St Lawrence String Quartet, Michael Tilson Thomas

A programme of

Schoenberg Theme and Variations Op 43b
John Adams Absolute Jest
Mahler Symphony No 1

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony have an acclaimed musical partnership stretching back two decades, and bringing together colour, power and beguiling elegance in their exceptional music-making. They bring two potent programmes contrasting American classics and compelling Romantic symphonies for their Festival residency.

Renowned for their Mahler performances, both in concert and in an award-garlanded recording cycle, the San Francisco Symphony and Tilson Thomas close their first concert with the tempestuous drama and ringing affirmations of the composer’s mighty First Symphony.

Leading US composer John Adams wrote his sparkling Absolute Jest in 2012 specially for Tilson Thomas, the SFS and the renowned St. Lawrence String Quartet, and in it Adams provides a witty rethinking of Beethoven at his most playful. The concert opens with Schoenberg’s glittering, tuneful Theme and Variations.