Randall Goosby Coming to SFP

Randall Goosby (photograph by Kaupo Kikkas, from the SFP Web page for purchasing tickets)

I have the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) to thank for introducing me to violinist Randall Goosby. When then Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen decided to launch the Spotlight Series in the first half of 2022 as a platform for debut recitals in Davies Symphony Hall, the featured recitalist in the second program was Goosby, performing with pianist Zhu Wang. That event took place on April 13. By that time I had already written about his debut album Roots, so I was well prepared for seeing him “in the flesh.”

He then went on to give a debut performance of Florence Price’s D minor (second) violin concerto early in the SFS season in September. Since that time, my only contact with Goosby took place at the beginning of last month, when he performed that same concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in one of their “live HD webcast” offerings. By way of an encore on that occasion, he performed his own orchestral arrangement of “Adoration,” which Price had originally composed for organ. (This was one of the tracks on Roots.)

All that background should make it clear that I am definitely looking forward to Goosby’s return, which will be the second San Francisco Performances (SFP) recital of next month (the first having been the piano recital that Joyce Yang will bring to Herbst on the first day of the month). Rather than continuing his Price repertoire, he will begin his program over a century earlier with a performance of the third violin sonata by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne. This was the last of the three sonatas published as his Opus 1a. This will be followed by another sonata, which will probably be familiar to most violinists, Gabriel Fauré’s Opus 13, his first such sonata composed in the key of A major. The second half of the program will begin with Ernest Chausson’s Opus 25 “Poème.” (Chausson was aware of the younger Fauré, and the latter was present at the former’s funeral.) The final selection will be Franz Schubert’s D. 895 rondo for violin and piano composed in the key of B minor. Wang will again be Goosby’s accompanist.

This program will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 3. Ticket prices are $70 (premium Orchestra and front and center Dress Circle), $60 (remainder of Orchestra, all Side Boxes, and center rear Dress Circle), and $50 (remaining Dress Circle and Balcony). As always, they may be purchased through an SFP secure Web page. The venue will be Herbst Theatre, whose entrance is the main entrance to the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel.