Geneva Lewis & Evren Ozel at Herbst Theatre, April 22, 2025

San Francisco Performances presents Geneva Lewis, accompanied by Evren Ozel
Herbst Theatre
Veterans' Building, San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA
7:30 PM, Tuesday, April 22, 2025

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[7:32 PM] {lights down, pre-recorded announcements}
[7:33 PM] {Welcome from Melanie Smith}
[7:34 PM] {applause for performer entrance}

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791): Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major, K. 301 (1778)

1. [7:35 PM] Allegro con spirito
2. [7:43 PM] Allegro [7:48 PM] {work ends; brief pause}

Clara Schumann (1819–1896): Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22 (1853)

1. [7:48 PM] Andante molto
2. [7:51 PM] Allegretto: Mit zartem Vortrage
3. [7:54 PM] Leidenschaftlich schnell
   [7:58 PM] {work ends; pause}

Valentyn Vasylyovych Sylvestrov (b. 1937): Post Scriptum; Sonata for Violin and Piano (1990)

1. [7:59 PM] Largo—Allegro—Allegretto
2. [8:09 PM] Andantino
3. [7:13 PM] Allegro vivace
   [8:16 PM] {set ends}

[8:39 PM] {lights down, performers out}

Robert Schumann (1810–1856): Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 94 (1849)

1. [8:39 PM] Nicht schnell
2. [8:43 PM] Einfach, innig
3. [8:47 PM] Nicht schnell
   [8:51 PM] {work ends; brief pause}

César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (1822–1890): Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano (1886)

1. [8:51 PM] Allegretto ben moderato
2. [8:57 PM] Allegro
   [9:05 PM] {applause at mid work movement break}
3. [9:05 PM] Recitativo — Fantasia ben moderato — molto lento
4. [9:12 PM] Allegretto poco mosso > {GL breaks a string during the finale, but soldiers on with nary a pause}
   [9:18 PM] {set ends; show ends (no encore)}

• Geneva Lewis: violin;
• Evren Ozel: piano.

I was a bit surprised to note that Geneva Lewis was silent tonight: often performers will engage with the audience via witty banter or program comments or what not. Here she spoke not a word, offering only smiles of acknowledgement (and a grimace of surprise when she broke a string). It looked to me as if she'd memorized much of the program material, but used an iPad now and then for reference. And I was happy that she advanced the e-score with silent toe taps – unlike the clunking stomps I experienced at other recent performances.

While Evren Ozel didn't talk to us either, as the accompanist, I didn't expect him to. And he was quite fun to watch, exhibiting a broad range of facial expressions as he played. It would have been nice to be able to watch his hands, but the view angle from my seat didn't allow for that.

I most enjoyed the opening and closing works on the program: it's hard to go wrong with a well-played Mozart piece, and the duo absolutely crushed it with their closing delivery of the Franck Violin Sonata. I can't imagine how much practice it takes to experience a string break and then immediately shift on the fly to some sort of transposition for the finale. Very Impressive!!

Program Notes or program notes

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