San Francisco Symphony Soars with Schubert and Mahler

Schubert

It is possible that the SF Symphony has played as well as it did on April 9, 2016, on other occasions, but how could they have played better? It was an amazing, wonderful performance with every section playing at the top and San Francisco’s Music Director, Michael Tilson Thomas, conducting. The program itself might be matched for brilliance but hardly bettered: Symphony in B minor, the Unfinished, by Franz Schubert, and Das Lied von der Erde by Gustav Mahler. Written nearly a century apart, the two masterpieces made a powerful, emotion wrenching and heart lifting experience. While Schubert’s Symphony in B Minor is called Unfinished, it does not sound like it lacks anything. There are two movements. The first is enlivened by one of the most beautiful tunes every composed. The frequent short hand for why Schubert is so great is that glorious melodies seemed to well up in him faster than anyone could write them, certainly faster than someone who would live only 31 years (Thirty one years! Turn off the television right now. Do something. Go for a walk in a garden. Read. Listen to Schubert). Behind the beautiful tune there is darkness. Schubert breaks the melody; the suspension creates a dramatic halt of breath. Sadness darts behind the melody. There is a sense of mystery in the sadness. Perhaps Schubert stopped with these two movements because he realized he had said what he wanted to say with this music. Perhaps he could not decide where to go next, maybe because these movements are perfect as they are.

Gustav Mahler received a gift in 1907, the book The Chinese Flute translated into German. The Chinese poems inspired Mahler to write Das LIed von der Erde, The Song of the Earth. The collection includes the work of several poets of the Eighth Century. There are drinking songs, wistful songs longing for love, songs in which the poet tries to accommodate knowledge of human mortality in his delight in nature, such as in The Drinking Song of the Earth’s Sorrow. These beautiful, perceptive, delicate and yet powerful poems reached across the centuries and continents to Mahler’s heart. It was a troubled heart at this time. An avid athlete, he had learned he had a heart ailment which would strictly limit his activities and surely kill him. He had also just lost a daughter, under 5 years old, to diphtheria and scarlet fever.

At this performance, the singers were mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and tenor Simon O’Neill. They both performed with power and sensitivity to the poetry. Their performances were a great match to the SF Symphony’s remarkable performance. Mahler’s music engulfed Davies Symphony Hall in love and wonder at life, whole hearted engagement with our earth despite our own limitations. The San Francisco Symphony was scheduled to perform this program at Carnegie Hall, April 14, with the same singers. Surely it was a concert to knock the socks off the New Yorkers. Pictures from top: Franz Schubert, Gustav Mahler, Simon O’Neill, Sasha Cooke.

Houston Dance Salad, Part II, March 26, 2016

The opportunity to return to Houston’s Cullen Theater at the Wortham Theater Center for the closing concert of Dance Salad was one the Hedgehogs did not want to miss. The program offered four dances we had not yet seen as well as five that were certainly worth a second look. Yidam, choreographed by Ihsan Rustem, for NW Dance Project of Portland, OR, achieves the choreographer’s vision of constant motion. The dancers are on the run continually. They fall and are recovered by others. It has elements of Contact Improvisation, the movement method in which dancers play off of each other’s weight and momentum. The dancers can do everything and could laugh off any Decathalon challenge. A striking moment in the dance was the one of stillness: the dancers hold positions in profile to the audience with the lighting showing them in silhouette. Ihsan Rustem was born in London, trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. His work is in repertories including companies in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, the US. Photo: Blaine Truitt Covert.

Black Swan Section is the third part of Beasts, choreographed by Nicolo Fonte for BalletX, Philadelphia. Richard Villaverde danced the role of the Black Swan. Bare chested and wearing a black tutu, he performs a powerful, emotional solo. His movements alternate between the Swan’s classical ballet and movements revealing his desire and perhaps uncertainty to take this role. His performance throughout the dance was both technically excellent and expressive of the Swan’s inner self. Andrea Yorita portrayed the White Swan with power and elegance. Her Swan is offered partnership with Male partner in Black, Zachary Kapeluck, and Male partner in White, Gary W. Jeter, II; both were exceptional dancers and performers. Perhaps she knew she was the other half of The Swan with the Black Swan. She seemed most drawn to him, but she is distracted by dances with the two male partners. In the end, all three exit leaving the Black Swan alone. Photo: Bill Hebert

Faun is a duet choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Antwerp, Belgium. The program notes the piece uses Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and additional, unnamed music by Nitin Sawhney, and mentions Mallarme’s poem and Nijinsky’s Faun. While the program notes that the dance “examines the animalistic nature of human movement,” this viewer could not imagine any animal other than highly trained, physically gifted human animals doing movements like this. The male, Yevgeniy Kolesnyk, is alone and moves all parts of his body in disjointed, jerky movements. He discovers Virginia Hendricksen, the female, who appears to be of his species. One could determine that by her ability to match his movement whether upside down or knotted together. For a while, their movements unite them. It is pleasing to see them side by side, moving identically. At the point when they seem to be united, he turns away. That recalls the ending of Jerome Robbins’ dance of the Faun meeting a beautiful female of his species, Dancera Americana, in a ballet studio. The wild forest dwellers also cannot sustain a relationship. Photo: Marc Haegeman

