Interchanging Idioms

Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) will release a hybrid SACD recording of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Overture No. 3 from Leonore on the Orchestra’s SFS Media label June 12. A pre-release of the album is now available exclusively on the iTunes Store. The San Francisco Symphony’s e-store is currently accepting pre-sale orders for a hybrid SACD version at sfsymphony.org/store , and on May 16 the SACD will become available at the Symphony Store in Davies Symphony Hall. The national retail release for the recording, both on CD and digitally, will be June 12. The release at the Symphony Store coincides with MTT and the Orchestra’s concerts of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Pastoral, taking place May 16-19 at Davies Symphony Hall. All of the music on the new recording was captured live in concerts held at Davies Symphony Hall. Symphony No. 7 was recorded in concerts held October 7-9, 2010 and Overture No. 3 from Leonore was recorded September 14...

ON SFS MEDIA MARCH 13, 2012 Exclusive pre-release download from iTunes available February 15 Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) will release a hybrid SACD recording of works by John Adams in conjunction with its month-long American Mavericks Festival in March 2012. Self-produced on the Orchestra’s SFS Media label, the recording features the SFS commission Harmonielehre and Short Ride in a Fast Machine , a work commissioned by MTT. The recording will be available for pre-release by download exclusively from Apple’s iTunes Music Store beginning February 15, the composer’s birthday. The San Francisco Symphony’s e-store is currently accepting pre-sale orders for the Adams recording at sfsymphony.org/store and on February 15 it will become available at the Symphony Store in Davies Symphony Hall. National and international retail release for the recording will be March 13. On March 15, MTT leads the SFS in world premiere of Absolute Jest , a new work by Ada...

CONDUCTOR MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS FEATURED IN TWO PBS GREAT PERFORMANCES BROADCASTS TO AIR NATIONALLY ON MARCH 29 & 30 Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, will be featured in two new Great Performances presentations in March to be broadcast nationally on PBS. Both programs are productions of THIRTEEN for WNET , one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers. On Thursday, March 29 Great Performances will present The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater at 8:00PM (check local listings). Recorded in April 2011 at the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center in Miami Beach , the performance of The Thomashefskys is written and hosted by Michael Tilson Thomas and stars Judy Blazer as Bessie Thomashefsky and Shuler Hensley as Boris Thomashefsky. It also features Ronit Widmann-Levy and Eugene Brancoveanu and the New World Symphony, and is d...

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR THREE WORLD PREMIERES IN 2013: NOLAN GASSER/CAREY HARRISON’S THE SECRET GARDEN (MARCH 2013) MARK ADAMO’S THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE (JUNE–JULY 2013) TOBIAS PICKER/J.D. McCLATCHY’S DOLORES CLAIBORNE (SEPTEMBER 2013) San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley today announced the Company’s 2012–13 repertory season, guest artists and performance schedule, in addition to three world premiere commissions slated for 2013 by Nolan Gasser and Carey Harrison ( The Secret Garden ), Mark Adamo ( The Gospel of Mary Magdalene ), and Tobias Picker and J.D. McClatchy (Dolores Claiborne). Gockley also announced the extension of his contract to lead San Francisco Opera through the 2015–16 Season along with the extension of contracts for the artistic leadership team of Music Director Nicola Luisotti, Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers and Resident Conductor Giuseppe Finzi. The Company’s 90th season...

Goldman’s decade of accomplishments includes Centennial season celebration, completion of Second Century campaign, Keeping Score multimedia project, 10-year Gustav Mahler recording project and expansion of education programs ohn D. Goldman, President of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) since 2001, has announced he will step down in October 2012, completing eleven years of distinguished accomplishments central to raising the artistic profile, expanding education programs, and strengthening the use of media and technology at the 100-year-old arts institution. Sakurako Fisher has been named President-Elect and will be officially elected to the office of President at the Board of Governors’ Annual Meeting on October 27, 2012. Upon the end of his term, John Goldman will remain a member of the SFS Board of Governors. John D. Goldman’s many accomplishments in 10 years to date as Board President include the launch and completion of the Symphony’s Second Century campaign to support the Orche...

