Henryk Górecki’s String Quartet Music

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

Early this month Chandos released a two-CD album of the complete works for string quartet composed by  Henryk Górecki performed by the Silesian Quartet. Coincidentally, when Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki gave his latest San Francisco Performances recital towards the end of last month, the program he prepared consisting entirely of preludes included two by Górecki, the first and last in his Opus 1. All of the quartet pieces were composed much later in his career, and are decidedly different.

Most important is that a string quartet offers a much wider palette of sonorities. In many ways, Górecki expresses himself more through those sonorities than through thematic interplay. This is not to say that he avoids themes; and, like Béla Bartók, he took great interest in folksongs, particularly those from Kurpie, a region northwest of Warsaw. Indeed, many of the “voices” in his quartet compositions tend to evoke the spirit of how those songs were sung.

This makes for a significant departure in quartet rhetoric, even from the folk-inspired passages in the Bartók quartets. Górecki can also command a rhetoric of stillness, which may have been inspired by Bartók’s “night music” but takes it to an even darker setting. Nevertheless, there is considerable rhetorical breadth as the attentive listener navigates through each of the three quartets. Having enjoyed Górecki’s piano music in a recital, I would be only too happy to listen to a recital by a string quartet that has taken him into their repertoire.

Ackamoor Returning to SF for World Premiere

Saxophonist Idris Ackamoor leading his combo (from the Web page for his performance at The Lab)

Some readers may recall that, at the beginning of this year Idris Ackamoor announced a touring schedule that would include for performances within the San Francisco city limits. Each of these were scheduled to take place at a different venue. This month the third of those performances will take place at The Lab.

The program was planned to support the world premiere of the double vinyl album Artistic Being. Ackamoor created original material for this album to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his Afrofuturist combo, The Pyramids. Those performers will be joined by guest artists Rhodessa Jones and Danny Glover. The performance of the music for Artistic Being was given its world premiere at The Lab last year.

This year that same venue will host a record release performance. This will take place on Saturday, April 19, beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets will be sold for $27 and may be purchased online through a Dice Web page. For those unfamiliar with the venue, The Lab is located in the Mission at 2948 16th Street. This is particularly convenient for those using public transportation, since it is a short walk to the corner of 16th Street and Mission Street. Busses stop at that corner for both north-south and east-west travel, and downstairs there is a station for the BART line running under Mission Street.

Bartlett’s Uneven Shenson Spotlight Piano Recital

Pianist Martin James Bartlett (from his San Francisco Symphony event page)

Last night in Davies Symphony Hall, this year’s Shenson Spotlight Series presented by the San Francisco Symphony continued with a solo piano recital by Martin Janes Bartlett. He prepared a program that spanned from the eighteenth century (music which predated the piano) to the twentieth. The major work on the program was Robert Schumann’s Opus 15 Kinderszenen (scenes from childhood), a collection of thirteen short pieces composed in 1838.

This is one of those works that has been encountered by just about anyone that took serious piano lessons. (My own coaching came from Jake Heggie with input from Johana Harris.) Sadly, Bartlett seemed to be more interested in speed, rather than phrasing, leaving little room for expressiveness in any of the thirteen movements. When he was not overplaying his approach to pace, he turned to dynamics; and his account of Franz Liszt’s transcription of the “Liebestod” episode at the conclusion of Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde amounted to a roar that totally undermined the semantic infrastructure. The other composer to receive significant attention was Maurice Ravel, whose “Pavane pour une infante défunte” (pavane for a dead princess) and “La valse” were performed in Herbst Theatre by Louis Lortie exactly two weeks earlier. The conclusion of the former was delivered with a heavy hand, while the account of the latter left me wondering if that would have been how Franz Liszt would have played it.

The program began with early keyboard compositions by François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau. The latter was the Gavotte movement from the RCT 5 suite in A minor. In that movement the dance theme is followed by six variations. Bartlett delivered an account that sounded as if it has been written for a modern piano. Clearly, the composer did not have this in mind; but the interpretation was both solid and convincing. This was preceded by one of the best-known short pieces by Couperin, “Les Baricades mystérieuses;” but Bartlett leaned so heavily on the damper pedal that it was almost impossible to sort the theme out from the arpeggiated accompaniment.

Both encores were selections from George Gershwin’s Song Book, “The Man I Love” and “I Got Rhythm.” I used to enjoy listening to Earl Wild play this music in recital, and his approach to Gershwin was always engaging. Bartlett’s account left me wondering if he even knew there were words behind those songs, let alone the denotations and connotations of those words!

I fear that the Shenson “spotlight” deserves better!

Roar Shack to Present Honey Mahogany

Honey Mahogany (from the Eventbrite Web page for this production)

The next performance be presented at The Roar Shack by The Living Earth Show duo of guitarist Travis Andrews and drummer Andy Meyerson with be a night of music created by Honey Mahogany and “her chosen family of collaborators.” The title of the program is Black Thursday; and according to the Eventbrite Web page, Mahogany is “a multi-hyphenate San Francisco legend who has worked in drag, music, and political organizing as a force for queer and trans voices in the Bay Area and beyond.” Mahogany will be joined by local drag and music legends Dulce De Leche, Militia Towers, and Lambert Moss. Living Earth will provide the music, performing with Van Jackson-Weaver on bass.

Admission to this event will be by donation. The Eventbrite Web page allows for “Pay What You Can” purchase with a recommended rate between $1 and $100. The venue is located in SoMa at 34 Seventh Street. The entry is through a secret side door on Odd Fellows Way, which is called Stevenson Street on the other side of Seventh. Doors will open at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 17. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. and last for one hour, followed by a one-hour “Postshow hang.”

Beginning a Beethoven Journey with Guarneri

When I began my “chronological journey” of the Sony Masterworks box set, Guarneri Quartet: The Complete Recordings 1965–2005, my first two articles dealt with First Viennese School composers in chronological order: Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. However, where Ludwig van Beethoven is concerned, most listeners are aware that there are significant stylistic differences across the “early,” “middle,” and “late” quartets. As a result, I would like to deal with these as separate categories, giving each its own article.

Original album cover for the Beethoven “middle” quartets (from the Amazon.com Web page for that album)

In the Sony release, the “first to appear” is the three-CD album entitled The Five Middle Quartets; and that is where I would like to begin. Many readers probably know that the first three of the quartets were collected as Beethoven’s Opus 59. They are known as the “Razumovsky” quartets, because they were commissioned by Count Andreas Razumovsky, who, at that time, was the Russian ambassador to Vienna. The Wikipedia page for this set provides a useful account of how Beethoven endowed each of the quartets with a reference to Russian music. The other two quartets are Opus 74 in E-flat major, known as the “Harp” quartet for its pizzicato passages, and Opus 95, called “Serioso” for its F minor key.

