SFS Commissions and Premieres in 2025–26

Playbill for the Vienna Premiere of Don Giovanni in 1788 (from the Wikipedia Web page, public domain)

Like yesterday’s article about debut performances during the 2025–26 season of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS), the category of “Commissions and Premieres” involves previously accounted for performance dates. Indeed, with the exception of John Adams’ “Short Ride on a Fast Machine,” all of the “Works by Living Composers” fall into this category. That leaves only three other premiere performances, all by works from past centuries. The composers and their respective selections are as follows:

1. Johann Sebastian Bach: Easter Oratorio (BWV 249)
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: aria from Don Giovanni (K. 527) sung by Golda Schultz
3. Ralph Vaughan Williams: the overture to the incidental music composed for Aristophanes’ play The Wasps

(On a personal note, I have a particular fondness for the “special effects” at the beginning of the Vaughan Williams overture!)