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San Diego Symphony season revealed
Looking at conductors only and unless I am mistaken, it will be the (at least) 3rd season in a row for Edo de Waart, Cristian Macelaru and David Danzmayr, the 2nd season for Markus Stenz , Fabien Gabel and Johannes Debus and the first season for Rafael Payare, Jader Bignamini and maybe Jeffrey Kahane. Given how long in advance you have sometimes to book these conductors, it might not necessarily be foolproof, but the first three names are starting to look more and more like a short list for the position of music director with the second three names still as serious challengers in case the Symphony wants to take its time.— March 28, 2017 4:29 p.m.
The Lord passed by the San Diego Symphony
Let's see: Brahms's Symphony #1 was premiered in 1876 and his symphony #4 was premiered in 1885. Bruckner started writing symphonies in 1863 and his last symphony dates from 1896. Mahler's first symphony dates from 1887 and his last from 1909. Why is it that we always compare Bruckner to Mahler and much less so to Brahms ? I didn't know there was such a thing as the Composer League and I would love to know what objective and measurable criteria make Mahler a 'far greater' composer (although I would submit that there isn't probably such a huge difference between the top 10 and top 20) than Bruckner, but I know that I will get out of my way far more easily to attend a Bruckner symphony than one by Mahler. The Bruckner #8 concert on Saturday was definitely one of the highlights of 2016-2017. Congratulations to the San Diego Symphony.— March 28, 2017 1:28 p.m.
San Diego misses out on conductor
Berlin has already found their new director: Kirill Petrenko. But more interestingly for us, the rumor is that the top names considered for Dallas are Karina Canellakis, James Gaffigan and Joshua Weilerstein, two of which are also on the San Diego Symphony's list (Weilerstein is the next to appear here).— February 11, 2016 11:10 p.m.
San Diego misses out on conductor
It remains to be seen whether all the conductors we will hear (or already heard) this season are of the same caliber (I believe we have another 2 or maybe 3 coming up and one of the past ones wasn't really) but you are right to point out that the Symphony leadership is at least looking in the right direction. The problem is that it is a two-way street and the SDS is hardly the only orchestra looking for a new musical director as the CBSO just demonstrated. If the intent is to ask some of these conductors to come back again in 2016-2017 before making a decision, chances are that the final list will be very short by then.— February 5, 2016 2:42 p.m.
Classical music and mind tricks
May I suggest some possible reasons explaining the low turnout at Jeremy' Denk's Goldberg Variations recital: 1. Week nights (Tuesday) are usually tougher to sell in San Diego than week-end nights. 2. Although he is a wonderful pianist, Jeremy Denk is not really a household name when it comes to playing Bach. I would bet that somebody like Andras Schiff would have drawn a much bigger crowd. 3. Symphony Hall is hardly an ideal place for a piano recital. A more intimate venue (like Conrad Preby's Hall at UCSD and most likely the new hall being built in la Jolla) would have probably been more appealing. And finally the major reason at least as far as I am concerned: The Goldberg Variations are not a piece for piano and work way better IMHO on a harpsichord. I would have rushed to hear somebody like Pierre Hantai or Kenneth Weiss perform them, and I would have killed to hear Mr Denk perform Beethoven or Schubert but I confess to be way less interested in his Bach and especially the GV.— January 29, 2016 2:34 p.m.
Brahms and Berlioz at San Diego Symphony
If I read correctly (wikipedia), Berlioz only asks for 2 trumpets, but adds 2 cornets and 6 (!) trombones. I didn't check how many the SD Symphony had that night. In the '*marche*' that concludes the piece, he asks for 12 (!) harps though and probably rightfully so as the unique harp we heard (or couldn't hear rather) was completely overwhelmed by the rest of the orchestra. Not that there was much space left anyway in the hall to fit many more...— December 18, 2015 3 p.m.
World Cup: French round one, day one.
I tend to agree with Messian and Durufle on this one, but I just wanted to point out that dropping Rameau in favor of the likes of Gounod Bizet Satie etc is probably a rather marginal view of the relative importance of these composers. Not to mention dropping Debussy for your second round. The consensus seems to be more that the three greatest French composers are Rameau, Berlioz and Debussy.— July 18, 2013 3:09 p.m.
Philharmonia
Well they probably have their complete lineup on this picture. Judging from their program in January, I bet they will be no more than 13 or 14 musicians when they come (4/4/2/1/1 plus harpsichord).— November 13, 2012 11:07 a.m.
Guest conductor
The Philharmonia on Thursday evening, Maude Gratton playing Bach, Buxtehude and others on the superb baroque organ at All Souls' Episcopal on Friday and Perrick conducting the SD symphony on Saturday or Sunday, this is starting to look like an interesting week-end...— November 12, 2012 11:19 p.m.
Philharmonia
The picture shows the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra which is obviously a very different ensemble (baroque orchestra, period instruments, gut strings, natural horns etc etc). The good news is that the PBO will also perform in San Diego but on January 12 and also for the LJMS.— November 12, 2012 2:07 p.m.