It is highly likely that, over the course of my regular trips to Grand Central Station, I encountered Guarneri performances of all five of these quartets in recital. (Since I was not documenting these experiences at that time, I cannot be certain.) However, the recordings were made between 1966 and 1968, when my primary focus was on undergraduate and graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thus, any of the performances I attended took place long after these works were recorded.

These days, I do my best to keep up with opportunities to listen to these quartets. Some readers may recall that my most recent encounter was almost exactly a month ago, when the Calidore Quartet played Opus 74 in Herbst Theatre during their third visit to San Francisco Performances. They may also recall that, when I wrote about the Guarneri recordings of quartets by Joseph Haydn, I closed by invoking Leonard Slatkin’s precept: “You can never conduct enough Haydn or Schubert.” That may be so; but, where Beethoven is concerned, I cannot get enough of opportunities to listen to his string quartets. The “late” quartets (to be discussed on this site in the, hopefully, near future) may be the most mind-bending; but I do my best to attend any performance of a “middle” quartet taking place here in San Francisco. In the absence of such opportunities, I am glad that I now have these Guarneri accounts as an alternative!

SFP to Present Isidore String Quartet

Isidore String Quartet performers Devin Moore, Phoenix Avalon, Adrian Steele, and Joshua McClendon (from the SFP Web page for purchasing tickets)

For those that do not yet know, all four of the programs in this season’s San Francisco Performances (SFP) Chamber Series are string quartet recitals. The last of those four will be presented one week from tomorrow, and the performers will be the members of the Isidore String Quartet. The name probably acknowledges a connection to violinist Isidore Cohen, who was second violinist in the Juilliard String Quartet back when I heard my first performance of the group. The performers of this quartet are violinists Adrian Steele and Phoenix Avalon, Devin Moore on viola, and cellist Joshua McClendon.

It would be fair to say that both the opening and closing selections on the program reflect on the Juilliard repertoire. Things will begin with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 465 string quartet in C major, known as the “Dissonance” for the ambiguous introduction to the first movement. The concluding selection will be Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 127 in E-flat major, the first of his “late” quartets. Between these selections will be a work composed for the ensemble by pianist Billy Childs. This will be his third string quartet, given the title “Unrequited.”

The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16. Ticket prices are $70 (premium Orchestra and front and center Dress Circle), $60 (remainder of Orchestra, all Side Boxes, and center rear Dress Circle), and $50 (remaining Dress Circle and Balcony). As always, they may be purchased through an SFP secure Web page. The venue will be Herbst Theatre, whose entrance 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.

New Album from Jordan Glenn

Percussionist Jordan Glenn performing (photograph by Eric Vogler)

Percussionist Jordan Glenn is unlikely to be a stranger to those that follow this site regularly, particularly those keeping track of “Bleeding Edge” events. At the end of last week, he was the percussionist for a trio performance at the Center for New Music led by guitarist Elliot Sharp. (The third member of the trio was Brett Carson on piano.) Last month he had a set in the monthly Jazz at the Make-Out Room concert, joined by Matt Robidoux on synthesizer, and Sudhu Tewari playing his home-made instruments.

This past Friday his BEAK ensemble released a new album entitled The Party, which is available through a Bandcamp Web page. Glenn composed the entire album and conducted its performance, adding his own contributions on spring box. The other performers are listed on the Bandcamp page as follows:

• Mark Pascucci-Clifford - vibraphone, bundtmonica, gongs, tongue tube
• David James - electric guitar, modified electric guitar
• Karl Evangelista - electric guitar, modified electric guitar
• Lisa Mezzacappa - acoustic bass, foot bass
• Jon Arkin - drums, tongue tube, electronics
• Robert Lopez - percussion, bundtmonica, tongue tube
• Sudhu Tewari - no string guitars, YEMRS (Yasmin Electro Magnetic Rhythm Sequencer), bundtmonica

The tongue tube, bundtmonica, foot bass, and no string guitars are all Tewari’s inventions.

The performances involved both conducted improvisation and compositions. As an “uninformed listener,” I can confess that I have no idea which of the seven tracks fall into which category! Nevertheless, the overall rhetoric is an engaging one. Much of the rhythm verges on mind-bending, and the diversity of sonorities is delightful. In that context, I was amused to see that, in the advance material, the adjectives “psychedelic” and “whimsical” were situated side-by-side!

Having listened to this album several times in preparing to write this article, I suspect that I shall return for further visits in the future!

The Bleeding Edge: 4/8/2025

This week on the Bleeding Edge will be even quieter than last week. Even the previously-reported events are fewer than those in the past. In fact, there are only two of them, both of which will be taking place on Saturday, April 12:

1. The next G|O|D|W|A|F|F|L|E|N|O|I|S|E|P|A|N|C|A|K|E|S event will be hosted by the Center for New Music beginning at noon.
2. The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players will present their Northern Lights program in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater beginning at 7:30 p.m.

The remaining three events of the week will take place on Thursday and Friday as follows:

Poster design for this week’s performance at the Peacock Lounge (from the BayImproviser event page)

Thursday, April 10, Peacock Lounge: 8 p.m: Following his return from Japan, Mickey Tachibana will perform as Com£♡ (compound love). He will create an immersive experiences by integrating modular synthesis, ethnic instruments, and field recordings. It is hard to say what to expect from Thomas Carnacki, given the diversity of content found on his Bandcamp Web page; but the performance he is preparing apparently involves ghosts. The set taken by Thomas Dimuzio will probably be more straightforward, presenting his Innovative techniques of sound synthesis, signal processing, algorithmic mixing, and custom crossfade looping. The remaining set will be taken by W.O.E., the duo of JaMile Jackson and Brian Tester, both of whom have cultivated their improvisational skills through their long histories in the Bay Area's electronic and underground rock scenes.

Friday, April 11, Medicine for Nightmares, 7 p.m.: This week’s Other Dimensions in Sound program will performed by vocalist Fumi Davis and poet Fred Moten.  As always, the venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. There is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Friday, April 11, 8:30 p.m., Bird & Beckett Books and Records: Saxophonist Aaron Bennett will lead his jazz trio, performing with Dan Seamans on bass and drummer Tim Bulkley. The venue is located at 653 Chenery Street, a short walk from the Glen Park station that serves both BART and Muni. The price of admission has not yet been announced, but it is usually a cover charge of $25. Given the limited space of the venue, reservations are necessary and can be made by calling 415-586-3733. The phone will be answered during regular store hours, which are between noon and 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Sunday.

