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Oliver Knussen: Symphony No. 3 (San Francisco SO & Tilson Thomas)

Oliver Knussen: Symphony No. 3

10.01.08, 11.01.08 & 12.01.08, Davies Symphony Hall, SF, USA: San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas

‘Even an orchestra as contemporarily minded as the San Francisco Symphony will occasionally neglect one of the outstanding compositions of its era. However, Oliver Knussen’s Symphony No. 3 is a special case of gratification denied. Michael Tilson Thomas … has promised San Francisco a hearing of the piece for most of his tenure here. No longer a dream deferred, Knussen’s amazingly concise and felicitously abundant symphony this week seemed the ideal work to jump start the new year.
This is the kind of piece that seals a reputation. The Glaswegian composer paints on such a broad canvas and avails himself of such a rich palette that the listener is disinclined to breathe throughout the 15-minute duration, for fear of missing any detail of the almost profligate material. Knussen’s arresting textures, dominated by three immense percussion groups, sometimes suggest a divine gamelan orchestra. They also admit brooding string forays and perky wind commentaries. The trajectory through the single movement leads us to the state of glistening anticipation where we began. Tilson Thomas, to whom the symphony is dedicated, led it with tightly focused enthusiasm.’
Financial Times (Allan Ulrich), 10 January 2008

‘The program opened with an equally enveloping performance of Knussen's Symphony No. 3. The Scottish composer's single-movement, 15-minute score -- a sort of musical snapshot of Shakespeare's Ophelia -- makes its S.F. Symphony debut this week, but Tilson Thomas is no stranger to the work; it is dedicated to the conductor, who led its world premiere with the BBC Symphony in 1979. Wednesday, he returned to it with fresh enthusiasm. Composed for large orchestra (with unusual instrumentation including four percussion groups, celesta, guitar, mandolin and harp), it is a restless, richly colored and rhythmically interesting work, and Tilson Thomas sent it rolling across the stage in huge waves and currents of sound.’
The Mercury News (Georgia Rowe), 10 January 2008

‘Oliver Knussen's Third Symphony, a characteristically compact and tuneful creation from 1979, opened the program in a vivacious reading that showcased the music's appeal…’
San Francisco Chronicle (Joshua Kosman), 11 January 2008

‘…Oliver Knussen, a living Brit with a gleaming voice… Knussen's Symphony No. 3 was interesting.
It's an often-luminous piece, crisply detailed with lots of percussion, muted brass and unusual interludes, including one for harp, celesta and guitar. Played without pause and lasting about 15 minutes, it expands, flowers, contracts. It jangles, sighs and grows thorny.’
The Mercury News (Richard Scheinin), 12 January 2008

 

 
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