Deborah Voigt and MTT in San Francisco

Last week, while visiting my hometown San Francisco, I caught a concert with the San Francisco Symphony -- between some of the worst storm systems in the Bay Area in the last decade. (We counted three.) I was curious for several reasons: Michael Tilson Thomas was conducting Beethoven's Fourth, and the newly slimmed-down diva Deborah Voigt -- a smash at recent May Festivals -- was singing Strauss' "Four Last Songs."

There were a few empty seats for the Wednesday night concert in 2,700-seat Davies Hall (I attributed that to the miserable weather, and the fact that thousands of San Franciscans were still without power) but artssf.com reports that the show was completely sold out on Jan. 10. (If you're comparing attendance with CSO, they gave 4 performances, plus a fifth that was a Friday rush-hour concert, sans the singer.)

Besides the music, there were several things that made this a memorable experience. The newish venue, of course, with bars and small tables set up at intermission, was a definite plus. Afterwards, Tilson Thomas stayed for a Q&A with the audience. He was seated on the stage, and about 50 patrons stayed, despite the late weekday time. In terms of his presence and communicative gift with an audience, MTT is second only to Leonard Bernstein.

Voigt, who had gastric bypass surgery about two years ago, was radiant in the Strauss, and her luxuriant voice richly conveyed the autumnal quality of this music. Tilson Thomas' orchestra provided a stirring backdrop -- particularly concertmaster Alexander Barantschik in "Beim Schlafengehen." Still, the orchestral color, warmth and the all-encompassing swells of sound were missing, making this a good but less-than-satisfying performance.

Their collaboration was stunning, though, in Barber's "Andromache's Farewell," a showstopper in its first SF Symphony performance. In the text, Troy has been captured by the Greeks, and Andromache, widow of the Prince of Troy, faces the death of her child before she is forced to become the slave-wife of Achilles' son. (Has anyone ever sung this amazing piece in Cincinnati?)

Voigt soared magnificently through wide-ranging flights of emotion and dazzling high notes, and the orchestra was superb.

Tilson Thomas opened with the SFS's first performances of Glasgow-born composer Oliver Knussen's Symphony No. 3. The composer, who scored the symphony in one sweeping movement, used harp, celesta and guitar as part of his orchestral palette. The piece was interesting, if cliched. (It seems I've heard this all before, many times.) The opening was a pointillistic sound world of bongos and percussion, slaps and cracks in the strings, brief trombone licks and repetitious motives that echoed between sections of the orchestra. A slow section sagged, but grew to an effective climax in flurries of timpani and horn calls, before drifting away atmospherically. MTT, who appeared slighter and grayer than I recall, led convincingly and with clear affection for the piece.

To conclude, MTT's Beethoven Symphony No. 4 crackled with intensity, and lyrical passages were pastoral and very Austrian. Always an expressive conductor, MTT turned this way and that, seeming to know the best "camera angles" but also paying attention to his musicians and allowing them great freedom of phrasing. In the scherzo, he actually walked off the podium into the orchestra, while communing with the winds. Where Paavo's Beethoven lately has been all electricity and thrust, MTT spent more time smelling the roses.

Sitting in that hall, which allowed the audience to almost FEEL the sound and presence of the orchestra, made me wonder how anyone can ever achieve that quality in a renovated Music Hall.