Eschenbach conducts Schumann and Zemlinsky with the San Francisco Symphony—and an Appreciation of Zemlinsky, by Steven Kruger
The San Francisco Symphony
Davies Hall, San Francisco
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Christoph Eschenbach, Conductor
Christine Schafer, Soprano
James Johnson, Bass-Baritone
Schumann, Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Opus 120 (1841)
Zemlinsky, "Lyric" Symphony, Opus 18 (1924)
The San Francisco Symphony gave two performances last Saturday night--one it may have been unhappy with--and one it may have been unhappy about.
This somewhat unusual state of affairs began with an annoucement from the stage that the concert was being delayed. I had wondered at the half empty hall, something you don't normally see in San Francisco. Dysfunction on the Golden Gate Bridge, as it turned out. A number of players were stuck and much of the audience was still in transit. Some twenty minutes later, after a number of stragglers had appeared, there was a rustle onstage, and the tall figure of Associate Concertmaster Nadya Tichman was received to her empty chair with considerable ribbing and fanfare. Stagehands quickly "disappeared" a chair or two at the perifery of the violins, and Maestro Eschenbach was welcomed to what would still be considered a large orchestra for Schumann. Half the audience clearly had not been so persistent in arriving.






