From the Archives: The Krips Era

The renowned Austrian conductor Josef Krips (1902–1974) took over the reins of the Symphony in 1963, charged with rebuilding an orchestra that had grown slack. Although Krips refused to allow the Symphony to record commercially, he approved a series of live Friday-night broadcasts on radio station KKHI. From surviving taped transcriptions of those broadcasts we'll hear Josef Krips transform the Symphony, from his inaugural concert—played one week after the JFK assassination—to his 70th birthday concert in 1972, when he made a guest appearance during Seiji Ozawa's tenure.

Bruckner's Symphony No. 5

Anton Bruckner grew up an unsophisticated teacher’s son. By the time he reached Vienna and the composition of his Symphony No. 5, he had a sound combining Beethoven’s sense of mystery and suspense, Schubert’s harmony, and Wagner’s breadth in unfolding, plus a symphonic vision all his own.

From the Archives: The Monteux Era

Pierre Monteux (1875–1964) led the Symphony from 1935 to 1952 and brought it back to the recording studio after a long hiatus. Both on RCA Victor and the popular Standard Hour Broadcasts, Maître Monteux left us copious recordings of a vibrant ensemble with an utterly unique sound and style. From 1941's shellac 78 rpm discs made over telephone lines to the crystal-clear LPs of the 1950s, Monteux and the Symphony made discographic history.


Due to a technical error, Episode 3, The Monteux Era has been reissued to  your iTunes subscription.  Episode 4, The Jordá Era, is available in your iTunes subscription history.

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5

Perpetually self-conscious, Tchaikovsky worried in spring 1888 that his imagination had dried up, and that he had nothing left to express through music. Vacationing at his home in Frolovskoe provided all the inspiration he needed, and by August, his Symphony No. 5 was complete.

From the Archives: The Jordá Era

A two-year search for Pierre Monteux's successor resulted in the 1954 appointment of Enrique Jordá (1911–1996), an electrifying stage presence and passionate advocate of contemporary music. Jordá's discography with the SFS is modest, but his three RCA Victor albums, together with superb performances of two local composers on the CRI label, bear engaging witness to the San Francisco Symphony of the 1950s and its elegant Spanish-American maestro.

Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major

During a wildly successful tour of the United States in 1928, Maurice Ravel met American composer George Gershwin, and listened to jazz in Harlem and New Orleans.  These influences plus his Basque heritage (already exhibited in his Rapsodie espagnole and Boléro) are easily heard in his Piano Concerto in G major. Ravel modeled it after the light, divertimento-like concertos of Mozart and Saint‑Saëns. The Spanish-tinged jazz riffs of the first movement are followed by a gentle and delicate Adagio, and the concerto closes with a bang in its irresistible finale.

Debussy's "Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien"

In 1911, Claude Debussy wrote the incidental music for a mystery play by Gabriele d'Annunzio.  Written for the Belle Époque figure Ida Rubinstein, who was muse to numerous artists and musicians, the play chronicles the martyrdom of the Roman archer Sebastian, who was killed by his own troupe of archers after being discovered to be a Christian. Rubinstein, said to have owned a black tiger cub and drink champagne out of Madonna lilies, had been a member of the Ballet Russe known for her suggestive roles (including Cleopatra and opposite Nijinsky in Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Scheherazade). Attendance at the premiere of this play was banned by the Archbishop of Paris on threat of excommunication.

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1

First symphonies usually serve as stepping stones on the way to greater things. Tchaikovsky’s First was already great, written in a bold and assured manner the composer would not achieve again until his later symphonies. But even Tchaikovsky admitted the work gave him more trouble than any of his others. He revised it numerous times, and it was rejected several times, before it was finally performed almost twenty years after he began composing. With melodies that look ahead to the Waltz of the Flowers from his ballet The Nutcracker and borrowing music from his Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor, the symphony carries the subtitle Winter Daydreams.