Four Seasons/Le Quattro Stagioni choreographed by Mauro Astolfi for Spellbound Contemporary Ballet, Rome, Italy, appeared over the three nights of Dance Salad. Spring and Summer, March 24, Autumn, March 25, Winter, March 26. The cube and projections upon it were major performers of the ensemble. In Winter, the dancers creep around the side of the cube which is now tilted onto one edge. They look very cold. Fortunately for the audience, they move to become warmer. Their dancing is very fine even though the cube overshadows them. Snow appears on the side of the cube. A hand and face show up inside the snow swirls. The dancers dance well together, and, as in Autumn, there is no obvious relationship to the idea of winter or to the cube, unless they physically interact with it. The men suspend the women over the cube. Do they disappear inside of it? The lights allow us to see one woman inside the cube. She reaches for those outside. The cube turns upside down; its open bottom is visible. The dancers disappear except for one. Arms reach out from the cube. The remaining dancer sees the cube move toward her. She turns away. It comes again. Like the best ghost stories, this dance inspires the nervous laughter of a dark, cold night. Photo: Marco Bravi

Houston’s Dance Salad is an annual festival. For more information, see www.dancesalad.org Don’t let anyone hold you back. Photo by Amitava Sarkar; Sonia Rodriguez, Piotr Stanczyk, Por Ti, choreographed by Luis Martin Oya, National Ballet of Canada, Toronto, Canada

DANCE SALAD in HOUSTON: Part I, March 25, 2016

What luck to be in Houston while Dance Salad Festival is in progress! Yes, Houston, Texas; you thought it was all about the Bar-B-Que, but it is now about the Salad. The Hedgehogs attended the concert March 25, at the Cullen Theater of Houston’s Wortham Theater Center. Seven dance companies from five different countries presented work in the Festival, including three US premieres and three Houston premieres. While each dance was different from the others, they had one great element in common: fantastic dancers. Strong, supple, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, these are dancers who are rightfully described as fearless. Trained in classical ballet and a variety of modern techniques, they provided their choreographers endless possibilities for movement. The program was so captivating that we returned on March 26; there will be a Part II of this Post. Founder, producer, and director Nancy Henderek appears to have discovered elements to keep her audience involved, surprised, and even entertained by dance that is serious and occasionally amusing.

Nicolo Fonte, choreographer of Beasts for BalletX, of Philadelphia, is a native New Yorker, studied at the Joffrey, San Francisco, and New York City Ballet Schools, received his BFA in Dance at SUNY, Purchase, and danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Montreal, and Compania Nacional de Danza, Madrid, until devoting himself to choreography. The two parts of his work, Beasts, shown March 25 were thought provoking. Men’s Section begins with movements much like those of Kurt Joos’s great, Expressionist ballet, The Green Table, brought back to life by the Joffrey Ballet. Men dressed in black dress suits alternate between polite and threatening gestures. However reminiscent of Joos it may be, the dance proceeds in its own way. The dancers’ interactions include specific movements suggesting shooting rifles and four of them lining up while the fifth aims his hand like a gun to execute one. Fonte’s ensemble movements are eye opening. The men are powerful, graceful, dynamic, and, in this dance, doomed. The choreographer builds the tension with the unfolding of individuals out of a group and recovering into another group. It is an anxiety provoking dance resolving into sadness. Men’s Section was followed by Mata Hari section. Women are introduced into the dance; it’s all trouble from the time they enter. One Hedgehog commented that apparently females are scarier than rifles. Costumed in elegant, floor length gowns and pointe shoes, the dance seems to call out “Danger!” Mata Hari is depicted by Chloe Felesina; her prime victim is Daniel Mayo. Mata Hari in this dance embodies attraction too enticing to turn away from although betrayal is assured. Pictures: Men’s Section Photo: Bill Hebert, Mata Hari Section; Photo: Alexander Iziliaev.

