Yesterday Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) announced that he is withdrawing from all engagements as of June 17 and until September 3. He will be undergoing a cardiac procedure, which is scheduled to take place in Cleveland. That means that he will conduct the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) in only one of this month’s series of subscription concerts. Here, then, is an updated summary of the final SFS programs to be presented this season at Davies Symphony Hall:
June 6–8: These are the concerts that were announced around the middle of last month concerning the SFS debut of American conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong and the appearance of pianist David Fray in place of Nikolai Luganski.
June 13–16: This will be MTT’s one appearance on the Davies podium. The program will be devoted entirely to Gustav Mahler’s ninth symphony in D major. There will be four performances, at 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 13, Friday, June 14, and Saturday, June 15, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 16. There will be an Inside Music talk given by Peter Grunberg that will begin one hour before the performance. Doors to the Davies lobbies open fifteen minutes before the talk begins.
Ticket prices range from $35 to $159. They may be purchased online through the event page for this program on the SFS Web site, by calling 415-864-6000, or by visiting the Davies Box Office, whose entrance is on the south side of Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. Flash must be enabled for online ticket purchases. The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and two hours prior to Sunday performances.
June 20–22: Conductor Joshua Gersen will replace MTT to conduct the San Francisco premiere of Steve Reich’s “Music for Ensemble and Orchestra,” which was co-commissioned by SFS. The concerto soloist will still be Yefim Bronfman performing Sergei Prokofiev’s Opus 16 (second) piano concerto in G minor. However, the opening selection, MTT’s “Street Song,” scored for symphonic brass, will be replaced by the version of Arvo Pärt’s “Fratres” scored for strings and percussion. The program will conclude with the symphonic “Polovtsian Dances,” which conclude the second act of Alexander Borodin’s four-act opera Prince Igor.
There will be three performances, at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 20, and at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 21, and Saturday, June 22. The Inside Music talk will again be given by Peter Grunberg, beginning one hour before the performance. Doors to the Davies lobbies open fifteen minutes before the talk begins. Ticket prices range from $35 to $156.
June 27, 29, and 30: The final program of the season, which will feature a semi-staged production of Maurice Ravel’s one-act opera “L’enfant et les sortilèges” (the child and the magic spells), will be led by British conductor Martyn Brabbins. The staging will be by the partnership of director James Bonas with animator Grégoire Pont, and it will be structured around advanced projection techniques. Brabbins conducted the premiere performance of this production when it was performed in 2012 at the Opéra National de Lyon.
The first half of the program will present Ravel in “partnership” with two of his contemporaries, Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy. The Ravel selection will be “Le jardin féerique” (the fairy garden), the final movement of his suite of “pièces enfantines” (children’s pieces) Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose). Fauré will be represented by the final movement (Allegro molto) of his Opus 15 (first) piano quartet in C minor. The Debussy selections will include excerpts from his Children’s Corner suite, “La plus que lente” (as slow as possible), originally written for solo piano and subsequently transcribed for strings, and one of his final compositions, the song “Noël des enfants qui n'ont plus de maison” (Christmas carol for homeless children).
There will be three performances of this program, at 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 27, and Saturday, June 29, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 30. An Inside Music talk has not been announced. Ticket prices range from $35 to $156.
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