Cadillac Hotel to Host Something Different

Many readers probably know by now that this site does its best to keep up with the Concerts at the Cadillac events. These performances almost always include the Patricia Walkup Memorial Piano in the lobby of the Cadillac Hotel. Late next month, that piano will be the center of attention. Six amateur pianists, all living in the Bay Area, will contribute to a recital. As of this writing, the works to be performed and their respective performers will be as follows:

1. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Fantasia for keyboard in F-sharp minor, H 300 (Asako Tsumagari)
2. Frédéric Chopin: the sixth (E-flat minor) and eleventh (E-flat major) études from the Opus 10 collection (Christina Lee)
3. Franz Liszt: the last of the three nocturnes in the Liebesträume collection, S. 541/3 (Kaidi Zhang)
4. John Williams: the theme music for the film Schindler’s List (Daniel Abreu)
5. Sergei Rachmaninoff: the first movement of the Opus 36 piano sonata in B-flat minor (Jonathan Chu)
6. Alexander Scriabin: the last two movements in the Opus 23 piano sonata in F-sharp major (Calvin Huang) 

Photograph of Morton Feldman at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw (from a Wikipedia Web page) 

I have to say that I am impressed by the breadth of repertoire prepared for this recital. My only misgiving is that I wish at least one of these pianists would have dared to be a bit more adventurous. For example, as can be seen on his Wikipedia page, there is a more-than-generous list of solo piano compositions by Morton Feldman. I have barely begun to account for them in my collection of recordings, and I am not sure I have experienced a performance by any of the local performers other than the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. (For those whose curiosity has been piqued, that performance can now be seen on a YouTube video.)

As usual, this show will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, October 24. The Cadillac Hotel is located at 380 Eddy Street, on the northeast corner of Leavenworth Street. All Concerts at the Cadillac events are presented without charge. The purpose of the series is to provide high-quality music to the residents of the hotel and the Tenderloin District; but all are invited to visit the venue that calls itself “The House of Welcome Since 1907.”