Benjamin Beilman leads the New Century Chamber Orchestra with JungHae Kim
Herbst Theatre
Veterans' Building, San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA
8:00 PM, Saturday, November 11, 2017

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• Heinrich Biber: Battaglia
• Igor Stravinsky: Concerto in D
• Andrew Norman: Gran Turissmo
• J.S. Bach: Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042
• Beethoven: String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95, arranged for string ensemble by Gustav Mahler

[8:02 PM lights down, performers out, welcoming comments from BB]

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644–1704): Battaglia à 10, for 3 violins, 4 violas, 2 violone, and continuo, C.61 (1673)

1. [8:04 PM] Sonata
2. [8:06 PM] Die Liederliche Gesellschaft von Allerley Humor (the dissolute company of all types of humour)
3. [8:07 PM] Presto
4. [8:08 PM] Der Mars (the God of War)
5. [8:09 PM] Presto
6. [8:10 PM] Aria
7. [8:12 PM] Die Schlacht (the Battle)
8. [8:12 PM] Adagio. Lamento der Verwundten Musquetirer (Lament for the Wounded Musketeers)
   [work ends 8:14 PM]

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): Concerto in D, AKA Basle Concerto (1946)

1. [8:15 PM] Vivace
2. [8:21 PM] Arioso: Andantino
3. [8:24 PM] Rondo: Allegro
   [work ends 8:28 PM]

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): Violin Concerto in E Major, BWV 1042 (1718)

1. [8:29 PM] Allegro
2. [8:37 PM] Adagio
3. [8:43 PM] Allegro assai
   [work ends 8:45 PM; all off after a minute]

[9:06 PM lights down, performers out]

Andrew Norman (b.1979): _Gran Turissmo_, for violin octet (2004), performed by Beilman, Harms, Stone, Sor, Mayforth, Guirao, Yokas & Atladottir

1. [9:07 PM] Gran Turissmo
   [set ends 9:16 PM]

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827): String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95, (1810) arranged for string ensemble by Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)

1. [9:17 PM] Allegro con brio
2. [9:22 PM] Allegretto ma non troppo
3. [9:30 PM] Allegro assai vivace ma serioso – Più Allegro
4. [9:35 PM] Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato – Allegro
   [set ends 9:40 PM, no encore tonight; all off after a minute or two]

• Hrabba Atladottir: 2nd violin;
• Robin Bonnell: acting principal cello;
• Michelle Djokic: cello;
• Jenny Douglass: viola;
• Jory Fankuchen: 2nd violin;
• Eric Gaenslen: cello;
• Candace Guirao: principal 2nd violin;
• Dawn Harms: associate concertmaster, violin;
• Anna Kruger: principal viola;
• Anthony Manzo: contrabass;
• Robin Mayforth: violin;
• Isaac Melamed: cello;
• Evan Price: 2nd violin;
• Elizabeth Prior: viola;
• Cassandra Lynne Richburg: viola;
• Karen Shinozaki Sor: violin;
• Iris Stone: violin;
• Michael Yokas: 2nd violin.

• Benjamin Beilman: guest concertmaster, violin;
• JungHae Kim: harpsichord (set 1 only).

First set was pretty darn good. The Biber work was quite novel, with the third movement exhibiting astonishing dissonance for a work from that time period. Made the Stravinsky piece seem kind of staid! And then closing with Bach was great. More Bach! Beilman seems well qualified to lead the band, despite his tender age. I'd certainly go see him again, especially in a small group setting or recital.

Gran Turismo seemed to me to be more gimmicky (“eight virtuouso violinists”) than substantial. Certainly the tonal range was far more restricted than the other works on tonight's program, but unexpectedly, so to was the emotional range and tempo: the whole thing was kind of frantic and loud. Of course, maybe that was the point: to show that violins can be as obnoxious as video games. Happily, it wasn't too long, so by the time I started feeling uninterested, it was also time for the piece to end.

After the overripe rendition of the Mendelssohn octet at the previous NCCO concert, I was a little wary reading that a Mahler arrangement of a Beethoven quartet would cap tonight's program, but my concerns were needless: the execution was superb, and the strong bones of Beethoven's composition easily shouldered the extra weight of quadrupled parts. It's hard to imagine that the audience at the premise of the Mahler version booed: that probably says a lot more about public reverence for Beethoven in that period than anything. I wonder how Mahler felt about it!

It was a little surprising to me that the show ended without an encore, but given the sparse audience and the tepid response to the Beethoven (plenty of polite applause, but no hooting or hollering), I guess we got what we deserved!

Program Notes

David Bratman posted a review of the preceding night’s show at SFCV.

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