San Francisco Symphony

MTT and the SF Symphony at the 9/11 Commemorative Concert, Yerba Buena Gardens, 2002

2002–03

A Season Somehow Typical

01–02

03–04

In his eighth season as Music Director, MTT and the San Francisco Symphony are seemingly everywhere: Yerba Buena Gardens, for a free 9/11 commemorative concert featuring the Rev. Cecil Williams narrating Copland’s Lincoln Portrait; at the Grammys, taking home the award for Best Orchestral Performance for the SFS Media recording of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony; on tour in the US and Europe; and, of course, at Davies Symphony Hall, presenting semi-staged performances of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, among many other highlights.

Innocence Undone

The two-week Innocence Undone: Wagner, Weill, and the Weimar Years festival (June 2003) traces a path from innocence to decadence, from German Romanticism to Modernism. The docket is tantalizingly wide-ranging: semi-staged concert performances of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (pictured at left and below), with eminent Wagnerians Mark Delavan and Jane Eaglen in the lead roles; an exploration of the Berlin cabaret scene with German chanteuse Ute Lemper; and an intriguing program of works by Toch, Schoenberg, Wagner, and Hindemith. The Flying Dutchman proves that the San Francisco Symphony can hang with the best opera orchestras while also stretching the concept of what a semi-staged production can be. This also marks the first of many Symphony endeavors made possible through the generous support of The Barbro and Bernard Osher Staged Production Fund.

My goal with each semi-staged production, whether opera, musical theater, or symphonic work, is to use lighting, costumes, projections, and stage direction to further illuminate the music and story so that the audience comes away with a deeper and more immersive concert experience. ”

— Michael Tilson Thomas

In their own quiet way, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony have established a first-rate alternative opera house in Davies Symphony Hall, just across Grove Street from the War Memorial.

Actually, not so quiet. The excellent semi-staged performance of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman that opened the ‘Innocence Undone’ June festival Wednesday night was notable for its superb singing, its cohesive orchestral playing and its resourceful theatricality.

”

— Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, June 13, 2003

MTT accepts the Grammy for the SF Symphony’s Mahler Symphony No. 6 recording, 2003

Joshua Bell, Rev. Cecil Williams, and MTT at the 9/11 Commemorative Concert

PREMIERES

Michael Tilson Thomas: Urban Legend (World premiere)

Michael Tilson Thomas: Poems of Emily Dickinson
(First performances of complete version)

John Adams: My Father Knew Charles Ives
(World premiere, San Francisco Symphony commission)

Ravel (arr. Volkert): Sonata for Violin and Cello
(World premiere, San Francisco Symphony commission)

MUSICIAN APPOINTMENTS

Jeffrey Anderson (tuba)

John Chisolm (violin)

Yun Chu (violin)

James Lee Wyatt III (percussion)

Recordings

American Tour

The SF Symphony’s October 2002 East Coast Tour featured mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, Women of the Westminster Choir, and the American Boychoir.

New York, NY, Carnegie Hall

Greenvale, NY, Tilles Center

Washington DC, Kennedy Center

European Tour

Violinist Hilary Hahn and soprano Barbara Bonney were featured soloists in the SF Symphony’s May 2003 European Tour.

Dublin, Ireland, National Concert Hall

London, England, Barbican Centre

Brighton, England, The Dome

Brussels, Belgium, Palais des Beaux-Arts

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Concertgebouw

Düsseldorf, Germany, Tonhalle

Cologne, Germany, Philharmonie

Vienna, Austria, Konzerthaus

Prague, Czech Republic, Dvořák Hall, Rudolfinum

Paris, France, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

2002–03

Innocence Undone

Recordings

American Tour

European Tour

Tune in to KDFC at 3pm daily for “MTT Time”—special concert broadcasts from each year of MTT’s historic tenure, featuring commentary from MTT himself.