roberts
Mezzo-soprano
This season, Irene Roberts makes her role debut as Sieglinde in Die Walküre in Munich, appears as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde and Kundry in Parsifal at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and also sings Brangäne in Amsterdam and Wiesbaden. Last season she appeared at San Francisco Opera as Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale and returned to Deutsche Oper Berlin as Brangäne, Carmen, and in her role debut as Eboli in Don Carlo. Other recent highlights include a highly praised debut as Kundry at the Bavarian State Opera and as Venus in Tannhäuser at the Bayreuth Festival.
Guest appearances have taken her to opera houses in Hanover, Palermo, Venice, Tokyo, Lyon, Atlanta, the Macerata Opera Festival, and the Metropolitan Opera. On the concert stage, she has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, and Swedish Radio Symphony. She makes her San Francisco Symphony debut with this program.
From 2015 to 2024, Roberts was a member of the ensemble at Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she built a versatile repertoire spanning Mozart, Rossini, Offenbach, Strauss, Wagner, and contemporary opera. Prior to that, she was a member of Palm Beach Opera’s Young Artist Program and a winner of its vocal competition. A native of Sacramento, California, she studied voice at the University of the Pacific and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Guest appearances have taken her to opera houses in Hanover, Palermo, Venice, Tokyo, Lyon, Atlanta, the Macerata Opera Festival, and the Metropolitan Opera. On the concert stage, she has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, and Swedish Radio Symphony. She makes her San Francisco Symphony debut with this program.
From 2015 to 2024, Roberts was a member of the ensemble at Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she built a versatile repertoire spanning Mozart, Rossini, Offenbach, Strauss, Wagner, and contemporary opera. Prior to that, she was a member of Palm Beach Opera’s Young Artist Program and a winner of its vocal competition. A native of Sacramento, California, she studied voice at the University of the Pacific and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
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