concert review: San Francisco Symphony

Here they are, Ives and Schubert in a bottle. This time the music-appreciation lecturer in me came out, trying to describe what these pieces sound like. I spent enough time getting a handle on the Ives that I might as well pass on the fruits of my exploration.

I made very clear that the Ives is not easy listening, but I left only implied the fact that, even after all that, I still don't like it. That would be an appropriate perspective for a personal essay on Ives, a composer who never makes much sense to me even when I do like him, but a review should be less about me. I might be more dismissive of a work that was only a small part of the program, and have occasionally done so,* but it'd be whiny to spend my space arguing with the raison d'être of the entire concert. Just make clear this isn't an easy cup of tea and don't complain that the tea isn't orange juice.

*For instance here. This is just about the most negative review I've yet published professionally. I thought the modernist work on the program was ill-chosen, and the performers weren't very good.