I see that this is exactly the same date on which I wrote my month-by-month account of memorable performances in 2022. I suppose that says something about my “holiday spirit” dispositions! Whatever the case may be, December 25 is almost always a quiet day in the Smoliar household; and that quietude is just what I need to collect my memories of listening experiences over the course of the twelve months of this year. Here, then, are the month-by-month “mileposts” for this year’s “journeys of discovery.”
January: Elim Chan debuts as San Francisco Symphony (SFS) conductor. In addition to affording an encounter with a conductor for the first time, this program began right off the bat with a world premiere selection. This was Elizabeth Ogonek’s “Moondog,” composed with the support of an SFS commission. This was the second time the composer made it on my end-of-year list, following up on “Sleep & Remembrance,” which was the March selection on my 2022 list. Ogonek seems to have a preference for textures over themes, and Chan knew exactly how to handle that preference in her conducting. For the record (as they say), she was just as comfortable with themes when SFS accompanied violinist James Ehnes in his performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Opus 63 (second) violin concerto in G minor!
February: Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts SFS program of Samuel Adams and Anton Bruckner. This time the debut was by the soloist: pianist Conor Hanick performing the world premiere of “No Such Spring,” composed by Samuel Adams on an SFS commission. This music clearly was closer in spirit to Igor Stravinsky’s music for the ballet “The Rite of Spring,” rather than any Bruckner symphony. However, Salonen’s leadership made a perfectly good case for a “side-by-side” account of these two composers.
March: One Found Sound (OFS) launches its Mells Project. At the end of its tenth season, this orchestra that performs without a conductor, presented the world premiere of Herbert Franklin Mells’ first symphony in D minor. That marked the beginning of a five-year project that will include the preparation, performance, and recording of Mells’s large symphonic works written between 1938 and 1944. This is an ambitious undertaking; but, given that OFS has now been around for over a decade, there is every reason to believe that the goals of this project will be fulfilled.
April: A survey of music composed by David Conte. This was a Faculty Artist Series recital presented by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The program included the premiere performance of Two Winter Scenes. Another recent work, completed last year, was a four-movement partita for marimba and piano. Finally, Magen Solomon led her San Francisco Choral Artists ensemble in a performance of “Charm Me Asleep.”
May: Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem returns to SFS.: This is a major undertaking for large orchestra, chamber orchestra, three vocal soloists, a boys chorus, and a full mixed chorus. Conductor Philippe Jordan took charge of all of these resources. The visiting soloists were soprano Jennifer Holloway, tenor Ian Bostridge, and baritone Brian Mulligan.
June: Igor Levit performs Ferruccio Busoni’s piano concerto. Pianist Igor Levit prepared for four programs to be presented in his capacity as SFS Artist-in-Residence. One of those programs consisted entirely of Ferruccio Busoni’s Opus 39 piano concerto, which was receiving its first SFS performances. The work is a “monster” undertaking, requiring a full orchestra and a male chorus for the final movement. This was an offering of “extreme virtuosity,” which is very seldom encountered.
July: Joshua Weilerstein returns as SFS conductor. When this conductor made his SFS debut, his program juxtaposed and contrasted Czech composers Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů. For his return he coupled Dvořák with another Czech, Pavel Haas. The concerto selection was Jean Sibelius’ Opus 47 violin concerto in D minor with Alexei Kenney making his SFS debut as soloist.
August: Parker Van Ostrand’s Recital Series performance for the San Francisco International Piano Festival.: This is a pianist that has built up a highly diverse repertoire. However, in the midst of all of that diversity, Franz Liszt has been given pride of place. That pride was given its due in a performance of the B minor piano sonata. In addition to the many other “usual suspects” on the program, Ostrand played, as his encore, the “Concert Paraphrase on Mozart’s Turkish March,” composed by Arcadi Volodos (which has been an encore favorite of Yuja Wang).
September: Opening night of the new SFS season. Opening night audiences in Davies are usually placated with a program filled with familiar favorites. Salonen decided that he wanted to be more imaginative. His program included the first San Francisco performance of Anders Hillborg’s “Rap Notes.” This may well have been the craziest undertaking of the year, presenting three vocal soloists: hip-hop artist Kev Choice, freestyle artist Anthony Veneziale, and soprano Hila Plitmann. The first two are clearly “non-standard;” and Plitmann’s performance consisted of singing a single phrase for the Queen of the Night in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute over and over again. This was a show in which the “fun factor” was ramped up to eleven!
October: Prism Percussion. SFS may have received much of this year’s attention. The alternatives may be few, but they are memorable. This is particularly the case for the Prism Percussion duo of Divesh Karamchandani and Elizabeth Hall. As in the past, they performed their recital on the top floor of the McRoskey Mattress Company building. On this particular occasion, they were joined by a third percussionist, Mika Nakamura; and the composer of the final selection, Nicholas Pavkovic, accompanied them at his keyboard.
November: Omar. Tickets for this opera about Omar ibn Said, composed by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, were in high demand for all performances. The title character is an Islamic scholar that was seized and taken from his country eventually to be auctioned as a slave. For all of that darkness, however, the narrative dwells on Omar’s personal power of faith and his impact on his second master. Thus, the plot ends on a positive note in which master and slave equally accept and pursue the need to know more about each other.
December: SFS Chamber Music. As a relief from the abundance of “pops” offerings, SFS scheduled one of its chamber music recitals for the middle of this month. The program was framed by two piano quartets (violin, viola, cello, and piano). The first of these was Mozart’s K. 478 in G minor, and the program concluded with Johannes Brahms’ Opus 26 in A major. The program also included a quintet for oboe and strings by Arnold Bax. I can think of no better alternative to fretting over holiday related shopping and visiting!
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