Kronos Quartet at Lam Research Theater on February 21, 2013

Kronos Quartet: Listen Local
2013-02-21
Lam Research Theater
701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA
8:00 PM, Thursday, February 21, 2013

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[8:03 PM lights down, announce; no musicians onstage; applause at entrance]

[work ends 8:18 PM]
(brief pause)

[set ends 8:43 PM]

[9:06 PM lights down]

1. Rahul Dev Burman: Mehbooba Mehbooba (Beloved, O Beloved) +
2. Tanburi Cemil Bey: Evic Taksim +
3. Traditional: Wa Habibi (O My Beloved) +
4. Gétatchèw Mèkurya: Aha gèdawo +

[9:18 PM pause]

1. Born
2. Home
3. Rain
4. Learned in the South
5. English
6. A Piece of π
7. Coffee
8. Cupertino
9. The Tongue
10. Henry in Cuffs
11. I Don’t Know
12. Mother
    [set ends 9:53 PM]

Richard Wagner (arr. Aleksandra Vrebalov): Prelude from Tristan und Isolde (1859)
[show ends 10:08 PM]

• Written for Kronos
• Arranged for Kronos

• Hank Dutt: viola;
• David Harrington: violin;
• John Sherba: violin;
• Jeffrey Zeigler: cello.

First set was interesting, but not all that memorable on first encounter. Becker's piece employed backing tracks from scratchy old 78's, which kinda covered up the sound of Kronos. I assume the composer intended this effect, but I found it annoying and distracting except for the brief section that found Kronos playing along to the tune of the old record.

Lacking electronics or accompaniment, Stookey's piece was a bit more conventional, but I found it lacking in tunefulness and structure. It swept by in small episodes of bowing and scraping with nary a melody to remember.

Ah well, them's the breaks when ya want to hear what's new. Hopefully Pamela Z's piece will be more substantive!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

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