Thursday, February 3, 2022

Isata Kanneh-Mason to Make Solo Debut with SFP

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason (courtesy of San Francisco Performances)

In a little over a month’s time San Francisco Performances (SFP) will continue its Piano Series with the fourth of its five solo recitals. The recitalist will be Isata Kanneh-Mason, who made her Bay Area debut in December of 2019 in a duo performance with her brother, cellist Sheku, in a Cal Performances recital in Berkeley; and, as has already been announced, the duo will make their San Francisco debut in Davies Symphony Hall towards then end of this coming April. Next month will mark her solo debut here.

The program will feature the performance of a new work by Jamaican composer (now living and working in the United States), Eleanor Alberga. This composition is so new that, as of this writing, it has not yet been given a title! It will be paired with Sofia Gubaidulina’s 1962 “Chaconne.” Her Wikipedia page observes that the titles of her piano compositions “reveal her interest in baroque genres and the influence of J. S. Bach.” In this case, however, her interest seems to be less in the chaconne movement that Johann Sebastian Bach composed for his BWV 1004 solo violin partita in D minor and more in Ferruccio Busoni’s over-the-top transcription of that movement.

This “modern coupling” will be preceded by a “classical coupling.” The program will begin with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 457 sonata in C minor, followed by the first of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 2 sonatas, composed in the key of F minor. The concluding selections amount to a “Romantic coupling.” Frédéric Chopin’s Opus 38 ballade in F major will be preceded by five of the pieces collected in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Opus 39 Études-Tableaux.

Like the other Piano Series concerts, this recital will take place in Herbst Theater, beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 7. The entrance to Herbst Theatre is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. This venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel. Ticket prices are $70 (premium Orchestra and front and center Dress Circle), $55 (remainder of Orchestra, all Side Boxes, and center rear Dress Circle), and $45 (remaining Dress Circle and Balcony); and they may be purchased through an SFP secure Web page. As available, single tickets will be sold at the door with a 50% discount for students and a 20% discount for seniors. Single tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-392-2545.

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