MTT’s second season features a far-out festival that examines the intersections of the sacred and the profane, spiritual calamity and salvation. Its provocative theme and the Orchestra’s virtuosic performances put MTT’s artistic vision into spectacular focus. It’s clear that MTT’s instinct is to think differently; even more radical is the ease with which he inspires audiences to embrace experimentation.

CELEBRATIONS OF THE SACRED & PROFANE
MTT is at it again in spring 1997, when the San Francisco Symphony presents Celebrations of the Sacred & Profane, a festival of music sparked by the friction between our earthiest desires and our most spiritual aspirations. Pairing Mozart, Schubert, and J.S. Bach, with Giancinto Scelsi, Terry Riley, and Kurt Weill, and featuring an appearance as co-host by Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead, the unorthodox and edgy festival is a massive hit: The colossal audience response is described as “lusty” in more than one outlet.


PREMIERES
Henze: Erlkönig Fantasy
(US premiere)
Scelsi: Aion
(US premiere)
MUSICIAN APPOINTMENTS
Christina King (Viola)
Recordings


European Tour
The November 1996 European Tour with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is MTT’s first tour of Europe with the San Francisco Symphony.


New York City, US, Carnegie Hall
London, England, Barbican Centre
Manchester, England, The Bridgewater Hall
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Concertgebouw
Brussels, Belgium, Palais des Beaux Arts
Paris, France, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Cologne, Germany, Philharmonie
Düsseldorf, Germany, Tonhalle
Hamburg, Germany, Grosse Musikhalle
Berlin, Germany, Philharmonie
Vienna, Austria, Grosser Saal, Musikvereinssaal
Munich, Germany, Philharmonie am Gasteig
Stuttgart, Germany, Liederhalle
I met MTT when I was 17 and barely a freshman at the USC School of Music. Wouldn’t you know, the first glance I had of him he was standing on top of a desk, exclaiming, singing, and dancing! Who was this person, this star, this Mike Thomas?
Well he turned out to be a very special person in my life and our lives intertwined from that day forward. I cannot begin to name the hundreds (maybe even thousands!) of amazing concerts I’ve been lucky enough to play under MTT here in San Francisco and around the world. My heart is full of memories of all the music we made together over the years. And every once in a while our eyes meet across the stage and I know we’re both thinking of moments of our shared past.
”