SFS: October 2024 Programming

Next month in Davies Symphony Hall will see three Orchestral Series Concerts presented by the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) and the first Great Performers Series recital of the new season; specifics are as follows:

Friday, October 4, and Saturday, October 5, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 6, 2 p.m.: Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen will present a program limited to a concerto and a symphony. The concerto soloist will be violinist Sayaka Shoji making her Orchestral Series debut. She will perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s Opus 77 in A minor, the first of his two violin concertos. The symphony will be Johannes Brahms’ Opus 98 in E minor, his fourth.

Friday, October 18, and Saturday, October 19, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, October 20, 2 p.m.: Rainer Eudeikis, who holds the Philip S. Boon Chair of Principal Cello, will be the concerto soloist. He will give the first SFS performances of the cello concerto that Salonen originally wrote for Yo-Yo Ma. The program will begin with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 68 (“Pastoral”) symphony in F major, his Opus 68. The program will conclude with Claude Debussy’s “La mer,” which the composer described as “three symphonic sketches for orchestra.”

Pianist Michelle Cann (photograph by Steven Mareazi Willis, courtesy of SFS)

Friday, October 25, and Saturday, October 26, 7:30 p.m.: The final Orchestral Series Concert of the month will be conducted by Thomas Wilkins. The soloist will be pianist Michelle Cann, who will be making her Orchestral Series debut, in a performance of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” The program will conclude with the “Symphonic Picture” that Gershwin composed, based on music from his Porgy and Bess opera. This will be preceded by the first SFS performances of William Grant Still’s “Wood Notes.” The “overture” for the program will be a suite that Leonard Bernstein composed based on selections from the musical Candide.

Sunday, October 27, 7:30: The first “Great Performer” will be pianist Emanuel Ax. He has organized the two parts of his program around Beethoven and Robert Schumann, respectively. The first half will present the two Opus 27 sonatas by Beethoven, each given its own subtitle, “Quasi una Fantasia” and “Moonlight,” respectively. The “Fantasia” sonata will be followed by John Corigliano’s “Fantasia on an Ostinato.” The Schumann selections in the second half will have consecutive opus numbers. The relatively brief “Arabeske” (Opus 18) will be followed by the lengthier Opus 17 fantasy. Both of these works are in the key of C major.

Each of the above hyperlinks can be used for purchasing tickets. Tickets are also on sale at the Davies Symphony Hall Box Office at 201 Van Ness Avenue, on the southwest corner of Grove Street. Purchases may also be made by calling 415-864-6000.