Positive vibes filled Davies Symphony Hall on Friday night as the San Francisco Symphony, under the baton of music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, opened its 2023-24 season with a decidedly 21st century gala concert offering hip hop, Mahler, videos and more.
Oakland rapper Kev Choice and San Francisco freestyler Anthony Veneziale rocked the house in the 90-minute show’s bounciest number, Swedish composer Anders Hillborg’s 2000 “Rap Notes,” with lyrics flashing on a huge screen behind the orchestra.
The glammed-out audience, invited to “craft a spontaneous” response to the symphonic and hip-hop combination, promptly did so as the artists intoned, “We came here to have a good time like this”; “you can fall in love on a night like this”; “celebrate culture, protect each other.” Topping off the piece and looking fetching in a poofy white gown, Israeli soprano Hila Plitmann joined the pair, adorably singing the famed “Queen of the Night” aria from “The Magic Flute.”
In a more somber mood, British baritone Simon Keenlyside equally appealed in Gustav Mahler’s 1883 four-tune cycle “Songs of a Wayfarer” evoking the tumultuous emotions of a lovesick fellow.
Performed without an intermission, the concert opened with the orchestra in the spotlight playing Richard Strauss’ late 19th century symphonic poem “Don Juan,” an 18-minute work filled with adventuresome, bold, dynamic themes inspired by the legendary Spanish womanizer. It was accompanied by a colorful, fluid video backdrop created by 59 Productions and technical advisor Luke Kritzeck, fashioned after Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting “Spanish Dancer.”
The show concluded with grandeur, with Maurice Ravel’s 1928 famously repetitive blockbuster “Boléro,” backed by video projections of abstract and sculptural contemporary art, before sending members of the philanthropic audience off to dinner gatherings at the civilized hour of 8:30 p.m.
Donors and gala co-chairs Amy Christodoulo and Julie Liegl were thanked at the concert’s outset by Priscilla Geeslin, chair of the symphony’s Board of Governors and Matthew Spivey, symphony chief executive officer, who said the concert’s proceeds will fund continuing musical education, artistic and community programming.
The community friendly “All San Francisco Concert” repeats the gala program at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco; tickets are $12. Visit https://www.sfsymphony.org.