San Francisco Symphony

Jessye Norman performs at the 2010 Opening Gala concert

2010–11

NEW CHAPTERS

09–10

11–12

As the San Francisco Symphony approaches its centennial in 2011-12, it is a fitting time for wrapping up major projects and looking towards the future. After a decade of intense devotion to the works of Gustav Mahler, MTT and the Symphony complete their monumental cycle of the composer’s orchestral works and plot their path forward in recording projects devoted to two other MTT touchstones: Beethoven and American music.

TODAY’S PICK

Mahler’s Rückert Songs, with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, an SFS Media release from 2010

Mahler and Beyond

10 years. A dozen recordings. 7 Grammys. By any measure, MTT and the Symphony’s Mahler cycle is a transformative event for conductor, orchestra, and the world. The 2010-11 season sees MTT and the Symphony conclude their Mahler cycle with distinction: A two-part Keeping Score episode traces the composer’s origins and legacy while the SFS Media Mahler recording project closes with the release of Mahler’s Songs for Orchestra (featuring Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson) in September 2010. A centerpiece of the season is a rare four-concert engagement at the famed Vienna Konzerthaus—where MTT and the Symphony are greeted by the composer’s granddaughter Marina Mahler. With the Mahler cycle now complete, MTT and the Orchestra look ahead to further intriguing recording projects, kicking off a survey of Beethoven’s symphonies, choral works, and piano concertos, and exploring major works by Charles Ives/Henry Brant and Copland.

MTT with Marina Mahler, 2011 European Tour

With the Keeping Score series, we tried to have it be on the level so that someone who has never heard of Gustav Mahler will be able to enjoy it, but also to have the knowledgeable listener be able to find some wit or wisdom in it as well. ”

— Michael Tilson Thomas

Tilson Thomas is one of classical music’s greatest recent success stories. San Francisco was always an able, often dynamic orchestra, but in its recent [Mahler] CDs, it has become one of the globe’s very best. Few orchestras project such resilient yet silken string sound as this one under Tilson Thomas, and fewer still such easy command of dynamic shifts. ”

— The Arizona Republic

Celebrating the Creative Spirit: Project San Francisco

The multi-faceted composer and artist residency program Project San Francisco brings some of today’s most significant musicians to San Francisco to collaborate with the Symphony in concerts, chamber music, lectures, and education and community events. 2010-11 welcomes composer and longtime San Francisco Symphony friend John Adams and an MTT protégée, the brilliant young pianist Yuja Wang.

John Adams conducts his El Niño as part of Project SF, December 2010

Yuja Wang performs as part of Project SF, 2011

Under Michael Tilson Thomas, San Francisco’s orchestra has not only become one of the most locally popular in North America, it has become one of the finest. And nothing better embodies its elevated status than its Mahler cycle. What makes the cycle all the more impressive is the fact that it appears in attractive boxes on SFS Media, the orchestra’s own label. ”

— The Toronto Star

MTT and Donato Cabrera, 2010 European tour

MTT with Sakurako Fisher, 2011 European Tour

MTT with SF Symphony musicians, 2011 European Tour

MUSICIAN APPOINTMENTS
Sébastien Gingras (cello)

Recordings

2010–11 Tours

Organist Paul Jacobs and mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke joined MTT and the Orchestra on the September 2010 European Tour.

Lucerne, Switzerland, Kultur und Kongresszentrum
Milan, Italy, Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Turin, Italy, Il Lingotto

The May-June 2011 European Tour featured violinist Christian Tetzlaff, soprano Laura Claycomb, and mezzo-soprano Katarina Karnéus.

Prague, Czech Republic, Smetana Hall
Vienna, Austria, Grosser Saal
Brussels, Belgium, Palais des Beaux-Art
Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Philharmonie
Essen, Germany, Philharmonie
Paris, France, Salle Pleyel
Barcelona, Spain, Palau de la Musica
Madrid, Spain, Auditorio Nacional de Música
Lisbon, Portugal, Coliseu dos Recreios