Friction to Continue Season with Janáček

René-Xavier Prinet’s “The Kreutzer Sonata” (from its Wikimedia Commons Web page, public domain)

One week from this coming Friday will see the second of this season’s three recitals by the Friction Quartet at the Noe Valley Ministry. The title of the program will be Inspiration, explained on its Web site as follows:

This concert traces the hidden threads between sound and inspiration, from medieval poetry to pandemic resilience, beams of light in the dark, and a Russian novel’s fiery drama. Loren Loiacono’s Besides reimagines the lone surviving song of a 12th-century female troubadour, while Isaac Schankler’s Unveiling (written for Friction Quartet) captures the collective tension and tenderness of lockdown. Juhi Bansal’s Cathedrals of Light transforms shimmering imagery into sound, and Janáček’s quartet no. 1“Kreutzer Sonata” channels Tolstoy’s tragic tale—itself inspired by Beethoven’s violin sonata.

I must confess to a personal attachment to Leoš Janáček’s quartet, whose title refers to a novella by Leo Tolstoy. I have always felt that each of the four instruments represents one of Tolstoy’s characters: a woman, her husband, her lover, and a “narrator.” In that respect, the score is not so much a “literal” account of the narrative as it is an attempt to capture the interplay of the “eternal triangle” characters. To some extent, it strikes me that the first half of the program will establish a “narrative context” for the unfolding of Tolstoy’s tale in the second half.

Most readers probably know by now that the Noe Valley Ministry is located at 1021 Sanchez Street. This will be an evening recital beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 17. Tickets are being sold for $10 and higher. All tickets may be purchased online through the Friction Quartet event page for this performance.