Randall Goosby’s Engaging Debut Recital

Last night in Davies Symphony Hall the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) presented the second of the four concerts scheduled for the new Spotlight Series. Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen launched this series to complement the Great Performers Series by providing a platform devoted entirely to debut performances. Last night’s debut artist was violinist Randall Goosby, performing with piano accompanist Zhu Wang.

Cover of Randall Goosby’s debut album (courtesy of Universal Music Group)

In June of last year, Decca released Goosby’s debut album, entitled Roots; and three of the selections on that album were performed last night. The first two works on the program were Antonín Dvořák’s Opus 100 sonatina in G major, completed in 1893, and a three-movement suite composed by William Grant Still in 1943. Goosby’s first encore, Florence Price’s “Adoration,” was also taken from his Roots album.

The program concluded with Edvard Grieg’s Opus 45 (third) violin sonata, completed in 1887. Goosby’s second encore was a solo performance of “Louisiana Blues Strut: A Cakewalk,” composed by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson in 2002. Perkinson was represented on Roots with his three-movement suite Blue/s Forms, also composed for solo violin. However, I had first written about “Louisiana Blues Strut” in May of 2021, when The Atterbury House Sessions had presented a streamed recital by violinist Augustin Hadelich, last seen here in the series of.SFS concerts presented in May and June of last year. The Attebury program that Hadelich prepared included both Blue/s Forms and the “Louisiana Blues Strut;” and “Louisiana Blues Strut” was his SFS encore.

Goosby provided a verbal introduction to each of his selections, including his encores. The content was clear and informative, suggesting that Goosby had put as much thought into what he had to say as he brought to what he had to play. (This sets him apart from artists who feel obliged to introduce a piece of music and then do little more that gush with enthusiasm.) I was also struck by his decision to frame his program with two late nineteenth-century works composed within five years of each other. Dvořák’s sonatina was composed while he was living in the United States and reflects at least a few American influences, while the Grieg sonata draws upon Grieg’s Norwegian sources.

Personally, I find the Dvořák sonatina particularly amusing for its opening theme, which seems to show the composer reflecting on the tune for the folk ballad “Oh My Darling, Clementine.” However, Dvořák gave the tune a bouncier rhythm than the one delivered by folk singers. Ironically, that rhythm was picked up by the title character in the Huckleberry Hound cartoons, suggesting that there was an informed musician working with cartoonists William Hanna and Joseph Barbera!

It is also worth noting that the diversity on the Roots album is even wider than what Goosby had prepared for this recital program. Last night’s performance reminded me of the breadth of Goosby’s interests and skills. However, it also left me with a strong urge to revisit his debut recording, as well as more than a little curiosity as to where his repertoire will next venture.