Main Stage Concerts

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2012–2013 Main Stage Concert 4:
A Night at the Opera

Benjamin Simon, conductor
Gabriela Lena Frank, narrator
San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows, vocals [SFCO's 2012–2013 Debut Artists]

Samuel Barber: A Hand of Bridge, Op. 35
Gabriela Lena Frank & Nilo Cruz: Journey of the Shadow [SFCO Commission & World Premiere]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Bastien und Bastienne, K. 50

We close our season with a program of musical stories, spoken and sung, featuring five rising opera stars from the San Francisco Opera Center's famed Adler Fellows program.

Barber’s brilliant Hand of Bridge—with libretto by composer Gian Carlo Menotti—is a nine-minute production featuring two married couples playing a hand of bridge and singing about troubles that lie just beneath the surface. Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne was written at the tender age of twelve, and it is an equally brilliant, one-act comic masterpiece that displays Mozart’s precocity in a series of charming scenes and songs.

In between, we are proud to present a world premiere from our award-winning Composer in Residence Gabriela Lena Frank, in collaboration with Pulitzer-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Frank and Cruz have crafted an exciting new work for narrator and chamber orchestra.

Apr. 26 • Fri. 8:00pm • San Francisco
Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave.

Apr. 27 • Sat. 8:00pm • Palo Alto
First Palo Alto United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave.

Apr. 28 • Sun. 3:00pm • Berkeley
First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way

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2012–2013 Main Stage Concert 3:
Dance Suite

Benjamin Simon, conductor
Ben Pila, guitar
Robin Sharp, violin

Johann Sebastian Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
Michael Gilbertson: Concerto for Guitar & String Orchestra [SFCO Commission & World Premiere]
John Corigliano: Voyage for Solo Violin & String Orchestra
Edvard Grieg: Holberg Suite

Featuring the fabulous strings of the SFCO, this program opens with a suite of dances by the Baroque master J.S. Bach, followed by the world premiere of a new guitar concerto from rising young composer Michael Gilbertson, whose Concertino for Oboe and Strings was a big hit on the Orchestra’s 2008–2009 season. Our concertmaster Robin Sharp takes center stage to perform a miniature masterpiece by one of this country’s most influential contemporary composers, Pulitzer-Prize winner John Corigliano, and we end this program with the ever-popular Holberg Suite from the great Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

Feb. 22 • Fri. 8:00pm • San Francisco
Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave.

Feb. 23 • Sat. 8:00pm • Palo Alto
First Palo Alto United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave.

Feb. 24 • Sun. 3:00pm • Berkeley
First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way

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2012–2013 Main Stage Concert 2:
Dial ‘M’ for Music

Benjamin Simon, conductor
Scott St. John, violin
Sharon Wei, viola

Felix Mendelssohn: Sinfonia No. 9 in C major
Harold Meltzer: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola [SFCO Commission & World Premiere]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola, K. 364

Our three Ms begin with one of Mendelssohn’s precociously brilliant string sinfonias, written at the tender age of 13. These early works were inspired by Bach and Mozart, Mendelssohn’s two favorite composers, yet they sound fully “Mendelssohnian.” Harold Meltzer is an award-winning composer based in NYC, whose own inspiration was Mozart’s singular Sinfonia Concertante. Commissioned by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra’s New Works Program and funded by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Meltzer’s double concerto is paired with Mozart’s, one of his most expressive and graceful works.

Dec. 30 • Sun. 3:00pm • San Francisco
Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave.

Dec. 31 • Mon. 8:00pm • Berkeley
First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way

Jan. 1 • Tue. 3:00pm • Palo Alto
First Palo Alto United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave.

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2012–2013 Main Stage Concert 1:
La Belle France

Benjamin Simon, conductor
Karla Ekholm, bassoon

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 31 in D major, K. 297 (“Paris”)
Jean Françaix: Divertissement for Bassoon & String Orchestra
François Couperin: Les Gouts Reuinis
Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau du Couperin

From the country that brought us the baguette, the bikini, and beryllium comes some of the most delicious, beautiful, and brilliant music ever written.

François Couperin (1668–1733), an influential Baroque composer and organist for King Louis XIV, blended Italian and French styles in a series of works he called Les Gouts Reunis, or “Styles Reunited.” Two hundred years later, the great Romantic composer Ravel penned Le Tombeau du Couperin in homage to his fellow Parisian. In 1778, a 22-year-old Mozart traveled to Paris and was inspired to write his delightful 31st symphony, nicknamed “Paris.” To round off our program, bassoon virtuosa Karla Ekholm performs the quirkily entertaining Divertissement by one of our favorite 20th century French composers, Jean Françaix (1912–1997).

Oct. 19 [Tentative] • Fri. 8:00pm • Berkeley
First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way

Oct. 20 [Tentative] • Sat. 8:00pm • Palo Alto
First Palo Alto United Methodist Church, 625 Hamilton Ave.

Oct. 21 [Tentative] • Sun. 3:00pm • San Francisco
Calvary Presbyterian Church, 2515 Fillmore St.