The San Francisco Symphony presents music of Currier, Elgar and Strauss conducted by Hugh Wolff, with Michael Grebanier, cello. Davies Symphony Hall, performance of 23 March 2002. Mark Twain's maxim 'eschew surplusage' has finally been taken to heart by a composer other than Webern. The result transfigured a concert. How could anyone write a ten-minute symphony with a depth to rival those at least three times as long? How could a man orchestrate in a way to make Peter Maxwell Davies' sprawling 'Antarctic Symphony' seem like the laughable work of an amateur? How could anyone write a five-minute slow movement with all the profundity of the best of Mahler? Who has ever written a fabulous Minute Waltz that actually lasts a minute or less? Chopin couldn't. Houdini came to town in the form of Sebastian Currier. His Microsymph quite simply dazzled and astounded this aged and jaded reviewer. The hand is certainly quicker than the ear: the pen of Sebastian Currier has perhaps written the greatest ever American symphony- - at least until the wool is pulled off, the ears of this reviewer are so convinced! The first movementlet, 'quickchange,' zips and scintillates. Sparkles appear here and there, deft touches, ear ticklers, then finally, meows. The second, 'minute waltz,' in only 50 seconds pulls off a miracle with a great waltz tune that is less a tune than a typifying swooping gesture. Somehow, everything that was elegant and sweet about the latter 19th century is encapsulated in a microapotheosis. Ravel's La Valse is now superseded. Then the 'gargantuan' adagio. Again the tell-all gesture, this time the three-note, upward-leaning anacrusis that clearly obsessed Mahler. A massive climax, then a diatonic descending phrase on the harp concludes. Next a 65-second 'nanoscherzo' and the finale, 'kaleidoscope,' where elements of the preceding movements return for a bow as in Carnival of the Animals. A dazzling, astounding masterpiece. The Elgar, one of his most popular works, had a tough act to follow. How could it not sound bloated by comparison? Nevertheless, sheer beauty managed to hold its own through three movements, excellently performed by first chair Michael Grebanier. Unfortunately, the concerto has four movements. In the final allegro Elgar falls victim to a habit he was commonly criticized for in his time: overuse of sequences. And in comparison to the Currier, these sequences sounded all the more galumphingly redundant. Then came Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra, elegantly put through its paces by the almost spider-like talents of Hugh Wolff. But after Houdini's has been on stage, any other composer is a clown. Jeff Dunn Alameda, CA [log in to unmask]