Fretwork with Iestyn Davies at Alfred Hertz Memorial Concert Hall, November 3, 2019

Cal Performances presents Fretwork with Iestyn Davies, performing works by Michael Nyman & Henry Purcell
Alfred Hertz Memorial Concert Hall
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
3:00 PM, Sunday, November 3, 2019

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All works on today's regular program by either Michael Nyman (b.1944) or Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

[3:02 PM lights down, band out]

1. [3:03 PM] Nyman: No Time in Eternity (2016)
   [3:14 PM; drop ID & RB]
2. [3:14 PM] Purcell: Fantasia No. 7 in C minor, Z. 738, 4 viols (6/19/1680)
   [3:17 PM; drop SS; add RB]
3. [3:18 PM] Purcell: Fantasia No. 11 in G Major, Z. 742, 4 viols (8/19/1680)
   [3:21 PM; add ID & SS]
4. [3:21 PM] Purcell: Music for a while (1679)
   [3:26 PM; drop ID & RB]
5. [3:26 PM] Nyman: Music After a While (2018)
   [3:37 PM; pause for ID return & ready]
6. [3:38 PM] 06. [3:n PM] Purcell: _The Evening Hymn, Z.193 (1688)_
   [set ends 3:42 PM; bows, then all off for break]

[3:58 PM lights down, Fretwork out (no ID for first piece of the set)]

1. [3:59 PM] Nyman: Balancing the Books (1999)
   [4:09 PM; add ID]
2. [4:09 PM] Nyman: If (1995), from The Diary of Anne Frank
3. [4:13 PM] Nyman: Why (1995), from The Diary of Anne Frank
   [4:17 PM; drop ID & SS]
4. [4:18 PM] Purcell: Fantasia No. 6 in F Major, Z. 737, 4 viols (6/14/1680)
   [4:21 PM; add SS]
5. [4:21 PM] Purcell: Fantasia upon One Note, Z. 745, 5 viols (1680)
   [4:24 PM; pause for EA & AM to swap seats] [4:25 PM; ID returns]
6. [4:26 PM] Nyman: The Self-Laudatory Hymn of Inanna and Her Omnipotence (1992)
   [set ends 4:39 PM; applause & bows; all off]
   
   Encore
   [4:41 PM; thanks from ID; intro last work]
7. [4:41 PM] William Byrd (1539-1623): _Ye Sacred Muses (Elegy for Thomas Tallis), ca. 1585_
   [show ends 4:45 PM; bows & applause; all done!]

Fretwork

• Emily Ashton: treble viol;
• Richard Boothby: bass viol;
• Joanna Levine: tenor viol;
• Asako Morikawa: treble viol;
• Sam Stadlen: bass viol.

• Iestyn Davies: countertenor vox;

A fine afternoon of music, with an interesting mix of contemporary and well-aged music. I didn't hear a whole lot of Purcell influence in the Nyman pieces, nor any particular precursory hints of Nyman in the Purcell works, but if the conceit was necessary in order to draw a larger audience, at least it wasn't anything that got in the way of my enjoying the performance. The Nyman pieces are all identifiably modern, even if performed by a consort of viols.

None of today's works made a super strong impression – they were entirely pleasant, if not revelatory – yet I'd be up for another concert from these folks the next time they come 'round. Being an elegy, the encore was a bit of a downer, but it was also quite beautiful, and a good choice for closing the afternoon (and the final show of the group's tour this fall).

Program Notes or program notes

Nicholas Jones posted a review of the show with SFCV.

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