Omni Releases New Video of Julia Trintschuk

Julia Trintschuk singing while accompanying herself on her guitar (screen shot from the video being discussed)

Early this afternoon I learned of the latest video to be uploaded to YouTube by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts. The title of the video is Julia Trintschuk | Una Palabra. “Una Palabra” is the title of a song by Carlos Varela, which dwells on love, loss, and the power of silence. The lyrics are included on the YouTube Web page with each of the lines in Spanish coupled with an English translation. The guitar accompaniment was arranged by Joaquin Clerch. The video was captured during a performance presented by Omni this past February 18th. The experience is “short and sweet;” but there is no shortage of nuance packed into the expressiveness of the performance. The duration may be only four minutes, but I found it time well spent!

SFB to Revive Two Ballets from Last Season

Misa Kuranaga and Joseph Walsh performing the title roles of Frederick Ashton’s “Marguerite and Armand” (© Reneff-Olson Productions)

This month San Francisco Ballet (SFB) will alternate its performances of the Hans van Manen program with a double bill program of two works from last season. The first of these is Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s ballet “Broken Wings,” a study in the life of Frida Kahlo, whose performance requires two corps de ballet, one of skeletons and the other of “Male Fridas.” The other is Frederic Ashton’s “Marguerite and Armand,” a distillation of La Traviata into a single act of choreography set to the music of Franz Liszt.

This program will alternate with the van Manen program on the following dates and times:

• Tuesday, April 8, 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, April 10, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 12, 2 p.m.
• Saturday, April 12, 8 p.m.
• Sunday, April 13, 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, April 18, 8 p.m.

All performances will take place in the War Memorial Opera House, which is on the northwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street (across Grove from Davies Symphony Hall). A single Web page has been created for purchasing tickets for all of the above dates and times. Tickets may also be purchased at the Box Office in the outer lobby of the Opera House or by calling 415-865-2000. The Box Office is open for ticket sales Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Chamber Music San Francisco Hosts Bronfman

Unless I am mistaken, my first encounter with pianist Yefim Bronfman took place during the first half of the Eighties. That was when I was working in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and taking every opportunity to get to Grand Central Station, which provided easy walks to both Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. This provided a more-than-generous share of opportunities to listen to piano recitals. I cannot remember what Bronfman played the first time I saw him; but I was on the edge of my seat trying to follow how he could maintain so much precision over such a broad range of dynamics.

Yesterday afternoon Bronfman appeared in Herbst Theatre for the latest Chamber Music San Francisco recital. The second half of his program presented seldom-heard music, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s four-movement Opus 37, given the title “Grand Piano Sonata.” The first half was probably familiar to most of the audience.

Bronfman began with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 332 (twelfth) piano sonata, composed in the key of F major. This was followed by Robert Schumann’s Opus 18 in C major, given the title “Arabeske.” The first half then concluded with the second set of Images (three pieces), composed by Claude Debussy.

Each of these three pieces had its own distinctive approach to rhetoric. Bronfman consistently mined the expressiveness of each of them in his performances. Most importantly, however, he never “overplayed his hand,” so to speak, knowing when to keep close hold on the reins and when to let them loose. I was particularly taken with his approach to Debussy, whose rhetoric often comes across as one passing gesture after another. Bronfman knew exactly how to convey the coherence among all those gestures.

1888 cabinet card portrait of Tchaikovsky attributed to Émile Reutlinger (from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

The Tchaikovsky sonata was another matter. One can definitely appreciate why it receives so little attention! This was, without a doubt, one of those pieces that lives up to too-many-notes criticism! There were times when I felt that Bronfman may have been playing too fast just to show off his dexterity, but I suspect that would be an unfair assessment. More likely, he decided that a piece performed so seldom deserved a bit of attention. At least I can say that I now know that sonata exists and that I have listened to it!

Bronfman took two encores without announcing either. The first sounded like one of Tchaikovsky’s shorter solo piano pieces, and I am not particularly familiar with that genre. The second was more familiar: the fifth, in the key of G minor, of the ten preludes in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Opus 23 collection. This would have been an “old friend” for many in the audience; and it provided the opportunity for Bronfman to go out on just the right note (so to speak).

Undermined by Digital Technology!

One Found Sound was kind enough to call me out on a major misunderstanding. This morning I took issue with the ensemble for the absence of program notes, particularly for the two new works in the first half of the program. Not long after I filed my article, I received word from One Found Sound providing a URL for the digital program: https://www.onefoundsound.org/sonicblooms.

Front face of the latest (as of this writing) Apple iPhone (from the iPhone Wikipedia page)

At last night’s concert, this was available to anyone with a cell phone that could capture a QR code on the table where tickets were being sold. I used that code and all four of the works on the program fit on my phone’s screen. Unfortunately, a cell phone screen is not like a window in a computer screen display. When I visited the URL on my computer, I saw a scroll bar, which I could not see on my phone display.

Sure enough, there was a generous amount of content that I could see on my computer that I did not know existed on my phone! I missed the acknowledgement “that the land on which we are gathered for this performance, and on which we have gathered for our rehearsals, is located on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples.” That text was provided in Spanish following the English version. Continuing the scroll led to a complete account of all the contributing performers, sorted by their respective instruments. Most of what followed was then devoted to the sort of program notes that tend to guide how I write about the performances I attend (again in both English and Spanish).

This made for a generous amount of background content. Most important were the one-paragraph summaries provided by each of the two composers of the new works. My guess is that, had I read those paragraphs, I would have had more to say about those recent compositions; but, in the absence of that content, there was little I could offer beyond what I wrote yesterday!

To be fair, the full background for each of those composers occupied far more space than was occupied by the list of program selections. I doubt that I would have given this much content the attention it deserves had I been limited to the window on my iPhone. On the other hand, preparing a physical document, such as the one given to me at this afternoon’s recital in Herbst Theatre, is a major undertaking for both time and finances. I can appreciate the “digital advantages” of a cell phone, but last night taught me a harsh lesson about its limitations!

