SF symphony – Page 2 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: “Gotta Dance!” Great Moments of Dance in Film

On Saturday night, the San Francisco Symphony hosted Gotta Dance!: Great Moments of Dance in Film at Davies Symphony Hall. If the first thing you pictured when hearing this title was Gene Kelly dancing under the giant orchestrated set of Broadway lights or the long, flowing white dress of Cyd Charisse (or the flashy green dress, for that matter), then this was absolutely the show for you. But what do I know? Maybe you were there!

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Show Review: “Sticks & Stones” at SoundBox

Rootstock percussion trio in Wenjing Guo’s Parade (Xiang). Photo courtesy of Kristen Loken.

The San Francisco Symphony’s new venue, SoundBox, is located in the back of Davies symphony hall on Franklin Street. Once just a rehearsal space but now a fully transformative experimental music space, SoundBox is basically half club and half concert hall. There’s really only one way to put it — SoundBox is flat-out cool!

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Show Review: Pixar in Concert with the SF Symphony

PixarNight

The magic of Pixar Animation Studios has produced 13 films since it debuted its first feature in 1995 with Toy Story. These films have consistently raised the bar for animated storytelling, and with such an impressive list of titles including the Toy Story series, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Finding Nemo, and more, it’s no surprise that one of the hardest questions to ask a movie lover is ‘what’s your favorite Pixar film?’ Part of the magical formula that contributes to the wide success of the studio are the film scores, composed by four incredible talents: Randy Newman, Thomas Newman, Patrick Doyle, and (my personal favorite) Michael Giacchino. The Pixar film scores have garnered 10 Oscar nominations and 1 win, not including original songs. Last night, the San Francisco Symphony held the first night of its Pixar in Concert series, a fantastic musical evening featuring excerpts from each of the 14 Pixar titles accompanied by a montage of each film.

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Show Review: ‘Fantasia’ Live with the San Francisco Symphony

'Fantasia' live with the SF Symphony — ‘Fantasia’ live with the SF Symphony

There are few films that have better captured the bond between film and music more than Fantasia (1940). This visionary masterpiece of animation had a profound effect on the evolution of music videos and has helped introduce classical music to generations of children. Fantasia 2000, though not as highly regarded as its predecessor, has also aided in these cultural purposes. Yesterday night and again tonight, the San Francisco Symphony welcomes in audiences to experience the magic of both these films, reminding us of the emotional storytelling power of classical music and the wide spectrum of beauty and characters that animation can provide.

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Show Review: ‘City Lights’ Film with Orchestra

On Saturday night, the San Francisco Symphony continued their fantastic film series with City Lights (1931), Charlie Chaplin’s timeless romantic comedy. Conducted by Richard Kaufman, the orchestra performed the entire film score in perfect sync with the film playing overhead. The music, written by Chaplin, is a wonderful mix of joyous and romantic motifs that fit well with the variety of urban locales on screen. The score can at times recall Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” written just eight years before City Lights was first released. The audience at Davies Symphony Hall ate the whole evening up, cheering as often for the orchestra as they did for The Tramp himself.

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Show Review: Singin’ in the Rain with the SF Symphony

It’s very likely that many folks who exited Davies Symphony Hall into sweeping sheets of pouring rain on Friday night felt like tap dancing their way to their cars, to BART, and to buses…with beaming smiles on their faces, and for good reason — Singin’ in the Rain with the San Francisco Symphony had just been let out, and the gleeful residuals were in full effect. Personally, I had never seen Singin’ in the Rain (1952) in its entirety. I had heard the music and seen clips at award shows, etc. but had no idea what an excellent tongue-in-cheek Hollywood satire it is. It’s witty, hilarious, romantic, and fun. And once again, what better way to experience an iconic film (never mind one with such famous musical numbers) than to see it with a live score accompaniment.

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Show Review: Hitchcock Week — Psycho

Ree! Ree! Ree! Ree! > — Ree! Ree! Ree! Ree! <<stabbing ensues>>

It’s Hitchcock Week with the San Francisco Symphony and Wednesday night kicked things off with Psycho (1960), Hitchcock’s masterpiece thriller. Why is the SF Symphony playing Psycho? And for what reason are they having a week devoted to Hitchcock, at all? For starters, Hitchcock films feature some of the most memorable scores in film history. Just like John Williams’s scores have enhanced the sense of adventure in countless films directed by Steven Spielberg, the scores in Alfred Hitchcock films have greatly enhanced the chilling suspense, the horrifying thrill, and the bloody payoffs of his stories. These are a few particularly momentous nights at the symphony because the scores have been removed from the film’s print and, instead, filled in by a live orchestra (in Psycho’s case, just the string section…it seemed).

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Show Review: Williams and Spielberg: Maestros of the Movies, 9/16

'Maestros of the Movies' at Davies Symphony Hall — ‘Maestros of the Movies’ at Davies Symphony Hall

The first four notes of the Star Wars main title blast to life in the beautiful Davies Symphony Hall, and members of the audience cheer loudly, whistle, applaud, and some even rise to their feet. Only John Williams, the movie score composer who’s been writing music to accompany the silver screen since the late 1950’s, and who’s responsible for countless universally recognized themes, can induce such a response at a “classical concert.” Such was the general atmosphere at the San Francisco Symphony’s Monday night event, Williams and Spielberg: Maestros of the Movies, a night dedicated to the impact of the award-winning composer (5 Academy Awards, 48 Oscar Nominations, 21 Grammy Awards…etc. etc.).

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