[TR24][OF] Masterpieces in Miniature: Litolff, Mahler, Fauré, Debussy, Schubert, Ives, Brant, Rachmaninov/Рахманинов, Dvořák, Sibelius, Delius, Grieg, Delibes - San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas - 2014 (Classical)

Concerto symphonique No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 102
01. II. Scherzo (7:36)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
The Symphony No. 1 in D major
02. II. Andante allegretto "Blumine" (8:27)
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Pavane in F-sharp minor, Op. 50
03. Pavane (6:26)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
La plus que lente, L. 121
04. La plus que lente (6:25)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Rosamunde, Op. 26, D. 797
05. Entr’acte No. 3, Andantino (6:56)
Charles Ives (1874-1954) / Henry Brant (1913-2008)
A Concord Symphony
06. III. The Alcotts (6:12)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Fourteen Songs, Op. 34
07. Vocalise No. 14 (5:25)
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Legend for Orchestra, Op. 59, B. 122
08. No. 6 Allegro con moto (5:48)
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Valse triste (Sad Waltz), Op. 44, No. 1
09. Valse triste (5:30)
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
Two Pieces for Small Orchestra
10. I. On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (7:31)
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Two Elegiac Melodies, Op.34
11. II. The Last Spring (5:47)
Léo Delibes (1836-1891)
Sylvia (ballet)
12. Act III: Cortège de Bacchus (6:01)

In honor of their twentieth season together, Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) release Masterpieces in Miniature, a collection of short orchestral works, on their in-house label SFS Media. Masterpieces in Miniature includes Henry Litolff’s Scherzo from Concerto symphonique No. 4 featuring pianist Yuja Wang, Gustav Mahler’s Blumine, Charles Ives / Henry Brant’s “The Alcotts” from A Concord Symphony, Gabriel Fauré’s Pavane, Claude Debussy’s La Plus que lente, Franz Schubert’s Entracte No. 3 from Rosamunde, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Antonín Dvořák’s Legend for Orchestra, Jean Sibelius’s Valse triste, Frederick Delius’s On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, Edvard Grieg’s The Last Spring, Léo Delibes’s Cortège de Bacchus from Sylvia, all recorded live in performance at Davies Symphony Hall. With this collection MTT shares some of his most treasured musical memories.
About the recording MTT says, “The short pieces in this album exist in various versions. Many began as piano pieces but were, except for the Ives, orchestrated by their composers. They were often played as encores by musicians who took special delight finding the most personal way of presenting them. This recording pays homage to the tradition of these pieces. It marks the beginning of my twentieth season as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony and my seventieth birthday. On these occasions, I wanted to give a present to our whole San Francisco family and to our listeners everywhere. What better way than to fashion a garland of these charming pieces? Playing them is now nearly a lost art. The musicians and I have taken a wonderful voyage in creating these performances, which are a mixture of my musical memories and the imagination and virtuosity of my colleagues.”
As acclaimed interpreters of the music of Mahler, MTT and the Orchestra have included their performance of the composer’s Blumine as part of this special collection. Their self-produced Mahler recording project, launched in 2001 and concluded in 2010, encompassed all of Mahler’s symphonies and works for voice, chorus and orchestra. The Orchestra’s Mahler cycle on SFS Media has been recognized with seven Grammy Awards and MTT was named Gramophone Artist of the Year in recognition of his work on the recording cycle. For the 2011 Mahler centennial, the SFS performed his music in a four-concert engagement at the famed Vienna Konzerthaus in May, an honor rarely extended to American orchestras and a keystone of the city’s commemoration of the Mahler anniversary. MTT and the SFS’s Keeping Score: Mahler PBS Television documentary and concert is available on DVD and Blu-ray.
MTT and the SFS’s recording of “The Alcotts” movement from A Concord Symphony, an orchestration of Charles Ives’s “Concord” Sonata arranged by Henry Brant, was originally released in a 2011 recording of the full work. In his San Francisco Chronicle review, Joshua Kosman wrote, “To listen to ‘A Concord Symphony’…is to feel an exhilarating sense of discovery and dramatic vigor, an explosive dynamism that emanates from all the participants…Thomas and the orchestra…convey every bit of the score's boisterous vitality in a performance of magnificent virtuosity - it's a landmark achievement.”
Michael Tilson Thomas' Masterpieces in Miniature is an unusual offering from a conductor better known for his impressive recordings of the expansive symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, Gustav Mahler, and Charles Ives. But an album of small orchestral pieces seems to be an expression of Tilson Thomas' lighter side, in which he can entertain as well as edify his audience. Most of the pieces are quite familiar and many are beloved favorites, such as Rachmaninov's Vocalise, Fauré's Pavane, Sibelius' Valse triste, and Dvorák's Legend, which are often anthologized. Mahler is represented by the sentimental Blumine, which was rejected from the Symphony No. 1, and Ives makes an appearance in Henry Brant's arrangement of The Alcotts, from A Concord Symphony. The label's featured track is Henry Litolff's Scherzo from the Concerto symphonique No. 4, a sparkling bonbon that pianist Yuja Wang delivers with wit and virtuosic skill. But all of the program is a delight, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra maintains high levels of brilliance and passion throughout, and responds to Tilson Thomas' direction with alertness and accuracy. The super audio sound by SFS Media is remarkable for its depth and presence, a hallmark of the orchestra's recordings. --Blair Sanderson, AllMusic
Personnel:
San Francisco Symphony
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Yuja Wang, piano (#1)
Recorded live at Davies Symphony Hall - a venue of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, City and County of San Francisco.
Ives/Brant The Alcotts from A Concord Symphony recorded in 96 kHz/24-bit audio (February 2–6, 2010), all others in PCM 192 kHz/24-bit audio (September 26–28, 2013, and May 22–25, 2014).