Verdi's Requiem at the SF Symphony

The 2024-2025 SF Symphony season was scheduled to begin last fall with music for chorus and large orchestra by Gordon Getty (pictured above) and Verdi's Requiem. However, it was canceled at the last moment because management was threatening draconian cuts to the paid members of the Symphony Chorus and when there was pushback, management canceled the concerts. Nine months later, the concert was rescheduled with conductor James Gaffigan replacing the recently departed Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, who had his own issues with SF Symphony management.

I wrote a mean assessment of Gordon Getty ten years ago (click here) when the SF Opera presented his one-act The Fall of the House of Usher in 2015. In an older, more forgiving mood, let's just say that I am happy he donates so much money to musical institutions locally. That money probably helped to subsidize the Verdi Requiem performance Sunday afternoon that followed twenty minutes of Getty's three songs for chorus and orchestra with poetry written by the composer himself. He was even kind enough to pose for a photo with my spouse.

The Friday evening opener received mixed reviews from Michael Zwiebach and Joshua Kosman, but something came together two days later for a truly magnificent performance on Sunday afternoon. (All production photos are by Kristen Loken.)

The four soloists were soprano Rachel Willis-Sorensen, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, tenor Mario Chang, and bass Morris Robinson, and they were all in great voice which presumably was not the case on Friday evening.

Though I worship Verdi, I had never connected with his Requiem in a live performance before. It had always sounded overlong, bombastic, and dull in its quieter moments, but on Sunday afternoon everything clicked. Conductor James Gaffigan leaned into the operatic nature of the work and led a gripping rendition of of the mass's 90 minutes of meditation on heaven and hell. It was one of the best performances I have heard from him with this orchestra in some time.

It also helped that the soloists were so good. The voice of mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, in particular, carried over the huge orchestra and chorus while sounding like creamy butter, and Morris Robinson's bass was powerful enough that it sounded like he could personally open the gates of heaven or hell.

The chorus, saved from penury by an anonymous donor at the beginning of the season, was superb throughout, with a dynamic range from soft to loud that was remarkable.

Congratulations to everyone for making me fall in love with Verdi's Requiem for the very first time.