At the end of this month, conductor Gustavo Dudamel will return to the podium of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) for the last November subscription series of concerts. He made his SFS debut in March of 2008 and was last seen in Davies Symphony Hall in April of 2022. The program will follow the usual overture-concerto-symphony format with the first half presenting two compositions, each with its own perspective on Latin American sources. They will be complemented after the intermission by a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Opus 73 (second) symphony in D major.
Jorge Glem playing his cuatro (from the SFS event page for the program being discussed)
The title of the concerto selection is “Odisea,” composed by Gonzalo Grau; and it will be receiving its first SFS performances. Like Dudamel, Grau is Venezuelan; and he has a strong connection to his country’s folkloric roots. He composed his concerto for the cuatro; and, like the charango, which was performed during last night’s New Century Chamber Orchestra program, it is a plucked instrument similar to the guitar. The concerto soloist will be Jorge Glem, making his Orchestral Series Debut. Grau conceived his concerto as a figurative journey from the east to the west of Venezuela.
The “overture” that will precede this concerto will be “Kauyumari.” Gabriela Ortiz composed it for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Dudamel conducted its premiere in 2021. The title is in Huichol, an indigenous language in Mexico. The word itself translates to “blue deer,” an animal that the Huichol people recognize as a spiritual guide. Ortiz’ score will include a traditional Huichol melody, which she had previously used in “Altar de Muertos” (altar of the dead), which she composed in 1997.
Need we say anything about the Brahms symphony? It has been a personal favorite going all the way back to my high school days, and I continue to discover previously overlooked nuances. According to my records, my last encounter with it in Davies was in March of 2018, when it was performed by French conductor François-Xavier Roth making his SFS debut.
This program will be given three performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 24, and Saturday, November 25, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 26. Ticket prices range from $35 to $275. They may be purchased online through a hyperlink to a single SFS Web site, by calling 415-864-6000, or by visiting the Box Office in Davies Symphony Hall, whose entrance is on the south side of Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Box Office is also open only for tickets to the Sunday performance two hours before the concert begins.
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