Jonathan Cohen to Return to Lead PBO

PBO guest conductor Jonathan Cohen (photograph by Marco Borggreve, courtesy of PBO)

Next month’s program to be presented by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) will see the return of Jonathan Cohen as guest conductor. According to my records, Cohen last visited PBO in March of 2017 with a program entitled Operatic Heroes. This time the title of his program will be Something Old, Something New, Something Mad.

The “new” part of that program will be the world premiere performance of “Giving Ground” by the Australian composer Paul Stanhope. This will be a contemporary (given some of the efforts of local composers, I probably should say “the latest”) encounter with “La Folia,” perhaps the best-known, if not earliest, instance of a ground bass theme supporting embellished upper voices. Stanhope’s composition will also account for the “mad” aspect of the program, since the literal translation of the theme’s title depicts madness. That madness will also be represented by Francesco Geminiani’s H. 143 concerto grosso in D minor, which will be performed immediately after the Stanhope premiere to conclude the program.

The preceding offerings on the program will represent the “old” with generous diversity. The guest soloist will be cellist Keiran Campbell, an alumnus of the early music curriculum developed jointly by PBO and The Juilliard School. He will be featured in a performance of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Wq 172 cello concerto in A major. Bach will share the program with his father, Johann Sebastian, with ensemble performances of four of the fugues taken from the last music he wrote, The Art of Fugue (BWV 1080). The other composers to be represented will be Pietro Locatelli, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, represented by his K. 405/2 transcription for string ensemble of BWV 876, the prelude and fugue in E-flat major from the second book of The Well-Tempered Clavier.

The San Francisco performance of this program will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 12. 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. Ticket prices are between $32 and $130. They may be purchased online through a City Box Office event page. Subscription options for three, four, or five concerts are also still available. Prices range from $90 to $545. A single Web page has been created for all of those options. 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.

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.