San Francisco Chamber Orchestra Encounter

According to my records, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra (SFCO) dropped off my radar some time after its Holiday Concert at the end of 2018. Prior to that occasion, my wife and I would make regular visits to the performances in Herbst Theatre prepared and led by Music Director Benjamin Simon; and we always came away highly satisfied. Yesterday I learned that the ensemble would be giving a concert at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to revisit them.

Things have changed a lot. Simon has now retired, and Cosette Justo Valdés is Incoming Music Director. During the interim period there have been guest conductors; and last night’s program was led by Jory Fankuchen, whom I know best through his performances with the Chamber Music Society of San Francisco. The program itself recalled the adventurous spirit that Simon tended to bring to his programming.

The most familiar work filled the second half of the program, Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 90 (fourth) symphony in A major, known as the “Italian.” The first half began with a “first encounter” with William Grant Still’s Danzas de Panama suite for string orchestra. This was followed by Frank Martin’s three movement concerto scored for seven wind instruments, timpani, percussion, and string orchestra. I had previously encountered that concerto when One Found Sound (OFS) performed it. Ironically, that performance also took place at the end of 2018!

The St. Mark’s altar was a bit crowded in accommodating the full resources for the Mendelssohn symphony. Nevertheless, all of the players were consistently focused on Fankuchen and his approaches to shaping one of that composer’s sunniest undertakings. By the time the ensemble had advanced to the vigorous saltarello of the final movement, Fankuchen had dialed the energy level up to eleven, making for a rousing experience met by a rousing reception from the audience immediately after the final measures of the coda.

In composing his concerto, Martin was clearly interested in exploring a wide range of sonorities. The seven instruments were flute (Tod Brody), oboe (Peter Lemberg), clarinet (Peter Josheff), bassoon (Karla Ekholm), horn (Katie Dennis), trumpet (Owen Miyoshi), and trombone (Don Benham). The composer clearly put considerable thought into how these instruments could both blend and play off each other, and Fankuchen’s direction allowed the attentive listener to appreciate just how many different rhetorical qualities could emerge from those combinations. This is music that definitely deserves to be granted more listening opportunities, and I was delighted to see the torch passed from OFS to SFCO.

My encounters with Still’s orchestral works have been very modest, particularly when compared with his chamber music (championed by the Catalyst Quartet’s programs for San Francisco Performances) and piano music (introduced to me by Lara Downes). Still himself was interested in the diversity of cultures and the music that distinguished them. HIs Panama suite is actually the result of a partnership with an ethnomusicologist, Elisabeth Waldo. The suite itself was both lively and engaging, and Fankuchen’s leadership made for a thoroughly satisfying “first contact” experience.

Hopefully, I shall not have to wait a few years before getting back into giving more regular attention to SFCO.