Yuja Wang & Esa-Pekka Salonen: A Wonderful Concert

These two musical artists lit up Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, February 13. The program featured Debussy’s three works of Images pour orchestre, Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, and the SF premiere of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Opus 45. Wang performed both concerti with power and her intimate knowledge of playing the piano.  This program appears four times; it demands strength and excellence. Maestro Salonen, leading the SF Symphony, provides all the necessities brilliantly. There are two more performances: Tonight, Saturday, Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 16, 2:00. These are wonderful concerts with thrilling music and artists.

Esa-Pekka Salonen, Music Director, San Francisco Symphony

Debussy’s Images pour orchestre are three separate pieces that Debussy created from 1905-1912. They are presented in varying order. This program opened with Gigues from Images pour orchestre (1912)  followed by Rondes de printemps (1905). Ronde was the first part he created; it suggested the idea of the parts. The third part, Iberia, closed the whole program. Each piece is inspired by Debussy’s idea of three countries: England for Gigues, inspired in part by a folk song, “The Keel Row;” France for Ronde de printemps; Iberia for Spain. Gigues and Ronde were fascinating. Each is eight minutes. The title, Images, fits because Debussy was very taken by the French Impressionist painters. His work also is engaged in aural suggestions of Pierrot, the theater’s sad clown. The Images may recall characteristics of these countries, but these works are imaginative and circulate one’s experiences and memories. I would hear and see them again right now if I could.

Yuja Wang, pianist

The Piano Concerto in D major for the Left Hand, was composed by Maurice Ravel, 1929-30, specifically for Paul Wittgenstein. Ravel entered World War I hoping to be a pilot, but due to his age and health, he was a supply driver. Pianist Paul Wittgenstein had recently made his solo debut before the war. He had been “called up” by the Austro-Hungarian Army and scouted Russian positions. He was shot in his elbow; doctors amputated his right hand. While in the hospital, the Russians raided the hospital and took everyone there as a prisoner of war. He was sent on the long journey to Omsk, Siberia where there was a POW hospital. He began to try to re-train the fingers of his left hand by drawing a keyboard to drill his fingers. He was moved to a hotel that had an upright piano, but luck changed. He was moved to a horrible place in the gulag. It was so terrible that Dostoevsky made it the scene for his novel, The House of the Dead. Wittgestein was in a prisoner exchange that took him back to Vienna.

Maurice Ravel, composer (1875-1937)

Wittgestein commissioned Ravel for a Concerto, but Wittgenstein “had issues” about the finished piece. After lengthy disputes, Wittgen stein finally recognized Ravel had composed a great work. Yuja Wang played brilliantly. One could see the physical challenge of the music. Yuja Wang balanced herself by having her right hand hold on to the right side of the bench and also by grasping the piano’s top. The Concerto is very athletic for the pianist. Ravel said, “even a single hand can create layers of sound and both melody and accompaniment at the same time.” Ravel was a jazz fan, and this Concerto shows his understanding of Jazz sounds and rhythms. He said, “After a first part in {a} traditional style, a sudden change occurs and the jazz music begins. Only later does it become evident that this jazz music is really built on the same theme as the opening part.” Wittgenstein, realizing his good fortune to have this Concerto in his repertory, played it in concerts everywhere, including with the San Francisco Symphony, 1946. Watching Yuja Wang play this makes one realize the physicality needed to make music. She is ready for Olympic gold. Fascinating to watch, and listening to her playing in person is a great reward for the audience.

Einojuhani Rautavaara, composer (1928-2016)

Rautavaara was the most famous Finnish composer when he passed away relatively recently. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He said that he was not a piano prodigy, but  “with no personal contact with music as yet, I painted ‘music’ on paper in watercolors.” He received a master’s degree from the Academy and Sibelius chose him to win the study grant honoring Sibelius’ 90th birthday. He used the grant to study with Roger Sessions and Aaron Copland, in 1955 and 1956. He continued studies at Julliard and in Europe. He was interested in all the serious music trends, including 12 tone serialism. He composed eight symphonies and forty other orchestral works. His Piano Concerto No. 1, Opus 45 (1969) opened his eyes to alternatives to the most fashionable styles. He leaned into neo-Romanticism in his own style. “I was disappointed…with the then fashionable ‘ascetic’ –and to my mind anemic –piano style, and i wanted in my concerto to restore the entire rich grandeur of the instrument, to write a concerto ‘in the grand style.'” Yuja Wang was the right person to present the grand style. The Concerto needs a strong technique and deep understanding of the music. There were many physical performance requirements. The pianist had to use her whole lower arm to make the sound of all those notes at the same time. Her hands had to jump over each other. It was a powerful Concerto with a powerful artist bringing it to an excited audience. Yuja Wang was cheered into encores: Etude No. 6, by Philip Glass. The audience went wild again. The second encore was Danzon No. 2, by Arturo Marquez. Ms Wang is a great personality in addition to a fabulous performer.

Music Director Salonen closed this wonderful program with SF Symphony playing Debussy’s third part of the Images pour orchestre, iberia. The impressionistic music wafted around the hall. It has Spain’s light, colors, an atmosphere of people dancing a sevillana in the town’s plaza. The music suggests visual experience in the music. The scent of a place Debussy had never seen surrounded us in his imagination.

Note: Quotations of Ravel are from Benjamin Pesetsky article SF Symphony program. Quotation from Rautavaara are from James M. Keller article in SF Symphony program.

