The Last Straw?

Over the past week I have done my best to overlook the defective audio signals provided by Old First Church for the substandard livestream account of the San Francisco International Piano Festival. Microphone placement for the piano itself has been consistently faultless, but any remarks to the audience are virtually inaudible to those attending the performance through the YouTube feed. Sadly, last night the need for the spoken word was more critical than usual.

Jeffrey LaDeur’s inaudible introduction to last night’s Old First Concerts program (screen shot from the YouTube video of the performance)

This began with an extended introduction by Jeffrey LaDeur to introduce two solo piano compositions by Maurice Ravel composed in 1913 and 1911 (order of appearance on the program). While waiting to listen to the music, I hadn’t the foggiest idea of what LaDeur had to say about either of these pieces, let alone Ravel himself. This was more than a little aggravating, since the 1913 “Prélude” is hardly ever performed.

This was followed by a a series of compositions by Bill Evans performed by Stephen Prutsman. Since the titles were not listed in the program, he introduced each one by name. That was where the inaudibility of the livestream virtually demolished the program. Evans was one of the most prolific jazz composers in the twentieth century, and I cannot begin to enumerate the diversity of his creations that I have in my two box sets of his recordings. Attaching a name to a tune that was inaudibly introduced was out of the question.

Readers that followed this site through the pandemic know that, when probably engineered, streamed video can be a great asset. However, when the engineering quality becomes a liability, one would be better off without the resource at all. On the basis of some of the camera shots, it appears that Old First Concerts is drawing audiences again. Perhaps current resources applied to their livestream efforts could be used elsewhere more fruitfully.

George Balanchine’s “Serenade” Sustains

The critical moment when the “newcomer” joins the other dancers at the conclusion of George Balanchine’s choreography of the first movement of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Opus 48, the “Serenade for Strings” in the key of C major (from the Great Performances video of New York City Ballet in Madrid)

Once again I find myself waxing lyrical over “Serenade,” the first ballet that George Balanchine created in the United States. This was his first major effort after his move to the United States. It was first performed by students of his School of American Ballet. The venue was not in New York City. Rather, the premiere took place on the estate of Felix M. Warburg in White Plains on June 9, 1934. By the end of that year, the School had a producing company; and the first public performance was held in the Avery Memorial Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut.

It would probably not be an exaggeration to say that the choreography for “Serenade” spread like wildfire to schools of ballet and performing companies associated with them. The venues included San Francisco, and I have lost count of the number of times I have seen it performed on Public Television (PBS). It was also one of the ballets that sustained me through the pandemic during the “Digital Spring Season” of the New York City Ballet.

The most recent Great Performances broadcast of “Serenade” on PBS will discontinue streaming at the end of this month. The abstract classicism of this ballet was coupled with the “earthier” “Square Dance” (originally performed with a caller) for the full video program. In many ways this program couples the Russian tradition with American “folk roots.” Nevertheless, Balanchine provided the choreography for both of these works; and the visual experience continues to be consistently engaging. The program has the usual 90-minute duration; and there would be much to be gained from finding an available 90-minute slot prior to midnight!

This Year’s Marina Albero Trio Chez Hanny Gig

Marina Albero at the keyboard (photograph by Daniel Sheehan, from a 2022 NPR preview article)

Where jazz combos are concerned, the Marina Albero Trio seems to be the harbinger of the new season. As was the case last year, the trio, led by pianist Albero, will return to Chez Hanny next month. Once again, Giulio Xavier Cetto will be her bass player, and drummer will be Michael Mitchell, following his summer gig in coaching the Giant Steps program at the Stanford Jazz Workshop.

For those that do not already know, the venue for these events is Frank Hanny’s house at 1300 Silver Avenue, with the performance taking place in the downstairs rumpus room. Admission will be $25, payable in cash, as a check to Jazz Chez Hanny, or a Zelle transfer to jazz@chezhanny.com. There will be two sets separated by a potluck break. As a result, all who plan to attend are encouraged to bring food and/or drink to share. Seating is first come, first served; and the doors will open at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 14. Reservations are preferred by sending electronic mail to jazz@chezhanny.com. Masks are optional, but attendees should be vaccinated. Vaccination will be based on the honor system. Finally, volunteer efforts for cleaning up after the show are always appreciated.

SFIPF: Korepanova Disappoints Again

Last night the eighth annual San Francisco International Piano Festival (SFIPF) presented a program entitled The World of Ravel with Asiya Korepanova. When Korepanova gave her debut recital last season, she presented a program of seven transcriptions, all of her own design. Sadly, this was not the Festival’s finest hour, due, as I put it at that time, to “ Korepanova’s overly aggressive keyboard technique,” which “tended to undermine any suggestion of expressiveness in either the music itself or its realization through transcription.”

Asiya Korepanova playing Ravel’s “Jeux d’eau” at SFIPF (screen shot from the YouTube video of the performance)

Expressiveness took it on the chin again last night to such an extent that I decided to limit myself to the first half of the program. The program was a promising one, beginning with the entirety of Claude Debussy’s L. 75 Suite bergamasque, accounting for all four movements, rather than just the third (“Clair de lune”). Debussy’s suite was paired with Maurice Ravel’s “Jeux d’eau.” These two twentieth-century composers were coupled with one of the major French keyboard works of the nineteenth century, the “Prélude, Choral et Fugue” by César Franck. While Korepanova could not be faulted for failing to account for each of the notes in these compositions assuming its proper place with the appropriate delivery of dynamics, there was little in her approaches to interpretation that would guide the attentive listener from one rhetorical outpost to another.

With the arrival of the intermission, I decided that I had had enough of “Korepanova’s Way!”

A Full Album of Wiliam Lawes from Robin Pharo

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

One week from today harmonia mundi will release the debut of Robin Pharo on its label. He leads his own early music ensemble, given the name “Près de votre oreille” (close to your ear). The group features three vocalists, soprano Maïlys De Villoutreys, mezzo Anaïs Bertrand, and bass Alex Rosen. Fiona-Émilie Poupard alternates between violin and viola da gamba, joined by Pharo also on gamba. The continuo includes harp (Pernelle Marzorati), theorbo (Simon Waddell), and Loris Barrucand alternating between harpsichord and organ. The vocal selections alternate with Harp Consort performances.

The title of the album is Lighten mine eies, and it presents muic composed by William Lawes. The advance material I received cites him as “the brilliant heir to [William] Byrd and [Orlando] Gibbons.” Every now and then I reflect on my rich exposure to pre-Classical music when I took advantage of the fact that my office at the University of Pennsylvania was across the parking lot from the Music building. Voices of Music has been my primary source of reviving those memories. As a result, it did not take me long to discover that this ensemble had a YouTube video of a performance of Lawes’ setting of Robert Herrick’s poem “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.”

