ArtsSF

It was a night all will recall, dripping with nostalgia and sentiment as the semi-retired MTT returned to conduct Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. With the elderly, ailing podium laureate back, the tributes by the full house were never more pronounced. Yes, a love-in, by any measure. And with not one but two wars raging on the far side of Earth, never were Beethoven’s choral messages of hope, “All men will be brothers,” with the following “Be embraced, ye millions,” more needed….

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The whirlwind known as the Swedish composer Anders Hillborg sprang his world-premiere “MAX” Concerto (No. 2, if you’re keeping count) on the world Oct. 12. It’s a curious piece, just 21 minutes long, in a single movement. By today’s standards, that might be identified as a mini-concerto for piano, offering subsections entitled Toy Piano, Soft Piano, Hard Piano, Ascending Piano, Mists and “Chorales and Echo Chamber,” with quasi-baroque segments. It’s like a salad containing delectable components from all over the…

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In presenting a rare and bold all-contemporary program, the SF Symphony attracted (in addition to a number of empty seats) a noticeably younger clientele, including a tattooed, T-shirted contingent usually encountered at rock concerts. The “sweet and spicy” program led off with the sharp Nordic spice of a world premiere—–a very bold, adventurous “Convergence” violin concerto by the Swede Jesper Nordin, which proved to be a triple-threat achievement involving at least four technicians to control the piece: In addition to…

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