As in the past, those who wish to subscribe to the 2024 season of Chamber Music San Francisco (CMSF) can enjoy a special discounted “Early Bird” rate. The San Francisco season will consist of ten concerts that will take place between February and May. All performances will take place in Herbst Theatre, located in the Veterans Building on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street. Concerts will alternate between Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. and weekday evenings at 8 p.m. Specifics are as follows:
Sunday, February 11, 3 p.m., Zlata Chochieva: This pianist was born in Moscow but now resides in Berlin. She has prepared a “usual suspects” program of music composed by highly skilled pianists. She will begin with the five preludes that Alexander Scriabin collected as his Opus 15. She will then shift over to Frédéric Chopin’s Opus 10 collection of twelve études, followed by the Opus 61 “Polonaise-Fantasie.” She will then conclude with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Opus 22, a set of 22 variations on Chopin’s C minor prelude (Opus 28, Number 20).
Sunday, February 25, 3 p.m., Tiffany Poon: CMSF presented this pianist’s San Francisco debut last year. She has been performing solo recitals on a global scale. She gave her concerto debut performance with the Junge Philharmonie Salzburg and has performed chamber music with a diversity of colleagues, including cellist Jan Vogler. The program for her return to San Francisco has not yet been finalized.
Sunday, March 3, 3 p.m., Esmé Quartet: The leader of this string quartet, Wonhee Bae, visited the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a guest artist this past February. The other members are violinist Yuna Ha, violist Dimitri Murrath (recently replacing Jiwon Kim), and cellist Ye-eun Heo. The quartet was selected by San Francisco Performances for its 2022 Gift Concert. The first half of the program will present two sharply distinctive string quartets. It will begin with Joseph Haydn’s Hoboken III/38 quartet in E-flat major, the second of the six Opus 33 quartets. (This is the quartet that is also known as “The Joke.”) It will be followed by Claude Debussy’s only string quartet, his Opus 10 in G minor. For the second half of the program, the quartet will be joined by pianist Yekwon Sunwoo for a performance of Johannes Brahms’ only piano quintet, his Opus 34 in F minor.
Sunday, March 10, 3 p.m., Rafał Blechacz: This pianist’s last scheduled recital had to be cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. He will return to CMSF with a program whose second half will be devoted entirely to Chopin. This will include a return to the Opus 61 “Polonaise-Fantasie,” followed by the first of the two Opus 55 nocturnes, composed in the key of F minor. The program will conclude with the first of the four Opus 6 mazurkas in the key of F-sharp minor. The program will begin with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 331 sonata in A major, followed by Claude Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque. The first half will conclude with Karol Szymanowski’s Opus 3, a set of twelve variations on a theme in B-flat minor, which was dedicated to Arthur Rubinstein.
Sunday, March 24, 3 p.m., Boccherini String Trio: The members of this ensemble are violinist Suyeon Kang, violist Vicki Powell, and cellist Paolo Bonomini, each of whom is based in a different European city. Their performance will mark the United States debut of their trio. Their program will be framed by the First Viennese School. They will begin with the third of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 9 trios and conclude with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 563 divertimento in E-flat major. The intermission will be preceded by Ernst von Dohnányi’s Opus 10 serenade in C major.
Sunday, April 14, 3 p.m., Steven Isserlis: Isserlis was a frequent visitor in San Francisco prior to the pandemic. He almost always presented imaginative repertoire selections, and his plans for next year offer an engaging diversity. He will begin with Ferruccio Busoni’s “Kultaselle,” a set of ten short variations on a Finnish folk song. This will be followed by the more familiar D. 821 sonata in A minor composed by Franz Schubert. This was originally composed for arpeggione, but it is easily adapted for performance by cello. He will then perform Ernest Bloch’s suite From Jewish Life. The remainder of the program will be devoted to two cello sonatas. The first of these will be Gabriel Fauré’s Opus 109 sonata in D minor, the first of two he composed late in life. The program will then conclude with Francis Poulenc’s only sonata for cello and piano. As was the case with his previous visits, he will be accompanied by Canadian pianist Connie Shih.
Tuesday, April 30, 8 p.m., Daniel Hope: As Music Director of the New Century Chamber Orchestra, violinist Daniel Hope has become familiar to San Francisco audiences. However, this program will mark his San Francisco debut as a recitalist. It will feature the United States premiere of Jake Heggie’s Fantasy Suite 1803. The program will begin one hundred years later with George Enescu’s “Impromptu Concertant,” composed in 1903. This will be followed by Maurice Ravel’s only violin sonata, which was published posthumously. The program will conclude with César Franck A major violin sonata.
Tuesday, May 8, 8 p.m., Viano String Quartet: This ensemble is the String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music. This will be another program framed by the First Viennese School. Like the Esmé Quartet, the group will begin with Haydn, this time the Hoboken III/63, the fifth work in third set of the so-called “Tost” quartets, Opus 64, No. 5. The conclusion will be the second of the Opus 59 (“Razumovsky”) Beethoven quartets in the key of E minor. Between these “bookends” will be Bedřich Smetana’s first quartet in E minor, given the title “From My Life.”
Sunday, May 12, 3 p.m., Mayuko Kamio: The annual Mother’s Day concert will present violinist Mayuko Kamio, who won the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2007. She will be accompanied at the piano by Noreen Polera. Program details have not yet been finalized, but the contributing composers will be Brahms, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Fritz Kreisler.
Friday, May 17, 8 p.m., Bruce Liu: The season will conclude with the San Francisco debut of pianist Bruce Liu. He will begin with Haydn’s only sonata in B minor, Hoboken XVI/32. This will be followed by Chopin’s Opus 35, his second sonata in the key of B-flat major. Probably the most unique offering will be Nikolai Kapustin’s Opus 41 set of variations. This will be followed by six pieces from Jean-Philipe Rameau’s Pièces de clavecin collection. The program will conclude with Sergei Prokofiev's Opus 83, his seventh piano sonata in B-flat major.
The Early Bird rate applies to both the full series of ten concerts and to the miniseries option of four or more concerts. The Early Bird price of the full series is $400 with a special price of $200 for those under 30. A Web page has been created that provides for all options. One may also purchase subscriptions by calling 415-392-4400, rather than ordering online. Single tickets will not be available until January 1.
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