Michael the maverick Thomas & the SF Symphony at Carnegie Hall

Michael Tilson Thomas has consistently performed compositions of American composers.  Mr. Thomas has earned his reputation for being a maverick. He encompasses a plethora of composers as well as the great classical composers.  I applaud both Mr. Thomas for his choices and the San Francisco Symphony for their incredible artistic skills in performing such varied and complex compositions.  Last night's program contained John Cage's Song Books which was the most intriguing performance I have experienced.  I would call it performance art as opposed to music.  I do not agree with the man seated in front of me who said rather loudly and rudely, "This is crap!"  Unfortunately, he did not leave at intermission although the lady next to me left as did a noticeable portion of the audience.  I do not agree with this "gentleman," I found it a Creative, Relentless, Artistic, Performance.  To quote the composer, "When we separate music from life we get art."  I believe the music was, for the most part, secondary to the staging and I'm not calling the work art.  I will quote a line sung, "How can you live with only one sense of humor?"  I like that and I enjoyed the entire evening, however, I'm not calling for an encore on Mr. Cage's Song Books.