By Joshua Kosman
San Francisco Chronicle

In his first concert as music director of the San Francisco Symphony, in September 1995, Michael Tilson Thomas led the orchestra in a dynamic, revelatory performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It was an unforgettable experience, one that established the pattern for the 25 years of musical adventure that followed.

Beethoven’s Ninth was on the agenda once again Thursday, Oct. 19, when Thomas, now the orchestra’s Music Director Laureate, returned for what seems all too likely to be his final appearance with the orchestra.

It was a rich and emotion-laden occasion, at once an encounter with a familiar musical masterpiece and an opportunity for music lovers in the Bay Area and elsewhere to pay tribute to the man who has given us so many of these over the years.

[…]as soon as the playing began, the old mastery reasserted itself. Making music is like breathing for Thomas; with the baton in his hand, he seemed to expand, both visibly and audibly, into his fullest and most fluent self. 

That was true most gloriously in the symphony’s slow movement, which required less physical exertion and more expressive sensitivity. The movement’s lyrical melodies wove themselves in and out of the texture, as Thomas guided them with a light but effective touch. There were wondrous emphases in the phrasing — at times novel, at times poised to land just as expected — and a sumptuous quality to the movement’s overall shape. […]