Saturday Matinee

Updated: July 13, 2008

Stefan Jackiw, a young hot violinist and a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony. And by hot I mean “buzzworthy”. Not necessarily “good-looking”. Of course not.

It didn’t even cross my mind to worry about bringing an IT startup techie college friend and symphony neophyte to an evening of Bach, Mendelssohn, and Mussorgsky at the San Francisco Symphony. Although the three pieces on the program were written before the year 1900, certain pieces have the ability to transcend time and to sound freshly current. I’ve talked about masterpieces before on this blog, and what it means for something to be classified in the level of “legendary”. Timelessness has to be a big factor in defining a masterpiece, and no matter when it was written, who can resist the seduction of a sweeping, thoughtfully-detailed musical performance?

The San Francisco Symphony looked sharp in their crisp white ice-cream-man “Summer in the City” series uniform, with associate conductor James Gaffigan on the podium. It’s a delight to see him lead with ease and confidence, bringing out details such as emphasis on a second violin counterpoint in the Bach piece, or the soaring melody in the cellos in the Mendelssohn violin concerto. I find myself looking forward to concerts with Gaffigan standing in front, and seeing what he has in store for the night.

Bach is a Baroque (i.e. very old) composer that is known for his technical and intellectual and not particularly external emotional style, characteristic of the Baroque period. In fact, my mom finds Bach very boring, as his pieces tend to be more cerebral rather than expressive. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in d Minor, orchestrated by Stokowski, seems to be an exception, filled with angst, urgency, and fire. The uninhibited timing in its opening call to listen up foretells of the improvisational madness that follows, going off into tangents off of the main theme. By definition, the fugue centers around a theme. A conversation ensues, with the violins talking, and the winds responding and the cellos chiming in. The contrast between the voices added interest, and the secondary melodies were featured lovingly. The strings have never sounded more lush nor more unified.

Bach’s Toccata and Fugue, as interpreted by Disney

The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e Minor followed, featuring soloist Stefan Jackiw. In a string of young soloists that the SF Symphony has featured in the last few times I’ve seen the symphony, he was hands down my favorite out of the bunch. Being such a dramatic piece, there is always temptation of being overindulgent in its gut-wrenching drama, yet Jackiw successfully presented a clean yet deeply emotional performance. There were no extra bells or whistles, just a dazzling purity that left me quietly moved. His playing belied an underlying intelligence in his highly detailed performance. A lightning fast passage was never a passage without purpose; Jackiw took the time to emphasize certain notes instead of barreling through them. Vibrato was gently added to the end of a long sustained note. Quieter moments were savored. He let the melancholy music speak for itself, and played with a maturity beyond his age. It was absolutely astounding, and a very impressive debut with the San Francisco Symphony.

Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition closed the program. This piece was written to honor the passing of an artist friend, Victor Hartmann. Based on Hartmann’s paintings and orchestrated by Maurice Ravel, Exhibition is comprised of a series of short sketches, as illustrative as the paintings that inspired them. There is nothing cryptic about these musical sketches, which are as colorfully descriptive as a bright Georgia O’Keefe painting. The piece opens with “Promenade” which presents the grandiose theme that reappears in multiple forms throughout the work. A picture of cattle (“Bydlo”) is represented by the lower strings playing a lumbering melody. In the “Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells” (a costume design for a ballet) a playful harp and flute play a light and flirty tune. In “The Great Gate of Kiev”, the theme reappears in its full glory, with each note of the melody presented to the audience on a platter, accented for emphasis with a beat of the timpani, in case we couldn’t hear it. Subtlety is not a theme here, but bright clarity, however simple or one-note, is a refreshing change from complex uncertainty. This piece featured some standout soloists – on trumpet, Bill Williams (acting principal) played with a haunting croon uncharacteristic of a classic brassy trumpet sound. A lone uncredited saxophone played with a sultry sexiness of a smoky underground French cafe, which left me wondering why the saxophone isn’t utilized more often in a symphony orchestra. In all, the Mussorgsky was played with an expansive generosity of spirit.

Hartmann’s painting of the Great Gate of Kiev. From Wikipedia

This night at the symphony proved to me how classics can still sound vividly contemporary. To me, a night like this holds the key to marketing to younger audiences. Gimmicks aside, great music will always be great music that everyone can enjoy and come back for more. Thanks to an oustanding orchestra and a highly skilled conductor, it was an amazing night at the symphony, as refreshing as the cool summer breezes that flit around the symphony hall.