 

 

 

 

Shostakovich & Mahler: Amazing Music

February 6, 2025 – Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco – The San Francisco Symphony took giant steps into the music of Dmitri Shostakovich and Gustav Mahler. All efforts were successful and rewarded; the audience held its breath, stood to show appreciation, could not have been more excited by the music. The master composers of the 20th century sometimes shocked the music world with their new approaches to classical music: dissonance, layering of sounds, all with incredible virtuosity. Paavo Jarvi, conductor, led the SF Symphony through fresh, interpretive ideas for the playing of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Opus 102 (1957) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 in E minor (1905).

Paavo Jarvi, conductor, winner Grammy Award for recording of Sibelius’ cantatas with the Estonian National Symphony, Grammaphone and Diapason Artist of the Year, Commandeur de L’Ordre des Arts et Lettres awarded by French Ministry of Culture.

Dmitri Shostakovich, composer (1906-1975)

Shostakovich wrote the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Opus 102 for his son. Maxim wanted to appear as a soloist in order to help him enter the Moscow Conservatory. He had studied piano and conducting. Maxim asked his father repeatedly to write something for him to perform. Shostakovich at last produced this Concerto. Maxim’s solo was a success; he was admitted to the Conservatory. The Concerto was neither abandoned nor left only for youthful pianists. The father adopted this Concerto into his own concerto repertory and played it himself.

The piano soloist has the opportunity to show every possible piano technique one could have learned or which Shostakovich seems to have invented. Here is just one as described by James M. Keller, Program Annotator of SFS: “holding long notes and tracing melodies with separate fingers of a single hand.” I was there and heard it, but I cannot envision it. The composer has more up his sleeves: abrupt changes of meter, one from 2/4 to an unbalanced 7/8 and then breaking it down to multiple meters. The first and third movements were Allegro with the third much faster. The second movement, Andante, was a look back to the Romanticism of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. Its beauties made the quick, quirky, challenges to the pianist all the more exciting and dramatic.

Kirill Gerstein, pianist

Kirill Gerstein was the soloist. He was fascinating to watch and hear. Very fast, great coordination of arms, hands, and individual fingers. A fabulous performance. Gerstein’s world premiere recording of Thomas Ades’ Piano Concerto with theBoston Philharmonic received the 2020 Gramophone Award. Kirill Gerstein, pianist; he performed Rachmaninoff’s Melodie, Op. 3, No. 3 as an encore on February 6. The audience was thrilled by the performance.

Gustav Mahler, composer (1860 – 1911)

Mahler. Each of his symphonies is a whole world of actions, thoughts, cow bells, rustic dancers, military marches, desperate reaches for truth. Mahler said that he had started Symphony No. 7 from its middle, and that the whole would be symmetrical. Movements are balanced; there are two Nachtmusik movements. The The first movement is an Allegro moderato-Molto moderato (Andante).  Nachtmusiks are in between the Slow-Allegro that opens the Symphony and the Scherzo: Schattenhaft (Like a shadow). We hear a very beautiful theme. The violin plays with elan. There are marches. A march becomes something else, something hidden until a wonderful lyric breaks through. The music is heard as a night time march. Cowbells break in surrounded by a sort of jump off a cliff in the strings section; the tam-tam and cymbals come in until the ‘cello sings alone. The Scherzo is ghostly. Drums and strings quarrel about their places. The Scherzo gives up as though its fabric frayed. The second Nachtmusik presents heartbeats and passion, a love song at night. Strangely, the guitar and mandolin make music that carries beyond the orchestral sounds. They are sad and lonely.The Finale charges with drums and slight references to Beethoven and Brahms. The Beethoven influence in Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 is not a quotation but a visiting cousin. Wagner’s Die Meistersinger seems to drift through, again not a quote just a suggestion of – this is a surprise – Wagner’s humor. It seems to me that the idea of Wagner’s humor is hilarious on its own. The symphony is triumphant. We are in nature and a part of nature. Drums return to remind us of the daylight, the thumping dancers, the gorgeous theme from earlier movements. Mahler will not let us down. He has so many ideas of the theme that he can offer them in layers or rearranging them or finding new sounds within them. He lets go of control; the sun shines. We are here.

 

Maestro Blomstedt Gives Us Schubert & Brahms

January 30 – Davies Symphony Hall – Herbert Blomstedt conducted the San Francisco Symphony in the Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, D. 485, by Franz Schubert (1816) and Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Opus 68, by Johannes Brahms (1855-76). When I hear the great music played by the SFS, conducted by Herbert Blomstedt, I feel that I know what the music was composed to be from every sound. Maestro Blomstedt’s authority comes from his deep knowledge of every step in the music. He leads the musicians into the world of the music. There is no ego that others might flash for their interpretations of the composers’ musical ideas or other ideas put upon the music. His strength and honesty makes the audience realize she is experiencing the truth.

Herbert Blomstedt, Conductor, photo by Jonathan Clark

Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 opens a lovely spring time. Listening to this Symphony gives the audience and orchestra the full experience: walking among flowering trees, hearing water move, enjoying the sunshine which is not going to burn. It is a model of the graceful moments in nature and in our human nature. There is no down side to the physical presence we see on our walk. The music is light but not slight. Of the four movements, only one is not Allegro. Serious music does not require tragedy. To experience this music one can recall a garden or imagine the Garden. It is a gift.

