At the end of last month, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) announced a change in the program for the first offering in the 2021/22 concert season, the first to be led by new Music Director Richard Egarr. The plan had been to perform Robert Schumann’s Opus 148 setting of the Requiem text, presenting the first performance by the Philharmonia Chorale since December of 2019. Sadly, this plan had to be cancelled; but the program will still include seldom-performed music by Schumann, his WoO 23 violin concerto in D minor. As may be guessed by the lack of an opus number, this concerto was never published in the composer’s lifetime; and, in fact, it remained unknown to the general public for over 80 years after its completion in 1853. Violinist Shunske Sato will still be on the program to make his PBO debut as soloist.
The performance of Opus 148 will be replaced by Opus 61, Schumann’s second symphony in the key of C major. Readers may recall that, under the leadership of Nicholas McGegan, PBO offered several stimulating ventures into the nineteenth century with particular attention to both Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Cellist Steve Isserlis even appeared with the ensemble in March of 2012 to perform the Opus 129 cello concerto in A minor. In that context, neither the violin concerto nor the symphony will be out of place; and period instrumentation often reveals details in both harmony and polyphony that are less likely to be encountered when the music is performed by contemporary resources.
Furthermore, Opus 61 was composed at a time when Schumann was recovering from bouts of depression. One of his remedies was to study the contrapuntal techniques of Johann Sebastian Bach. In that context Egarr has chosen to begin the program with an instrumental account of the final fugue in Bach’s BWV 1080, whose first edition was published after the composer’s death with the title Die Kunst der Fuge (the art of fugue). Bach never completed this fugue; and the letters of his name B-A-C-H (B flat) appear as a new subject that he had introduced but did not live long enough to develop.
The San Francisco performance of this concert will begin at 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 14. The venue will be Herbst Theatre, located on the first two floors of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue. This is the southwest corner of Van Ness and McAllister Street, making it convenient for both north-south and east-west Muni bus lines.
Since we are still under pandemic conditions, PBO has released the following statement regarding attendance:
All patrons will need to be fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine in order to attend and must present a vaccination card, a clear photo of the card, or a Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record. “Fully vaccinated” is defined as completion of the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, administered two weeks or more in advance of the concert.
All patrons are required to wear a well-fitted mask at all performances. Gaiters, scarves, and masks with valves are not permitted. Masks must be worn at all times unless actively drinking water in the lobby area.
Since this is the first concert of the season, all subscription options for both the full season and those not wishing to attend all six of the concerts are still available. Prices range from $90 to $648. A single Web page has been created for all of the subscription options. In addition City Box Office has created a Web page for the purchase of single tickets. Further information may be obtained by calling Patron Services at 415-295-1900, which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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