Let us belabor the obvious: you don't become one of the best-funded,
financially most stable orchestra just by playing music.  At the San
Francisco Symphony's season-opening gala in Davies Hall tonight, once again
it became clear that the organization is a marketing-society-fundraising-PR
triumph, besides playing extremely well these days.

The gala is about gowns, dinners, parties, drinks (LOTS of those), rubbing
elbows, having fun, and yes, incidentally there is music too.  Not that
there is anything wrong with that.

At least, as Michael Tilson Thomas very cleverly mentioned seemingly out
of context, we have come a long way in the two centuries since Archbishop
Colloredo of Salzburg, who informed Mozart that music should not call
attention to itself, that it should not interfere with a party in the
palace or with peaceful digestion.  Without excessive rancor, the music
director called the archbishop "a musical interior decorator, the promoter
of high-class Muzak."

And so, without saying so, MTT called attention to the uncontestable
fact that he and SFS handle Mozart in a much kinder fashion than the good
archbishop who at one time instructed his chief steward to kick Mozart out
of the palace - physically, right down the stairs.

No one was kicking Mozart around tonight, especially not MTT and Maxim
Vengerov, who joined forces for a decent performance of the Violin Concerto
No. 4.  The Russian violinist then showed his best side with some gorgeous
sounds in the Saint-Saens "Introduction and Rondo capriccioso," then
flaunted his virtuosity in Franz Waxman's "Carmen Fantasy." (As long as
Waxman is brought into the program, why not play one of his many excellent
and certainly gala-proof works instead of just a transcription?)

The reason for MTT's talk about "the light side of Mozart" was the
performance of his "Notturno in D Major for Four Orchestras," one of the
least memorable works the great man ever produced, definitely complying
with the archbishop's wishes.  On top of all that - and in spite of the
assistance of Alasdair Neale, Apo Hsu and Michael Morgan as sub-conductors
- the performance was drastically out of balance, with orchestras in the
back of the balcony hardly audible at all.  Still, it woke the more
marinated in the audience, and gave an opportunity to others to chat
through the 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the music as the
musicians were running around the hall to get into position.

The program came bracketed between two great crowd-pleasers, opening with
Copland's "Danzon Cubano" and closing with the Ravel "Bolero." Then, as if
the soundtrack for "Ten" were not sufficient, the "Dance of the Knights"
from Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" served as an encore to send the
audience back to the Franklin Street tents and, perhaps, more drinks.

My favorite part of the evening was the "Star-Spangled Banner" - it
provided the very essence of MTT.  With his back to the orchestra and yet
controlling it perfectly (bringing to mind that remarkable opening sequence
in "Nurse Betty," when Renie Zellweger pours coffee behind her back without
spilling a drop), MTT conducted 2,800 unrehearsed amateurs in a rousing,
professional choral performance that was simply thrilling.  He did this
with simple and powerful communication, which is what great conducting
is about, isn't it?

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Janos Gereben/San Fran