This Friday at noon half my office went off to the Embarcadero to snap pictures of Barry Bonds, while I headed to Yerba Buena Gardens to hear the San Francisco Symphony. It was a send-off for their European tour. The weather was sunny, so there was a good sized-crowd, & a lot of them were wearing these bulky lime-green sun hats. I soon realized that these were not really hats but soft plastic lunch boxes that PG&E was giving away. To shade themselves from the sun, people were wearing them on their heads. The lids worked well as sun visors.
Anyway, when I arrived the symphony, under the direction of MTT, was already playing the scherzo movement from Shostakovich 5. It sounded pretty good. The playing was pointed & light. This was followed by MTT making some humorous remarks which I couldn't hear well. Then soprano Lise Lindstrom sang the final scene of Strauss's Salome. I've never heard of her before, but she has a beautiful tone & was obviously very technically assured. I couldn't see her from where I was sitting, but I assume that she is young as well. It was a solid performance. According to the Chronicle review, Deborah Voigt will be the soloist on the actual tour, so Ms. Lindstrom only got to sing here & in the "Bon Voyage" concert on Wednesday.
The 50 minute concert concluded with the last 2 movements of Tchaikovsky's 1st Symphony. The finale was loud, energetic & fun.
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