The texts for most of the vocal selections are taken from Choice Psalmes put into musick. In the track listing the others simply cite the British Library! For the most part, however, the music holds its own in prevailing of texts that were probably familiar to listeners from the early seventeenth century. Personally, I was drawn more to the interleaving of the voices in the instrumental polyphony. There is much in the album to draw and sustain attention, and those wishing to acquire the album sooner rather than later will be happy to know that its Amazon.com Web page is currently processing pre-orders.

Thoughts on the Death of Rodion Shchedrin

Rodion Shchedrin (right) with his wife, prima ballerina assoluta Maya Plisetskaya (photograph provided by Si-Ziga, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, from Wikimedia Commons)

I just finished reading the obituary for composer Rodion Shchedrin, written by Johnathan Kandell for The New York Times. I know Shchedrin’s music best for his score for Alberto Alonso’s one-act ballet “Carmen Suite,” created for Maya Plisetskaya, prima ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi Ballet. According to my archives, the New Century Chamber Orchestra performed this suite twice, the most recent having taken place in the Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in September of 2014. Unless I am mistaken, I was able to see this ballet performed by American Ballet Theatre back when I was working on the East Coast a few decades ago.

It would be fair to say that what I remember most about this score is the abundance of Shchedrin’s gestures that poke fun at the music for Georges Bizet’s Carmen. The first example that comes to mind is how he rearranged the entrance of the toreadors for a xylophone solo. (Any time I played my recording for friends, that episode evoked the most raucous response!)

I subsequently had a second encounter with that sense of humor, this time a bit more explicitly. This was back in 2019, when I wrote about the Profil release of thirteen CDs entitled Kyrill Kondrashin Edition: 1937–1963. This included Shchedrin’s first concerto for orchestra, given the title “Naughty Limericks.” Mind you, the music did not do a particularly good job of reflecting the “scan” of a limerick; but the overall rhetoric was unabashedly naughty. This was composed in 1963, a decidedly “safe distance” from any risk of provoking the legacy of Joseph Stalin!

Shchedrin’s sense of humor would surface about three decades later with the publication of “3 Merry Pieces” for piano trio. I first encountered this music on the debut album by the AdAstra Piano Trio, released through the Polish label CD ACCORD. I had little to say about this music at that time, but it was in good company rubbing shoulders with another raucous composition, the three-movement “Café Music” by Paul Schoenfield, which I have previously associated with performance by a band of Muppets!

With all that context, it would be fair to say that Shchedrin never seemed to be shy about exercising his sense of humor, no matter who happened to be calling the shots from the Kremlin!

PBO to Offer to Free “Previews” Next Month

Many readers probably know by now that the coming season of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) will get underway in San Francisco on October 16. However, next month PBO will offer two free concerts, neither of which will last for more than an hour. The second of these will be an outdoor event, while the other will take place in The Conservatory in the Financial district. Specifics are as follows:

Tuesday, September 16, 10 a.m., The Conservatory at One Sansome: The title of the program will be Bach Before Noon; and, as can be deduced from above, the performance will conclude way before noon! Johann Sebastian Bach will be represented by an instrumental setting of one of his four-part harmonizations of the Lutheran chorale “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” followed by the “Ricercar a 6” (six-voice fugue) from BWV 1079, The Musical Offering. These selections will be preceded by the earlier six-part “Canzon” in A minor, composed by Johann Hermann Schein. “Bach the father” will be followed by one of the symphonies composed by his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, the last of the set of six cataloged collectively as Wq. 182 by Alfred Wotquenne. The program will then advance into the nineteenth century, first with a prelude and fugue in E minor by Clara Schumann and followed by Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 20, his E-flat major octet. As can be deduced from the title, the address of the venue will be One Sansome Street in the Financial District.

A typical example of the relationship between the Flower Piano audience and the performers (including Kati Kyme and William Skeen)

Saturday, September 20, 3 p.m., San Francisco Botanical Garden: PBO will contribute to this season’s Flower Piano event. The pianist for the occasion will be Keisuke Nakagoshi. He will be joined by Noah Strick on violin, violist Kati Kyme, and William Skeen on cello. The four of them will play quartets by both Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn. It seems as if every year Flower Piano draws a larger crowd that requires more organization. The PBO players will be in Zellerbach Garden, and there is no shortage of maps on the grounds to lead one to this particular location. This year will be Flower Piano’s tenth anniversary, and those unfamiliar with the event will probably benefit from visiting its home page.

Tianwa Yang Surveys a Sarasate Canon

Violinist Tianwa Yang on the cover of the box set being discussed

This is the time of year when I can catch up on past releases that I have not yet accounted for but still deserve attention. Naxos released its four-CD box set of the complete works composed by Pablo de Sarasate for violin and orchestra in November of 2015, but it was only in the last few days that I had the opportunity to survey this aspect of the composer’s catalog. The soloist for all of the recordings was Tianwa Yang, performing with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra under the baton of Ernest Martínez Izquierdo.

This makes for a generous amount of music, particularly when one realizes that the only work likely to be familiar is the very first track of the first CD! That is the composer’s Opus 20, “Zigeunerweisen” (gypsy airs), best known (at least to my generation) for its frequent appearance on no end of cartoons provided by both Warner and Disney! If all the other selections are unfamiliar, they at least provide generous insight into the composer’s command of an abundance of virtuosic tropes.

I can appreciate that many are likely to view this collection as too much of a good thing. Indeed, just listening to the entirety of a single CD may leave one more than saturated. Fortunately, in the “digital age” it is easier for listeners to sample individual selections, rather than just playing a disc from end to end. If this is the case, then such “occasional visits” are likely to be remembered as journeys of discovery.

This is particularly the case when Sarasate decides to adopt the music other composers. His most ambitious undertaking was his Opus 25, the five-movement Carmen Fantasy, which serves up perspectives on Georges Bizet’s opera that are not encountered in other arrangements of his music. There are also two fantasies on operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Opus 51 (Don Giovanni) and Opus 54 (The Magic Flute), which are just as inventive in their selection of memorable themes.

It is worth noting that Sarasate probably composed most of his works for his own performance. His career covered the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth. That landed him in the same time frame as George Bernard Shaw, who saw himself as much a music critic as an author. That combination of talents is revealed in Shaw’s assessment that Sarasate “left criticism gasping miles behind him.”