Franz Schubert, Composer (1797 – 1828)

The San Francisco Symphony performed majestically in both symphonies. Maestro Blomstedt found ways to pour the right energy in for these disparate emotions and music. Often it seems that comments on Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 are mostly about how long it took to materialize. An expert commentator calls it “burly.” I do not think that is 100% fitting. What is burly? Yesterday I saw pictures of a grizzly bear with her cub. Later, the grizzly bear was run down by a vehicle. The cub was orphaned. These bears are bigger than humans and will protect their young. “Burly” is not adequate for the bears either. The first movement comes forward without any dodges; not wasting time working up to being Big. It is powerful, beautiful, and alarming. This is an entrance of the earth; massive storms, floods, giant trees, mountains. Brahms may have needed 14 years to become the Brahms who pulled the Symphony No. 1 out of all he learned while composing other great works. He was inspired by his own work, and it is something only Brahms could do. It is all new. it starts and will not let go until all of it can exist. When I hear the sudden switch to the glorious theme, I cry. I do not know why that happens. Having the opportunity to see Herbert Blomstedt back stage, I asked him, “what makes me cry exactly at that moment?” He thought for a second and told me: “It is a revelation.” That is it. A vision. A perfection.

Johannes Brahms, Composer (1833 – 1897)

Maestro Blomstedt was Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, chief conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has conducted at Copenhagen, Stockholm, Dresden, and the Bamberg Symphony and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. All of these honored him as Conductor Laureate. He has been given honorary doctorates, was elected to membership in the Royal Swedish Music Academy and was awarded the German Great Cross of Merit with Star. He continues to lead orchestras around the world.

His San Francisco audience cheered him and applauded without pause.

 

San Francisco Ballet’s Manon: Beyond Beauty

There are three more performances of Manon:  tonight, Friday, Jan. 31st, and matinee and evening performances on Feb. 1. If you are anywhere near the SF Opera House, GO now. It is a tragic story, but the dances and the dancers are brilliant. Anywhere in the Bay Area? Go. Somewhere else like Portland? Just do it. You will be breathless when you see these dancers. GO.

Jasmine Jimison and Max Cauthorn; San Francisco Ballet in MacMillan’s Manon // © Lindsay Thomas

If you already know this story, skip ahead. If not, the next paragraph summarizes the sad tale.

The Story:  Manon is the story of a beautiful young woman who lives on her availability for wealthy men. Act I: Her brother, Lescaut (performed by Cavan Conley) convinces her that they can make money and leave the rough life of poverty if he sells her. While Lescaut takes an Old Gentleman into an inn to bargain for Manon (performed by Jasmine Jimison), she meets Des Grieux (performed by Max Cauthorn). They fall in love. When Lescaut and the Old Gentleman leave the inn, Manon is missing. The lovers have gone to Des Grieux’s room. When Des Grieux leaves to mail a letter to his father, Lescaut arrives with another wealthy man. Manon quickly submits to the new man, Monsieur G. M.  Des Grieux returns; the brother tells him they will all be rich if they sell Manon. Act II takes place in Madame’s hotel particulier, a brothel. The women dance and try to attract the men. Some are carried off. Manon is tempted by beautiful clothing and the wealth of Monsieur G. M. She tells Des Grieux to wait for a better time to be together. Des Grieux plays cards to make money for his love, but he is caught cheating; Manon and Des Grieux run to his room. Monsieur G.M. brings the police. Manon is arrested as a prostitute, and her brother is shot. Act III:  Manon is sent to a penal colony in New Orleans. Des Grieux came with her by pretending they are married. The Gaoler becomes jealous. He forces himself on Manon; Des Grieux finds them and kills the Gaoler. The lovers escape to a swamp. Manon was the victim of her own desires for wealth and  comfort, but she wanted to escape the miseries of poverty. She dies in Des Grieux’s arms.

Jasmine Jimison was magnificent as Manon. Her technique was exquisite. The choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan is innovative and powerful. The several pas de deux performed by Jimison and Max Cauthorn took my breath away. MacMillan likes to break a fouette turn into its parts. The balance and timing involved was beautiful. An arabesque with the supporting leg in plie then turns to releve to new directions and leaps. This challenging technique was an example of strength and beauty together; that is the heart of ballet. Jimison’s extension, suppleness, leaps: MacMillan could not ask for any more. The ballet seemed to be choreographed for her presence and astounding movement.

Jasmine Jimison in MacMillan’s Manon // © Lindsay Thomas

Cavan Conley in MacMillan’s Manon // © Lindsay Thomas

Jasmine Jimison and Max Cauthorn in MacMillan’s Manon // © Lindsay Thomas

San Francisco Ballet in MacMillan’s Manon // © Lindsay Thomas

San Francisco Ballet in MacMillan’s Manon//© Lindsay Thomas  Act II, Dancers at “Madame’s hotel particulier”

The music was wonderful. Martin West, Music Director and Principal Conductor led the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra to a triumphant performance. There were many choreographic moments which occurred exactly when the dancers needed the music to be the best partner possible. I remember Ms Jimison falling absolutely inside the musical moment. Fantastic. The Conductor, orchestra, dancers were wrapped up together as the music was so ideal it seemed we could see the music. MacMillan chose to use Jules Massenet’s music but, rather than the opera, he blended various pieces of Massenet’s work. The opera Manon, premiered in 1884; it continues in the international repertoire.

Now, get your tickets and marvel at the SF Ballet.

