Talmi Offers Bold Symphony Season

After two seasons of decidedly cautious programming, San Diego Symphony music director Yoav Talmi has suddenly let out all the stops. On Thursday, Talmi announced his 1992-93 season, which includes four world premieres, two West Coast premieres, four major choral-orchestral works and a festival of French music in May.

“With its large works, the new season is much more demanding than the previous two,” Talmi said of the upcoming season, which will be the Israeli maestro’s third season since he became music director in 1990.

“But its various emphases let people focus on the music that matches their own taste,” he said.

On Dec. 11, Talmi will premiere the long-awaited symphony “Dreaming” by Roger Reynolds, the UC San Diego professor who won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize in music. Noted violinist Cho-Liang (Jimmy) Lin will solo in the first performance of a Violin Concerto by fellow Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao Nov. 13, and symphony principal horn John Lorge’s Fantasia for Tuba and Orchestra, featuring principal tuba Matthew Garbutt, will debut Jan. 8, 1993. Principal guest conductor Robert Shaw will introduce David Ott’s Trombone Concerto--written for principal trombone Heather Buchman--on April 24, 1993, with Buchman as soloist.

“For the orchestra and the conductor, the premieres represent a huge amount of preparation. Learning a complex work by Roger Reynolds, for example, is much more demanding than preparing a Brahms symphony. I want audiences to know that, however challenging these new works may be to hear, as conductor I put the challenge on my shoulders first.”

During the 1992-93 season, Talmi’s contract will come up for renewal. Although he said that issue did not factor into planning the season, he is working on the assumption that he will continue to lead the orchestra.

“I want to be here. I love the orchestra and this city, but I will only continue if I feel wanted.”

Despite the 10 to 12 weeks Talmi conducts in San Diego each season, he still works more in Europe than he does in the United States. During the last year, he has turned down six offers from major European orchestras because of his loyalty to San Diego, he said.

Symphony patrons will get another view of Talmi when the orchestra plays two of his compositions. His Inauguration Fanfare for two brass choirs opens the season Oct. 9, and his Overture on Mexican Themes will be played Jan. 14 and 15.

Major choral offerings, usually popular draws, will be increased next season. Shaw will conduct Mendelssohn’s oratorio “Elijah” with the combined voices of the San Diego Master Chorale and the La Jolla Symphony Chorus April 30-May 2.

Talmi will direct two major choral offerings, the Verdi Requiem (April 30-May 2) with the two combined choirs and the season-opening performance (Oct. 9-11) of Karl Orff’s bawdy, pagan cantata “Carmina Burana,” which will add the voices of the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choristers to the two adult choirs.

Guest conductor Kenneth Kiesler, who made an impressive local debut conducting Handel’s “Messiah” in 1990, returns to conduct the popular oratorio Dec. 17 with the San Diego Master Chorale and soprano soloist Virginia Sublett.

Talmi will continue the orchestra’s continuing Bruckner and Mahler cycles. On Oct. 23-25, he will offer Bruckner’s Third Symphony, a work he has frequently conducted in Europe but which has never been performed by the local orchestra. Mezzo-soprano Donna Bruno and tenor George Gray will join Talmi and the orchestra for Mahler’s symphonic song cycle “Das Lied von der Erde” on Dec. 3 and 4.

Among the upcoming season’s notable guest soloists are Richard Stolzman, who plays Toru Takemitsu’s Clarinet Concerto March 18 and 19; Ruth Laredo, who plays Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto Oct. 15 and 16; Ralph Kirshbaum, who plays Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto Dec. 11-13; and Yefim Bronfman, who plays the Saint-Saens Second Piano Concerto May 14-16.

Heiichiro Ohyama, artistic director of the La Jolla SummerFest and music director of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, returns to the symphony podium Nov. 13-15 to conduct Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony. Chilean conductor Maximiano Valdes makes his local debut March 18 with Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka,” and Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera’s “Variaciones Concertantes.”

Building on the success of December’s Mozart marathon, the new season will end with the French Fortnight Festival. May’s concerts (May 8-May 21) will feature French works, especially rarely heard orchestral transcriptions of Debussy’s music, and French food will be served at intermissions.