Choreographer Luis Martin Oya’s Por Ti was danced by two stellar dancers: Sonia Rodriguez, a native of Toronto, and Piotr Stanczyk, originally from Poland. This is an exquisite pas de deux. Ms Rodriguez’s meltingly, achingly expressive movement shows the depths of emotion which classical ballet can reach. Mr. Stanczyk was noble, full of longing, commanding and commanded by his passions. Choreographer Oya performed the works of leading choreographers such as Ohad Naharin and Mats Ek while dancing in the National Ballet Company of Spain, directed by Nacho Duato. Mr. Stanczyk and Ms Rodriguez are greatly honored dancers with the National Ballet of Canada. Photo: Amitava Sarkar

Marguerite Donlon’s Made in Love: Minutemade, performed by the Ballet of Staatstheater am Gartnerplaz is an entertaining romp through groups, duets, solos, occasional speaking by dancers, and many movement techniques. The style in which the dancers move absolutely every body part that could spasmodically move predominates. The work opens with a woman wearing a kilt and a partner in a colorful folky skirt challenging each other. The partner seems to motivate the woman’s movements by gestures. There are twisting, complicated lifts. The partner dominates, and drops the woman in the kilt. Four men in skirts enter with Irish music accompanying them. They engage in silly versions of folk dance hops. A woman in a black, spangly, open jacket over black bra and dance shorts enters doing barefoot Irish step dancing crossed with ballet. Another couple occupies the floor for its dances. A woman enters and narrates some of her experiences. She recalls being naked on stage twice, maybe three times, but after all, she was in Europe. At some point, the Partner in the opening dance takes his blouse off to reveal he is he and not she. Gender bending costuming is not new but is always eye catching, especially now that the “man bun” is in style. More groups enter and exit, piling on activity that’s hard to keep up with but fascinating. A man in white tunic, white, fitted trousers and a huge white tulle ruff–could it be an actual tutu?–around his neck enters and intones Shakespeare: “Love is merely a madness.” This viewer especially enjoyed the sections in which two dancers communicated with each other through dance gestures and one in which the whole cast of twelve kneeled onstage in a line and danced out a rhythm using hands and arms pounding the stage floor and imitating with their hands what feet and legs would do if they were standing to dance. In the end, only the clown in white is left. He is upstage center. Watching for a clue from him as to what it all means proves futile; he does not know either. Photo: Marie-Laure Briane

Spellbound Contemporary Ballet of Rome, Italy, performed L’Autunno/Autumn a movement from Le Quattro Stagioni/The Four Seasons choreographed by Mauro Astolfi. His works have been set on many companies in Europe, the US and Canada. In The Four Seasons, he uses the classic Vivaldi score and music by contemporary composer Luca Salvadori. The dancers entered and exited from a large box on stage which had a window for them to move through. Images of falling leaves and bare tree shapes were projected on the walls of the cube which might be a house providing safety or a constant in the midst of change. It was a lovely use of media which can become clunky and distracting even though it has a siren’s call of timeliness to choreographers and stage designers. When they were not interacting with the cube, the dancers’ movements did not obviously reflect an autumn theme, but their use of space was always in the realm of the cube. Photo: Marco Bravi

Ballet of Staatstheater am Gartnerplatz returned with Versus Standard choreographed by Jacopo Godani. A sextet that never hits “pause,” it is a high energy, all jumping, all falling, all confronting and all competing work. It claims the choreographic territory that wants movement layered on movement continuously, and these amazing dancers are exactly the ones to show that they can do it. This Hedgehog was initially misled by seeing their yellow tee shirts with black trim and being reminded of Captain Kirk’s uniform in Star Trek. This was totally wrong. The dancers do it all; their movement does not need a theme. Seeing it again on March 26 was an opportunity to read the program note, absorb the notion of team sport, especially soccer, as an inspiration, but in truth it seemed to be all about the movement itself. Photo: Marie-Laure Briane

Fall, choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui for the Royal Ballet of Flanders, of Antwerp, Belgium, is a lush dance for nine gorgeous dancers. To watch the falls, lifts, rolling, sweeping, levitating movements takes one’s breath in the way that giving in to being a human buoy in waves could do. The lifts are complex and sometimes look dangerous, yet the dancers keep breathing, soaring and releasing back into their partners or the floor. The music is drawn from three pieces by Arvo Part: Fratres, Spiegel im Spiegel, and Orient & Occident. Fall opens with a single dancer. He lifts himself and falls, walks on his barefoot toes, falls and lifts more until he is met by a group of falling, rolling men. As the dance grows by each circle of movement leading into another, there is a change in its feeling with two powerful duets. The first is distinguished especially by extraordinary lifts. The female dancer almost turns herself inside out; it becomes hard to find “front.” The second matches a strong male and female dancer in movements of balance and support. The female dancer ends alone on stage facing away from the audience standing in fifth position, legs crossed from the hips down to feet that overlap and cross. It is a moment of stasis, a peaceful suspension in place. Photo: Filip Van Roe