Susan Graham – “America’s favorite mezzo” ( Gramophone ) – has just scored another major triumph, this time in the title role of Handel’s Xerxes at San Francisco Opera. As Mercury News reports, “hers was a commanding performance,” with Nicholas Hytner’s revival of the Olivier Award-winning staging already looking to be “the hit of the season.” The San Francisco Chronicle concurs: “It only took about five minutes on Sunday afternoon for the San Francisco Opera’s first production of Handel’s Xerxes to establish itself as a genuine triumph. …For vocal allure, theatrical dexterity, and visual inventiveness, this Xerxes proved to be a complete delight from beginning to end.” As for the Grammy Award-winning mezzo herself, “In the title role, Graham added to her long catalog of San Francisco successes with a performance of vocal majesty and vigor – her delivery of Xerxes’ big Act II showpiece aria was a tour de force – as well as a comic gift that has rarely been called into evidence...

First of three live events presented as part of the San Francisco Symphony’s Centennial Season The San Francisco Symphony (SFS) will host the first event in its new American Orchestra Forum series this Sunday with a public forum titled “Talking About Community” from 2PM to 5PM at Davies Symphony Hall. Full schedule follows. This event is the first of three such public discussions hosted by the San Francisco Symphony that instigate a season-long, nationwide dialogue on the 21st century American orchestra, in conjunction with the visits of six other major American orchestras during its Centennial 2011-12 season. San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert are the keynote speakers for two future free events during the season. The San Francisco Symphony has also launched an American Orchestra Forum website at http://www.symphonyforum.org, as a hub for the ongoing conversation. Over the course of the year, ...

San Francisco Academy Orchestra Music Director Andrei Gorbatenko announced the orchestra's 2011-2012 season today, which will open on October 28th with Grammy(r) winning conductor Kent Nagano in a gala performance celebrating composer Alden Gilchrist's 60-year tenure as music director of San Francisco's historic Calvary Presbyterian Church. The event, hosted by Calvary and made possible by a generous grant from the Calvary Foundation, will include many of Gilchrist's long-term colleagues and feature sacred music from Monteverdi to Gilchrist's award-winning Cantata of 1954. The season will also include the third annual Sing-it-Yourself Messiah with a preparatory workshop the day before, the Chamber Music Showcase that annually raises funds for local humanitarian causes, and concerti featuring guest soloists Dan Carlson, Joy Fellows, and Amos Yang. This season also marks the launch of Academy Live, an HD video series featuring select San Francisco Academy Orchestra ...

Michael Tilson Thomas, Gustavo Dudamel, and Alan Gilbert are keynote speakers in free public events in Davies Symphony Hall preceding concerts during American Orchestra Series in SF Symphony’s 2011-12 Centennial Season The San Francisco Symphony (SFS) today announced that it will host a season-long, nationwide dialogue on the 21st century American orchestra, in conjunction with the visits of six other major American orchestras during its Centennial 2011-12 season. San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, and New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert are the keynote speakers for three free events in Davies Symphony Hall during the season. The San Francisco Symphony has also launched an American Orchestra Forum website at www.symphonyforum.org , as a hub for the ongoing conversation, with perspectives from leaders in and outside the orchestra world, as well as the general public, via blogs, podca...

Media-rich site features video, archival audio and rarely seen photos and documents from the San Francisco Symphony’s first 100 years INTERACTIVE HISTORY TIMELINE AT SFSYMPHONY.ORG/TIMELINE In the second week of its celebratory 100th season, the San Francisco Symphony has launched a web-based interactive history timeline at sfsymphony.org/timeline, where Symphony and history fans can explore the Orchestra's major milestones and accomplishments. This media-rich site features video excerpts from the new documentary San Francisco Symphony at 100 , premiering on KQED 9 Public TV Friday,September 16 at 9 pm and airing in repeat broadcasts throughout the month, archival audio recordings, short excerpts from the new book Music for a City, Music for the World by Larry Rothe, and rarely seen photos and documents from the San Francisco Symphony’s archives. Together these elements tell the story of the birth, growth and success of one of the country’s top orchestras and its place in San F...