Jonathan Salzedo Returning to Noontime Concerts

Karen Bentley Pollick and Jonathan Salzedo (from the Noontime Concerts Web page for their coming recital)

I came to know the work of harpsichordist Jonathan Salzedo through his performances as a member of the Albany Consort. However, it seems that I have not accounted for one of their events since their visit to Old St. Mary’s Cathedral to give a Noontime Concerts™ recital in February of 2023. Therefore, I am happy to report that Salzedo will present his next Noontime Concerts™ program one week from this coming Tuesday. This will be a duo recital with violinist Karen Bentley Pollick, which will interleave music from the eighteenth century with three contemporary offerings by two composers.

The program will begin with Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1018 sonata in F minor for violin and harpsichord. The other eighteenth-century selection will be a solo harpsichord performance of a keyboard setting of music for Psalm 140 by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. This will be coupled with a contemporary composition for solo violin by Charles Mason entitled “Bach Scratch.” Mason will also conclude the program with his duo “Go Dog Go.” The other living composer will be Ludmila Yurina, whose solo violin composition “Duma” will be performed after the Bach sonata.

Like all events in the Noontime Concerts series, the performance will take place in the sanctuary of Old Saint Mary’s beginning at 12:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, February 15. The cathedral is located at 660 California Street, on the northeast corner of Grant Street. There is no charge for admission, but this concert series relies heavily on donations to continue offering its weekly programs.

One Found Sound Presents Spring Program

OFS musicians in performance (from the banner on the Web page for last night’s program)

Last night One Found Sound (OFS), the local orchestra that performs without a conductor, welcomed spring with a program entitled Sonic Blooms. The “flowers that bloomed,” so to speak, were two new compositions created for this year’s Emerging Composer Award competition. The winer of that competition was Ty Bloomfield with a composition entitled “FLUX // DRIVE,” given its world premiere performance. This was preceded by the West Coast premiere of the runner-up composition, “Shubho Lhaw Qolo,” by Sami Seif. This featured a solo viola performance by Sam Nelson. The second half of the program paired the Adagietto movement from Gustav Mahler’s fifth symphony with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 550 (40th) symphony in G minor.

The highest form of praise for a new work is a desire to hear it again. This was the case for both of the pieces in the first half. Not only does OFS perform without a conductor, but also they do not provide program notes. Each work receives an oral introduction; but, where the new pieces are concerned, that provided little material for either anticipation or reflection. As a result, there is little I can report about how either of these composers cultivated their respective rhetorical stances, let alone how those stances were established through approaches to instrumentation. Those that attend concerts frequently know that the capacity for listening is usually cultivated through program notes! Nevertheless, I would welcome the opportunity to encounter both of those new works in subsequent performances.

Fortunately, program notes were not necessary for the second half of the program. Both selections are frequently encountered, meaning that, probably for the most part, listeners knew what to expect. The Mahler movement was given a thoroughly engaging account with a better view of the contributing harp performance than one tends to encounter at Davies Symphony Hall. Sadly, there was no account on the OFS Web site of who that harpist was. The Mozart selection could not have been more familiar to most of the audience, but there was a freshness to the performance that sustained attention to all of those notes many listeners already know by heart.

Guarneri Quartet: the Mozart Recordings

Having begun my “journey” of the Sony Masterworks box set, Guarneri Quartet: The Complete Recordings 1965–2005, with a modest account of works by Joseph Haydn, I can now move on to the more generous attention paid to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This consists of ten string quartets, six viola quintets, and two piano quartets. The pianist is Artur Rubinstein, and three different violists contribute to the quintets. They are (in “order of appearance”) Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, and Kim Kashkashian, each accounting for two of the quintets.

Album cover showing the members of the Guarneri Quartet on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (from the Amazon.com Web page for this album)

I must confess that I have a particular soft spot for the quintets. One of my colleagues at the campus radio station at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology liked to say that a viola is what a violin wants to be when it grows up. On a less facetious note, Mozart biographies inform us that he sent much of his time in Vienna playing string quartets with his colleagues (one of whom as Joseph Haydn); and his preferred instrument as the viola. All six of the quintets were recorded during performances at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The other recorded “collection” consists of another set of six, this time the quartets that Mozart dedicated to Joseph Haydn. These are as follows:

• K. 387 in G major
• K. 421 in D minor
• K. 428 in E-flat major
• K. 458 in B-flat major
• K. 464 in A major
• K. 465 in C major

Two other albums account for the composer’s last four quartets:

• K. 499 in D major
• K. 575 in D major
• K. 589 in B-flat major
• K. 590 in F major

That leaves only one other album in the collection. This is the Rubinstein performance of the two Mozart piano quartets, K. 478 in G minor and K. 493 in E-flat major. The single violinist for these performances in John Dalley.

It is important to note that this ensemble was formed prior to the rise of interest in historically informed performances. In many respects twentieth-century style reflected back on nineteenth-century performance practices and instruments. However, those that are not “Mozart purists” will find much to savor in the approaches that Guarneri took to that composer’s rhetorical turns. There is no questioning that these recordings now serve as “time machines.” Nevertheless, since they date from a period when I was just beginning to get my head around chamber music, I have no problems with traveling in that time machine!

More Mozart Coming from Pocket Opera

A little over a month ago, Pocket Opera enjoyed a sold-out performance of its first production of the 2025 season, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Next week the company will return to the Gunn Theatre on the lower level of the Legion of Honor Museum for the second offering. This will present more Mozart with an interesting twist or two. The full title of the program is A Pocket Magic Flute & Bastien and Bastienne.

Kenneth Kellogg and Shawnette Sulker as the title characters of “Bastien und Bastienne” (courtesy of Pocket Opera)

The Magic Flute (K. 620) was created as a two-act Singspiel (singing with spoken dialogue) involving a cast of fantastical characters, only a few of whom are mere mortals. This usually involves a generous amount of complex stage effects, which, as might be expected, is “beyond the pay grade” of Pocket Opera. As a result, the “pocket” version will be presented as an animated film that was four years in the making. The screening will be preceded by a brief “making-of” documentary. The intermission will be followed by one of Mozart’s earliest operas (composed when he was twelve years old), the K. 50 one-act “Bastien und Bastienne,” conceived as a parody of the popular “pastoral” genre. (Bastienne is a shepherdess.)

As usual, the performance will take place at the Legion of Honor. It will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 13. As many readers probably know by now, the Legion of Honor is a component of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. It is located at 100 34th Avenue, which is basically right in the center of Lincoln Park. General admission will be $84. Those age 30 and under may purchase tickets for $30. A Web page has been created for online purchases.

