The SF Symphony Gala last Wednesday night, is one of the poshest events of the year -- a must-attend for anyone who’s anyone who has the right to live, breathe, receive adequate healthcare in SF. We were lucky to tag along for the ride. The performance of its annual opening is an afterthought, and we were not sure if there wasn't some subtle subversion going on. We mentioned already the choice of the Fanfare for the Common Man (inspired by a left-leaning speech by Roosevelt’s ex-vice president Henry Wallace), but looking back, we see that, except for one short Gounod excerpt, all the pieces where from after 1900. That is provocative! Way to backhandedly smack the bourgeoisie attending your opening, MTT! It’s no wonder that a significant chunk of the patrons only came back from intermission after a few glasses of freely flowing champagne, missing some fine singing by Renée Fleming.

To be honest, even though it was mainly 20th century stuff, it wasn't the most avant-garde music. You can ruffle feathers (or more accurately, mink furs) only so far. It started with three instrumental pieces, and MTT asked us to consider them as a whole, even though they spanned fifty years and three composers. Copland’s aforementioned fanfare was performed very deliberately and very LOUDLY. The common man must have poor hearing. Then an Andante for Strings by Ruth Seeger, where the string instruments undulate slowly around a key center, not unlike the sound of a fly in slow motion.

Finally John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine, which, despite being from the 80s, fitted quite nicely as a complement to the two other pieces from the 40s, its minimalism matching the spare, open intervals of Copland and the limited chromatic movements of Seeger. After a few bars of a continuous beat on the wood block as a backdrop to the orchestra lines, we only had one question: how much wood would a wood block block, if a wood block could block wood?

After these hors d’oeuvres, Renée Fleming appeared on stage, beautiful in a green silky dress. She sang through Ravel’s Sheherazade, graceful and yet, she did not seem fully engaged. We felt she could be more present, more involved in the songs, rather than the wan smile she displayed most of the evening. She seemed more at ease in some Puccini arias, and she received a standing ovation from the crowd. Not that it wasn't a given from the get go. Two rounds of drinks definitely helped the SF big cheese to appreciate fine music in a sophisticated, discriminating manner.

MTT kept plugging with Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet suite (aka. the Chanel commercial, which they played during last summer Prokofiev's mini-festival). The intro started a bit lifeless, and things started to perk up when the audience decided it had enough, and started to clap in between movements. Not only MTT kept going, but he even added an encore (the polonaise from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin) to keep the impatients from the release they so wished for.

Afterwards, everyone gathered into two dance halls, one a tent on the symphony parking lot, the other inside city hall, with food provided by some fancy restaurants like Absinthe or Frisson, where you could shake your bling-bling. After the press room drink, the pre-concert promenade drink, the intermission glass of champagne, we were feeling withdrawal symptoms, and had to indulge in another round.
The only celebrity we encountered was SFMike (two links in a row for him from us, Mike is everywhere, and in particular to the right of this), but we did not run into the prestigious attendees: Gavin and his peach-clad accessory, Charlotte Shulz, Paul Pelosi, Dede Wisley, or Phil Bronstein. Oh well, we’re sure they did not miss us either.