The SF Symphony returned from its trip to Europe and kicks off its 2007-08 season tonight, with a sold out opening night gala featuring MTT and Renée Fleming. We find it ironic that they will play Aaron Copland’s "Fanfare for the Common Man" -- a piece riddled with leftist political overtones -- to SF’s high society. Well then, it looks like the SF symphony is more subversive than we give them credit for this time. Good for them.

The season has plenty of highlights coming up, starting a week from today with Das Lied von der Erde, which will be recorded as part of the Mahler recording project, code named Mahtlert. The project originally focused on the symphonies, but Mahler wrote only nine and a half. They were quickly running out of material, so it has been expanded to include Das klagende Lied, the Rückert Lieder, Songs of a Wayfarer, songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and MTT reading from the 1893 train schedule to Mahler’s vacation hut in Steinbach am Attersee. Next week’s soloist is the excellent baritone and an SF Opera Merola program alumni, Thomas Hampson.

Youtube clip of Gustavo Dudamel in the same program he'll conduct, with the same orchestra, on November 4th at Davies Symphony Hall.