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Directed by Gary Halvorson, David Kennard, Joan Saffa.

Description

Directed by Gary Halvorson, David Kennard, Joan Saffa. Starring Michael Tilson Thomas.

Description

From the sounds outside his bedroom window a kind of sonic goulash of military marches, ethnic dance bands, church bells and nature itself Gustav Mahler created an entire universe of emotion in music. In an astonishingly productive twenty-five years, he fashioned ten symphonies and 45 songs of cosmic scale, great beauty and jarring emotional twists and turns. And he did it all in the brief moments he could spare from his day job as one of Europe s preeminent conductors. On Gustav Mahler: Origins and Legacy, the latest release in the PBS Keeping Score series, Michael Tilson Thomas returns to the provincial Austro-Hungarian city of Mahler s childhood and bears witness to his grand achievements, great sorrows and daring musical explorations into the depths of the human soul. Join MTT and the San Francisco Symphony as they trace Mahler s rise as a young conductor, his career-crowning appointments in Vienna and New York, his turbulent marriage and the sudden, tragic death of his daughter and show how his stormy inner life inspired new and ever-more heartbreaking heights of creativity. SFS Media s two-disc set includes the documentary accompanied by a second disc with concert performances by the San Francisco Symphony including the first symphony, selected movements of the fifth, seventh and ninth symphonies and the complete Songs of a Wayfarer with baritone Thomas Hampson.

Description

In September 2011, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony launched the Orchestra's milestone Centennial Season with a celebratory gala concert at Davies Symphony Hall dubbed "Fanfare for a New Century." the gala concert was broadcast nationally on PBS in March and April 2012 as part of their Great Performances series. The gala was hosted by Bay Area author Amy Tan and directed for television by Gary Halvorson and features one of the leading artists of our time, violinist Itzhak Perlman performing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor. The concert opens with Aaron Copland's vivid portrayal of American prairie life, the Billy the Kid ballet suite and concludes with Britten's orchestral showpiece the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Capping off the concert is an encore of Bay Area composer John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine featuring moving images of San Francisco projected throughout Davies Symphony Hall. San Francisco Symphony at 100 also includes historical documentary features narrated by Amy Tan highlighting the orchestra's early beginnings, it's rich history of touring and it's commitment to young people and innovations in media.