These days it seems as if the Sarasate repertoire is “miles behind.” Mind you, some readers may recall that Ray Chen played Opus 20 when he made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January of 2011. However, it appears that my last encounter with a departure from that warhorse took place in May of 2023, when violinist Patrick Galvin played Sarasate’s “Romanza andaluza,” accompanied by Connor Buckley at the piano at an Old First Concerts recital. Perhaps I shall get to know that music better when I decided to take on Yang’s other Naxos collection of the complete works for violin and piano!

Volti to Begin 47th Season by Exploring Sonorities

Poster design for the first Volti concert of its 47th season

Once again, Volti will begin its 47th season with another exploration of diverse sonorities. The title of the first program will be Sound & Transformation, described on its Web page as “a program full of improvisation and shifting sound worlds.” The composers and their respective works will be as follows:

• Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate: “Visions of a Child”
• Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: “Chant des Voyelles”
• Marcos Balter’s “Livro das Cores”

The first of these involves lullabies based on Pueblo melodies and rhythms. The second explores the ancient tradition of ascribing sacred, mystical and healing powers and significance to vowels. It was commissioned by Volti and was first performed in 2018. It was given its world premiere by Volti in May of 2018. The third is a setting of texts by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. The program will also preview “Oracles,” an exploration of the connection between sound and spoken word by Chris Castro, which will be performed in its entirety with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble this coming March.

The San Francisco performance of Sound & Transformation will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 7. The venue will be the Noe Valley Ministry, which is located in Noe Valley at 1021 Sanchez Street. General admission will be $40 with a $75 rate for reserved premium seats. Seniors aged 65 or older and students with valid identification will be admitted for $15. A Web page has been created for online ticket purchases.

Roger Glenn’s Reflection on the Latin Genre

Cover design for My Latin Heart

Early this past June, Patois Records released an album including a reflection on one of the more prolific American Latin Jazz musicians of the last century. Vibraphonist Cal Tjader also had a solid command of both percussion and piano. Over the course of his career, he progressed beyond the usual domain of his colleagues to explore the possibility for both Latin rock and acid jazz. [updated 9/3, 12:10 p.m.: The new generation of this genre can be found in My Latin Heart, performed by a combo led by multi-instrumentalist Roger Glenn (shown playing flute on the album cover). This includes a track composed by Glenn and dedicated to Tjader entitled “Cal’s Guajira;” but, taken as a whole, the album reflects on a new generation of Latin-inspired music.]

Some readers may have noticed that I tend to shy away from the rhetoric of that style. Nevertheless, it surfaces primarily through the four percussionists on the album, with particular attention to Derek Rolando on congas; and those rhythms are consistently engaging over the course of all eight tracks of the album. (Rolando’s three colleagues, Paul van Wageningen, John Santos, and Michael Spiro, perform a variety of other percussion instruments, with Santos and Spiro adding vocals.) All eight of the tracks are original compositions by Glenn, and I must confess to feeling a bit refreshed in listening to “Samba De Carnaval” without any references to Black Orpheus! Indeed, each of the tracks on this album highlights Glenn’s own originality, honoring a tradition by setting it in a new light.

September 2025 “Emerging Composers”

Artistic Director & Conductor Eric Dudley leading the members of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players

Next month will see the next concert of world premieres presented by the ARTZenter Institute, in cooperation with San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. The last such performance, presenting the awards of six Emerging Composers Completion Grants, took place at the end of last May. On that occasion I observed that listening to six brand-new compositions in a single program put a bit of a strain on even the most attentive listener. That observation seems to have had some impact, because next month’s program will consist of only four works as follows:

1. Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri (University of Missouri, Kansas City): Sky Lantern
2. Pablo Martinez Teutli (University of California, Berkeley): Nimbos de centellas
3. Jaebong Rho (Yale University): nejimakiHaruki
4. David Vess (University of Miami): Eternal Threshold

Once again, the performance will begin at 7:30 p.m., this time on Friday, September 5. It will take place in Herbst Theatre, whose entrance is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building. located on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street. Each of the composers has received a $3000 grant to cover travel to San Francisco and accommodations. The performance will be presented free of admission, and no reservations will be required. [added 8/31, 9:05 a.m.:

There will be two more of these events in the coming season. Both of them will begin at 7:30 pm. on a Tuesday evening: January 6 and June 9. Presumably, further details about the composers and their new works will be forthcoming.]

Enrique Granados’ First Opera

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

This is the time of year when the flow of new releases is not as strong as usual. As a result, it provides me with an opportunity to explore works that I had overlooked in the past. This weekend I encountered the two-CD Naxos release of Enrique Granados’ first operatic success, María del Carmen. In Enrique Granados: Poet of the Piano, Walter Aaron Clark praised it as the composer’s best opera, describing it as a Spanish version of Pietro Mascagni’s one-act success, “Cavalleria rusticana” with a happy ending. The album was produced, engineered, and edited by Andrew Lang based on recordings of performances on October 23, 26, and 29, 2003 at the Theatre Royal in Wexford, Ireland.

When the album was released, the back cover provided a hyperlink for the libretto, but it is only in Spanish. If Opera Folio is a reliable source, then an English translation is not currently available. (There is a Web page for it on the Operas Arias Composers Singers Web site, but it is blank!) On the other hand, the accompanying booklet provides a perfectly good synopsis of the plot, with track numbers inserted to guide the listener.

Granados’ operatic achievements are somewhat limited. María del Carmen, composed in 1898, was his first three-act undertaking; but he never completed it. His best-known opera is the one-act “Goyescas,” completed in 1915. He would die the following year. Compared with the other genres in his repertoire, the number of works composed for theatrical performances is quite modest. Nevertheless, one can appreciate his “Hispanic rhetoric” in the instrumental passages of María del Carmen, even if the narrative (based, as is so often the case, on mutual hatred between the protagonists) may involve more “soap” than “opera!” When that plot is set aside, one can still appreciate Granados’ command of a Hispanic rhetoric.

The Bleeding Edge: 8/25/2025

Once again, this will be a week of three new events, all at venues likely to be familiar to those that follow this site regularly.

Wednesday, August 27, 7 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club: One last event has been added to this month’s schedule at Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club. Violinist Jenny Scheinman will lead a quintet, joined on the front line by Beth Schenck on alto saxophone. Rhythm will be provided by Matt Wrobel on guitar, pianist Carmen Staaf, and Noah Garabedian on bass. (Some readers may have seen Staaf and Garabedian yesterday at Jazz Chez Hanny.)

For those that do not yet know about this venue, Mr. Tipple’s is located at 39 Fell Street, on the south side of the street between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street. Reservations for admission may be made through the Web page for the venue. Both food and drink are available and may be purchased separately.

