The much-anticipated creative partnership of SFS Music Director Designate Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony got underway last evening as “boundary-defying” Salonen stormed the podium in a multifaceted program that speaks to his extraordinary sense of imagery and nuance.
The journey began with Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s METACOSMOS, which ushered us in to the exquisite space between beauty and chaos.
Salonen and the Orchestra then brought their exceptional mastery of color and texture to two iconic tone poems: R. Strauss’ cosmic battle on human evolution Also sprach Zarathustra, and Sibelius’ superlatively scored and mystic, Four Legends of the Kalevala.
SFS principal trumpet player Mark Inouye, who is profiled in the current edition of Bay Crossings, was especially brilliant that evening.