San Francisco Symphony Essentials

This orchestra's steady ascension within the ranks of elite global ensembles has everything to do with a string of talented musical directors that includes Edo de Waart, Herbert Blomstedt and Michael Tilson Thomas. Collectively possessed of a wide repertoire, these conductors have helped keep the symphony's players as adept with Bernstein's showstopping drama as they are with early minimalists such as Steve Reich and post-minimalists such as John Adams. The orchestra sparkles in pieces from abroad, too, delighting in the vibrant orchestrations of Berlioz and the romantic allure of Mahler.