Technology Takes it on the Chin at SFCM

An example of Feuillet’s dance notation (from a Wikimedia Commons Web page, public domain)

Last night on the ground floor of the Bowes Center, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) presented a survey of works by eight students in the Technology and Applied Composition department. The student performers were Lylia Guion on violin, cellist Megan Chartier, and Taylor Chan on piano. For the world premiere of one selection, Han Lash’s “Orchesography,” they were joined by Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times, who served as narrator. I could not identify the source of the text, but I am pretty certain that it had nothing to do with either Thoinot Arbeau or Raoul Auger Feuillet (the two pioneers of dance notation). Lash was supposed to perform with this ensemble as dancer but was unable to attend.

Taken as a whole, the six works on the program constituted a distressingly incoherent jumble of well-intentioned chamber music performances with video projections running the gamut from arbitrary to tedious. In that context the high point of the evening came with Chartier giving a solo performance of “ko’u inoa” by Leilehua Lanzilotti, which probably came closest to avoiding to mistake of going on for too long. This was a relief in the wake of the the world premieres that preceded it, which, along with “Orchesography,” included “Okean” by Tamara McLeod, Niloufar Nourbakhsh’s “Cavities,” and “Who Are You Now?” by Clark Evans.

Back in my student days, there was a sharp distinction between “Mathematics” and “Applied Mathematics.” The latter was for engineering. The former was often called “Pure Mathematics;” and those who studied it (myself included) took pride in working with “the real thing.” That sense of “the real thing” was painfully absent in last night’s performance, as if it had been cast into the shadows by the “Technology and Applied.” I prefer music that aspires to “purity,” whether in composition or in performance!

SFB to Honor Hans van Manen with Four Ballets

I first became aware of choreographer Hans van Manen during my graduate student days. Choreographer James Waring would make weekly visits to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); and I was a regular attendee. Waring died not long after I left MIT with my doctoral degree; but, at the age of 92, van Manen is still alive and kicking (if not creating new dances). The next production for the 2025 Repertory season of the San Francisco Ballet (SFB) will honor his legacy with a program of four works that he created between 1971 and 2012. Sadly, I do not think I have seen any of them.

Dores André performing van Manen’s “5 Tango’s” (courtesy of SFB)

The final work on the program will be the one San Francisco premiere. “5 Tango’s” (yes, the apostrophe is on the Wikipedia page, even if I have no reason why) was created in 1977. As many might guess, each of the movements is a setting of a composition by Astor Piazzolla. The most ambitious undertaking will probably be the opening selection, “Grosse Fuge,” a setting of Ludwig van Beethoven’s single-movement composition of the same title, his Opus 133 scored for string quartet. The other two selections involve music by Johann Sebastian Bach, whose specifics have not been announced. Since the casting information identifies three members of the corps de ballet for “Solo,” I assume that the music will be from the composer’s set of sonatas and partitas for solo violin. The remaining work on the program will be “Variations for Two Couples.” The music is a compilation of works by four composers. The contribution by Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer takes Bach as a point of departure. The other three composers are Benjamin Britten, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and Piazzolla.

The full list of performances dates and times is as follows:

• Saturday, April 5, 8 p.m.
• Sunday, April 6, 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 9, 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, April 11, 8 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 15, 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 19, 2 p.m.

All performances will take place in the War Memorial Opera House, which is on the northwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street (across Grove from Davies Symphony Hall). A single Web page has been created for purchasing tickets for all of the above dates and times. Tickets may also be purchased at the Box Office in the outer lobby of the Opera House or by calling 415-865-2000. The Box Office is open for ticket sales Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Randall Goosby’s Debut with SFP

Violinist Randall Goosby is no stranger to San Francisco. He performed in Davies Symphony Hall in April of 2022 in the second of the four Spotlight Series recitals that San Francisco Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen launched to feature entirely debut concerts. Goosby’s accompanist was pianist Zhu Wang. Last night he made his first appearance in Herbst Theatre, this time under the auspices of San Francisco Performances; and he was again accompanied by Wang.

The first half of the program presented two sonatas for two decidedly different eras in French history. It began with the last in a set of three violin sonatas by the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Joseph Bologne. His Wikipedia page cites him as “the first classical composer of African descent to attain widespread acclaim in European music;” and my encounters with his music have been consistently engaging. Goosby’s selection was in the key of G minor with only two movements, the usual opening Allegro followed by a Rondo gracioso. Most interesting was the composer’s attentiveness to balancing the thematic material between both players, making this an ideal selection to introduce both Goosby and Wang to the audience.

This was followed by the more familiar Opus 13 of Gabriel Fauré, his first violin sonata composed in the key of A major. The Fauré catalog plays a major role in my collection of recordings. Nevertheless, I think this was my first encounter with this sonata in performance; and I could not have been more delighted with the listening experience.

The second half of the program bridged the two ends of the nineteenth century. It began in the final decade with Ernest Chausson’s Opus 25, given simply the title “Poème.” This was originally composed for full orchestra with violin solo and subsequently given the duo arrangement performed last night.

The program concluded with music originally composed for violin and piano, Franz Schubert’s D. 895 in B minor, given the title “Rondeau brillant.” Schubert composed only six duos for violin and piano; and this was the only one to be published (by Artaria) in his lifetime. The overall rhetoric can best be described as “frantically witty,” almost as if it is a reflection of maintaining a sense of humor in a state of desperation. Both Goosby and Wang were clearly intensely focused on performance, allowing the dispositions to arise on their own accord.

Randall Goosby on the cover of the Deluxe Edition of his Roots album (from its Amazon.com Web page)

Goosby turned to Florence Price for his encore. His selection was “Elfentanz,” one of the tracks on the “Deluxe Edition” of his Roots album. This made for a witty conclusion to smooth things off after Schubert. Goosby is definitely a recitalist with an imaginative and engaging approach to creating programs!

SFP Announces 2025–2026 Season

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (photograph by Stefan Mager, courtesy of SFP)

This is the time of year when San Francisco Performances (SFP) announces its new season; and, sure enough, that announcement arrived in my electronic mail yesterday. This will be the 46th season; and, hopefully as in the past, this site will, prior to the beginning of the season, give a series-by-series account of the programs that have been planned. This year’s Gala will be on October 10 and will be held in conjunction with the first piano recital of the season, which will be performed by pianists Jeffrey and Gabriel Kahane. The season will again conclude at the beginning of May with the return of The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

Once again, Historian-in-Residence Robert Greenberg will curate a Saturday morning series, beginning at 10 a.m. Those familiar with SFP probably know that, in the past, music was provided by the members of the Alexander String Quartet; but, now that they have disbanded, they will be replaced by the Esmé Quartet. This year the series will focus on Franz Schubert; and, in the final program, the quartet members will be joined by cellist Paul Wiancko for the D. 956 string quintet in C major.

