United States Adams, Tchaikovsky, Respighi: Parker Van Ostrand (piano), San Francisco Symphony / Jap van Zweden (conductor). Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, 11.9.2025. (HS)
John Adams – ‘Short Ride in a Fast Machine’
Tchaikovsky – Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat minor
Respighi – Pines of Rome
Call this concert the ‘pre-opener’. For four decades now, on the evening before its formal-dress, season-opening concert, the San Francisco Symphony has thrown a considerably less fancy do for the rest of the city: same program and Davies Symphony Hall filled with volunteers from nonprofit community organizations, without a tuxedo or glittery gown in sight. But judging from this crowd’s high decibel level pre-concert (and at intermission), the excitement surely had to be at least as high.
What they got was a blockbuster of sheer sound – crowd-pleasing music that bounced off the high ceilings of the concert hall. And, notably, a young pianist who could dazzle with technical ability and panache. No, it wasn’t Yuja Wang, whose presence on the gala opening program no doubt made review tickets too hard to get.
Parker Van Ostrand, 22 and still studying with Garrick Ohlsen at the San Francisco Conservatory across the street, attacked Tchaikovsky’s popular Piano Concerto No.1 with immense energy and a respectable appreciation for the less flashy moments. It was his San Francisco Symphony debut, though he has a few competition gold medals to display in his practice room. With conductor Jap Van Zweden getting the orchestra to click with equal energy, the performance seemed to race by. Tempos were lively, and a sense of pulse kept things pushing forward even in the slow movement.
There were plenty of ‘wow’ moments in this oh-so-familiar concerto, supported by a fully committed orchestra. Van Ostrand can execute the fastest music, including rapid-fire double octaves in the outer movements and splashes of filigree (which might have been more sparkly with a bit less pedal).
Fun fact: Van Ostrand has played duo piano with Wang (at the conservatory’s 2022 gala). For his encore, the young pianist borrowed a page from Wang’s encore list, her mix of variations by Arcadi Volodos and Fazil Say on Mozart’s ‘Turkish March’. A sharply focused, witty, jazzy approach was the perfect thing for a season opener, even if this wasn’t the snazzier of the two opening parties.
The looming threat of a musicians’ strike was averted the day following this concert. A temporary extension expired in April, and the orchestra voted earlier this month to authorize a walkout. Perhaps the news of the pending agreement had buoyed the musicians who played with intensity and accuracy.
The organization is still without a music director. In the 2025-26 season, van Zweden is the guest conductor with the most assignments, including the start of a three-year series of Beethoven symphonies beginning in March 2026. The former music director of the Concertgebouw and the New York Philharmonic, currently heading the Seoul Philharmonic, clearly found common ground with this ensemble.
The music began with a jet-propelled performance of John Adams’s ‘Short Ride in a Fast Machine’, a four-minute whirlwind written when the composer was this orchestra’s new music advisor in the 1980s. It wasn’t that the tempo was so fast, but it had the feel of a racing car relentlessly gunning around curves. If the idea of programming the piece was to suggest the wild ride that may lie ahead, the musicians internalized it and gave a brilliant performance.
To top things off, van Zweden led Respighi’s technicolor four-movement Pines of Rome with even more gusto. The playful ‘Pines of the Villa Borghese’ held together despite a breathless pace and missed none of the piece’s variations in tone. ‘Pines Near a Catacomb’ used quiet sonorities from all the sections of the orchestra to paint a solemn picture, and ‘The Pines of Janiculum’ featured lovely, hushed clarinet solos by principal Carey Bell.
The brass section, which had crisply commented on the opening movement only to bury itself in chords in the middle sections, got into high gear for the finale, ‘The Pines of the Appian Way’. The build-up from the quiet mood-setting at the beginning, through the stately-paced expansion to the big finish with extra trumpets and trombones at the side of the choir loft, created an appropriately majestic sound.
Harvey Steiman
Featured Image: Jap van Zweden conducts pianist Parker Van Ostrand in his San Francisco Symphony debut © Christopher M. Howard