The first week of June saw the San Francisco Symphony give the West Coast premiere of Mason Bates Piano Concerto, a piece that the orchestra co-commissioned with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Three subscription concert performances took place at Davies Hall with Daniil Trifonov (piano) and Ruth Reinhardt (conductor) receiving a great response from the audience and media.
“Unquestionably, the highlight of the evening was the new Piano Concerto by Mason Bates, co-commissioned by the Symphony, featuring soloist Daniil Trifonov, for whom it was written. Bates’s music has been heard often at Davies since 2009, and at the Cabrillo Festival longer than that, so local listeners have had plenty of opportunity to follow the tremendous artistic growth of the now 45-year-old composer. This is his most assured and masterful work yet”
Read the full review on San Francisco Classical Voice.