The PIVOT Festival will again return at the end of January with performances on January  30 and 31 and February 1. The curator will be Andy Meyerson, the percussionist of The Living Earth Show. He will perform with his The Living Earth Show duo partner, guitarist Travis Andrews. The final program will present a contemporary take on classical ballet with San Francisco Ballet choreographer and dancer Myles Thatcher. As usual, the other series will be familiar to SFP audiences:

• Art of Song
• Piano
• Contemporary Chamber (featuring the Attacca Quartet)
• The Robert and Ruth Dell Guitar Series
• Chamber Series
• Here Now and Then
• The Shenson Great Artists and Ensembles Series

As in the past, the Guitar Series will be presented in association with the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Subscriptions will go on sale on April 9. Presumably, the usual booklet that summarizes all of the coming programs, supplemented with color photographs, will be sent in the mail to current subscribers. The benefits of subscribing include savings on single ticket prices, priority seating, free ticket exchange privileges, and invitations to the annual Gift Concert. This season that event will be a recital by the Arod Quartet, which has not yet announced program details. Subscribers may select individual series or create their own packages. They may be ordered by calling the Ticket Office at 415-677-0325, and presumably a Web page for online orders will be made available on April 9. Single tickets will go on sale on August 27.

Ana Vidović Coming to Herbst Next Week

Ana Vidović with her guitar (courtesy of the  Omni Foundation)

Some readers may recall that Croatian guitarist Ana Vidović made her last visit to San Francisco a little less than a year ago as a recitalist for the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts. At the end of next week, she will return to give her next Omni recital. However, while last year’s performance took place in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, this year she will visit Herbst Theatre.

This time there will be more emphasis on Hispanic composers. The second half of the program will feature two works by the Spanish composer Federico Moreno Torroba, his 1924 Sonatina and the three-movement Suite castellana, composed in 1926. These two selections will be separated by Joaquín Turina Opus 61, a three-movement sonata. That emphasis on the sonata will be reinforced by arrangements of four of the single-movement keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti: K. 213 in D minor, K. 1 in D minor, K. 27 in B minor, and K. 239 in F minor.

The first half of the program will be devoted almost entirely to Johann Sebastian Bach. Vidović will begin with the BWV 1006 E major partita for solo violin. The transcription was prepared by fellow Croatian Valter Dešpalj (who happens to be a cellist). This will be followed by the better-known arrangement by Andres Segovia of the Chaconne movement that concludes Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1004 solo violin partita in D minor. The first half will then conclude with the “Sonatina Meridional” by Mexican composer Manuel Ponce.

This performance will begin, as usual, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 12. Also as usual, the venue is located at 401 Van Ness Avenue, on the southwest corner of McAllister Street and directly across Van Ness from City Hall. City Box Office has created a Web page for online ticket purchases. Tickets for the Boxes and Orchestra range between $60 and $70. The remaining tickets are in the Dress Circle and the Balcony, with prices between $50 and $70.

Rust and Edelmann to Return to Bay Area

I first became aware of the husband and wife duo of cellist Rebecca Rust and Friedrich Edelmann on bassoon back when I was seeking out interesting venues to write about for Examiner.com in my capacity as San Francisco Classical Music Examiner. Every Tuesday morning I would set off on foot to get to Chinatown in time for lunch, after which I would head over the Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral on the northeast corner of Grant Avenue and California Street. That was the venue for Noontime Concerts, which would begin at 12:30 PM on Tuesdays. On that particular afternoon, in September of 2012, Rust and Edelmann concluded their recital with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 69 duo sonata; and their account was solid enough to pique my interest.

Friedrich Edelmann and Rebecca Rust (from the Examiner.com article being discussed)

That interest sustained after the passing of Examiner.com; but, according to my records, I have not had an opportunity to write about this duo since October of 2017. This was another “Musical Lunch Break” concert at Old Saint Mary’s, this time featuring a suite in G minor for cello and bassoon by Jean-Baptiste Loeillet. Once again, an “extended interval” has passed; but Rust and Edelmann will be back in San Francisco next week. They have prepared a program that they will perform three times in this city, one of which will involve returning to Noontime Concerts. However, this will be the last of their appearances, which I shall now address in chronological order.

Their tour will begin at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (which is about as imposing as Old Saint Mary’s is modest). Once again, Beethoven will conclude the performance, this time with the first of the two Opus 5 duo sonatas, composed in the key of F major. This will be preceded by Johannes Brahms’ Opus 78, known as the “Rain Sonata” because it appropriated a theme from “Regenlied” (rain song), the third of the Opus 59 set of eight. This was arranged for cello and piano by Paul Klengel. Pianist Dmitriy Cogan will accompany Rust for both of these selections. Edelmann will complete the trio only at the beginning of the program for a performance of Mikhail Glinka’s IMG 41 “Trio Pathétique” in D minor, originally scored for clarinet, bassoon, and piano.

Dates, times, and venues for the three performances are as follows:

1. April 6, 4 p.m., Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, 1111 Gough Street, between Geary Boulevard and Ellis Street
2. April 7, 8 p.m., San Francisco Towers, 1661 Pine Street, between Franklin Street and Van Ness Avenue
3. April 8, 12:30 p.m., Old Saint Mary’s, 660 California Street

Picture Worth More Than 1000 Words?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2025/apr/02/nicola-jennings-donald-trump-revenge-world-cartoon?CMP=share_btn_url

From the Early 19th Century to the Early 20th

Joyce Yang performing at Kohl Mansion (photograph by Rick Gydesen, from an SF Classical Voice review by Ken Iisaka, December 19, 2017)

Last night pianist Joyce Yang returned to Herbst Theatre for her fourth appearance with San Francisco Performances. Her journey began when she gave quintet performances with the Alexander String Quartet in 2015 and 2019. The latter was particularly notable, since it involved the West Coast Premiere of “Quintet with Pillars,” by Samuel Adams, scored for string quartet and piano with digital resonance. Her first appearance as a soloist took place at the end of November of 2021.