Thomas Hampson begins his 2011-12 season at San Francisco Opera, where he will create the role of Rick Rescorla in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’s Heart of a Soldier (seven performances, Sept 10–30). Based on the 2002 book by James B. Stewart, the new opera, featuring a libretto by Donna DiNovelli and directed by Francesca Zambello, commemorates the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Heart of a Soldier marks the beginning of an extraordinary new season for Hampson that includes two role debuts at Zurich Opera – Iago in Verdi’s Otello (Oct 20 – Nov 27) and the title role in Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler (June 16 – July 5) – and an important company role debut, as Verdi’s Macbeth , at New York’s Metropolitan Opera (March 15 – April 9); performances with major orchestras in Europe and the U.S., including Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel (Jan 13–15); and several recitals on both continents, including a “S...

San Francisco Opera presents the world premiere of Heart of a Soldier , a new opera by composer Christopher Theofanidis with a libretto by Donna Di Novelli. Commissioned by San Francisco Opera in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks, Heart of a Soldier is based on the critically acclaimed non-fiction book of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart and the life stories of Susan Rescorla, Rick Rescorla and Daniel J. Hill. The cast features baritone Thomas Hampson, tenor William Burden and soprano Melody Moore. Heart of a Soldier will premiere on Saturday, September 10, 2011—the eve of the tenth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks—as part of the Company’s 2011–12 repertory season. Six additional performances will be presented through September 30 at the War Memorial Opera House. Francesca Zambello will direct this world premiere production and San Francisco Opera Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Su...

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony’s DVD Keeping Score: Mahler – Origins and Legacy has been awarded the most prestigious German recording award, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik , by the German Record Critics' Award Association. The winning DVD includes a two-hour documentary on composer Gustav Mahler, hosted by Tilson Thomas, San Francisco Symphony Music Director, and two SF Symphony concert performance programs. Keeping Score: Mahler won the award in the DVD Classical: Concerts and Documentaries category. The prize was one of 12 Annual Awards by the jury this year. The first part of the documentary, Origins , explores Mahler’s early life and music, and Legacy examines his creative growth over the course of his career. The first concert features a complete performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Titan, and the second, A Mahler Journey , traces the origins and influences of his music in a variety of orchestral and vocal works. The documentaries are a...

Ives’ A Concord Symphony , orchestrated by Henry Brant, Copland’s Organ Symphony featuring Paul Jacobs and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Piano Concerto No. 4 with Emanuel Ax Following the conclusion of their seven Grammy Award-winning Mahler recording cycle, Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony will release two new hybrid SACD recordings on February 8, 2011. The recordings will be available for pre-release by download exclusively from Apple’s iTunes Music Store beginning February 1. To be released by SFS Media on February 8 are recordings of Charles Ives’ A Concord Symphony , orchestrated by Henry Brant, and Copland’s Organ Symphony , with soloist Paul Jacobs, a 2011 Grammy Award nominee. A recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is paired with Piano Concerto No. 4 with soloist Emanuel Ax. All material was captured live in concerts held at Davies Symphony Hall. A Concord Symphony was recorded February 3-6, 2010; Copland’s Organ Symphony on Sep...

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley today revealed repertory plans, casting and productions for the 2011–12 Season, the Company’s 89th season. Nine operas will be presented: Heart of a Soldier , a world premiere commissioned on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks; three Company repertory premieres of Lucrezia Borgia, Xerxes and Nixon in China ; two new San Francisco Opera production premieres— Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute ; a new co-production of Attila with Teatro alla Scala; and Turandot and Carmen , revivals of two classic productions popular with San Francisco audiences. Seventy-four opera performances will be presented at the War Memorial Opera House beginning Friday, September 9 with a gala opening of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot . Throughout the season, San Francisco Opera will present some of the world’s leading singers including Renée Fleming, Francesco Meli and Vitalij Kowaljow ( Lucrezia Borgia ...

