While the orchestra’s program was almost defiantly canonical, it was played with such lightness and energy that you could forgive its disappointing safeness.
Michael Tilson Thomas
Classical Music CD Reviews: H&H’s Haydn & Mozart, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette
Handel & Haydn Society’s Haydn and Mozart is about as good as it gets; Martyn Brabbins’ recording of A Sea Symphony is one of the year’s best releases; and for elegance and technical command, you can’t go wrong with Tilson Thomas and his San Francisco Symphony.
Classical CD Reviews: Tesla Quartet plays Haydn, Ravel, and Stravinsky, Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Bernstein, Aspects of America
Aspects of America, from the Oregon Symphony and its music director Carlos Kalmar, is at once superbly played, astutely programmed, and aesthetically necessary.
Classical CD Reviews: Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Schumann and “The Gershwin Moment”
The San Francisco Symphony delivers performances of chamber-like sensitivity and remarkable transparency.
Classical CD Review: Heras-Casado conducts Mendelssohn and Michael Tilson Thomas’s Berg
Michael Tilson Thomas proves he’s got Alban Berg’s style in his blood; Pablo Heras-Casado’s Mendelssohn symphony cycle continues to be stylish.
Classical Album Reviews: Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 and Mass in C (SFS Media), Music for Harp (Innova)
Beethoven’s Mass in C is the highlight. Would that the San Francisco Symphony’s performance of the Third Concerto had more electricity.
Fuse Music Commentary: Notable Classical Performances of 2014
It’s fun to recall what’s been played locally since January and be reminded just how rich the greater Boston area’s classical music scene really is.
Fuse Classical Music CD Review: “Masterpieces in Miniature” (SFS Media)
The conceit of this disc is both nostalgic and old-fashioned.
Concert Review: Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall
Under Michael Tilson Thomas’s leadership, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra’s sound has been refined and tightened; its repertoire has grown to embrace American music of all stripes.
Classical CD Review: San Francisco Symphony’s “West Side Story” — A Brashly Invigorating Performance
The music of West Side Story sounds grippingly urgent and colorful as ever in the hands of one of America’s best orchestras and conductors.