The “chronological bookends” for the program were Ludwig van Beethoven and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Both of their works constituted the first half of the program. Yang began with the third of Beethoven’s Opus 31 sonatas, composed in the key of E-flat major. This was followed by a selection of six Rachmaninoff preludes, five from the thirteen in Opus 32 and one from the ten in Opus 23. (When one adds the C-sharp minor prelude from Opus 3, these account for all major and minor keys.) The second half of the program was then devoted entirely to Robert Schumann’s Opus 16 “Kreisleriana,” eight reflections on Johannes Kreisler, the fictional character created by E. T. A. Hoffmann. (Kreisler is significant enough to have his own Wikipedia page, which summarizes his character in a single sentence: “The moody, asocial composer Kreisler, Hoffmann's alter ego, is a musical genius whose creativity is stymied by an excessive sensibility.”)

For the most part Yang delivered solid no-nonsense accounts of all of her selections. I was particularly struck by the attention she gave to her Rachmaninoff selections. These reflected a rich palette of contrasting dispositions, thus scrupulously avoiding the dreaded one-damned-thing-after-another experience. Mind you, the coupling of an Allegro in G-sharp minor with an Allegro in C major was a bit of a roller-coaster ride; but they were complemented towards the end with the G major prelude that compelled me to wrote “defies gravity” in my program book! There was also a sense of finality in that the last prelude in her set was also the last prelude that Rachmaninoff composed.

Ironically, it was in her Schumann account that I worried a bit that she was going too much over the top. Nevertheless, any unease was then settled by her encore selection. This was Earl Wild’s arrangement of George Gershwin’s “The Man I Love.” I had the good fortune to experience Wild performances in my younger days, so it was inevitable that Yang would invoke fond memories. This was the perfect way to conclude the recital (for me at least)!

New Encounter with Korngold Chamber Music

Front cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

While I do my best to account for new releases likely to be of interest to readers, every now and then I find myself listening to older albums that seem to have escaped notice when they were released. Such is the case with a Naxos album that dates back to 2020 but deserves recognition for those (like myself) interested in listening to the music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The two works on the album are performed by a chamber ensemble called Spectrum Concerts Berlin. This is their second Korngold offering, the first having presented the composer’s Opus 1 piano trio and the Opus 10 string sextet.

The second album also consists of two selections. It begins with the Opus 23 five-movement suite, which is followed by the earlier Opus 15 piano quintet in E major. The advance material from Naxos describes the suite as “a gallery of European musical history, from Bach via Beethoven to the early 20th century.” I find that to be a bit of an exaggeration; but, to be fair, the first movement of Opus 23 is identified as “Präludium und Fuge.” After that, the only thing “historical” about suite are the movement titles “Walzer,” “Lied,” and “Rondo!”

Both of these compositions follow up on Korngold’s Opus 10, a string sextet in D major, which I first encountered a little over a year ago. The Nash Ensemble recorded it on an album that began with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Opus 70 in D minor, given the title “Souvenir de Florence.” In general, I tend to prefer listening to Korngold’s music on albums that do not include other composers. Korngold had his own way of doing things, informed by his own previous musical encounters. In that respect, however, I would have preferred that the tracks on this particular album be presented in chronological order. This would allow Opus 15 to be approached as a “prolog” to the lengthier suite.

Of course, in our brave new world of “digital music,” we are free to order the tracks of a recording any way we wish!

SFCMP Continues 54th Season This Month

Swedish composer Mika Pelo (from the event page for the performance being discussed)

One week from this Saturday, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players (SFCMP) will continue its 54th concert season with its third program. The title of the program is Northern Lights, and it will present four works by composers from two Scandinavian countries. Sweden will be represented by Jesper Nordin and Mika Pelo, who will begin each half of the program. Each of those works will be followed, respectively, by works by Finnish composers Kaija Saariaho and Magnus Lindberg.

Pelo’s offering will be a world premiere made possible through an SFCMP commission. The title of the composition is “Working from a Postcard;” and it will incorporate live electronics. This will be followed by a United States premiere of “Jubilees,” which Lindberg composed in 2002. The first half of the program will be presented in reverse chronological order, beginning with Jesper Nordin’s “Surfaces scintillantes,” completed in 2007, followed by the earliest work on the program, “Lichtbogen,” which Saariaho completed in 1986. She conceived this piece as a musical reflection on the Northern Lights.

This performance will take place in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater on Saturday, April 12, beginning at 7:30 p.m. It will be preceded by an “Under the Hood” pre-concert conversation with Pelo at 6:30 p.m. The venue is on the fourth (top) floor of the Veterans Building, which is located at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. General admission will be $45 with student admission for $18. Tickets may be purchased online through a City Box Office Web page.

Yeol Eum Son Takes on “Hammerklavier”

Pianist Yeol Eum Son (from her home page)

To appropriate shamelessly the words of Jane Austin, “It is a truth universally acknowledged” that every season at least one piano recitalist will take on Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 106 (“Hammerklavier”) sonata in B-flat major. Last night that pianist was Yeol Eum Son, visiting Herbst Theatre for the latest Chamber Music San Francisco Program of this year’s season. Things did not bode well with her frenetic charge into the opening phrase of the first movement, and things did not get better as she progressed. Indeed, in her determination to make sure that all of the notes were in the right place, too many of those notes never quite found their place in phrasing.

The first half of the program amounted to a nineteenth-century “follow-up” to late Beethoven. The final selection was one of Franz Liszt’s transcriptions, taking on the aria “Am stillen Herd” from Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Those familiar with the opera probably recognized the theme; but, as is often the case with Liszt, that “core” was overwhelmed by a plethora of excessive tropes. More modest (and, thus, somewhat more engaging) was the coupling of a mazurka by Pauline Viardot with an early “Romance” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, his Opus 5. Son began the program with two lesser known composers from the late nineteenth century. She began with Franz Bendel’s 1875 Opus 141, an improvisation on what it is probably the most familiar theme in music history, the “Wiegenlied” (cradle song) by Johannes Brahms. This was followed by a mazurka by the prolific Pauline Viardot (prolific because the catalog number was VWV 3012). The program concluded with two encores, neither of which was announced.

Taken as a whole, the program was a major undertaking. However, as was particularly affirmed by the Beethoven selection, there was little to offer by way of compelling expressiveness. I am afraid I came away with the impression that Son was playing for competition judges, rather than an audience of attentive music lovers.

Fond Recollections of the Guarneri Quartet

The latest “anthology” to be released by Sony Classics is a highly personal one. When I was working at a research laboratory in Ridgefield, Connecticut, I chose to live to the south in Stamford for easy access for the commuter rail line into Grand Central Station in Manhattan. I left my job in Santa Barbara, California, with a voracious appetite for classical music performances; and I could not have found a better way to satisfy that appetite. (That move also led to my meeting my wife-to-be!)

