Davies Symphony Hall may be the home of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS); but every season there is considerable diversity in the performances that SFS hosts that do not require the ensemble’s participation. February has turned out to be a particularly interesting month in this capacity, since SFS will be presenting recitals by three pianists over the course of two concerts. One of these is part of the annual Great Performers Series, while the other has been arranged as part of the season-long residency of Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov, who made his first appearance in the Great Performers Series solo recital, which he gave at the end of this past October. Specifics are as follows:
The Great Performers event will be a solo recital by Yefim Bronfman, a frequent performer at Davies whose visits as concerto soloist and recitalist are equally welcome. Bronfman has prepared a program with marked diversity in aesthetic stances. The program will conclude with Sergei Prokofiev’s Opus 83 (seventh) sonata in B-flat major, the second of the three “War Sonatas” composed between 1940 and 1944. What many may not realize is that the opening theme of the second movement is a reflection on “Wehmut” (sadness), the ninth of twelve songs in Robert Schumann’s Opus 39 Liederkreis cycle of settings of poems by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff.
Bronfman seems to have an appreciation for this connection, because he has chosen to begin his program with two of Schumann’s solo piano compositions (neither of which have anything to do with the Liederkreis cycle). He will begin with the Opus 18 “Arabeske” in C major and then continue with the Opus 20 “Humoreske” in B-flat major, a half-hour piece in seven sections played without interruption. Claude Debussy will “intervene” between Schumann and Prokofiev through Bronfman’s inclusion of the Suite Bergamasque on the program.
This concert will be held in Davies Symphony Hall, beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 18. Ticket prices are between $25 in the Second Tier and $99 in the Loge. They may be purchased online through the seat selection Web page for this program on the SFS Web site, by calling 415-864-6000, or by visiting the Davies Box Office, whose entrance is on the south side of Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. (This is also the main entrance to the hall itself. Note that Flash will be required for online seat selection.) The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Trifonov’s offering will be a duo recital. He will be joined by pianist Sergei Babayan in presenting a program of music for two pianos. In this case the second half of the program will be dominated by Sergei Rachmaninoff with performances of both of the suites he composed for two pianos, the more-frequently performed Opus 17 and the earlier lesser-known Opus 5. Opus 5 was originally given the title Fantasie (Tableaux), since Rachmaninoff conceived of the piece as “a series of musical pictures” (the English version of the quote coming from Max Harrison’s biography of the composer). With that goal in mind, Rachmaninoff attached a poetic description to each of the suite’s four movements, while the movements of Opus 17 are labeled only with respect to form.
Rachmaninoff’s music will be balanced by a generous amount of diversity. Schumann will again be represented, this time by his Opus 46 in B-flat major, a set of variations on an Andante theme. There will also be a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 488 sonata for two pianos in D major. Between these two selections will be “something completely different,” Arvo Pärt’s “Pari intervallo.” This was one of the seven pieces that Pärt composed in 1976 as the first instances of his tintinnabuli style, and it was written in four parts with no instrumentation specified. In 2008 he published a version for two pianos, which is what Trifonov and Babayan will play.
This concert will be held in Davies Symphony Hall, beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27. Ticket prices are between $37 in the Second Tier and $99 in the Loge. They may be purchased online through the seat selection Web page for this program on the SFS Web site, by calling 415-864-6000, or by visiting the Davies Box Office, whose entrance is on the south side of Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street. (This is also the main entrance to the hall itself. Note that Flash will be required for online seat selection.) The Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
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