United States Mozart, Elgar: Yo-Yo Ma (cello), San Francisco Symphony / James Gaffigan (conductor). Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, 1.6.2026. (HS)
Mozart – Symphony No.41 in C major, ‘Jupiter’
Elgar – Cello Concerto in E minor
Encore: Casals (arr.) – ‘Song of the Birds’
Whenever Yo-Yo Ma sits down to play his cello it is a special occasion, and this one-off San Francisco Symphony concert featuring the Elgar Cello Concerto made a sold-out audience a thankful beneficiary.
Ma can transcend the idea of simply playing music, in the sense that the instrument seems to become an extension of his soul rather than an exhibition of sheer virtuosity. And, yes, Elgar’s concerto at many points requires a high level of technical proficiency to make everything click. At its heart, the music reflects the composer’s profound sadness at the end of World War I, grieving over the seemingly endless death toll. But the piece also reaches for moments of sheer beauty, not only in the soulful Adagio but in moments when the more active music comes to rest with reverence.
With the sensitive conducting of James Gaffigan shaping a sumptuous frame, Ma made every moment count. The opening elegiac phrases emerged with appropriate hesitance, but as the extensive Moderato section of the first movement developed, each phrase seemed to reveal a different facet of the same jewel. The subtle changes in color and attitude – here solemn, there wistful, at other times simply lovely – would have made that first movement a complete treasure of its own.
An eloquent transition to the second movement, played with gathering intensity by Ma and the orchestra, led to a burst of energy that didn’t flag under Ma’s bow until the unexpectedly quick, chirpy ending. The audience could not resist applauding at that.
The extra applause gave us a calming moment before the gorgeous Adagio. The simple melody and its development tapped into roots of both simplicity and profundity. Long phrases seemed to begin with purpose before receding into a sadness that would not go away. The ritardi at the end of the movement and the gentle final cadence were heart-breaking. The audience remained silent, as if holding its breath.
The Allegro ma non troppo got off to a start that reflected the varied feelings the first movement expressed, each phrase turning another corner as the cello and orchestra bounded through it with impressive unanimity. These were the virtuosic moments, in which Ma’s complex solo gestures played against the orchestra’s own versions and made it all fit together seamlessly. The callbacks of themes from the Adagio, and eventually the original first-movement’s opening cries, set the scene for a sharply cracking final gesture.
For an encore, Ma turned to the simple Catalán ‘Song of the Birds’, arranged by the iconic cellist Pablo Casals who famously played it to open his concerts when he was in exile from Franco’s Spain in 1939. The cello version made the song popular, and Ma’s nod here to the great Casals felt genuine. Ma and Gaffigan offered the concerto in memory of Michael Tilson Thomas, the recently departed longtime music director of the San Francisco Symphony.
To open the program, Gaffigan conducted Mozart’s Symphony No.41 with a Mozart-size orchestra, outfitted with Mozart-era timpani, trumpets and flute to provide a warmer sound. He fashioned a finely detailed performance, impressive for its nuanced phrasing and attention to dynamics. It perhaps might have benefited from another rehearsal or two to make Mozart’s long line more cohesive, but it served as an attractive introduction to the more fully developed concerto.
Harvey Steiman