San Francisco Performances presents Jennifer Koh and Shai Wosner
2016-03-30
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
7:30 PM, Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

• Beethoven: Sonatas Op. 30, No. 1 in A Major, No. 2 in C minor, No. 3 in G Major
• Andrew Norman: New work interspersed with Op. 30 Sonatas

[7:35 PM lights down, announcements from Ruth Felt]

1. [7:36 PM] Andrew Norman (b. 1979): Bridging I (2016?) »
    
   Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Violin Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 30, No. 1 (1801-1802)
2. [7:38 PM] Allegro
3. [7:46 PM] Adagio molto espressivo
4. [7:54 PM] Allegretto con variazioni »
    
   05. [8:02 PM] Andrew Norman (b. 1979): Bridging II (2016?) »
    
   Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30, No. 3 (1801-1802)
5. [8:04 PM] Allegro assai
6. [8:11 PM] Tempo di Minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso
7. [8:18 PM] Allegro vivace
   [set ends 8:22 PM]

1. [8:43 PM] Andrew Norman (b. 1979): Bridging III (2016?) »
    
   Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2 (1801-1802)
2. [8:45 PM] Allegro con brio
3. [8:54 PM] Adagio cantabile
4. [8:57 PM] Scherzo. Allegro – Trio
5. [8:59 PM] Finale. Allegro
   [show ends 9:12 PM]

• Jennifer Koh: violin;
• Shai Wosner: piano.

I think Andrew Norman's generative concept – that his new work work provide an auditory bridge between the three Beethoven sonatas – was reasonable, but at only 2-3 minutes duration, the brevity of the bridging sections suggested that Norman didn't really find much to say about the connections that he drew. You don't necessarily have to set yourself up to compete with Beethoven (a bad plan!), only to find something interesting and worthwhile to explore in the middle ground of those bridging segments. Seems to me to be a missed opportunity there, better luck next time!

Stephen Smoliar posted a brief promo article for this series, and followed it up with a post-show review at the Examiner.

Rebecca Wishnia posted a review of the show for SFCV, pointing out the obvious problem: that it's damn tough competing with Beethoven.

You can find more about Andrew Norman at his website. This was the Northern California premiere of Bridging.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!