Salonen’s Final Programs as SFS Music Director

Towards the end of this month, Esa-Pekka Salonen will conclude his five-year tenure as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) by leading the last four programs of the 2024–25 season. The performances will involve two violin soloists and, in the final performance two solo vocalists along with the SFS Chorus. Specifics are as follows, with each of the dates provided with a hyperlink to facilitate ticket purchases.

Thursday, May 23, and Friday, May 24, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, May 25, 2 p.m.: The second half of the program will be devoted entirely to the complete score that Igor Stravinsky composed for Michel Fokine’s one-act ballet “The Firebird.” The concerto soloist will be violinist Isabel Faust, performing Alban Berg’s only concerto (for any instrument). The program will begin with the first SFS performances of Magnus Lindberg’s “Chorale.”

Thursday, May 29, and Sunday, June 1, 2 p.m., and Friday, May 30, 7:30 p.m.: This program will present a concerto and a symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. The soloist will be violinist Hilary Hahn performing the composer’s Opus 61 concerto in D major. This will be coupled in the first half by Opus 60, the fourth of the published symphonies, composed in the key of B-flat major.

Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7, 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 8, 2 p.m.: This will be the most diverse of the final programs. It will feature the world premiere of “Rewilding” by Gabriella Smith. The entire program will be framed by the two best-known tone poems by Richard Strauss, beginning with “Don Juan” (Opus 20) and concluding with “Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks” (Opus 28). The first half of the program will conclude with Jean Sibelius’ final symphony, Opus 105 (the seventh), a single-movement composition in the key of C major.

1892 photograph of Gustav Mahler taken by Leonard Berlin (public domain, from Wikimedia Commons)

Thursday, June 12, Friday, June 13, and Saturday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.: The season will conclude with Gustav Mahler’s second symphony, given the title “Resurrection.” That title is based on the text from Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's poem "Die Auferstehung" (the resurrection) sung in the symphony’s fifth and final movement. The SFS Chorus, under the direction of Jenny Wong, will be joined by two vocal soloists: soprano Heidi Stober and mezzo Sasha Cooke.