Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, February 26 — It is difficult to forget works by Beethoven and Haydn, and yet that is what could happen a day after experiencing Mozart’s Requiem. It is even more so when the San Francisco Symphony is conducted by Manfred Honeck who is the complete conductor. He is with the SFS, and they are with him. He gives the music a dramatic context. He is sensitive to the rhythm, makes the rhythm. His physical movement captures the truth that music is physical. The music in the first half of the evening is still very fine. I will bring on Beethoven and Haydn, but briefly.
Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, Opus 62, was written for a play which was a flop. The Overture, written in 1807, is definitely worthy to be in Beethoven’s symphonic list. It contains the emotion and tragedy of the story of Coriolanus in Shakespeare’s play which followed Plutarch’s plot. Coriolan felt he was not receiving the significance he deserves. A Roman general, he joined the enemy. Ready to get revenge, his family convinces him not to do that. Instead, he commits suicide. The music is powerful and still sad. Coriolan’s inner turmoil demonstrates that a Roman general can be torn by his feelings. An army leader needs to act without puzzling which of his options will be best. And what is the best direction for him? The music is full of his anger and then gives his wife’s plea for peace. It is a huge struggle which will end in violence. The music is big, strong, and feels the loss.
Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 93 in D major, was written in 1791. When his patron, Prince Nicolaus Esterhazy, died, Haydn saw the event as an opportunity; he moved to Vienna. There he met Johann Peter Salomon. Being both an impresario and a musician, Salomon offered Haydn a fine income to write six new symphonies. Together in London, 1791-92, the symphonies were very well received. Salomon was the concertmaster and Haydn played harpsichord. It was all a success, and Haydn created six more London Symphonies. Symphony No. 93 is a delight. Haydn brings together music that could be a dance except for its twists and turns. In the second movement, Largo cantabile, was mild and presents an oboe solo. The third movement is a Menuetto: Allegro. It is fast and has a hopping rhythm with timpani. The close is Presto ma non troppo. It is a Rondo going faster and giving more delight. A lively and fun Symphony.
Mozart died writing his Requiem. There have been attempts to finish the Requiem where Mozart left off. Honeck did not go there. Instead, Honeck added pieces by Mozart and prose that deepens the profound meaning and emotion of the funeral mass. He added Three Bell Strokes, a sign of a death; Gregorian Chants twice at the beginning; a reading from a letter from Mozart to his father; Mozart’s Masonic Funeral Music, K. 477; Laudate Dominum from Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Confessore, K.339/5; another Gregorian Chant; Reading poems by Nelly Sachs: “Who Knows Where the Stars Stand,” “When in the Late Spring;” Introitus: Requiem; Kyrie; Reading from Book of Revelation 6:8-17; Sequenz: Dies irae; Tuba mirum; Rex tremendae; Recordare; Confutatis; Lacrimosa; Gregorian Chant; Reading from Book of Revelation 21:1-7; Offertorium: Domine Jesu; Hostias; Lacrimosa ( a fragment, reprise); Ave verum corpus, K. 618 (1791); Three Bell Strokes
The Lacrimosa fragment was Mozart’s last writing. In this last moment, Conductor Honeck stopped the music. He stepped out to his left, his arm stretched out parallel to the floor, one leg was bent at the knee stretched out in a wide step from the other leg. His back was also parallel to the stage. He drew up again and repeated the reaching step. Here are comments by Honeck which are quoted in the program book.
“These readings are placed precisely at moments in the work where words and music intertwine in meaning.”
“This fragment, consisting of only eight bars, is heard earlier in the Requiem but is repeated here, creating a sense of unfinished eternity.”
“This concept intertwines Mozart’s music, historical context, and reflections on death, offering a deeply personal yet universal experience that transcends time.”