Midori to Return to SFP with Two Recitals

Violinist Midori (courtesy of SFP)

About a month ago, this site announced that San Francisco Performances (SFP) would begin the new year with a recital by soprano Dawn Upshaw to launch the Art of Song Series. This will be the only SFP concert recital of the month, but things will pick up from the very beginning of next month. February 2 will see the return of violinist Midori, who will present two recitals in celebration of the 40th anniversary of her professional debut.

Midori has had a long and rich relationship with SFP. Her debut in this concert series took place in 1998. Her most recent visit took place in October of 2016, when she contributed to A Concert of Gratitude, prepared by SFP Founder Ruth A. Felt as her way of thanking Bay Area audiences for 37 years of supporting SFP activities.

Both of the recitals that Midori has prepared for next month will combine the solo sonatas and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach with works by living composers. The first program will begin with two of the sonatas (BWV 1003 in A minor and BWV 1005 in C major) with the BWV 1004 partita in D minor. The second half of the program will begin with “Nun komm,” composed by Thierry Escaich, drawing upon a chorale that was particularly familiar to Bach. This will be followed by the acoustic version of “Long Waves and Random Pulses” by Annie Gosfield, who works on the boundary between electronic and acoustic sounds.

The second program will begin with the remaining Bach compositions, the BWV 1001 sonata in G minor and the two partitas (BWV 1002 in B minor and BWV 1006 in E major). The second half of the program will begin with the first of the two rhapsodies that Jessie Montgomery has composed (thus far) for solo violin. The program will conclude with John Zorn’s “Passagen,” which is based on the motif of (you guessed it) B (B flat in German), A, C, and H (B natural in German).

Both of these programs will be performed in Herbst Theatre. The first will take place on Thursday, February 2, beginning at 7:30 p.m; and the second will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 5. The entrance to Herbst Theatre is 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 for each of the two concerts are $70 (premium Orchestra and front and center Dress Circle), $60 (remainder of Orchestra, all Side Boxes, and center rear Dress Circle), and $55 (remaining Dress Circle and Balcony). They may be purchased through separate SFP secure Web pages for Thursday and Sunday, respectively. Single tickets can also be purchased at the door as available with a 50% discount for students and a 20% discount for seniors.