When a ballerina comes down the aisle dressed in classical tutu gear, wearing glasses and carrying a handbag, the audience knows that Le Grand Pas de Deux will be something completely different. Choreographed by Christian Spuck and performed by Alicia Amatriain and Jason Reilly, it is set to the comical music of the Overture from The Thieving Magpie by Rossini. Ms Amatrian is originally from Spain; Mr. Reilly is Canadian; both are greatly acclaimed dancers with Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet. They performed the spoof of a classical pas de deux with finesse, avoiding too much heavy slap stick, even when Ms Amatriain goes skidding across the floor on her stomach or tries to do her turns and balances with the handbag briefly in her mouth. Choreographer Spuck allows them to show they can do the real thing: she whips around in multiple fouettes; he turns with one leg in second position, lifted straight out from his hip and held there as he turns repeatedly. They added a touch of glamour and welcome humor to a night exploring the possibilities of dance. At top photo:Fall: Filip Van Roe Watch the Livelyblog for Dance Salad, Part II. It will include Yidam, by Ihsan Rustem, NW Dance Project; Black Swan Section, by Nicolo Fonte, BalletX; Faun, by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Royal Ballet of Flanders; L’verno/Winter, by Mauro Astolfi, Spellbound Contemporary Ballet. AND, AESTHETIC OBSERVATIONS: What’s Happening in Dance?

Zukerman Plays Elgar & Mozart with SF Symphony

Pinchas Zukerman conducted and played violin with the San Francisco Symphony in a beautiful performance of Elgar’s Serenade in E minor for Strings, Opus 20 (written in 1893), Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 in E flat major, K.543 (1788), and Mozart’s Haffner Serenade, K. 250 (248b) (1776), Sunday, February 14, 2016. It was the right concert for a day of love. Maestro Zukerman plays with purity and sweetness. It’s not the sweetness of the candy Valentine, but of the true heart of music.

Sir Edward Elgar’s Serenade is said to be his “breakthrough” composition. He came from a poor family and taught himself how to create with his musical gifts. In the Serenade one may sense the depth of feeling expressed with gentle power and understanding in his later, better known works, but that might be just because we do know those other works. The Serenade was turned down by the publisher who later succeeded by publishing those later works. Concertmaster Alexander Barantschik had wonderful moments with his violin the solo voice. The second movement, Larghetto, is an awakening; gentle as a cloud, the music floats us up to the perfect balance in the Allegretto finale. Bravo to Barantschik, the Symphony and Maestro Zukerman for handling this Serenade with unified, careful energy that let the music live.

Mozart’s Symphony No.39 is one of his last three symphonies. No. 41, “Jupiter,” was the final one. While this masterpiece fascinates us with its complexity and beauty, Mozart seems to have written it and the other two in just a bit more than two months. His biography shows that at the same time he was composing additional music, teaching, and taking care of his wife who was very ill. Oh, and he moved apartments, too. And he was desperate for money. These circumstances make one wonder at the super human capacities of this composer. Great music leaped from his brow like Athena from that of Zeus. It is possible that Mozart never heard Symphony No. 39 performed. We who are Mozart’s beneficiaries must take the opportunity to hear it. To hear it played so well as the SF Symphony and Maestro Zukerman played it is to celebrate the variety of mood, rhythm, structures possible for a great human to create. Full of beauty, it is playful, serious, witty, lyrical, and full of dance. The Minuet of the third movement sounds like “rough mechanicals” in Arden Forest. It is all there. Look for it and enjoy every note.

Mozart created the Haffner Serenade for the wedding of Marie Elisabeth Haffner, daughter and sister of his family friends. He wrote more than an entertainment or “occasional” piece by composing eight movements. In this performance, the SFS and Pinchas Zukerman, violin soloist and conductor, performed four. It was a stunning, brilliant performance. Maestro Zukerman wastes no time; when he conducted the Elgar and Symphony No.39, he walked onto the platform and immediately began the music. As violin soloist, he also turns all his attention to the music. That is what he is there for. He is handsome, brilliant, quietly charismatic; the audience was learning from him about music throughout the program. When it ended, the entire house refused to believe it was over. They had been drawn into his way of presenting great music and did not want it to end. After at least six curtain calls, he asked the audience to sing along as he played Brahms’ Lullaby. Everyone sang. Pinchas Zukerman said, “until next time,” and was gone. No one rushed out. Everyone wanted to wrap themselves in the music again. The Haffner Serenade is available with Pinchas Zukerman conducting the LA Philharmonic on Sony Classical. His recording of Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 and Double Concerto with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa and ‘cellist Amanda Forsyth appears this year. MORE MOZART: SFS Conductor Laureate, Herbert Blomstedt conducts an all Mozart program with the SFSymphony, March 2-5, 2016.

Pierre Bonnard at Legion of Honor, San Francisco

Painting Arcadia is the title of a landmark exhibition of works by French artist, Pierre Bonnard, who lived 1867-1947. The 75 works on display make a gorgeous show. It will be at the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, until May 15. Hedgehog readers should go very soon so that they will have time to go back and see it all again. Oddly, there has been controversy about the title. Should it really be called “Arcardia?” Aren’t there dark notes mixed in with all the sunshine? If he is a great artist, surely he could not be so superficial as to be painting Arcadia? This viewer comes down on the side of the correctness of the title. Arcadia was a mountainous region of ancient Greece whose populace was known for being contented in their simple, pastoral life. The word has come to mean anyplace, real or fictional that offers a peaceful life. Right, it’s not Painting Olympus; we are looking at beauty in ordinary, middle class life. The world near Bonnard was filled with women, croquet players, cats, actually quite a lot of cats. It is a world of humans and so could not possibly be without its dark notes, but they are dark notes within a sunlit world.