Orchestra Celebrates 100th Season with Distinctive Artistic Events and Innovative Education and Media Initiative The San Francisco Symphony will celebrate its Centennial in 2011-12 and today announced highlights for the Orchestra’s milestone year. Presenting an ambitious season of concerts, programs, and events, expanded education programs and Centennial media initiatives, the Orchestra’s 100th season celebrates the American orchestra and its vibrant role within its community as an artistic leader and civic institution. Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and the SF Symphony will break new ground with a two-week American Mavericks Festival both in San Francisco and touring the country; an unprecedented presentation of the most distinguished major American orchestras in one series, in one season; unique concerts and heritage events celebrating the period of the Symphony’s founding; artist and composer residencies featuring world premiere commissions; expanded music education progr...

A true story of military combat, love, friendship and heroism culminating with the devastating terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center San Francisco Opera today announced details of Heart of a Soldier , a new opera by composer Christopher Theofanidis with a libretto by Donna DiNovelli, starring baritone Thomas Hampson, tenor William Burden and soprano Melody Moore. Commissioned by San Francisco Opera, Heart of a Soldier is based on the critically acclaimed non-fiction book of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart and the life stories of Susan Rescorla, Rick Rescorla and Daniel J. Hill. The announcement was made at a press conference by San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and members of the opera’s creative team, including Christopher Theofanidis, Donna DiNovelli, Patrick Summers, Francesca Zambello, James B. Stewart and Susan Rescorla. Heart of a Soldier will premiere on Saturday, September 10, 2011—the eve of the tenth anniversa...

Hot off her lauded role debut in San Francisco as Puccini’s quintessential New World heroine, soprano Deborah Voigt will once again portray the pistol-packing, poker-playing barmaid Minnie, this time in the Metropolitan Opera’s centenary staging of La fanciulla del West ( The Girl of the Golden West ). The nine performances (Dec 6 – Jan 8) mark Voigt’s company debut as Minnie. The San Francisco Chronicle enthused over the soprano’s performance in San Francisco Opera’s production of the Gold Rush extravaganza this summer: “Voigt, singing Minnie for the first time, brought theatrical vibrancy and considerable personal charm to the role – it was no stretch to imagine an entire troop of miners eating out of her hand.” Puccini described the original play of The Girl of the Golden West as “a drama of love against a dark and vast background of primitive characters and untrammeled nature.” He was inspired to write by the story and its American heroine – an archetypal street-savvy girl w...

Adams to lead Orchestra in semi-staged production of his El Niño oratorio December 2-4 Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Orchestra in Adams’ Harmonielehr e December 8-11, to be recorded for release on SFS Media For two weeks, December 2-12, 2010, the San Francisco Symphony’s Project San Francisco shines the spotlight on the work of renowned American composer and Bay Area resident John Adams, building on the more than 30 year relationship between the composer and the SFS. In the two-week collaboration, the Orchestra will perform two of John Adams’ San Francisco Symphony (SFS) commissions, El Niño and Harmonielehre ; an all-Adams chamber music concert; and present a post-concert Off the Podium, Q&A session with the artists. The performances of Harmonielehre will be recorded for future release on the Orchestra’s in-house label SFS Media. On December 2-4 Adams will conduct the Orchestra in his San Francisco Symphony commission El Niño , a bilingual English and Spanish retelling ...

Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony(SFS) plan to release a limited edition 22 LP set of their seven-time Grammy® award-winning Mahler Recording Project on SFS Media. The records will be manufactured on 180G virgin vinyl and have an estimated delivery date of April 2011. The box set includes an exclusive bonus 45 rpm recording of Susan Graham and MTT performing the piano version of the Rückert-Lieder from a private session on stage at Davies Symphony Hall not available separately. Excerpts of footage from this session will also be included in Season 3 of the SFS’s national PBS television series, Keeping Score , dedicated to the music of Mahler and airing in spring 2011. The Mahler cycle will be sold on vinyl in this 1,000 copy limited edition set provided a sufficient number of pre-orders are secured by the end of the year. The complete Mahler Project vinyl box set retails for $749 including shipping and orders are now being taken at the San Fra...