Next Month the SFP Virtuosi Series will Begin with Cellist Sol Gabetta

Next month will see the first recital in the 2016–2017 Virtuosi Series presented by San Francisco Performances (SFP). The series will begin with a debut performance by Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta, who has become one of Europe’s most sought-after soloists. Her accompanist will be the equally virtuosic Italian pianist Alessio Bax.

Gabetta will structure her recital around two sonatas, each of which represents a major accomplishment for its respective century. The nineteenth-century selection will be performed during the first half of the program and will be the first of Johannes Brahms’ two cello sonatas, his Opus 38 in E minor. The second half will present the Opus 119 sonata in C major composed by Serge Prokofiev late in his life for a young cellist whose reputation was rapidly rising, Mstislav Rostropovich. Prokofiev will also be represented by an arrangement of an Adagio movement from his score for the ballet Cinderella. This comes from his Opus 97 collection of ten excerpts from that score, written for solo piano and rearranged for cello and piano. In the first half of the program, the Brahms sonata will be preceded by the music of his mentor, Robert Schumann. The recital will begin with his Opus 73 set of three Fantasy Pieces (Fantasiestücke), originally written for clarinet and piano. However, Schumann himself indicated that the clarinet part could also be performed on viola or cello.

This recital will take place on Tuesday, November 15, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The venue will be Herbst Theatre, located at 401 Van Ness Avenue, on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Tickets for premium seating are $65, and tickets are also being sold for $55 and $40. Tickets may be purchased online in advance through a City Box Office event page, which provides a chart showing which sections of the hall are covered by which prices. Additional information may be obtained by calling SFP at 415-392-2545.

Because this is the first program in the Virtuosi Series, subscriptions are still on sale for $240 for premium seating in the Orchestra and the front and center of the Dress Circle, $200 for the Side Boxes, the center rear of the Dress Circle, and the remainder of the Orchestra, and $140 for the remainder of the Dress Circle and the Balcony. Subscriptions may be purchased online in advance through a City Box Office event page. Orders may also be placed by calling the SFP subscriber hotline at 415-677-0325.