LCCE will Conclude Season under French Influences

This month will conclude with the final concert in the 2016–2017 season of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE). The program, entitled Francophilia, was planned by LCCE flutist Stacey Pelinka, so the flute figures in much of the repertoire. However, there will also be a generous offering of vocal music performed by soprano Nikki Einfeld:

Soprano Nikki Einfeld (by Vivian Sachs, from LCCE)

The composers will include not only Frenchmen but also Americans influenced by different connections to France.

Pelinka selected Henri Dutilleux’ sonatina for flute and piano as a French perspective on the flute repertoire; but she will also contribute to André Caplet’s “Viens! Une flûte invisible soupire” (come, an invisible flute is sighing), which he scored for soprano, flute and piano. The entire program will be framed by vocal works by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, beginning with Debussy’s collection Chansons de Bilitis (songs of Bilitis) and concluding with Ravel’s collection Chansons madécasses (Madagascar songs). The program will also include an earlier selection by Jules Massenet, his “Elegie” for soprano, cello, and piano. Einfeld will also sing selections by three American composers subjected to French influences. Two of those composers worked with English texts, Aaron Copland in “Laurie’s Song” from his opera The Tender Land and Ned Rorem in his Last Poems of Wallace Stevens cycle, also scored for soprano, cello, and piano. On the other hand LCCE will present the world premiere of Kurt Rohde’s “Power is Everywhere,” which is based on the philosophical writings of Michel Foucault. Rohde calls this piece “an observed distraction,” rather than a song cycle; and he has scored it for soprano and small ensemble.

The San Francisco performance of Francophilia (which will also be the only performance of “Power is Everywhere”) will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30. The venue will be the Recital Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, located at 50 Oak Street, a short walk from the Van Ness Muni station. Tickets will be sold at the door for $35 for general admission and $18 for those under the age of 35. However, if tickets are purchased in advance from a Vendini event page, general admission will be $30 with a $15 charge for those under the age of 35.