Posted by Barry on October 17, 1999 at 02:20:25:
Saw Saint-Saens Organ Symphony at Davies Hall in San Francisco. I had seats up in the 2nd tier, so I honestly could not tell if it was Craig Knox or Peter Wahrhofftig (sp? - sorry Peter) playing Tuba. Either way, the tubist sounded just fine, and used the ubiquitous 6/4 Yorkmonster of some variety. The piece as a whole sounded wonderful. Davies Hall has a huge, loud organ. Some people criticize it for its lack of subtlety, etc - but who cares? At least it puts a heck of bottom under Mahler's 2 & 8, etc. Check out Mahler #2 with Blomstedt on Decca/London for a taste.
Anyway, the Saint-Saens was conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier - son of the great cellist Paul Tortelier. He's a real French music specialist, and has an excellent cd of the piece on the Chandos label. The concert also included young Hillary Hahn playing Mozart's 4th Tuba Concerto transcribed for violin. She's got some chops, folks! Don't ask who the organist was because, I left the program in the car. Sorry in advance. Fyi.