 

 

 

 

Ray Chen & James Gaffigan at SF Symphony

The San Francisco Symphony presented a marvelous program January 9-11; this audience member, there on Jan. 9th, found all three works fascinating and performed at the top. The Sf Symphony musicians found the heart of each selection. It was a wonderful concert. Conductor James Gaffigan was superb. In 2006-2009, he was the associate conductor for the SFS. He is now the General Music Director of Komische Oper Berlin and Music Director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia. In addition, he conducts in music centers around the world. Jeremy Constant, Concertmaster of the Marin Symphony was the Acting Concertmaster and led the First Violins with excellent musicianship.

The curtain raiser was a brief work by Missy Mazzoli’s Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres). Commissioned by the LA Philharmonic, its debut was 2014, in Los Angeles. This was its first performance at Davies Symphony Hall. Worried that the music would try its best to make me wish for Mozart, instead I wished it had not stopped so soon. It was a piece of imagination made musical. Performed with traditional instruments, there were also unusual sources of sounds: harmonicas, opera gong, and, pre-recorded, lion’s roar, and boombox. They blended and together lifted me up into what might be something like Out There

Missy Mazzoli, composer

The astronauts now stuck in their space ship might wish to have a tape of it. Although they were supposed to come home to Earth, on June 5, 2024, the timing has not worked out. They now look forward to Earth in late March, 2025. Please Ms Mazzoli, write more musical theme “songs” for the astronauts.

Roy Chen, violinist

Violinist Ray Chen was the amazing soloist in Samuel Barber’s lyrical Violin Concerto, Opus14 (1940). This music is a heart full of emotion. Do not think of sentimental hearts; this concerto reminds the listeners of glory. Humans do get there sometimes, or they know can fly above. Ray Chen is a performer. He captures the stage, collaborates with each musician, and becomes at one with the Conductor. Ray Chen also has the charisma of a rock star. His technical abilities make the lyrical movements sound like truth, and his incredibly fast playing movements are just on the verge of super-human. Think Steph Curry: graceful, fast, absolutely on the point. It seems like magic, but it is human. After many bows, he gave us a suitably amazing encore. It was Eugene Ysaye’s Sonata, No. 2, “Obsession” (Prelude). The music began with an excerpt from Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major for solo violin.  Ysaye’ “obsession”  with Bach led him to include quotes from the Bach Prelude. He also incorporates the “Dies Irae” of the Mass for the Dead. It was beautiful. Ysaye’s Sonata allows Mr. Chen to play something very special.

Samuel Barber, composer (1910-1981)

After the excitement of the Barber concerto, one hoped that the audience was ready for Prokofiev. When Maestro Gaffigan opened the program to tell us about what we would hear, he said that Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Opus 100 (1944) was one of– or maybe he said it was his favorite symphony. I am a great fan of Prokofiev. This symphony has it all. It is big, powerful, monumental but still musical in every way.  He builds a world of music. Gaffigan took the opportunity for the SFS to play with everything: finesse, delicacy, bold gestures, and loud loud music. It was written during the war. On June 6, 1944, the Americans landed on Normandy beaches. Later in 1944, Russian forces broke into German territory. Prokofiev conducted the premiere of No. 5 at Moscow, 1945. He could hear artillery and explosions; he waited for the noises of war, and then started. Prokofiev felt hopeful and wrote about No. 5: “I conceived of it as glorifying the grandeur of the human spirit, praising the free and happy man—his strength, his generosity, and the purity of his soul.” Historically, the years that followed did not show humankind achieving its greatest character. Let’s hold on to Prokofiev’s moment feeling “the grandeur” of humanity and hope that Prokofiev could hold on to it, too.

Splendid, Brilliant, Great, and More

There is a beautiful theater in the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco, the Gunn Theater. It is in the style of a jewel box grown up enough for 316 people to admire the walls’ decorations and appreciate a truly great chamber music performance. Every seat is taken far in advance for the trio performances by Alexander Barantschik, violin; Anton Nel, piano; Peter Wyrick, ‘cello. On December 1, 2024, the program was all Beethoven: two sonatas and one trio. It is difficult to describe the extraordinary performances; only a list of all the superlatives possible will come close.

The artists had planned the program so that each combination of instruments left the audience gasping with ever more wonder.

Alexander Barantschik, violinist

Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major, Opus 12, no.1 (ca. 1798) opened the program. It is notable for the partnership between piano and violin. At the time that Beethoven wrote this sonata, the violin was considered the junior partner which could even be left out. Beethoven had written “for the Harpsichord or the Pianoforte with Violin.” However, the two music sources played together and occasionally competed which they also did together. They had alternating roles fitting in like individuals jumping in to jump rope: the one jumping has to jump out just a breath before the new jumper enters with a jump. It was fascinating syncopation satisfying visual and audio senses. A critic of the Leipzig news claimed the sonata was too difficult and made so on purpose. It would exhaust the audience and the performer. He wrote that, “There are always many who love difficulties in invention and composition, what we might call perversities…” Two hundred and twenty-six years later, Beethoven’s audiences are lucky to hear these difficulties.

Peter Wyrick, ‘cellist

The Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Opus 5, no.1 was written in 1796. Beethoven created eight works for ‘cello and piano. At this time, he was gaining attention as a composer. This music surprises the listener. It begins slowly, Adagio sostenuto, and ultimately turns into a very, very quick Presto and a challenging Rondo. The musicians play with amazing speed and equally amazing technique. The whole Sonata is wonderful; the latter part was so brilliant that it is hard to remember the lovely beginning.

