McGill to Conclude SFP Shenson Series

Anthony McGill with his clarinet (from his SFP Web page)

Readers may recall that The Shenson Great Artists and Ensembles Series presented by San Francisco Performances (SFP) will conclude at the beginning of next month. The program will be the last in the three duo performances in the series. Clarinetist Anthony McGill will be accompanied at the piano by Gloria Chen.

The recital will be structured into two halves, each associated with a different nationality. The first half will present three French composers, beginning with Claude Debussy’s “Première rhapsodie” and concluding with Camiile Saint-Saëns’ Opus 167 sonata in E-flat major for clarinet and piano. Between these “bookends” will be a performance of the last piece of chamber music composed by André Messager, the “Solo de concours” composed for clarinet and piano in 1899.

The second half will present a coupling of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The performance will begin with Fantasiestücke (fantasy pieces), Schumann’s Opus 73, a collection of three short pieces composed explicitly for clarinet and piano. This will be followed by Brahms’ take on the same instrumentation, the second of the two Opus 120 clarinet sonatas, both dedicated to the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld.

The performance will take place in Herbst Theatre at 401 Van Ness Avenue, on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Tickets are being sold for $85 for premium seating in the Orchestra and the front and center of the Dress Circle, $75 for the Side Boxes, the center rear of the Dress Circle, and the remainder of the Orchestra, and $65 for the remainder of the Dress Circle and the Balcony. As usual, SFP has created a Web page for purchasing tickets online.