SFCM: Chamber Music Tuesday Closes Semester

Last night the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) concluded the Chamber Music Tuesday concert series for the fall semester. The program was curated by SFCM String and Piano Chamber Music Chair Dimitri Murrath, who has become the violist in the Esmé Quartet. (SFCM violin teacher Wonhee Bae is first violin in this ensemble, whose other members are violinist Yuna Ha and cellist Ye-eun Heo.)

The Quartet was joined by violist Isabel Tannenbaum and cellist Ayoun Alexandra Kim for the second half of the program. This consisted of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Opus 70 sextet, given the title “Souvenir de Florence.” This is one of those chamber music offerings that is seldom encountered due to the required resources, but such resources are almost always available in a conservatory setting. Much of the thematic content was composed when Tchaikovsky was visiting Florence; but, in spit e of the composition’s title, there are the usual Russian influences we tend to associate with the composer’s music.

Wonhee Bae, Yuna Ha, Dmitri Murrath, Isabel Tannenbaum, Ayoun Alexandra Kim, and Ye-eun Heo performing “Souvenir de Florence” (screen shot from the video stream of last night’s performance)

As might be guessed, coordination of a sextet is a bit trickier than that of a string quartet. However, Tannenbaum and Kim had no trouble fitting into the “communications network” of the Esmé players. The result was a well-blended account of a richness of resources that rises above the usual level of the string quartet. There was also a clear sense of joy that permeated the entire ensemble (and probably any number of attentive listeners as well). This made for a decidedly engaging termination of the first Chamber Music Tuesday semester.

During the first half of the program, Esmé performed Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 13 (second) string quartet in A minor. Many readers probably know by now that I am not particularly moved by this composer’s bursts of enthusiasm. Nevertheless, Esmé delivered an account of the score that could be described at least as satisfyingly credible. It would be fair to say that the ensemble captured the full spectrum of dispositions without allowing any of them to indulge in excess, and that would be the best way to give this quartet the attention it justly deserves.

The program began with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 575 (number 21) string quartet in D major. Murrath and Heo performed with two violin students: Shintaro Taneda and Mathea Goh. This made for just the right balance of students and teachers. However, while the account was a dutiful one, it felt at bit like a “curtain raiser,” suggesting that the audience was being prepared for richer things to come. Personally, Mozart is more than rich enough for me; and I would have preferred a bit less dutifulness and a bit more enthusiasm. After all, the composer himself would have taken the viola part in one of his encounters with violinists Joseph Haydn and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and cellist Johann Baptist Wanhal!