Anton Nel, pianist

The program’s finale was Piano Trio in E-flat major, Opus 70, no. 2. It interested me that the movements are Allegro ma non troppo, Allegretto, Allegretto ma non troppo, Finale: Allegro. Was Beethoven in a particularly good mood when he wrote this? It was written in 1808. He did put restraints on exactly how Allegretto or Allegro the music could be. The spirit of the Trio is graceful and calm. It seems to me that Beethoven is exploring. He gives us thoughtfulness that is not mulling over. There are patches of light like a falling star, it seems to have an improvisation energy. He is the creative artist pondering but never ponderous. It is a wonderful, Beethoven world.

Biographies of each artist would take too much space in a post. Here are brief summaries, offered in alphabetical order.

Alexander Barantschik joined the San Francisco Symphony as Concertmaster, in 2001. Before that, he had been concertmaster of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. He has been an active soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe. He has collaborated with Andre Previn, Antonio Pappano, and  Mstislav Rostropovich. As concertmaster of LSO, he toured Europe, USA, Japan.

Anton Nel was the winner of the 1987 Naumberg International Piano Competition. He tours as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He has performed with leading orchestras in the US: Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Seattle Symphony. He has performed in Wigmore Hall (London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Suntory Hall (Japan), and other major venues in China, Korea, and South Africa. He holds the Long Endowed Chair at the University of Texas, Austin. He is also on faculties at the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival.

Peter Wyrick was a member of the SF Symphony cello section, 1986-1989 and rejoined the SFS as Associate Principal Cello, 1999-2023 when he retired from the SF Symphony. He was previously principal cello withthe Mostly Mozart Orchestra and associate principal cello with New York City Opera. He has been soloist with SFS in C.P.E. Bach’s Cello Concerto in A major, Bernstein’s Meditation No.1 from the Mass, Haydn’s Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major. He has collaborated with Yo=Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Jean=Ives Thibaudet,  among others.

 

Kathak Extravaganza! Shambhavi Dandekar’s DARPAN

Guru Shambhavi Dandekar presented DARPAN, in the Mission City Center for the Performing Arts, Santa Clara, CA. Oct. 20. Darpan, in English, means mirror. This is a wise title for the magnificent Kathak performances she choreographs and dances. It allows her students from beginners to professional to look at their progress in their art. It also shows the audience to themselves. Do they feel immersed in the dance and music? Do they lose themselves in the beauty of thought, movement, and music combined? Can they bring themselves closer to that place where one loses self-awareness? The same time their being is engulfed by time and space, time and space disappear. That is how the audience participates in the dance. It can happen if one is ready.

This year is the 10th anniversary of S.I.S.K. the arts center started by Guru Shambhavi: Shambhavi’s International School of Kathak. S.I.S.K. produces a Darpan ever two years. This year’s program was sensational. It was hard to believe but true; it was even on a higher level than the previous one. The program was varied, but all of the selections were performed perfectly. Guru Shambhavi choreographs dances which can be performed with the skills of the dancers. And, they rehearse! This made each dance and dancer successful and beautiful.

Guru Shambhavi Dandekar, in DARPAN concert, October 20, 2024.

Mr. Vineet Mishra was the emcee. He gave brief introductions to each dance. That was very helpful to me as I do not always recognize names of masters of dance and music.

Dancers who had begun their study at the beginning of this year were excellent at their assignment. They danced to pure musical notes that form Indian classical music: SA, RA, GA, MA, PA, DHA, NI. Their dance celebrated melody through their rhythmic footwork, hand movements, and graceful body movement making a design in space. Their study included speed, precision, strength, and endurance. As I quoted that list I remembered a poster that said, “Dance is work.” The audience sees the result but not the effort.

The next level of dancers also shone in their dance, Trivat. The focus shifted from melody to rhythm and from music notes to syllables of the PAKHAWAJ, a drum of classical Indian music. It has a barrel shape, open sides, and thin, leather straps. It was a pure, technical dance; the dancers more than met their challenge. It was presented as an Ode to Nritta, pure dance movement and footwork. The dancers showed incredible footwork and fine stage presence.

Nritya Keli was a dance of nostalgia inspired by movements of childhood play. It was a charming dance that suggested happy, playful times. It took the audience away from the technological world to the fun and beauty of being outdoors with friends, a rope, and maybe a ball, too.

HORI is a dramatic and moving solo dance for Guru Shambhavi Dandekar. This was its premiere performance. A young woman has lost her sight. Her sweetheart comes on the day of Hori. He tells her that this year, the holiday will be special for them; they are alone together. Despite her disability, she has a strong spirit. He has brought her a plate covered with many colors. Gently, he describes the colors as he paints them onto her face.

They celebrate Holi, the festive holiday of colors and the spiritual treasure of playfulness. Hori is a genre of semi-classical singing, especially sung during Holi. The songs of Hori/Dhamar are related to Radha-Krishna Leela. Krishna’s Leelas are Divine Play. I read that Karma is for the self, but Leela benefits the whole world.

When it is the young woman’s turn to paint colors onto his face, she chooses the most powerful color, love. It means that love is not seen but felt in the heart.

Guru Shambhavi revealed her acting abilities in Hori. In fact, she did not seem to be acting at all. She lived in the character and became the other person: her challenges, spirit, and love. I still see her turning around to sit in a chair. She reaches out with her arm to give a gift. Her smile out shined the stage lights. I did not know the story, but suddenly knew my eyes were full of tears, and I felt happy.

