Sacramento Philharmonic opens Season

Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera with Andrew Grams, conducting, opened their 2019-2020 season last night in Memorial Auditorium with:

WAGNER Tannhäuser March
MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto

• Allegro molto appassionato
• Andante
• Allegretto non troppio; Allegro molto vivace

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 "Pathétique"

• Adagio-Allegro non troppo
• Allegro con grazia
• Allegro molto vivace
• Adagio lamentoso

TCHAIKOVSKY Prelude to Eugene Onegin as an encore.

Maestro Grams opened the season last year, too.  He is entertaining, and brings a lot of enthusiasm to his performances. William Hagen was the solo violinist for the Mendelssohn violin concerto.  I don't think I've had this much fun listening to Mendelssohn before.  Grams and Hagen made a great match.

Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony is very long and ends quietly.  This is confusing for the audience.  One would rather clap at the end of the first or third movements.  The conductor should signal that he is finished, but he didn't.  This is a very beautiful and wide ranging symphony which is wonderful to hear.

It was good to see Maestro Grams again.