concert review: San Francisco Symphony

Thursday's concert was organized like an old-fashioned instrumentalist recital. The biggest piece (in this case Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, with Emanuel Ax) was in the first half, along with a semi-hefty opener (Mahler's Blumine, a movement he deleted from his First Symphony, and which should have stayed forgotten). The second half was a series of six short pieces by different composers, which MTT insisted on playing together as a suite, without breaks for applause between them.

It wasn't exactly a collection of bonbons or encores. Five of the six were wistful, mostly quiet. They were all played exquisitely well, and most of them expressed the quiddity of their composers with profundity. Our Town was intensely Coplandesque, Valse triste graciously Sibelian, and On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (a piece not played here since Beecham did it 60 years ago) richly Delian. The only problem was that it was a little jarring turning from the quiddity of one composer directly to that of another.

Interesting concert. Ran long, despite the nominal 36-minute span of the six-piece suite.

more tv premieres

Two shows that frequently feature two characters talking over each other. Is that a thing now? Thank ghu for close-captioned subtitles, or else I wouldn't be able to make most of them out.

Agents of SHIELD. I don't follow the Marvel-verse, so I felt completely at sea for at least half of this. I only watched it because it had Joss Whedon's name on it. I was expecting clever, but what we got was: not clever enough. Clark Gregg was what he was as Leonato, the only other role I've seen him in: the straight man.
Speaking of casting, Skye would have been a perfect role for Eliza Dushku. She would have been more grounded, less the flaky airhead. That she didn't get to play this, but was saddled with Dollhouse's Echo, a role entirely ill-suited for her, is a shame.
Verdict: Maybe.

The Crazy Ones. You know, ever since I saw the first season of Mad Men, which is just about the only part of Mad Men I did see, I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if there were a TV show that actually was about an advertising agency?" (Since Mad Men ludicrously hardly even tried.) Well, now we have one.
Starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar: it's like one of those weird food combinations that actually works. SMG gets to be the wet blanket without sounding like she's whining about it, which she did too much of on Ringer.
I didn't get all of this one either, but at least B. was there to tell me who Kelly Clarkson is.
Verdict: Sure, I'll keep trying this show.