SFS Announces Second Spotlight Series

This past March in Davies Symphony Hall, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) launched a new addition to programming developed by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. This was called the Spotlight Series, and it was created to consist entirely of debut performances. Given my busy schedule, I was unable to cover all four of the recitals that were presented this past spring, but I came away highly satisfied by the Series’ opening solo performance by pianist Drew Petersen and the third program prepared by Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut accompanied by German pianist Elizabeth Brauss. It is also worth noting that one of the other debut performances was by violinist Randall Goosby, who returned to Davies to perform Florence Price’s D minor (second) violin concerto with Salonen conducting SFS this past September.

Thanks to a source of support, this series is now called the Shenson Spotlight Series. It will get under way next month, again presenting four programs, all of which will begin at 7:30 p.m. Specifics are as follows:

Wednesday, January 18: Sterling Elliott will launch the Series with a program of two major compositions for the cello. He will begin with Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1012 in D major, the last of the composer’s six unaccompanied cello suites. For the second half of the program, Elliott will be joined by pianist Elliot Wuu in a performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 58 (second) cello sonata, also in D major.

Tuesday, January 31: The soloist will be violinist Johan Dalene, First Prize winner at the 2019 Carl Nielsen Competition. He has prepared a program framed by two significant sonatas for violin and piano. His accompanist will be Giorgi Gigashvili. The opening selection will be Edvard Grieg’s Opus 45 (third) sonata in C minor; and the program will conclude with Maurice Ravel’s sonata in G major. The Grieg sonata will be followed by the Arvo Pärt’s version for violin and piano of his “Fratres” composition.

Wednesday, March 22: Pianist Alexander Malofeev has prepared a program of three ambitious solo piano sonatas. The first of these will be the most familiar, the second of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 27 sonatas, composed in C-sharp minor and best known as the “Moonlight” sonata. This will be followed by what is probably the least known of Malofeev’s selections, Mieczysław Weinberg’s Opus 56 (fourth) piano sonata, composed in the key of B minor. The program will then conclude with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Opus 36 (second) sonata in B-flat minor, composed in 1913 and revised in 1931.

Wednesday, May 10: The final program will be another recital for violin and piano. The violinist will be Bomsori, accompanied by Julia Okruashvili. Her only sonata selection will be the one composed late in life by Claude Debussy in the key of G minor. This will be preceded by Henryk Wieniawski’s virtuoso Opus 4, which he entitled “Polonaise de concert.” Wieniawski will also conclude the program with his Opus 20 fantasia based on themes from Charles Gounod’s Faust opera. The “central” works on the program will be Karol Szymanowski’s Opus 28, a coupling of nocturne and tarantella movements, followed by selections from Jean Sibelius’ Opus 79, a set of six pieces for violin and piano.

There is a single price of $45 for each of the recitals. Single tickets may be purchased through the hyperlinks attached to the above dates. As of this writing, there is not a separate Web page for subscribing to all four concerts. However, one can enjoy a subscriber’s discount by selecting those four events through the Compose Your Own Series Web page. Both single tickets and subscriptions may also be purchased by calling the SFS Box Office at 415-864-6000.