Thursday, August 28, 8 p.m., Noisebridge Hackerspace: Every fourth Thursday of the month, Noisebridge hosts an electronic music open mic event. The hosts for this month will be Franck Martin, TanukiSpiderCat, Jah’s Tin, and Sycamore Willow. The full account of performers has not yet been finalized. Noisebridge is best known for its G|O|D|W|A|F|F|L|E|N|O|I|S|E|P|A|N|C|A|K|E|S events. Performers can set up their preparations beginning at 7 p.m. Noisebridge is located in the Mission at 272 Capp Street. The program will also be live-streamed through a YouTube Web site.

David Boyce with his soprano saxophone (from the weekly BayImproviser Web page for Medicine for Nightmares)

Friday, August 29, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: This week’s Other Dimensions in Sound curator David Boyce will present a solo set of his own “musical medicina,” augmenting his reed performances with electronic effects. As always, the venue is the bookstore located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. There is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

SFIPF Couples Ravel with Contemporary Séverac

Jeffrey LaDeur performing Déodat de Séverac’s Cerdaña (screenshot from yesterday afternoon’s live YouTube video)

Yesterday afternoon the eighth annual San Francisco International Piano Festival (SFIPF) presented its second recital at Old First Presbyterian Church. Each half of the program was taken by a single pianist, Gwendolyn Mok followed by Jeffrey LaDeur; and each of them played a multi-movement suite. Mok began the recital with a performance of Maurice Ravel’s five-movement suite Miroirs. The intermission was followed by a second five-movement suite, Cerdaña, composed by Déodat de Séverac about six years after Ravel completed Miroirs.

Miroirs is probably less known as a piano suite and more for two of the movements that Ravel subsequently orchestrated: “Une barque sur l’océan” (a boat on the ocean) and “Alborada del gracioso” (morning song of the jester). These are preceded by “Noctuelles” (night moths) and “Oiseaux tristes” (sad  birds); and “La vallée des cloches” (the valley of bells) concludes the suite. These are all descriptive titles, but I felt that Mok’s verbal account of the descriptions went on longer than necessary. I have become familiar with all of these pieces through recordings, and my own humble opinion is that the music speaks perfectly well for itself! Once Mok took her place at the keyboard, she evoked, for the most part, a far richer experience than her verbal introduction provided. The only weak spots were “Une barque sur l’océan,” which came across as all notes and no expressiveness, and “Alborada del gracioso,” whose climax was hammered out too aggressively.

According to my records, I have not listened to Séverac’s music for about five years. That was when I encountered a video of a performance of four of his songs sung by Ellen Leslie, accompanied at the piano by Eric Choate. LaDeur’s account was thus my first encounter with the composer’s keyboard music. Each of the five movements was dedicated to one of his contemporaries: Yves Nat, Laura Albéniz, Carlos de Castéra, Frank Haviland, and Marguerite Long. Sadly, while I appreciated the spirit behind Séverac’s intentions, there was little in his rhetoric to hold my attention.

A New Scarlatti Album from Javier Perianes

Javier Perianes on the cover of his new album (from the YouTube Web page for this recording)

At the beginning of this coming October, Javier Perianes will come to Davies Symphony Hall to serve as the soloist in a performance of Edvard Grieg’s piano concerto. There is a good chance that, for his encore selection, he will turn to the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti. This “informed guess” is based on the fact that, this past Friday, Harmonia Mundi released an album of Perianes playing fifteen of the 555 sonatas cataloged by Ralph Kirkpatrick.

My interest in those sonatas dates back for over a decade. During my tenure with Examiner.com, I wrote about the Warner Classics release of the complete canon, as well as maintaining a “progress report” on albums released individually by Carlo Grante. While I am unlikely to undertake the entire journey again, I enjoyed the “sampling” that Perianes offered in his new release.

Those that take the full canon of these sonatas very seriously will probably want to know not just Perianes’ selections but also how he chose to order them. Therefore, while I seldom do so, this account deserves a track listing:

1. K. 491 in D major
2. K. 141 in D minor
3. K. 185 in F minor
4. K. 492 in D major
5. K. 238 in F minor
6. K. 193 in E-flat major
7. K. 128 in B-flat minor
8. K. 466 in F minor
9. K. 125 in G major
10. K. 263 in E minor
11. K. 386 in F minor
12. K. 462 in F minor
13. K. 380 in E major
14. K. 447 in F-sharp minor
15. K. 448 in F-sharp minor

Those familiar with the films of Ingmar Bergman are likely to look forward to Track 13, since K. 380 contributes to the humor of The Devil’s Eye. Some listeners may feel a bit miffed about having to wait too long for this sonata to make an appearance, but Perianes’ account is worth the wait!

In reviewing past articles, I was a bit surprised at how many of them involved guitar performances. Personally, I continue to prefer the preference for period instruments in the “complete works” account by Scott Ross for the Warner Classics collection. It used to be that Vladimir Horowitz enjoyed including Scarlatti in his solo recitals, but I seldom encounter interest in his legacy these days. Suffice it to say that Perianes is as sensitive to the diversity of dispositions in Scarlatti’s keyboard music as Horowitz was in the last century.

Trio Mediæval to Return with New Member

Trio Mediæval vocalists Jorunn Lovise Husan, Anna Maria Friman, and Ditte Marie Bræin (from the SFP event page for this performance)

It is now over two years since Trio Mediæval prepared a recital program for the San Francisco Performances Art of Song series. They will return next month for the only SFP concert to be performed in December. Since their last appearance, there has been one change in personnel with Ditte Marie Bræin. She will perform with founding member Anna Maria Friman (1997) and Jorunn Lovise Husan, who joined the group in 2018. The trio will prepare a program consisting entirely of music composed in the twelfth century by Hildegard of Bingen, who was also a philosopher and a mystic.

This concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 5. The performance will take place in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of the corner of Franklin Street. Admission will be $70 for all tickets. Single tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-392-2545. Because this will be the first event in the Hear Now and Then Series, tickets are still on sale for all three concerts in the series, whose other two events will take place in Herbst Theatre on Saturday evenings, February 7 and April 18.

Douglas Riva Performs Enrique Granados

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

Not too long ago I succumbed to an invitation from Naxos to download a complementary album of pianist Douglas Riva playing the twelve Danzas españolas (Spanish dances) composed by Enrique Granados (DLR I:2). The metadata associated with this album cited it as the first volume in a collection of the (presumably complete) piano compositions by Granados. The good news is that Riva’s interpretations are engagingly expressive.

