Sure, "An der schonen blauen Donau" and Brahms mean Vienna too, but
otherwise Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony presented a
"very Viennese" program tonight:  Schoenberg's "Five Pieces for Orchestra"
and Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde."

With amazingly authenticity, the conductor from Los Angeles, the orchestra
from all over the world, Canadian Michael Schade and Spokane's Thomas
Hampson gave a performance that would have been very much at home in the
Musicverein.  (At home, that is, in more recent times when those two
composers became better accepted.)

Schade - a singer who does more with less voice than just about anybody
else - nailed "Trinklied," singing with a manic energy that exploded at
"all the rotten trumpery of this earth." In "Von der Jugend," the beauty of
this small but perfectly-formed voice came to the fore, creating one of the
many instances of hush over the hall.  The great David of the San Francisco
Opera' s exemplary "Meistersinger," Schade has graduated to heldentenor
status.

Hampson is in a new phase of a distinguished career.  Over the years,
he went from a most promising young singer in SFO's Merola Program to a
career in the opera as well as in recital hall, then through a period of
equal measures of singing well and posing in a singerly fashion.  He is
now coming out on top with dedication to the music and the text, sincere,
outstanding performances.  That's exactly what happened tonight.  There
was no trace of affectation, Hampson sang with great simplicity, warmth
and pinpoint accuracy.

It was one of those rare nights when everything clicked.  MTT's clarity
in the Schoenberg and his romantic, but never bombastic interpretation
of "Das Lied" were impressive.  (The man is wonderfully unpredictable.
Given to lengthy and illuminating speeches from the podium, especially
when "filling" is in order, it was obvious that he would do just that with
the 16-minute Schoenberg scheduled alone for the first half of the concert.
I would have bet also that he'll repeat the work as well.  Of course, he
didn't do the expected - just conducted the work, took three curtain calls
- pretty good for Schoenberg!  - and there came the intermission, just as
we were after the first act of "Rigoletto," another 16-minute piece.)

The orchestra was in tremendous form.  There was that special sheen from
the strings, concertmaster Alexander Barantschik and principal cellist
Michael Grebanier both played at their considerable best.  The woodwinds
were a thing of beauty, producing grand virtuoso passages, principal oboe
William Bennett shining bright in "Der Einsame im Herbst."

There are two more performances (Friday and Saturday) and then a delayed
broadcast on KDFC-FM. Don't miss this concert.

Janos Gereben/SF
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