Yesterday afternoon saw the first of three performances by the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) in Davies Symphony Hall. The conductor for this occasion was Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and the soloist was soprano Renée Fleming. Each half of the program was devoted to a single composition by Richard Strauss.
1894 photograph of Richard Strauss at the age of thirty (photographer unknown)
Fleming was the soloist for the first of those compositions, Strauss’ final completed work, given the title Four Last Songs when these four pieces scored for piano and orchestra were published by Boosey & Hawkes. The second half of the program was devoted to a much earlier work, the Opus 40 tone poem “Ein Heldenleben” (a hero’s life). (Those familiar with the Strauss biography will have no trouble identifying who the “hero” is!) Following the Four Last Songs, Fleming provided an encore with yet another song! This was a much earlier composition, “Morgen!” (tomorrow), the last of the four songs that Strauss collected in his Opus 27, composed in 1894.
Like (probably) most of the audience, I experienced my “first contact” with Rouvali on this occasion in the Davies podium. There is no question that he has established a solid command of Strauss’ music. One might almost have called this program “From the End to the Beginning.” That said, the performance left me curious as to how Rouvali approaches other composers, both before and after Strauss!
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