San Francisco Symphony presents Chamber Music
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
2:00 PM, Sunday, December 18, 2022

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[2:05 PM] {lights down, announcements, performers out; comments from SD about the first work on today's program}

André Jolivet (1905–1974): Pastorales de Noël (1943), for flute, bassoon, and harp

1. [2:10 PM] L'Etoile (The Star of Bethlehem)
2. [2:14 PM] Les Mages (The Three Wise Men)
3. [2:18 PM] La Vierge et L'Enfant (The Virgin and Child)
4. [2:21 PM] Entree et Danse des Bergers (Entrance and Dance of the Shepherds)
   [2:23 PM] {applause at work end; all off; pause to set the stage for the next ensemble}

Members of the San Francisco Symphony

• Meredith Clark: harp;
• Steven Dibner: bassoon;
• Catherine Payne: violin.

[2:28 PM] {entrance of the second ensemble}

Edward Benjamin Britten (1913–1976): Phantasy Quartet in F minor, Op. 2 (1932)

1. [2:29 PM] Andante alla marcia » Andante » Tempo primo
   [2:43 PM] {applause at work end; all off for set break!}

• James Button: oboe;
• Jessie Fellows: violin;
• Katie Kadarauch: viola;
• Amos Yang: cello.

[3:02 PM] {lights down, performers out}

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847): String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 87 (1845)

1. [3:03 PM] Allegro vivace
2. [3:14 PM] Andante scherzando
3. [3:18 PM] Adagio e lento
4. [3:27 PM] Allegro molto vivace
   [3:32 PM] {applause at work end}
   [3:34 PM] {all done: lights up! no encore for you! go home!}

Members of the San Francisco Symphony

• Katarzyna Bryla-Weiss: viola;
• Jessie Fellows: violin;
• Sébastien Gingras: cello;
• Katie Kadarauch: viola;
• Nadya Tichman: violin.

Cheery chamber music for a fine December day! Just a little chilly out: almost cold enough to mandate gloves and a scarf despite the sunshine: perfect winter weather for wimpy Californians!

Davies Hall drew a healthy crowd for today's event – the floor was maybe half-full? – especially given competition from the SF Ballet company's Nutcracker across the street at the Opera House, the free Christmas faire happening in UN Plaza (face painting, pictures with Santa, train rides, etc!), and all the other distractions of the season.

I thought both the program and performance were top-notch. None of the works were familiar pieces to me (OK, wait, maybe that makes them second tier, by default?), but all were enjoyable, and the players did a great job making the music really sing.

I was quite confused during the Britten performance as the printed program book listed the piece with four movements, but at set break I realized they printed faint attaca lines to indicate it's really a long continuous piece. Strangely, while the printed notes indicate the work arches across four performance segments, other online references that I consulted only give three. Who's correct? Heck if I know! The disagreement is over how to refer to the middle of the arch. For now I'm going with the more symmetric three-piece division found elsewhere, with a simple 'andante' for the middle rather than 'allegro giusto » con fuoco' as delineated in the program notes. If any Britten experts care to clarify, please, get in touch! I was probably spacing out too much during the performance: at the end of the piece, all I could argue is that yeah, it had an arch structure that recapitulated the initial theme at the conclusion.

The Mendelssohn of the second set was super good. The first movement was simply astonishing: kudos to Jessie Fellows for her nimble violin work! The slower middle sections offered some respite and variation (by slower tempos), and the conclusion was another exhilerating whizz-bang affair. Many thanks to the performers for slotting that one in for today's main course!

Unhappily, it doesn't appear as if the written program notes are posted in the SFS online Program Notes; maybe someday I'll scan the printed program so that the following program notes link is live … until then, my apologies for the tease!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2022 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2022 event list! ☸ On to the next event!