Presumably, this was a “lure” to whet my appetite for further albums in the series. Sadly, the Amazon.com search engine tends to be more than a little haphazard for those interested in the full scope of available recordings of this music. The Complete Works for Piano of Enrique Granados, a critical edition supervised by Alicia de Larrocha (presumably the above “DLR”), consists of eighteen volumes. Thus far, finding further information about content has led to little more than frustration.

Fortunately, I have enough on my plate that I can wait patiently (and indefinitely) for an opportunity to explore a broader account of Granados’ music for solo piano!

SFIPF Celebrates Maurice Ravel’s 150th Birthday

Last night the eighth annual San Francisco International Piano Festival (SFIPF) got under way at Old First Presbyterian Church. Readers may recall that last year’s Festival focused on French keyboard music with particular attention to the centennial of the death of Gabriel Fauré. This year’s Festival will continue the “French influence,” this time celebrating the 150th birthday of Maurice Ravel.

Kindra Scharich performing Ravel’s Histoires naturelles song cycle, accompanied by Jeffrey LaDeur (screenshot from last night’s live YouTube video)

For Opening Night the pianists were Festival Director Jeffrey LaDeur and Gwendolyn Mok. The violin sonata was performed by Chili Ekman, a Young Chamber Musicians Alumnus. The vocalists were mezzo Kindra Scharich and soprano Heidi Moss Erickson. The entire program recreated a recital that Ravel himself performed on a tour that took him to San Francisco in 1928. This included three song cycles, the violin sonata (which may have been Ravel’s reflection on his friendship with George Gershwin), selections from the solo piano suite Le Tombeau de Couperin, and three solo piano compositions, “Pavane pour une infante défunte,” “La vallée des cloches,” and “Habanera,” all played by Mok.

I have to confess that I tend to approach performances of Ravel’s piano music with trepidation. My most recent disappointment came from the solo piano recital by Martin Janes Bartlett for the Shenson Spotlight Series performed in Davies Symphony Hall this past April. On the other hand, the all-Ravel program prepared by Louis Lortie for his San Francisco Performances recital this past March could not have been a better tribute to the composer. That said, both LaDeur and Mok did justice to Ravel’s compositions in both letter and spirit. It did not take long for trepidation to yield to satisfaction, which then sustained for the entire program!

San Francisco Performances in November

Following the busy month of October, San Francisco Performances (SFP) will present only three concerts in November. Two of them will be guitar recitals presented in association with the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts. The other will mark the beginning of the SFP Chamber Series. This month all performances will take place in Herbst Theatre, located on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue.

Saturday, November 8: The members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet are Bill Kanengiser, John Dearman, Matt Greif, and Douglas Lora. Lora is the latest member to join the quartet, having previously performed in the Brazil Guitar Duo. Ticket prices will be $80 for premium seating in the Orchestra and the front and center of the Dress Circle, $70 for the Side Boxes, the center rear of the Dress Circle, and the remainder of the Orchestra, and $60 for the remainder of the Dress Circle and the Balcony.

Loic Rio, Amaury Coeytaux, Laurent Marfaing, and François Kieffer, the members of the Modigliani Quartet (from the SFP event page for their coming recital)

Friday, November 14: The Guitar Quartet will be followed by a string quartet. This will be the Modigliani Quartet, whose members are first violinist Amaury Coeytaux, second violinist Loïc Rio, violist Laurent Marfaing, and cellist François Kieffer. As was announced this past July, they will present György Kurtág’s Opus 1, his first string quartet, followed by two more traditional quartets from the First Viennese School: Joseph Haydn (the second quartet, in F major, in the Opus 77 “Lobkowitz” collection) and Ludwig van Beethoven (the first of the three “Razumovsky” quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven, Opus 59, Number 1, in F major). Ticket prices will be $75, $65, and $55.

Saturday, November 22: The month will conclude with another guitar quartet, this time The Romeros: Celin, Pepe, Celino, and Lito. They will be joined by soprano Amy Goymerac for the world premiere performance of “La Cita,” composed by Douglas Cuomo. Most of the selections on the program will be arrangements, and most of those arrangements were prepared by Pepe. Ticket prices will be $85, $75, and $65.

New Album of Jake Heggie’s Latest Opera

from the Amazon.com Web page for the album being discussed

One week from today, the first album to be produced in a newly-formed partnership between the Houston Grand Opera and LSO Live will be released. The album will present that Houston Grand Opera recording of the opera Intelligence, composed by Jake Heggie with a libretto by Gene Scheer. The title refers to a spy ring run by the Union forces during the American Civil War. The spies were two women, Mary Jane Bowser, a former slave, and Elizabeth Van Lew, a Southern woman of privilege. These roles were sung, respectively by soprano Janai Brugger and mezzo Jamie Barton. Kwamé Ryan conducted the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra. As usual, Amazon.com has created a Web page for processing pre-orders.

The opera’s narrative is clearly highly charged by a violent history. It would be fair to say that the conflict of that period has continued to resonate, even up to the present day. Indeed, that period would provide even the most ambitious librettist to deal with more than he could chew. Simply establishing the narrative would be a major undertaking, and conveying that narrative through music would require another “great leap forward.” (Hopefully, readers will not be offended by a phrase originally attributed to the Chinese Communist Party.)

Some readers may recall the “too many notes” phrase that, these days, is probably best associated with Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus (which was subsequently produced as a film with the same title). The misgiving that I have with Intelligence is that it gets tangled in “too many words.” As a result, Heggie could do little more than find the right notes for all of those words. Every now and then, his music finds just the right dispositional stance for the narrative; but, more often than not, the journey through the entire narrative ultimately devolves into a tiresome slog. Perhaps Heggie will be able to extract a suite from his score, which can capture the spirit of the narrative without getting bogged down in its excessive details.

Make America Sick Again?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/21/supreme-court-trump-research-dei

Jake Heggie’s First Opera to Return to SFO

In a little less than a month, the War Memorial Opera House will see the return of Jake Heggie’s first opera, Dead Man Walking, setting a libretto by playwright Terrence McNally. This will be the opera’s 25th anniversary, since it was first performed at the Opera House on October 7, 2000. Patrick Summers, who conducted that debut, will return to the podium of the San Francisco Opera (SFO). Joe Mantello staged the premiere production, and the revival will be directed by Leonard Foglia.

Cell block set for the Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Dead Man Walking (photograph by Andrew Cioffi, courtesy of SFO)

The opera’s title is taken from a memoir by Sister Helen Prejean, which was published in 1993. This was a personal “confessional” about her encounter with a convicted murderer on death rom at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. As is often the case, the success of the book led to a film adaptation. In the film, the convict was given the name Matthew Poncelet. The role was performed by Sean Penn with Susan Sarandon as Sister Prejean.

