San Francisco Performances presents Leif Ove Andsnes and Marc-André Hamelin
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA
7:30 PM, Tuesday, April 25, 2017

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• Mozart: Larghetto and Allegro in E-flat Major
• Stravinsky: Concerto for Two Pianos
• Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
• Debussy: En Blanc et Noir

[7:34 PM lights down, announcements, performers out: LOA on the stage right piano, looking at us, and MAH on the stage left piano, looking away from us]

1. [7:35 PM] Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Larghetto and Allegro in E-flat Major, K.deest, (as completed by Paul Badura-Skoda, b.1927)
   [work ends 7:44 PM; pause for a brief rest, then onward!]

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Concerto for Two Pianos (1935)

1. [7:45 PM] Con moto
2. [7:51 PM] Notturno: Adagietto
3. [7:57 PM] Quattro variazioni
4. [8:02 PM] Preludio e fuga
   [work ends 8:07 PM; both up at end, offstage after bows, back in a minute]

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): En Blanc et Noir, L.134 (1915)

1. [8:08 PM] Avec emportement
2. [8:12 PM] Lent. Sombre
3. [8:20 PM] Scherzando
   [set ends 8:24 PM]

[8:49 PM lights down, performers back out; LOA and MAH have switched sides]

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971): Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), 1913

1. [8:50 PM] L'Adoration de la Terre (Adoration of the Earth)
2. [9:05 PM] Le Sacrifice (The Sacrifice)
   [work ends 9:23 PM; applause and bows; back for an ovation or two; pause]
    
   1st Encore
3. [9:25 PM] Stravinsky: Étude pour pianola AKA Madrid (1921)
   [work ends 9:28 PM; applause and bows; back for another ovation; pause]
    
   2nd Encore
4. [9:30 PM] Stravinsky: Circus Polka (1942)
   [show ends 9:33 PM; applause and bows; back for a final ovation, then off, leaving behind the music for Stravinsky's _Tango (1940)]

• Leif Ove Andsnes: piano;
• Marc-André Hamelin: piano.

I was taken by surprise by how loud tonight's show was; in retrospect, I should have worn my earplugs! Lots and lots of hammerklavier! It wouldn't have surprised me at all to have seen a piano tuner out at set break, or maybe a janitor to sweep up any loose splinters and broken strings. Heck, even the Debussy sounded clangorous; according to the program notes, his piece was a direct reaction to the horror of World War One, and among others, it managed to offend the prim stylistic sensibilities of Camille Saint-Saëns. Certainly it is far removed from the dreamy and moody pieces that I typically associate with Debussy!

As the program notes also commented that the second Stravinsky work was written for Igor to perform on tour with his son, Soulima, I'm curious to know whether any more of tonight's program was filched from that tour of about 100 years ago… it sure seemed to be heavy on Stravinsky! Maybe someone with access to the performers will be tempted to ask…

A nice thing about the two encores is that they showed a bit more expressive range than that of the regularly programmed works: a little bit of that Spanish tinge in Madrid (but of course!), and then drunken dancing in the crazy Circus Polka (sadly, no pink elephants appeared onstage tonight to complete Stravinsky's artistic vision). Always fun to end a night out with drunken dancing, right?

Steve Iisaka posted a review of the show for SFCV.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!