Ying Fan at Zellerbach Playhouse, December 11, 2022

Cal Performances presents Ying Fan, accompanied by Myra Huang
Zellerbach Playhouse
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA 94305 USA
3:00 PM, Sunday, December 11, 2022

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[3:03 PM] {Pre-recorded announcements; pause; performers enter}

1. [3:05 PM] J.S. Bach: Zerfliesse mein Herze from St John Passion, BWV 245
   [3:11 PM] {applause; performers leave; pause for late-comers to be seated; performers re-enter}
   
   [3:12 PM] {Selection of Four Leider by Franz Schubert}
2. [3:12 PM] Ganymed, D. 544
3. [3:17 PM] Im Abendrot, D. 799
4. [3:21 PM] Im Frühling, D. 882
5. [3:26 PM] Nacht und Träume, D. 827
   [3:29 PM] {applause at end-segment; performers head off-stage briefly; then return}
   
   [3:30 PM] {Selection of Three Leider by Richard Strauss}
6. [3:31 PM] Die Nacht, Op. 10, No. 3
7. [3:34 PM] Allerseelen, Op. 10, No. 8
8. [3:37 PM] Morgen!, Op. 27, No. 4
   [3:41 PM] {applause; set break!}

[3:57 PM] {lights down; performers return for set two}

1. [3:57 PM] Reynaldo Hahn: À Chloris
2. [4:01 PM] Debussy: Nuit d’Étoiles
3. [4:04 PM] Ernest Chausson: Le Colibri
   [4:07 PM] {applause at end-segment; performers head off-stage briefly; then return}
   
   [4:08 PM] {Dominick Argento: Six Elizabethan Songs}
4. [4:09 PM] Spring
5. [4:10 PM] Sleep
6. [4:13 PM] Winter
7. [4:15 PM] Dirge
8. [4:19 PM] Diaphenia
   17. [4:21 PM] Hymn
   [4:25 PM] {applause at end-segment; performers head off-stage briefly; then return}
   
   [4:26 PM] {Five Chinese Songs}
9. [4:26 PM] Zhang Yuanren: 听雨 (Listening to the Rain)
10. [4:28 PM] Zhang Rui: 雪花的快乐 (Happiness of the Snowflake)
11. [4:33 PM] Zhou Yi: 钗头凤 (Phoenix Hairpin)
12. [4:36 PM] Lu Zaiyi: 桥 (Bridge)
13. [4:39 PM] Liu Qing: 越人歌 (Yue People’s Song)
    [4:42 PM] {applause at set end; encore break!}
    
    Encore
    [4:43 PM] {YF names the encore over shouted requests from the audience}
    23. [4:43 PM] Arlen/Harburg: Over the Rainbow
    [4:46 PM] {applause at show end; curtain call; all off}
    [4:47 PM] {short break before Q&A}

[4:50 PM] {begin discussion} [5:17 PM] {all done!}

• Ying Fan: soprano vox;
• Myra Huang: piano.

I hadn't originally planned to attend this recital, originally scheduled for ?Nov, but Ying Fan came down with COVID-19, and apparently the rescheduled date (today!) had enough ticket returns that Cal sent out a last-minute e-blast: $20 tickets to see the latest opera star in recital. Hard to resist that when I'd otherwise be lazing about the house on a Sunday afternoon!

It was a fun show, and Fan certainly has exceptional performing skills: more than a few times she sent shivers up and down my back with the strength of her emotive delivery.

As a listener to many different styles of music, I find that leider is exceptionally difficult to appreciate – it's almost always just too artificially dramatic. But Myra Huang's nimble accompaniement to Fan's extraordinary singing put me right at ease. This isn't the sort of thing I want to listen to every day, but when I'm in the mood for it, I'm happy to devour a musical meal of this quality!

Over the Rainbow was a sweet ending, and during the Q&A Fan acknowledged it as a personal favorite on account of it's optimistic core. Hope! Yeah, we all need to keep hope alive in these grey and soggy times!

Program Notes or program notes

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!