Pahud will Conclude SFP Virtuoso Series

Virtuoso flutist Emmanuel Pahud contemplating playing music not written for the flute (courtesy of San Francisco Performances)

The final recital in the 2017–2018 Virtuosi Series presented by San Francisco Performances (SFP) will feature the flutist Emmanuel Pahud accompanied by pianist Alessio Bax. However, the program will present only one composition for flute and piano, a sonata that Francis Poulenc composed in 1957. Each of the other three works on the program involves a duo that is not for flute and piano. The simplest departure from this genre will be Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1031 sonata for flute and keyboard, which was composed at a time when the piano was known to only a few musicians (and probably Bach was not one of them). These days, however, the sonata is often performed with piano accompaniment. The other two pieces on the program, however, involve a more radical departure from the composer’s intentions. These will be Franz Schubert’s D. 821 sonata in A minor for arpeggione and piano, and Felix Mendelssohn’s F major violin sonata, composed in 1838.

This concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21. The venue will be Herbst Theatre. The entrance to Herbst is the the main entrance to the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel. Ticket prices are $65 for premium seating in the Orchestra and the front and center of the Dress Circle, $55 for the Side Boxes, the center rear of the Dress Circle, and the remainder of the Orchestra, and $40 for the remainder of the Dress Circle and the Balcony. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through a City Box Office event page.