Handsome and intelligent, Bonnard could have done well as a lawyer and satisfied his father. He painted instead. In the early years of his career, he identified as part of the self-named Nabis. Influenced by Paul Gauguin, the Nabis found their subjects in everyday life and favored brilliant color. Their title, Nabi, is Hebrew for Prophet. Bonnard was deeply interested in the Japanese prints which made their first appearances in France while he was beginning his work. Their impact shows up in his flattened perspective and planes of color. The cats reflect, if not an influence of the Japanese artists, then agreement on interesting shapes and movement. Cats and dogs, indulged with treats and taken along on picnics, were an essential part of the life represented by Bonnard and also offered extraordinary liveliness and character to his depiction of breakfast tables and living rooms. His interest in these settings is for their resources as design not for a sociological study. A woman’s blouse matches the design of the wall paper behind her. Part of the whole picture could have the impact of an abstract design even though there are recognizable individuals, chocolate, biscuits.

The overall impression from this writer’s first visit? Color. Bonnard’s world either was full of intense yellows, pink, and the deep, heavy green of summer, or this was the part of his world he chose to celebrate and honor forever. It is a world of white cats stretching on breakfast tables, choosing to pose in the exact spot where their ideal, feline forms will be highlighted by the well lit back drop of the mistress’s checked blouse. The painter’s lover relaxes on a bed, comfortable in her nude body and happily playing with her cats on the bed. A man, we assume Bonnard, stands to one side. Also nude, he is separated from woman, bed, and the happy encounter with the cats by a curtain. The onlooker does not know if he is arriving or departing. His strong vertical self balances the design with the roughly circular pattern made by the woman and the cats. We are allowed to look onto this intimate moment. The man is slightly in a shadow; the woman, looking downward at the cats, is in a warm though not bright light.

Yes, this is Arcadia. Our real world, so full of light, the color yellow, the leafy summer green, dogs, cats, and time for love; what else could it be. Misia plays the piano. Madame lets her cat lick the chocolate off her spoon. Each breath a moment in what may as well be paradise. From June, 2010 to Jan., 2011, San Francisco hosted two extensive, grand shows of French Impressionist art on loan from the Musee d’Orsay, Paris. A surprise star of the show was the collection of works by Pierre Bonnard. The current exhibition offers a unique opportunity to see Bonnard through his life time works. Bay Area museum goers and the many visitors from everywhere else owe Diane B. Wilsey, President of the Board of Trustees, and the late John Buchanan, former Director, a heartfelt, “Merci millefois.” pictures from top: photo of P. Bonnard; The White Cat, 1894; Self-Portrait, young; Woman and Cat, 1912; Self-Portrait, older.

Ax & Perlman: Dynamic Duo of Music in San Francisco

IPerlman EmAxjpeg Emanuel Ax, piano, and Itzhak Perlman, violin, performing together at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, Jan. 18, 2016, was exactly what one would expect: superlative beyond the same old superlatives. These are two of the greatest musicians currently on our planet. We are lucky to be in the world at the same time as they are. Although the quality of the performance was so great as one might expect, their program was far from anything “usual.” They performed Sonata in C major, K. 296, by Mozart; Sonata No. 1 in A major, Opus 13, by Faure; and Sonata in E-flat major, Opus 18 by Richard Strauss. These are not familiar selections. The listener was rewarded with new expressions, colors, and musical emotions.There was also a touching, dramatic presence to the musicians’ partnership. When they entered the Davies stage, Mr. Ax seemed to hold back to defer to Mr. Perlman, but once they were positioned to play, their own personalities were not on show. It was all about great music.

mozart-kraft-1819-150x150 The Mozart selection, Sonata in C maj., K.296, was brilliant with bright, jewel-like colors and a perfection of partnership between piano and violin. It has Mozart’s brilliance in the sense of fantastic, playful wit, as well. The surprise was the satisfying expressiveness that came with Mozart’s brilliance and the musicians’ embodiment of the quick, starry music.

Gabriel Faure (1845-1924)wrote Sonata No. 1 in A major, Opus 13, in 1876. He was well on his way to his long and great career yet still in early days. The Sonata has a seductive beauty which captures the listener like the course of a river carrying a boat along. There is passion and also hesitation; the Sonata has a character all its own. It is certainly a work that called upon the virtuoso musicians to unleash their own powers which they did magnificently both in partnering the two instruments and allowing the instruments to follow their own ways.