In her DARPAN productions, Guru Shambhavi finds ways to present both the traditional dance movements and contemporary art. To open the second half of the program, she presented GURU, a music video. It pays homage to the Guru-Shishya Parampara, the ongoing flow of knowledge from the Guru to the student. The setting was a beach with the ocean just yards away

Guru Shambhavi salutes her Guru- her mother

And honors Guru Maneesha ji with gifts and gratitude.

A woman, played by Guru Shambhavi, is practicing her arm movements. She cannot get it right. As she become more frustrated, she feels the movements get worse. She falls to the sand. Another woman, played by Guru Maneesha ji, Guru Shambhavi’s mother and guru, walks in the sand to encourage the dancer. The dancer works to get the movements precise; the Guru is helpful but strict. When the dancer is moving well, the Guru walks away. The dancer continues moving, sees another dancer having the same problems, and becomes the guru for that next dancer. This was a wonderful way to experience the Guru relationship. The director is Ashay Javdekar, also Unni and Priyanka.

S.I.S.K. has an innovative training program, Global Distance Learning for adult beginners. It began in 2021 and now has 200 students in 12 countries. Using a split screen on the back and live dancers performing on stage in their dance, Rhythm Scape, executed footwork, body movements, and formations in a surprising, delightful multi-dimension dance

Barkha, is a dance celebrating the monsoon; “the longing of the earth to unite with the sky. Peacocks “dance in bliss,” unfurling their feathers. It is set in a cycle of 12 beats. A beautiful concept and the dance fulfilled it.

Mrignayan is a dance to project the sweetness of romance, as demonstrated by Radha and Krishna. In this dance, Krishna is called Rasiya, and Radha is the protagonist. Mrignayani means “the doe eyed beauty,” referring to Radha. The accompanying composition is from the medieval saint Purushottamdas. The dance incorporates North Indian folk dance. All aspects of the dance honor the love of Radha and Krishana

The grand finale was Taalmala. It offers the essence of Indian music and means “a garland of Taal –s.” Taal is rhythm. The choreography is also an expression of higher math. The rhythms are cyclical and accent the first beat of each rhythm which is called SAM.

Taalmala is a waterfall of rhythms. It has great energy but never breaks away from the restraints of each beat pattern. There are 6 distinct Taal –s, and each has its own number of beats. Of course, it is not enough to tap or clap or nod the beats, the performers must keep dancing and making designs in space. I particularly admire Guru Shambhavi’s ability to have her dancers use all of the stage. It makes the dances alive in three – maybe four – dimensions. Watching this dance is exciting, especially if one tries to keep the counts! Here are the rhythms: Tritaal – 16 beats; Jhaptaal – 10 beats; Dhamaar – 14 beats; Chautaal – 12 beats; Roopak – 7 beats; Ashtamangal – 11 beats.

All dancers are on the stage, keeping their rhythms, working their feet and bodies, looking fabulous, and then, they make a V shaped form on the stage floor with their Guru Shambhavi standing at the up stage point of the V with her arms up in parallel. This program was a magnificent work of art. We must wait two years for the next Darpan. The line forms now.

All photos by Yamini Mitter.

ALL MOZART ALL THE TIME

November 23, Davies Symphony Hall:  The audience had the honor and pleasure to hear a concert of Mozart’s work. Several of the pieces were new to us. The excitement of discovery matched the beauty of the music.  Bernard Labadie conducted. He is internationally recognized as a master of Mozart, Baroque, and Classical music. Lucy Crowe, soprano, sang four of the seven selections. Her voice is pure, clear as glass, expressing delicacy, loving, and power. This program was her debut with the SF Symphony.

Bernard Labadie, conductor          Lucy Crowe, soprano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer (1756 -1791)

The Overture to La clemenza di Tito, K.621 was composed in 1791, Mozart’s last year. it was a good year for his music. There was a celebration of Leopold II. They needed to commission a new opera. The likely contenders were Antonio Salieri and Domenico Cimarosa. Fortunately for Mozart and his audience, including us, those other composers did not have the time. Mozart was ready and created La clemenza di Tito/ The Clemency of Titus. It was successful enough at its premiere in Prague, but over a month it became a great hit. The premiere of The Magic Flute/Die Zauberflote was premiered in Vienna. He wrote to his wife:

“It’s the strangest thing, but the same evening that my new opera was given here for the first time with such applause, Tito had its final performance in Prague, also with extraordinary applause.”

Two months and a week later, Mozart was gone.

Rondo, Al desio di chi t’adora, K. 577    The aria was composed in 1789. In this era, the music of an opera could make changes or add on extra arias, especially to please a singer. In Le Nozze di Figaro/The Marriage of Figaro, in 1786 Vienna, Susanna was performed by Mozart’s friend, Nancy Storace. He appreciated her comic presence on stage and wrote specifically for her voice and character. In 1789, The Marriage of Figaro was produced again in Vienna, but with a new Susanna. She was the mistress of Da Ponte, the lyricist. She wanted her role to be equal to that of the Countess Almaviva. This aria replaced two others from the original score. Susanna shows her virtuoso singing. The scene is outside. The music reflects the breeze and birds. This aria was our introduction to Lucy Crowe. She was splendid: At the wish of one who adores you, /Come, fly hither, my hope!/ I shall die if you make me sigh/in  vain any longer.

Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben, From Zaide, K. 344   This aria has lyrics that are unusual and beautiful. Which is the “best” aria? Impossible to decide. Crowe was absolutely on top of the challenging music. Her voice was on a journey making lovely sounds going up and down and stopping to repeat a sound especially pleasing but difficult to make. The lyric is something different.  Rest gently, my dear life,/sleep until your joy awakes./Here, I give you my portrait./See how it smiles at you./ Sweet dreams, rock him to sleep,/and finally grant his wish,/so that his desire/will become reality.

Masonic Funeral Music, K.477   Composed in 1785, it was originally written for the ceremony of two Masons being promoted to a higher level of the hierarchy and of their studies. Soon, two Masons died. Mozart changed the title of the work from Meistermusik to Maurerische Trauermusik/Masonic Funeral Musik. It is stately and sad as funeral music would be. Mozart changes the instruments for this piece. He adds 3 basset horns to the 2 oboes, clarinet, contrabasson, 2 horns and strings.  Mozart was a Mason going to meetings twice a week. He became a Master Mason; Masonic symbols and experiences show up in The Magic Flute.

“Schon lacht der holde Fruhling,” K.580     This aria was never performed as planned. It was to be in a German version of Giovanni Paisiello’s opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia/ The Barber of Seville. It was tremendously popular at that time, but Rossini’s version took over in 1816. The production never happened, but Mozart had composed an aria that would have been added in order to give Josepha Hofer, Mozart’s sister-in-law neé Weber, something special. Mozart knew her vocal skills for extremely high tessitura. The song may not have been inserted into the German Barber of Seville, but Josepha’s voice was perfect for the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. The aria became an orphan until other composers completed it. No basset horns in this one, but it was a Mozart aria sung by Ms Crowe. It was lovely, a lost treasure found. “I sit here and weep,/ alone on the field,/ not for my lost little sheep/but only for the shepherd Lindor.”

“Venga la morte…Non temer, amato bene,” K.490     This aria adds a solo violin accompanying and playing with the orchestra and the soprano. A special treat: SF Symphony’s Concertmaster, Alexander Barantschik, was the soloist. The aria was written to be inserted into Mozart’s opera, Idomeneo. Its premiere was in Munich. After only a short run for the opera, Mozart returned to Vienna. While there, he was fired from his job in Salzburg. His boss, Archbishop-Prince Colloredo and Mozart did not get along; Mozart stayed in Vienna. The son of Idomeneo, Idamante, has a predicatment. He cannot marry the woman he loves; he decides death would be better. This is opera. It is not real. Repeat. This is opera. It is not real. The music was ravishing. It is Mozart’s opera, after all.

This amazing program ended with Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K. 543. His last three Symphonies, No. 39, No. 40 ( Great G minor), No. 41 (Jupiter) were all written in nine weeks. The 40th and 41st have been more popular than No. 39. Benjamin Pesetsky suggests that might be because it does not have a catchy name. It is still Mozart’s work. The Symphony projects conflicts between a pleasing 3/4 time and a powerful response. In the Andante, once again there are two messages presenting a love and maybe an end of love. Even in the Finale which features some of Mozart’s wonderfully playful sounds, one might consider if there is a warning in the end of the music. It has mystery; Mozart certainly is allowed to put forth a mystery which we cannot solve.

 

 

 

 

Itzhak Perlman & Friends, Nov. 10, 2024

Itzhak Perlman & Friends: It was the Top of musical performance. Itzhak Perlman is the great violinist who is also the Great Human. He clearly loves to make each note, they are always perfect, and loving the music is the same as his love of the audience. The audience feels that in each note that they hear and absorb. If you are Itzhak Perlman, your friends are breath taking artists, too. In this phenomenal performance his friends were two of the world’s greatest pianists, Emanuel Ax and Jean-Ives Thibaudet, and the Juilliard String Quartet. This is a new generation Juilliard String Quartet. Bringing these gifted musicians onto the stage to make music with Perlman expands his repertory possibilities.

Itzhak Perlman, Violinist, humanitarian, mentor, founder of the Perlman Music Program which mentors “gifted young string players.”

The program presented two works from the 18th century: Sonata for Two Violins in E minor, Opus 3, no. 5, by Jean-Marie Leclair, written ca. 1734; and Piano Quartet inE-flat major, K.493, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, written 1786. A 19th century masterpiece filled the second half of the program: Concert in D major, Opus 21, by Ernest Chausson, written in 1889-91. What is the main thing these three compositions have in common? Each piece is amongst the most difficult of its kind.

Areta Zhulla, Violinist, first violin of the Juilliard String Quartet

Jean-Marie Leclair, composer (1697 – 1764)*

Leclair left his home in Lyon to publish his compositions of violin sonatas. In Lyon, he became a master of the violin, dancing, and lace-making, a thorough artist. In Paris, his violin compositions were praised with one slight problem; they were so hard to play. A writer of Leclair’s time called them “a sort of musical algebra capable of rebuffing the most courageous of musicians.” The duet performance by Areta Zhulla and Itzhak Perlman was dazzling. I especially admired the way the music weaved between each violin. There would be a place where one violin would find a place to enter and play into, with, or around the other one.  !8th century dances had intricate patterns; sometimes it is the music that follows the dance. As a dance master, he would have the music in his body. Now that I know he was a lace-maker, I feel sure that the design of the music and the playing of the violins were tracing movements of the needle and thread in and out to make a challenging, mathematical, beauty. It is there physical to touch in lace, audible and seen in the playing of the music.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer (1756 – 1791)*

