Van Zweden Returns with Beethoven Coupling

Conductor Jaap van Zweden (photograph by Simon van Boxtel, courtesy of the San Francisco Symphony)

Once again, conductor Jaap van Zweden returned to Davies Symphony Hall. This time he prepared a program of two symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven separated by a decade. The first of these tends to receive relatively little attention (other than “marathon” events covering all nine of the symphonies). This was Opus 36, the second symphony in D major, composed in 1802. Ten years later Beethoven was up to his Opus 92 (seventh) symphony in A major, music that is far more familiar to most concert-goers.

As in the past, van Zweden gave his all to both of the selections. From my vantage point it seemed as if the San Francisco Symphony musicians could not have been more attentive to his baton work and the expressiveness he brought to the contrast between these two symphonies. Mind you, it is very likely that a large percentage of the audience had albums of all nine symphonies back at home; and some percentage of that percentage makes regular visits to all of those symphonies with their own listening gear. Nevertheless, van Zweden had his own in-the-moment approach to both symphonies, making it clear that he knew how to establish and maintain all of those listeners’ attention (including the ones with the record collections).

For my part, listening could not have been more engaged. That said, I spent less time watching van Zweden’s baton work and more time watching his results. Having spent more than a little time following the scores of these symphonies while listening to recordings, I seem to have arrived at a point at which I knew exactly where to look for every measure in the score. Van Zweden was clearly in charge, but my eyes were more interested in following the results of his leadership as they manifested from one section of the orchestra to another.

Perhaps that is why I have come to look forward to van Zweden’s visits. He is confident enough to recognize that the music is more about the performers themselves than about the conductor. Yes, the conductor is the “leader;” but van Zweden’s approach to leadership tends to cede the emphasis to the musicians, using his post on the podium to establish the path for that emphasis and let the players follow that course. He could also share his own insights into the factors that established the contrasts emerging from the decade separating the two symphonies. It seemed as if every member of the Symphony had internalized every one of those contrasts and knew exactly how to deliver them to the ears of the attentive listener.