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)was dedicated to creating chamber music early in his work. This sonata, written when he was twenty-three, took up the second half of the Perlman-Ax program. It is grand in its size and in beauty. The listener could take time out to think, oh, yes, later Romanticism; Strauss must have revered Brahms. There is no time out available for such observations. The music is sometimes introspective and also projects a feeling of improvisation, as though it were being created by the musicians as they played. Improvisation: Andante cantabile is the title of the second movement. Strauss’s Sonata has the force and energy to pull the listener into a gorgeous world, intense and full of power.

The audience, standing and vigorously applauding was most reluctant to let Perlman and Ax leave. Mr. Perlman has a history of giving encores and introducing them with humorous commentary. The full house demanded extra treats. On this night, the audience was treated to four encores. Each time, the duo exited to applause and, after a bit, returned. They bowed and then, seeming to confer about what they might play, went back to perform. Mr. Perlman is the spokesman. The first selection, by Dvorak, he said, had intimations of Americana, Dvorak’s own Americana. One could hear suggestions of what might have African-American music, forerunner of blues. Kreisler’s, Schon Rosmarin, came next, after another exit and return; then, Kreisler’s Love’s Sorrow. A young woman and her daughter who had made their way down to the edge of the stage presented them with a bouquet and a teddy bear. Mr. Perlman made a point of giving the bouquet to Mr. Ax, embracing the teddy bear for himself. They reappeared one more time, this time Mr. Ax was allowed the bear, to play Kreisler’s Love’s Joy. Mr. Perlman assured the audience he would not leave them with Love’s Sorrow. The interplay between the musicians was delightful. The warmth of their stage presence never stepped over the line to interfere with the seriousness of their performance. Hear Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax on their Deutsche Grammophon album of sonatas by Faure and Strauss. They perform together on tour throughout the US this season. For other Hedgehog Highlights about these musicians please see entry of January 11, 2015, on recital by Emanuel Ax and entry of January 18, 2015, on recital by Itzhak Perlman.

San Francisco Symphony Celebrates Sibelius, Rediscovers Schumann

Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas led the San Francisco Symphony in a great, very great performance of the Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 47, by Jean Sibelius, and Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Opus 97, Rhenish, by Robert Schumann, November 13-15, at Davies Hall. If by any chance you missed hearing one of these concerts, you have a chance for more Sibelius tonight, Nov. 18, when pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performs works of Sibelius, Beethoven, Debussy, and Chopin. And, another chance for a grand Schumann symphony, Nov. 19-21, when MTT and the SFS perform Schumann’s symphony, No. 1, Spring.

This is the 150th anniversary of Jean Sibelius’s birth, Dec. 8, 1865. Thanks to the milestone quality of that event, the SFS and others are performing more of his extraordinary music. One may hear Finlandia on the radio from time to time, and its stirring beauty is ample reason for Finland to celebrate Sibelius as a national hero, but he did write more. This program opened with his tone poem, The Swan of Tuonela, Opus, 22, no. 2. Written in 1896, it is one of a group of works based on Finnish legends, Four Legends from the Kalevala. Its beauty is misty, ethereal, and even a bit eerie. Tuonela was the “land of death” in Finnish myths. The Swan of Tuonela floats on a large river which circles Tuonela and sings. The images of the tale evaporate into the music or the music calls the mythic characters into being. From which ever direction one experiences it, The Swan of Tuonela, as performed by the SFS is beautiful and chilling.

Leonidas Kavakos performed the Violin Concerto (1904) with stunning virtuosity. This is not stunning in the sense of “looking good.” This was stunning in the sense of shivers up the back bone and eye popping brilliance. Mr. Kavakos made the first recording of the original version of this Violin Concerto, in 1991. That version is said to be even more demanding than the one more often performed. The winner of major international violin competitions, he is far more than a majestic technician; he is a magical musician. The concerto moves from very delicate, dream-like music into deeply passionate music with the full orchestra. As a moody, pessimistic sound takes over, the solo violin emerges to play an astonishing cadenza. Sibelius uses the voices of the orchestra and of the soloist in opposition and also brilliant unity. As a composer, Sibelius can only be described as Sibelius-esque. The music finds enchanting melody and also heart pounding syncopated rhythms. This SFS performance with Leonidas Kavakos took one’s breath away.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was a pianist, conductor, music critic, journalist in addition to being a great composer. We are all lucky that MTT and the SFS are launching a project to record Schumann’s four symphonies. The performance, Nov. 15, was the first of the performance recordings. It was glorious. Maestro Tilson Thomas captured the energy and motion of the music. One could almost feel the rolling power of the water in the waves of sound. The SFS played as though their hearts were unleashed. The symphony opens with lively music; we are there on the Rhine, that ever present symbol of Europe. The second movement has the rhythms of dances. The minuet and a German folk dance combine. Schumann had called it “Morning on the Rhine.” He and his wife, Clara, had taken a trip to the Rhineland together and remembered it as a tranquil, happy time. Schumann had seen the cathedral at Cologne and the installation of a Cardinal there. The solemnity of the fourth movement is his representation of the grandeur of the place and event. In the end, wisps of the early themes reappear; the timing slows as the great river swells and travels toward the sea. The the symphony has an internal effect on the listeners. The audience was buoyant, energized, smiling as though the movement of the music had infused them all with the spirit of the natural force of the river.

mtt_09-black_0598-5-120x67 Three cheers for MTT’s Schumann project with the San Francisco Symphony. This great, Romantic composer has not been given his due in recent decades. Music lovers should not miss this experience. The time has come to rediscover his music.