In the opera the name of the convict is Joseph De Rocher (a composite of Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie from the original book); and the cast includes a generous number of family members, as well as prison guards and inmates. In the first performance of the opera, the role of De Rocher’s mother was sung by mezzo Frederica von Stade. Sister Prejean was also a mezzo (Susan Graham), while De Rocher was sung by baritone John Packard. For this season’s revival production, Graham will return, this time in the role of De Rocher’s mother. Baritone Ryan McKinny will take on the role of De Rocher, and Sister Prejean will be sung by Jamie Barton.

As usual, a generous amount of background information will be available through the home page for this production. This Web page also includes hyperlinks for purchasing tickets for the two 2 p.m. matinee performances on September 14 and 28 and the four 7:30 p.m. performances on September 17, 20, 23, and 26. Further information is available from the Box Office, which is open on Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is located at the entrance to the Opera House at 301 Van Ness Avenue, and it can be reached by calling 415-864-3330. On the date of each performance, the Box Office will be open through the (only) intermission.

Has Artificial Intelligence Gone Artificial?

King’s College, Cambridge, where Alan Turing pursued some of the earliest thoughts behind artificial intelligence (photograph by Dmitry Tonkonog, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, from Wikimedia Commons)

Apparently, it is time for my annual exasperation with a technical world that is perfectly happy discussing “artificial intelligence” (AI) software without having the foggiest idea of how that concept was first imagined. It would probably be fair to say that the concept first emerged in 1947, when Alan Turing took a sabbatical year at Cambridge University after his wartime efforts at Bletchley park. While there he wrote a monograph entitled Intelligent Machinery, which was not published in his lifetime. It was only a few years later that “Computing machinery and intelligence” appeared in the October, 1950 issue of Mind.

The first sentence of that article is straightforward: “I propose to consider the question, ‘Can machines think?’” Turing then goes on at length, beginning with a serious effort to establish “ground rules” behind what that question is asking. By the end of the essay, he admits that he has not resolved the question. Nevertheless, he is optimistic that, while much “needs to be done,” others will carry on with the doing.

One of those “others” was Professor Marvin Minsky on the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was able to raise government funding to support the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory; and he served as my advisor for both by undergraduate and doctoral dissertations. Both of these were structured around the hypothesis that both the composition and performance of music could be managed through software.Web

It did not take me long to acquire a generous variety of coding skills. As a result, much of my research was fueled more by the study of music history. Developing software to “compose music” came easily. Creating music that deserved attentive listening was another matter!

It was through that hard truth that I found myself exasperated with the title of a CNET article that appeared early this morning: “Google Thinks AI Can Make You a Better Photographer: I Dive Into the Pixel 10 Cameras.” This is an expository piece about some seriously powerful image-processing software. Indeed, given what passes for photography these days, I would say that the software is jaw-dropping; but is it “intelligent?”

This may be old-fashioned, but I tend to associate intelligence with the power to make reasoned decisions to resolve difficult problems. There is no questioning that the Pixel 10 software is powerful; but where are the “reasoned decisions?” Certainly, the team behind that software had to confront a diversity of challenges; and, if the author of the article, Jeff Carlson, can be taken as a “credible source,” then there is no questioning that the resulting achievement is an impressive one. However, if the “reasoned decisions” only went into making that software, rather than residing in the software itself, is the “intelligence” behind the software “artificial” or “human?”

My fear is that the usage of the phrase “artificial intelligence” is so remote from the ambitions that motivated Turing and Minsky that the words themselves have pretty much lost any useful meaning. Meaning of course, is necessary for person-to-person communication. I took a “deep dive” into that concept when I read Jürgen Habermas’ The Theory of Communicative Action. Through his own analysis of the writing of Max Weber, he concluded that a capitalist society whose value system is based only on market value is fated to suffer two different kinds of loss: loss of meaning and loss of freedom. Could the current misinterpretation of “artificial intelligence” lead ultimately to both of those losses?

Steve McQuarry to Return to Cadillac for Solo Gig

Steve McQuarry at his grand piano keyboard (from the review of his Aire album by Sylvannia Garutch for The Jazz Word)

According to my archives, I have not written about Steve McQuarry since his organ trio performance at the Cadillac Hotel a little less than eight years ago. This Friday he will return for the next Concerts at the Cadillac performance. This will be a solo gig for which he will serve as not only keyboardist but also composer, arranger, and orchestrator. One might wonder about the latter for a solo gig; but his resources will include a grand piano, a prepared piano, and the full forces of a modular synthesizer. According to the announcement for this concert, his objective will be “to sculpt a nuanced, ambient environment.” Those not familiar with him may benefit from this brief preview for his last visit:

McQuarry’s background as a keyboardist has taken him into some impressive groups led, respectively, by Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Bellson, Clare Fischer, and others. He has also played with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

This performance will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, August 29. As always, the performance will be free, and everyone is welcome. The venue is the Cadillac Hotel, which has an official San Francisco Landmark. It is located in the Tenderloin at 380 Eddy Street, on the northeast corner of Leavenworth Street.

The Bleeding Edge: 8/19/2025

This week’s Bleeding Edge events get under way tonight. This week will be about as busy as last week. Once again, there is only one performance that has already been reported, which will be the last performance this month at the Center for New Music, the “gathering of five improvisers.” This week there will be three other events, all at venues likely to be familiar to those that follow this site regularly.

Tuesday, August 19, 7 p.m., Make-Out Room: This month’s Jazz at the Make-Out Room is likely to be a bit more adventurous than usual. That is because, in the opening set by Ghost Dub, Darren Johnston will be playing a “peace cannon.” He will be joined by Bruce Ackley on a diversity of wind instruments, cellist Ben Davis, and percussionist David Michalak playing “skatch ’n steel.” This quartet will be followed by saxophonist Raffi Garabedian taking a solo set. The title of the final set is “Running the Voodoo Down.” This was inspired by the track “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down” from Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew album. The front line will be shared by Charlie Passarell on trumpet and saxophonist John Mahoney. There will be two guitarists: Karl Evangelista and David Thomas. The drummer will be Leo Tallman, joined by Robert Kuhlmann on bass.

Pianist Benito Gonzalez (from the BayImproviser Web page for this week’s performances)

Thursday, August 21, and Sunday, August 24, 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., and Friday, August 22, and Saturday, August 23, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Black Cat Jazz Supper Club: Pianist Benito Gonzalez will lead a quartet, whose other members are trumpeter John Evans, Giulio Xavier Cetto on bass, and drummer Michael Ode. Gonzalez won first prize at the Great American Jazz Piano Competition and has received two Grammy nominations. The club is located at 400 Eddy Street on the northwest corner of Leavenworth Street.

