Engaging Evening with SFCM Orchestra

Last night at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), the SFCM Orchestra presented the fifth and final program of the current academic year. The ensemble was led by Guest Conductor Mei-Ann Chen, and the opening selection was performed by Assistant Conductor Chih-Yao Chang. The conventional program structure was given an engaging twist. As is frequently the case, the first half of the program concluded with a concerto (Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Opus 18, second, piano concerto in C minor); and the second concluded with a symphony (Robert Schumann’s Opus 120, fourth, in D minor). However, each of these pieces was preceded by an overture, the two of which made for a matching set, of sorts.

The program began with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 62, the “Coriolan Overture,” led by Chang. This was composed in 1807 to introduce Coriolan, the tragic drama written by Heinrich Joseph von Collin in 1804. (The character is the same as that in William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, but Collin’s narrative has its own differences from Shakespeare, including the concluding resolution of the plot.) Beethoven’s overture was complemented after the intermission by Unsuk Chin’s “subito con forza.” The latter reflects the former by echoing the opening gesture of Opus 62; and, during the introduction portion, there are several other references to Beethoven’s score. However, the remainder of the overture is very much in Chin’s own very compelling voice; and the relationship between Chen and her ensemble in presenting this compelling music could not have been better.

Parker van Ostrand performing with Mei-Ann Chen conducting the SFCM Orchestra (screenshot from the livestream)

The soloist for Opus 18 was Parker van Ostrand, winner of the 2022–23 SFCM Piano Concerto Competition. His account of Rachmaninoff was solid, bringing detailed precision to the shaping of his phases, rather than just wallowing in the lush qualities of the composer’s score. Chen brought complementary precision to her orchestra work. The instrumentation for this concerto is particularly rich, and Chen made it a point to allow each new quality of sonorities suitable attention in the foreground. One can appreciate why this is such a significant composition for such a wide variety of conservatory students.

As might be guessed, the audience would not let the soloist leave without an encore. As might be guessed, he turned to the nocturnes of Frédéric Chopin, playing the twentieth in C-sharp minor. (I have lost track of the number of times I have encountered this as an encore!) The audience was duly appeased, but I found the approach to Rachmaninoff far more engaging.

The program concluded with Robert Schumann’s Opus 120, the last of his four symphonies, composed in the key of D minor. Even this late in his life, Schumann was still experimenting with structural form. Opus 120 has the usual four movements, but they are integrated into a unified flow. Chen knew exactly how to negotiate the unfolding of that flow, providing an insightful account of music that too many other conductors tend to treat as “business as usual.”

Taken as a whole, this was one of my more memorable encounters with the SFCM Orchestra, bringing its season to a more-than-satisfying conclusion.