Pictures, from top: Jean Sibelius; Leonidas Kavakos, courtesy of San Francisco Symphony; Robert Schumann, photograph from 1850; Michael Tilson Thomas, courtesy of San Francisco Symphony.

Israel Philharmonic in San Francisco: Bardanashvili, Ravel, Beethoven

The Israel Philharmonic, Zubin Metha conducting, performed at Davies Symphony Hall, November 8. The concert presented challenging music with excellent results: A Journey to the End of the Millenium, by Josef Bardanashvili; La Valse, by Maurice Ravel; Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Opus 55, Eroica, by Ludwig van Beethoven.

This writer confesses to trying to like music by contemporary composers and mostly not succeeding. A Journey to the End of the Millenium is an exception. The composer calls it a symphonic poem; it was inspired by Bardanashivli’s opera of the same name , but is not a suite from the opera. The music has a dramatic path which captures the listener’s emotions and attention. The opera asked, “What are the mores of society at the opening of the 21st century?” The symphonic poem takes a journey with a woman. About to die, she looks back to her wedding day in a marriage in which she will be the second wife. Bardanashvili draws from deep sources: Moroccan music, ancient Jewish music, classically beautiful music, abrupt sounds. It has a three dimensional texture, like a rich wall hanging made in ikat colors of rubies and lapis; it is sometimes knotty and sometimes silky smooth. Most of all it was interesting, original, full of musical ideas which reached into the imagination and plucked at one’s nerves. Josef Bardanashvili was born in Georgia and moved to Israel in 1995. He is the composer of operas, ballets, and symphonies, music for theater and film.

Ravel’s La Valse changed its character from 1906 to 1919. Ravel intended to write a piece titled Wien (Vienna) in appreciation of Johann Strauss. When World War I began, the composer had not finished it, and his world was not the same. Diaghilev, the ballet impresario, commissioned the composer to complete La Valse. They had had success with Daphnis et Chloe for the Ballets Russes, but Diaghilev rejected La Valse, ending the partnership. The music is violent. One can visualize waltzing couples circling the dance floor, the brilliant chandeliers, the colors of the gowns becoming a blur as they spin faster. Ravel wrote a note for the music which suggests the scene at “An imperial court, about 1855.” Perhaps 1855 signifies a time of the old order, the time before civilization spun out of control and stopped looking like “civilization.” La Valse premiered in 1920. It sounds modern. It is recognizable as a waltz, but it is turbulent and frightening, a refusal of all the grace, ease, and pleasure that a waltz could incorporate. This may have been the best performance of La Valse that The Hedgehog has heard.

And then, the Eroica. Beethoven conducted the first public performance in 1805. On his own, Beethoven over turned the music world’s old order. Symphony No. 3 announced that music could not be the same as before Beethoven. It is bigger than previous symphonies both in its length and the universe it encompasses. It is grander, more powerful and accomplishes more revolutions than those enforced by Napoleon Bonaparte to whom Beethoven had originally meant to dedicate the work. Napoleon declared himself Emperor. Beethoven, yearning for a leader who would make the rights of man the basis of government, was furious at the betrayal. Beethoven changed his mind back and forth on the dedication to Napoleon, but left the name off the final manuscript. This article is being written on Veterans Day. The second movement, Marcia funebre: Adagio assai/Funeral March, is not to celebrate one Great Man. It commemorates each individual whose life was diminished or finished by war. It was played at Mendelssohn’s funeral, another great life lost. Beethoven introduces the lively boldness of heroes, the painful waste of their loss. The rights of man belong to every one; the Eroica is for every individual. Through the individual, Beethoven knows he reaches all humanity. The Eroica ends with a “YES,” Finale: Allegro molto. Having fought his way through loss and pain, the human is still himself and that is the human victory. The Israel Philharmonic and Maestro Mehta presented the Eroica with the musical integrity and passion it requires.

Zubin Mehta, much honored conductor and music director of orchestras around the world, has been with the Israel Philharmonic since 1969. Since 1981 he has had the title, Music Director for Life. The very good news is that he is as handsome and charismatic as ever.