Friday, August 22, 7 p.m., Medicine for Nightmares: This week’s Other Dimensions in Sound curator David Boyce will present a two-set program. The first set will be a solo performance by vocalist Dahveed Behroozi. In the second set Ark Of Bones artist Joshua Asante will be joined by Chris Evans on cello with Evelyn Ficarra managing sound design. As always, that venue is the bookstore located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. There is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Naxos Releases Volume 12 of Soler Project

 

Another mountain range gracing the cover of another Soler album (courtesy of Naxos of America)

Once again there has been a lapse of over two years in the Naxos project to record all of the keyboard sonatas of Antonio Soler. At that time I had observed that the production team was trying to make up for lost time in the wake of pandemic conditions. However, now that the latest (twelfth) album was released a little over a week ago, I am less certain about the overall timing of the project!

The new release accounts for the next thirteen sonatas in the canon. It begins with the third sonata (and last) in the Opus 8 collection (the first two having appeared in Volume 11), all of which have the same four-movement structure. All of the remaining tracks are single-movement sonatas. If I am to believe the on-line catalog, the total number of sonatas is 120, meaning that there will probably be one more volume to account for the remaining nine sonatas.

Once again, the pianist is a competition-winner. Jaeden Izik-Dzurko was awarded the First Prize in the 67th Maria Canals International Music Competition of Barcelona, held in 2022. The recording was made about two years later under the auspices of the Competition and produced by the soloist. Those (like myself) interested in a full account of Soler’s keyboard sonatas can finally catch a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel!

E4TT Announces 2025/26 Season Plans

Keeping up with Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) last season turned out to be a “sometime thing.” I seem to have caught up with them only this past May, when they presented their Mujeres Ahora (women now) program in collaboration with the San Francisco International Arts Festival. Fortunately, an announcement of the eighteenth Home Season was released about a week ago. Soprano and Artistic Executive Director Nanette McGuinness, pianist Margaret Halbig, and composer and Senior Artistic Advisor David Garner, who is also a member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Faculty, are still the core members of the group. This season cellist Megan Chartier will replace Abigail Monroe, who has moved to New Orleans after her marriage earlier this year.

Each of the programs has its own Web page on the E4TT Web site. Each of these pages provides a summary of the works to be performed, along with “preview” excepts. Those pages also provide the specific information and hyperlinks for ticket purchases, and all of the performances will also be live-streamed. All the Web pages are hyperlinked to the date-and-time summary for each of the programs as follows:

Friday, November 7, 8 p.m., Old First Church, Lines, Circles + Spirals: McGuinness, Chartier, and Halbig will be joined by guest violinist Maya Victoria. The trio will perform compositions by Karim Al-Zand, Hannah Ishizaki, and Niloufar Nourbakhsh. There will also be a performance of Bohuslav Martinů’s first duo for violin and cello. Halbig will give a solo performance of Clarice Assad’s “Displaced Lines;” and Chartier will play “Fits+Starts,” composed by Anna Clyne for amplified cello and tape.

Friday, April 17, 7:30 p.m., Cha Chi Ming Hall, Bowes Center, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Women Crossing/Liminality: The program will present three world premieres all commissioned for women composers: Juhi Bansai, Vivian Fung, and Pamela Z. It will also include the winning composition for a student in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Technology and Applied Composition Department. McGuiness, Chartier, and Halbig will perform Zhou Tian’s “A Crown for Sonia.” There will also be two solo performances: “say it in your heart, say it in your sleep” by Leilehua Lanzilotti for piano and “Liminality” by Sofia Jen Ouyang for cello.

What may be the cover design for the new album to be released (from the Web page describing the program)

Saturday, May 16, 7:30 p.m., Center for New Music, El Tiempo Latine: The title of this program is also the title of the sixth CD to be released by E4TT. The performance will introduce a selection of the works that were recorded. All three core members will be joined by coloratura soprano Chelsea Hollow with Lylia Guion on violin.

VoM Prepares for New Academic Year

Once again, today provided me with the opportunity to catch up on the Sunday Mornings at Ten video series, compiled by Voices of Music (VoM) and now available for viewing through YouTube. The title of today’s release was Back to School, Episode 29, Number 10 in the VoM collection of Sundays at Ten videos. The program title suggested that the works on the program were selected “to help reduce distractions, to relax and improve focus and concentration” during the course of study.

Screenshot of Kati Kyme, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Tanya Tomkins, Elizabeth Reed, William Skeen, and Farley Pearce (behind Skeen) playing the last of the six Brandenburg Concertos

My “years of study” have long passed, but that did not detract from my appreciation of the program. It was framed by two different approaches to the concerto genre by the two most familiar composers of the Baroque period. It began with Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1051, the sixth (and last) of the Brandenburg Concertos, which, as one of my fellow students once proclaimed, was scored for six parts: two viole da braccio, two viole da gamba, cello, and violone. At the other end, the program concluded with the sixth of the twelve Opus 3 concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, given the overall title L’estro armonico (the harmonic inspiration). The violin soloist was Augusta McKay Lodge.

Both of these concertos are “old friends” among my listening experiences. They framed three pieces all encountered for the first time. Lutenist David Taylor began with a performance of the “Ricercar alla Spagnola” by Vincenzo Capirola. This was followed by two recorder trios (soprano, alto, and bass) composed, respectively, by Josquin des Prez (“De tous biens plaine”) and Jacob Obrecht (“Tandernaken”). Overall, there was much to both appreciate and learn over the course of this morning’s program.

San Francisco Performances in October

Having accounted for the only San Francisco Performances (SFP) recital taking place next month, it is now time to account for (as I put it yesterday) the “far busier” month of October. There will be six recitals over the course of the month, the last of which was not accounted for in any of the subscription series discussed over the course of the last few months. Specifics for these events are as follows:

Friday, October 10, 7 p.m., Herbst Theatre: The month will begin with SFP’s 46th Season Gala. The performance will be preceded by a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and a post-concert dinner. The concert itself will be a two-piano performance by Gabriel Kahane and his father Jeffrey Kahane. They will play Gabriel’s two-piano arrangement of “Heirloom,” which he composed for his father. Ticket prices will be $75 for premium seating in the Orchestra and the front and center of the Dress Circle, $65 for the Side Boxes, the center rear of the Dress Circle, and the remainder of the Orchestra, and $55 for the remainder of the Dress Circle and the Balcony. For those that do not yet know, Herbst Theatre is located in the heart of the Civic Center at 401 Van Ness Avenue, on the southwest corner of McAllister Street.

