Beethoven's 6th at SFS
November 18, 2008
* Notes *
Michael Tilson Thomas conducted San Francisco Symphony in a program of Haydn, Barber, and Beethoven last week. The Haydn was Symphony No. 60 in C major, Il distratto, which was sprightly and perfectly cute. This made for a nice contrast with Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, which is a bit moodier. The soloist, soprano Erin Wall, produced a lovely pure-toned sound.
I have never been mad about the Beethoven at hand, his Symphony No. 6 in F Major, known as Pastoral. It is a descriptive work on nature, and this of course bring to mind the bovine, at least for me. However, all these silly thoughts fell away as I listened to San Francisco Symphony play. The singing, limpid sound of the strings was particularly beautiful, and the brass and woodwinds all sounded very clean as well.
* Tattling *
The audience talked a bit during all the pieces, but fairly quietly.