Barantschik, Nel, Wyrick Meet Beethoven, Chopin, Shostakovich

Chamber music at the Palace of the Legion of Honor is always a high point of San Francisco’s musical season. Remarkable musicians playing some of classical music’s finest selections in a theater that looks like the inside of magical music box: it’s great. Sunday, November 1, opened the season with Beethoven’s Trio in G major, Opus 1, no. 2; Chopin’s Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Opus 54; and Shostakovich’s Quintet in G minor, Opus 57. Each one was a gem. The character of each was entirely different from the others. I mention that for readers who may think narrow thoughts about chamber music. You have been misled; these are peak musical experiences. Alexander Barantschik, the Concert Master of the SF Symphony, violin; Anton Nel, piano; and Peter Wyrick, Associate Principal Cello of the SFS formed the trio for Beethoven. Michael Grebanier, SFS Principal Cello was scheduled to perform but replaced by Wyrick. The music was delightful. Beethoven plays with bright emotions, letting his lyricism and great heart carry the listener into an ideal natural world. The Scherzo movement offers syncopation and suggests a folk dance. The Finale: Presto sweeps aside any constraint, calling upon the pianist for virtuosic performance and yet keeping all three in an exciting ensemble. It was thrilling to watch and to hear these artists.

Extraordinary pianist Anton Nel heads the Division of Keyboard Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He has performed frequently with the San Francisco Symphony as well as the Cleveland, Chicago, London orchestras, and in partnership with Alexander Barantschik in the Chamber Music series. His performance of Chopin’s Scherzo No. 4 was a gift. Although a life long Chopin devotee, the Scherzo was not familiar to this Hedgehog. It was performed with exquisite style and taste. Nel gave Chopin the leading role and by doing so showed his own brilliance. It is a big piece, not at all a piece of another, grander work. The listeners were given much to embrace and absolutely stellar musicianship.

In the Shostakovich Quintet, SF Symphony musicians Florin Parvulescu, SFS violin, and Jonathan Vinocour, SFS Principal Viola, joined Barantschik, Nel, and Wyrick. Concert goers who feel they know Beethoven and Chopin could have been quite surprised by the selections by those composers on this program. They were both fresh and profound. They may have been most impressed and surprised by the Shostakovich. His music is not played so often, was shut out of programming for decades, and when presented now opens the mind and heart with forceful, beautiful, sometimes soul wrenching music. While Shostakovich suffered greatly when out of favor with Stalin and his henchmen, this Quintet was written and premiered during a brief interlude of acceptance. It is glorious. Its premiere was 1940, but it sounds new and full of life. Its performance by this quintet of champion musicians provided music that could send the entire audience aloft. The persistence of the Russian dances in the last movements whirled us along while a thoughtful, musical spirit appears as if to whisper a reminder of a quiet secret. The audience called the quintet back for multiple bows. Each of the performers deserved whole hearted cheers.

Pictures from top: Beethoven, photo of Chopin by Bisson, 1849; Shostakovich.

SAM & DAVE: The Nashville Soul Sessions

I am listening to a Sam & Dave cd. I saw it in a catalogue and thought, “Wow I loved their music; I’m going to spend $6 on these tunes.” My big indulgence, I won’t buy cds just for background sound. I thought, hearing these songs will be making me happy. It turns out the cd has recordings they made when they were trying to make a come back. The first song on the cd was Soul Man. It didn’t sound right at all. I can hear that song in my head like it’s still 1967. I looked at the liner notes. What a let down. It even says these recordings in Nashville, late 1970s-early 1980s, did not do the job for them. If you do not immediately hear the sounds when you hear their names, you should check them out. Their singing is the real thing; do listen. My age cohort and dear friend, Jackie, claimed she’d no idea, said, “Was I living in a cave?” She looked on youtube and found them. She wrote that she especially admired their moves. That’s right. They were famous for working up major sweat in every performance. They did it. The tenor is Sam Moore; the baritone is Dave Prater. The heart of their soul music was produced at STAX records, in Memphis. The truly big years were 1965 – 1968. It’s Soul Man; Hold On, I’m Comin’; You Don’t Know Like I Know; When Something is Wrong With My Baby; Wrap it Up. As it turns out, great duo that they were in the studio and on the stage, they did not get along. For years, they couldn’t speak to each other; always arrived separately at recording sessions. STAX records were distributed by Atlantic Records. There was a fight between the companies. Atlantic scooped up Sam & Dave and took them to New York, but somehow their work there didn’t top the charts like the songs of the STAX years.

They are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, won the Grammy, had multiple Gold Records. They had more success on the R & B charts than anyone with possible exception of Aretha Franklin. Soul Man, according to the Grammys is one of the most influential songs for 50 years. I think that means a lot of other acts tried to sing it. They broke up in 1969, reunited in 1972. Dave found a new Sam, Sam Daniels, 1982 until Dave’s death in a car crash, 1988. Sam Moore continues to perform. More power to him. Regarding this cd, I might donate it to the library book sale just not to be depressed by it.
Time passes. Damn.

pictures: top, Sam & Dave, 1967, bottom, Sam & Dave, 1966. Sam & Dave: the Nashville Soul Sessions, FUEL 2000 Records.