Two Masterworks Get a Freshening Up at SF Symphony
Photography by Brittany Hosea-Small
Article by Steven Winn from San Francisco Classical Voice
Conductor Daniele Rustioni and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott made strong first impressions in music by Brahms and Antonín Dvorák
“Fasten your seat belts,” Daniele Rustioni told the audience from the podium at Davies Symphony Hall. He was about to conduct the San Francisco Symphony in Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, and he wanted everyone to know they were in for something different and unpredictable.
No, it wouldn’t be a wild ride through this familiar work — anything but, in fact. Instead of turbulence or the composer’s reputed “melancholia,” Rustioni, in his SFS debut, wanted to bring a “sunshine light” and “tremendous joy” to a work known for its lyrical and luminous aspect. He added, signaling like a flagman that there was no barrier between the stage and the audience, “We do this together.” It was a touching tribute to the symbiotic delights, for listeners and orchestra, of live music.
The charm… played out once the Brahms began in the Friday, March 13 performance. After the low rumbling of an initial four-note theme, the long first movement was marked by light, lissome textures. An exchange between the violins and flutes was especially bucolic. It was a reminder that the symphony has drawn comparisons to Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony (No. 6).
…The opening bars of the Adagio — a ravishing surge led by the cellos — were beautifully done, more liquid than soupily lush.
…The third movement, which Rustioni termed an “elegiac intermezzo,” came off as described. The vibrant woodwinds took the lead, balancing dancing grace with more brooding effects, pairing with the strings in delicate discourse. This Allegretto felt like a restful pause in the shade before the colorful sprint and fadeaway finish of the Finale. Rustioni and the musicians … were a united force here, from suave legatos to brawny outbursts and a softly disappearing end.
