Daniel Hope leads the New Century Chamber Orchestra at First Congregational Church, March 21, 2019

New Century Chamber Orchestra presents Forbidden Music with Vanessa Perez
First Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-2201 USA
7:30 PM, Thursday, March 21, 2019

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[7:34 PM lights down, band out, welcome and introduction from Daniel Hope]

1. [7:36 PM] Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847): String Symphony No. 13 in C minor, MWV N 14 (1823), “Sinfoniesatz”: Grave – Allegro molto
   [work ends 7:45 PM; pause; DH introduces the next piece]

1. [7:50 PM] Hans Krása (1899–1944): Tanec for String Trio, (1943), arranged for Octet (by Daniel Hope?); performed by Balfe, Djokic, Douglass, Guirao, Harms, Hope, Kruger, and Price
   [work ends 7:45 PM; pause; DH introduces the next piece]

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975): Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a; arranged from String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 (1960) by Rudolf Barshai (1924–2010)

1. [7:59 PM] Largo »
2. [8:04 PM] Allegro molto »
3. [8:07 PM] Allegretto »
4. [8:11 PM] Largo »
5. [8:13 PM] Largo
   [set ends 8:20 PM]

[8:44 PM lights down, welcoming announcements from Philip Wilder, band out]

1. [8:48 PM] Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847): String Symphony No. 10 in B minor, MWV N 10 (1823): Adagio – Allegro – più presto
   [work ends 8:57 PM; pause to reset the stage for the final work; DH introduces the next piece]

Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942): Double Concerto for Flute and Piano, WV89 (1927), ?flute part transcribed for violin by Daniel Hope?, featuring soloists Daniel Hope and Vanessa Perez

1. [9:03 PM] Allegro moderato
2. [9:10 PM] Andante
3. [9:15 PM] Rondo. Allegro con spirito - Tempo di Blues
   [set ends 9:22 PM]

1. [9:23 PM] Maurice Ravel (1875–1937): Kaddisch, from 2 Mélodies hébraïques, for voice and piano, M.A. 22 (1914), arranged for violin by ?Lucien Garban (1877–1959)?
   [show ends 9:28 PM]

• (unidentified, maybe Michelle Kwon): cello (except Krása);
• Hrabba Atladottir: violin II (except Krása);
• Kathleen Balfe: cello;
• Rick Barber: acting principal contrabass (except Krása);
• Robin Bonnell: cello (except Mendelssohn, Krása);
• Michelle Djokic: acting principal cello;
• Jenny Douglass: viola;
• Jory Fankuchen: violin II (except Mendelssohn, Krása);
• Candace Guirao: principal violin II;
• Dawn Harms: violin I, associate concertmaster;
• Daniel Hope: violin I, concertmaster, music director;
• Anna Kruger: principal viola;
• Robin Mayforth: violin I (except Mendelssohn, Krása);
• Deborah Tien Price: violin II;
• Elizabeth Prior: viola (except Krása);
• Cassandra Lynne Richburg: viola (except Krása);
• Karen Shinozaki Sor: violin I (except Krása);
• Iris Stone: violin I (except Krása);
• Michael Yokas: violin (except Krása).

• Eric Achen: horn;
• Meredith Brown: principal horn;
• Vanessa Perez: piano;

Like most NCCO Concerts, tonight's show was great, though perhaps a tad less exciting than last month's program. And to continue quibbling, while the program title is admirably short, I don't feel like it was particularly accurate – as far as I understand, none of these works were forbidden (like electrons overpopulating an orbital shell, or a 403 code, or any of a multitude of haram actions) – maybe the title was selected as an advertising convenience (“every concert has a theme!”).

I appreciate that Daniel Hope continues to bring new repertoire to us – except for Mendelssohn's String Symphony No. 10 and the Shostakovich, all of the works performed tonight were fresh and new to me. I was especially taken with the Encore, an exquisitely wistful piece by Ravel. Bravo!

Jeff Kaliss posted a review of Sunday's San Rafael show at SFCV.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2019 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2019 event list! ☸ On to the next event!