San Francisco Performances presents a Robert Greenberg lecture: Mozart in Vienna, Season 2: Mozart Transcendent featuring the Alexander String Quartet
2015-12-19
St. John's Presbyterian Church
2727 College Ave, Berkeley, CA
10:00 AM, Saturday, December 19, 2015
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!
[10:03 AM lights down, announcements by Ruth Felt]
Well, another December Saturday, another fine lecture and performance. When things go right, as they've done so far this morning, the experience is absolutely splendid! I appreciated the effort on Robert Greenberg's part to illuminate the structure of K. 575 – it makes it ever so much more interesting to hear the performance with that extra bit of knowledge. On the minus side, it seemed as if the birds outside were unusually talkative this morning. Might be good for setting the scene, but kind of distracting during the actual performance. Not that there's much to be done about it except tune out the distraction. Bright and sunny outside at break – nice to enjoy the fresh air like the birds were – singing in the sunshine? I guess I approve of that!
The second set lecture was also pretty darn good, though the performance was somewhat shorter – I guess Mozart just had less to say while composing this work. I could tell that it was noticeably shorter, but I can't allow as to whether anything was left unsaid. It remains a mystery to me as far as how a composer decides what will happen in their work. Which is one reason I enjoy this lecture/concert series. Not that RG addresses that point much, but I appreciate his insights and help in appraising the structural components of these works. One more for the series this season – should be just as good!
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!