I particularly enjoyed opportunities for listening to chamber music, and the Guarneri Quartet offered much to satisfy my appetite. I was therefore delighted to learn that Sony Masterworks just released their latest box set: Guarneri Quartet: The Complete Recordings 1965–2005. This ensemble was led by violinist Arnold Steinhardt with John Dalley on second violin, violist Michael Tree, and David Soyer on cello. Their repertoire was a broad one, and I feel as if I only scratched the surface of it in my opportunities to listen to them in recital.

Now I can take a deeper dive into a repertoire which spanned from the First Viennese School to much of the last century. As usual, I plan to write about the new anthology through a series of articles, and each of the four First Viennese School composers will be approached separately. Sadly, the first of these, Joseph Haydn, is represented by only three CDs.

Original album cover for the Haydn Opus 77 quartets (from the Amazon.com Web page for that album)

The Hoboken catalog lists 83 string quartets, the last of which is incomplete. However, the first CD accounts for the last two completed works (81 and 82), published as Opus 77 and known as the Lobkowitz Quartets, composed in 1799. There is a freshness to the Guarneri approach to both of these quartets, which reminds listeners that, even late in life, Haydn’s capacity for invention was as fresh as ever. The second CD couples quartets from two distinctively different periods. The earlier quartet (34) is the fourth of the so-called “Sun” quartets, composed in the key of D major. This is coupled with Hoboken III:74, the last of the second set (Opus 74) of the “Apponyi” quartets. The final CD is a complete performance of The Seven Last Words of Christ (Hoboken III:50–56), conceived as music for meditation during the Lenten period.

Readers that have followed this site for some time probably know my advocacy of Leonard Slatkin’s precept: “You can never conduct enough Haydn or Schubert.” The Guarneri players may not have shared his enthusiasm, but they definitely knew how to capture Haydn’s spirit. Thus, while there are a total of 49 CDs in this new release, I suspect that it will be likely that I tend to gravitate back to the modest number of quartets honoring that spirit.

The Bleeding Edge: 3/31/2025

There will be only one new event this week on the Bleeding Edge. The rest of the week will involve continuations of previously-reported performances as follows:

• Once again, New Voices will continue at Audium on Thursday, April 3, Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5 beginning at 8 p.m. For those that do not yet know, the venue is located at 1616 Bush Street. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m., and admission will be between $20 and $30.
• Elliot Sharp will give performances at the Center for New Music at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, and Friday, April 4.
• Old First Concerts will present the 21V choral ensemble at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 4.
• Ghost Ensemble will perform at The Lab at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 5.

The one remaining event is also a familiar one:

David Boyce playing his soprano saxophone (from the weekly BayImproviser Web page for Medicine for Nightmares)

Friday, April 4, Medicine for Nightmares, 7 p.m.: As usual reed player David Boyce will host his semi-regular Friday evening series entitled Other Dimensions in Sound. This week’s performance will be by Red Fast Luck. This is a duo with Boyce performing with percussionist PC Munoz. The venue is located in the Mission at 3036 24th Street, between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street. As always, there is no charge for admission, presumably to encourage visitors to consider buying a book.

Schwabacher Series to Conclude with Crocetto

Next month will see the conclusion of the annual Schwabacher Recital Series, presented jointly by the San Francisco Opera (SFO) Center and the Merola Opera Program. The final recitalist will be soprano Leah Crocetto, who will be accompanied at the piano by Carrie-Ann Matheson. Some readers may recall her involvement with the Momenti trio, performing with bass-baritone Christian Pursell and pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg. A little over a year ago, this site reported the release of their Momenti album.

Leah Crocetto (photograph by Jiyang Chen, from a Classical Post Web page)

Crocetto has prepared an impressively diverse program for her Schwabacher performance. She has compiled a diverse assortment of art song selections by Clara Schumann, Richard Strauss, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. She will also be joined by baritone Lester Lynch to sing “Ciel! mio padre” from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Aida. On the more popular side, she will sing “Losing my mind” from Stephen Sondheim’s musical Follies and wrap up with Sammy Fain’s “I’ll be seeing you,” setting lyrics by Irving Kahal.

This performance will take place in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater on Thursday, April 10, beginning at 7:30 p.m. This venue is on the fourth (top) floor of the Veterans Building, which is located at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. General admission will be $30. Tickets may be purchased online through an event page on the San Francisco Opera Web site. Note that wheelchair accessible seating is an option. The telephone number for the Box Office is 864-3330. In addition, subject to availability, student rush tickets will go on sale at 7 p.m. at the reduced rate of $15. There is a limit of two tickets per person, and valid identification must be shown.

Naama Liany’s Old First Concerts Recital

The cover of Naama Liany’s Daydream album, which includes most of the selections she performed (from The Origin Music Group Web page for the album)

Late this afternoon, mezzo Naama Liany finally (after a month’s delay) brought her Daydream program to Old First Presbyterian Church for the final Old First Concerts program of the month. She performed works by five twentieth-century composers setting texts in four languages. The program began with Francis Poulenc’s Banalités, drawing upon five poems by Guillaume Apollinaire. This was followed by “Heimlich zur Nacht,” taken from the radio opera The Piano Blue composed by Albena Petrovic-Vratchanska. The first half of the program then concluded with the first and last songs from the collection Combat del somni (dream combat) by Federico Mompou.

The second half of the program was “all American.” It began with the five songs in Samuel Barber’s Opus 41 Despite and Still. This was followed by the wittier I Hate Music! by Leonard Bernstein. Liany then took two encores, neither of which were announced. I drew a blank on the first one, but she wrapped things up by going back to Bernstein with his operetta Candide. He wrote his own lyrics for the song “I Am Easily Assimilated,” given tango treatment.

Liany’s delivery was consistently solid. She knew just how to tune her disposition to the semantics behind each of her selections. She kept any talk to a minimum, allowing the full panoply of her selections to speak for themselves. Mind you, not all of her selections were my personal favorites. Nevertheless, for all of my misgivings about Bernstein, I was more than a little impressed by how she nailed her sense of pitch during the “I Hate Music!” song. I was also amused to hear the voice of her pianist Christopher Koelzer, covering for the chorus response (so to speak) in “I Am Easily Assimilated.”

Sundays have been consistently busy for me over the course of this new year, but I was glad to settle down in front of my television late this afternoon to view the Old First Concerts livestream.