Saturday, October 11, 7:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Some readers may recall that the Attacca Quartet will have its own series. The members of the group are violinists Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni, Nathan Schram on viola, and cellist Andrew Yee. They have prepared their own arrangement of David Lang’s “daisy,” which will be the central work on the program. It will be preceded by Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken III:48 quartet in F major, the fifth of the six quartets in his Opus 50 “Prussian” collection, given the title “The Dream.” The program will conclude with Béla Bartók’s fourth string quartet. Ticket prices will be $65, $55, and $45.

Friday, October 17, 7:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Pianist Conrad Tao has prepared a program based on his fascination with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s relationship to popular music. As a result, the Rachmaninoff selections will “rub shoulders” with two of his best-known contemporaries, Irving Berlin and Harold Arlen. Tao has added Billy Strayhorn (best known for his collaboration with Duke Ellington) and the more recent Stephen Sondheim for good measure. Tao will also apparently find a place for Robert Schumann in his program. Ticket prices will be $85, $75, and $65.

Saturday, October 18, 7:30 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church: Guitarist Su Meng is best known for her partnership with Wang Yameng in the Beijing Guitar Duo. This fall may be the first time she has given a solo performance in San Francisco. She will give the world premiere performance of “Where the Echo Sings” by Viet Cuong. She will conclude the program with “Aquarelle” by Sérgio Assad, who is currently on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Francisco Tárrega will be represented by two offerings, “Variaciones sobre El Carnaval de Venecia de Paganini” and the more familiar “Capricho árabe.” These will be preceded by Agustín Barrios’ “La Catedral,” inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach. This will be a “response” to the “call” of the opening selection, the arrangement by guitarist Frank Koonce of Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1009, the third of his three solo cello suites. Most readers probably know by now that the church is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of the corner of Franklin Street.

Friday, October 24, 7:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre: Almost exactly two months ago, this site reported on the release of baritone Benjamin Appl’s latest album, whose full title is For Dieter: Hommage à Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. As on that album, he will be accompanied by pianist James Baillieu. Also, as on the album, there will be performances of works by his father, Albert and his brother Klaus. All the other composers on the program can also be found on the album: Franz, Schubert, Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Ticket prices will be $75, $65, and $55.

John Oswald’s self-portrait photograph, taken on 2017 in Toronto (from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license)

Friday, October 31, 8 p.m., Herbst Theatre: A special Halloween night performance was announced late last week; but, as of this writing, a Web page for purchasing tickets has not yet been created. Pianist Timo Andres will join the Kronos Quartet of violinists David Harrington and Gabriela Díaz, Ayane Kozasa on viola, and cellist Paul Wiancko. The program will included selected arrangements of Bernard Herrmann’s score for the Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho and George Crumb’s “electric string quartet,” “Black Angels,” inspired by the Vietnam War and given the subtitle “Thirteen Images from the Dark Land.” The program will begin with Philip Glass’ soundtrack for the Tod Browning film Dracula, originally composed for Kronos. The program will also include the world premiere performance of a new work by Gabriel Kahane inspired by the playfully ghoulish illustrations of Edward Gorey. Other contributing composers will be Krzysztof Penderecki, Lizé Santana, and Plunderphonics maestro John Oswald.

SFCS: Brahms’ Opus 45 at Davies

Johannes Brahms in 1866, when he was working on his Opus 45 (photographer unknown, from Die berümten Musiker by Lucien Mazendo and Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Last night Davies Symphony Hall hosted the fourth annual performance by the Summer Festival Chorus presented by the San Francisco Choral Society (SFCS). Artistic Director Robert Geary conducted a performance of Johannes Brahms’ Opus 45, A German Requiem. As in the past, instrumental accompaniment was provided by the California Chamber Symphony. The vocal soloists were soprano Cara Gabrielson and baritone Andrew Pardini, both making SFCS debuts. However, there is only one solo opportunity for the soprano and two for the baritone.

According my archives, I have not encountered this music in performance since February of 2015. That was when Herbert Blomstedt returned to Davies in his capacity as Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony. His soloists were soprano Ruth Ziesak and baritone Christian Gerhaher, and the SFS Chorus was prepared by Director Ragnar Bohlin. Geary’s chorus was significantly larger, so much so that it made a significant visual impact. Nevertheless, he had a firm command in balancing that massive ensemble against the same instrumentation that Blomstedt had led.

What is most important, however, is that Brahms knew exactly how to balance his instrumental resources with a full chorus. Geary clearly appreciated Brahms’ wisdom in his interpretation of the score. Thus, while one could appreciate the rich delivery of both music and diction by SFCS, what mattered most to the attentive listener was the interplay of choral work with the diversity of instrumental sonorities. The result was a thoroughly engaging account of Opus 45 with never a dull moment.

San Francisco Performances in September

Last year around this time, San Francisco Performances (SFP) released its fall calendar for the 2025–26 season. Only one recital has been planned for next month, but it will be followed by a very busy October. Last year accounted for both months in a single article; but that was because there were only three performances, one in September and two in October. This year there will again be only one performance in September, but October will be far busier. As a result, I shall limit myself to September in this article and later take on the six October events.

Tenor Mark Padmore (from his SFP event page)

The season will begin with the first program in the Art of Song series. As was previously reported, the vocalist will be tenor Mark Padmore, accompanied at the piano by Paul Lewis. I have already noted that Padmore’s last visit was in March of 2022; but, if my records are correct, the last time he was accompanied by Lewis was in April of 2016. That occasion provided a generous offering of songs composed by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Hugo Wolf.

The duo’s return will focus entirely on Schumann.There will be two full cycles preceded by the first four of the five songs in Opus 40. The texts are all by Hans Christian Andersen, translated from the Danish into German by Adelbert von Chamisso. This will be followed by Liederkreis, the Opus 39 setting of twelve texts by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff. The final work on the program is likely to be the most familiar to many listeners. This will be the Opus 48 Dichterliebe (a poet’s love), setting texts from Das Buch der Lieder by Heinrich Heine collected under the title Lyrisches Intermezzo.

This performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 26.  It will take place in Herbst Theatre, which is located on the first two floors of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, convenient to public transportation on both Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street. Ticket prices will be $80 for premium seating on the Orchestra level and in the front of the Dress Circle, $70 for the Boxes, the remainder of the Orchestra, and the remainder of the center Dress Circle, and $60 for the Balcony and the remainder of the Dress Circle. As of this writing, single tickets will not yet go on sale until; August 27. However, readers will know from the preview article for the Art of Song series that a Web page has been created for subscriptions to the entire series.