(Image courtesy of The San Diego Symphony)

By Joel Casillas

Rafael Payare Delivers an Epic Performance of Strauss’ A Hero’s Life with the San Diego Symphony

As the San Diego Symphony’s 2026-27 Jacobs Masterworks season got underway, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare took the stage at the Jacobs Music Center for an evening featuring the imagination of Sofia Gubaidulina, the elegance of Mozart, and the grandeur of Richard Strauss, with acclaimed pianist Yefim Bronfman joining as a guest artist.

Before getting into the music itself, the recently renovated Jacobs Music Center deserves recognition. The venue immediately conveys a sense of elegance from the moment you walk through its doors, while the stage itself feels equally impressive and modern. Its technological elements, including the electronic doors used by the musicians and the column that opens and closes to allow the conductor to enter and exit, add a striking visual element to the overall experience.

The approximately one-hour-and-45-minute concert began with Sofia Gubaidulina’s “Fairytale Poem”, which served as an excellent introduction to the evening and created an atmosphere of imagination and discovery.

The program continued with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, featuring Yefim Bronfman as the soloist. The internationally acclaimed pianist delivered a performance filled with precision and personality, earning a strong ovation from the audience.

But the main event of the evening arrived with Richard Strauss’ “A Hero’s Life” (Ein Heldenleben), conducted by Rafael Payare.

It is a challenging piece, but also an incredibly epic one. If I had to describe what listening to Strauss’ work feels like, I would compare it to being inside the soundtrack of a superhero movie. With an orchestra of more than 40 musicians, the piece takes the audience through a musical adventure where you can feel the conflict, romance, tension, and resolution.

This was my first time experiencing the San Diego Symphony under Payare’s direction, and one of the most noticeable aspects was how deeply engaged the audience became with the performance. Throughout the piece, I could see people reacting to the sheer scale of the music and to just how beautiful and epic it sounded.

In the end, the experience was much more than simply attending a classical music concert. The combination of Payare’s conducting, Bronfman’s musicianship, and the visual experience of the newly renovated Jacobs Music Center turned the evening into a genuine musical journey.

If you are looking for something different to do in San Diego, a visit to the San Diego Symphony at Jacobs Music Center is absolutely worth considering. Even if classical music is not something you regularly listen to, an evening like this shows just how powerful an orchestra can be when it completely transports you into another world.