SFJAZZ presents The Bartók Cycle featuring Calder Quartet
2014-09-24
Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA
7:30 PM, Wednesday, September 24, 2014

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Bartók String Quartets Nos. 1 & 4
other works TBD

[7:3m PM lights down, announcements by Randall Kline]

Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 1, Op.7, Sz.40, BB 52 (1908)

1. [7:38 PM] Lento
2. [7:55 PM] Allegretto (sometimes referred to as Poco a poco accelerando all'allegretto)
3. [8:00 PM] Allegro vivace [work ends 8:07 PM, CB enters immediately after CSQ exits the stage]

1. [8:07 PM] (CB solo – possibly including one or more Mikrokosmos pieces) »

Unidentified portions of Béla Bartók's Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107, BB 105

1. [8:13 PM; add CSQ] ? (Microkosmos I)
2. [8:18 PM] ? (Microkosmos II)
   [work ends 8:21 PM over; set ends 8:22 PM]

[8:43 PM lights down, announcements]

Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 4, Sz.91 (1928)

1. [8:45 PM] BB SQ4 I: Allegro
2. [8:51 PM] ?
3. [8:52 PM] BB SQ4 II: Prestissimo, con sordino
4. [8:56 PM] ?
5. [8:59 PM] BB SQ4 III: Non troppo lento
6. [9:04 PM] ?
7. [9:07 PM] BB SQ4 IV: Allegretto pizzicato
8. [9:10 PM] ?
9. [9:13 PM] BB SQ4 V: Allegro molto
   [set ends 9:19 PM]
    
   Encore
10. [9:20 PM] Bartók: Romanian Dance
11. [9:22 PM] ?
    [show ends 9:27 PM]

Calder Quartet

• Andrew Bulbrook: violin;
• Eric Byers: cello;
• Benjamin Jacobson: violin;
• Jonathan Moerschel: viola.

• Christian McBride: bass, contrabass; others TBD.

While Randall was slightly more mealy-mouthed than usual – nervous perhaps? – worth repeating here are his remarks that SFJAZZ has successfully completed their multi-year capital campaign – a welcome change since last Friday's pitch for a few hundred grand to close the gap! – and also been granted $3M to establish an endowment for the SFJAZZ Collective. Good news!

Tonight's show had a strange not-quite-ready vibe to it. As already mentioned, Randall fluffed his opennng speech, getting mixed up in the middle and failing to communicate clear news about program changes for tonight. And unlike the presentationa of most other programmers, SFJAZZ presented neither program notes nor a definite program. Made for a haze of confusion, especially when the first work ended and CB walked out and began playing a solo, only to be joined after a few minutes by CSQ for what sounded like children's bowing exercises – turns out that was Bartok's Mikrokosmos! I might have been more impressed if I'd known what to expect, but as it was, I took that section as a poorly conceived exercise in simple group improv, or an example of CSQ sight-reading a hastily-penned CB work. As I've tried to explain, it was a strange and slightly f4rustrating experience.

Set Two compounded these errors with distractions of another sort. As announced by CSQ v2 before beginning B SQ 4, the performers decided to break up this monumental work by inserting psudo-cadenzas between each segment – some intended as solos, others as group improv or short works by Kurtag – but rather than following any sort of publicized plan, they intentionally kept us in the dark about which interlude was what. Might sound fun to some – let's stump the audience! – but I was put off from the very start by the notion that a standard work was going to be mangled.

Stephen Smoliar posted a lukewarm review of the show for the Examiner, but unfortunately, shed no more light on the actual program than was offered in live commentary from the performers onstage.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!