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Lu, in brief remarks, from the stage, didn\u2019t need to remind anyone about the current hair-trigger politics of Iran on the world stage.<\/p>\n
![\"Tianyi]()
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Tianyi Lu conducting the San Francisco Symphony on Friday, June 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brandon Patoc\/San Francisco Symphony<\/p>\n
Opening in glowering low strings joined by a thumping tuba and muttering trombones, \u201cZhi\u00e2n\u201d conjured a darkly brooding atmosphere. Soon enough, a swaying figure heard first in the woodwinds and then in the violins became the work\u2019s defining, and limiting, material. Cloaked in various orchestral colors, modulated through different keys and harmonic structures, and punctuated by stark percussion outbursts (a whip and assorted drums), the figure nonetheless grew redundant, as the music dwelled on it.<\/p>\n
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It could be argued that protest-inspired music depends on insistent repetition to drive home its message. But arguments don\u2019t persuade listeners, music does. \u201cZhi\u00e2n\u201d needed to be more dynamic and involving.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Best known as a composer of film scores, Korngold quoted from four of them, including \u201cAnthony Adverse\u201d (1936) and \u201cThe Prince and the Pauper\u201d (1937), in his 1945 concerto. It\u2019s a curious work, by turns so gushily Romantic that a movie screen seems poised to descend and as technically demanding as a Paganini caprice.<\/p>\n
Dressed in an Oscar night-worthy spangled cream-colored gown, Due\u00f1as sold it all with plush phrasing, blazing passagework, high-wire harmonics and an especially ripe lower register. Last performed here 20 years ago, the Korngold work is borderline kitsch that may not reward multiple exposures. But on this night, the soloist made it come across as best-in-show.<\/p>\n
Her encore was a spare and mordant \u201cValse triste\u201d by Ferenc Vecsey.<\/p>\n
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Violinist Maria Duenas playing Erich Wolfgang Korngold\u2019s Violin Concerto, left, with guest conductor Tianyi Lu on Friday, June 12, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brandon Patoc\/San Francisco Symphony<\/p>\n
Lu, who was making her Symphony debut, got \u201cScheherazade\u201d off to an uneven start, with some tentative entrances and phrase endings. But as this musical narrative of 1,001 tales took hold, the musicians excelled in solo and featured parts, urged on by Lu\u2019s vibrant cues.<\/p>\n
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Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik brought a lightly tart sweetness to the title character\u2019s role. Principal cellist Rainer Eudeikis, who even made a skein of simple arpeggios sound alluring, was the violinist\u2019s responsive second. The brass thundered out the sultan\u2019s demands for more and more narrative. The woodwinds, led by principal oboe Eugene Izotov, added their sinuous lines. Principal harpist Katherine Siochi, who was busy all evening, added shimmering light, while the percussion section pattered, clattered and jangled away.<\/p>\n
At 45 minutes\u00a0\u2014 longer than all but two of Beethoven\u2019s symphonies\u00a0\u2014 Rimsky-Korsakov\u2019s suite yielded decreasing rewards at the end of the concert.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lu\u2019s tempos were forceful but a bit rigid, without enough enlivening rubato. Still, as she drove home the big climaxes and a wistful fadeaway ending, Lu was in full command.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s hoping that she returns to the Davies podium with a more propitious program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Steven Winn is a freelance writer. This review has been provided in partnership with San Francisco Classical Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tianyi Lu conducting the San Francisco Symphony on Friday, June 12, 2026.\u00a0 Brandon Patoc\/San Francisco Symphony Maybe a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[329,7,331,330,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-359568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-california","tag-classical","tag-music","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}