Emanuel Ax, pianist

Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K. 493 was a stunning marvel. The musicians are perfection, a word I rarely use. I have loved this particular quartet for a long time. I went to Tower Records – I did say a long time ago – in North Beach and read through album covers. I chose a record  (stop laughing) of Mozart’s quartets. When I heard the opening notes of this performance, I felt myself smile all over. The performers were truly perfection: Itzhak Perlman, violin; Molly Carr, viola; Astrid Schween, ‘cello; Emanuel Ax, piano. When Mozart had a publishing deal for three quartets, the publisher paid Mozart not to compose more. In fact, the publisher thought the first piano quartet was not well received. Fortunately for Mozart and all of us, he had finished the second Piano Quartet. It must have been a very good time for Mozart’s composing as this work entered Mozart’s catalogue just after the Marriage of Figaro. Although its brilliance was obvious, this Quartet was too difficult. A writer for a German journal wrote this: “Many another piece keeps some countenance, even when indifferently performed; but, in truth one can hardly bear listening to this product of Mozart’s when it falls into mediocre amateurish hands and is negligently played.” The performance I heard kept me on the edge of the seat. It is lush, sometimes mysterious with changing rhythms, and a fascinating exchange among the players. Is it possible to translate musical talk to spoken English? No, that is why it is music. The final movement features the pianist and first violin. What an experience to hear this from them.

Jean-Ives Thibaudet, Pianist

Ernest Chausson, composer (1855 – 1899)*

Chausson’s  Concert in D major, Opus 21 is powerful and full of wonders. Concert is not a typo; it is a name for chamber music in the late 18th c. I knew his name, may have heard other pieces and may have not. Surely, I had never heard this. It is a gigantic and altogether successful creation performed by Itzhak Perlman, violin; Jean-Ives Thibaudet, piano; and the Juilliard Quartet. The music pays attention to the combinations that are well knit for all six instruments becoming one while each is heard. James M. Keller cites Chausson’s mentoring by Caesar Franck, and yet this work is still Chausson’s. Each of the four movements – Decide, Sicillienne, Grave, and Finale – added drama and character with their strong presence. The Sicillienne is beautiful in its sweeping lyricism. Grave lowers one’s feelings to a mysterious sense of loss. The energetic Finale reminds the listener of the themes of all three that came before. This listener felt her eyes open wide at the sensational Thibaudet playing precisely and powerfully. He was brilliant; Perlman was brilliant. Having both together made me want to jump up and down, but I only stood and applauded like the entire audience kept doing for many curtain calls. Many. I thought I would count, but I gave up. All six of the performers joined in an extraordinary encore and more bows and applause. Someone turned the lights back on, and, reluctantly we got the message that we had to go home.

*These composers share dreadful and inexplicable deaths. I am inserting this here so that it will not be the sad subject at the end of this post. No interpretation of the deaths from me. Jean-Marie Leclair was murdered. He lived in a bad neighborhood. He had been stabbed three times and was found in a pool of blood. It is still an open case in Paris. Three suspects: his gardener found the body; his nephew wanted Leclair to help him become a violinist but Leclair did not; Louise, an ex-wife who inherited his estate and sold off his property. Mozart died of illness; there are more than 100 theories of how he died. Chausson was trying out the new gizmo: a bicycle. He lost control of the bike, ran into a brick wall, cracked his skull. Imagine that each one would have composed more wonderful music; I am grateful for what I heard.

 

EMANUEL AX: A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

The great pianist, Emanuel Ax, performed a great program at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall. The audience was completely packed with music lovers, and Ax has dedicated classical groupies. He certainly made more on October 27. The program contained wonderful music by Beethoven and Schumann, pieces many in the audience thought they knew, and two pieces by Arnold Schoenberg, which Ax helped the audience to know better and enjoy them.

Emanuel Ax, Piano

Ax opened with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Opus 27, no. 1, Quasi una fantasia. In his first 11 sonatas, Beethoven presented sonatas which adhere to the Classical form: 3 or 4 movements which are made of exposition, development, and recapitulation. Beethoven broke the form in Sonatas 12, 13, and 14. The Sonatas number 13 and 14 are put together as Opus 27; both were written in 1801. They are different from each other except for the freedom of composition they share. Ax’s approach to Sonata No. 13 was masterful. This Sonata is seldom given great attention because its sibling, The Moonlight Sonata, is bigger, beautiful in different way, and toweringly difficult. No. 13 could be heard as a sonata with breaks between the movements or played with each running through the next, in fantasia style. It is a bright musical experience which I treasure for exactly the way program author James M. Keller describes it: “this is such a willfully eccentric piece that one may reasonably prefer to consider it a single onrushing conception, more fantasy than sonata.” I choreographed this music as a solo dance and felt that in the final movements the dance would need to just keep going up; so I flew before an eccentric, rhythmic, somewhat folkish finale. It is Beethoven’s imaginative fantasy: playful, joyful, shining a serious light on the sonata.

Ludwig van Beethoven, composer ( 1770 – 1827)

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Opus 27, no. 2, Moonlight brought us into another musical world. This sonata begins with nature at dusk. We hear the night fall into the music, the branches sway, the spirits float above a lake. Through decades after Beethoven’s death, writers wrote that the sonata is about night near a lake with moonlight shimmering on the water. It is nearly impossible to shake the 19th century writers’ impression, now in the 21st. It is emotional while the sounds touch on the clarity of moonlight. This sonata also uses the fantasia style for breaks between movements; that style being not to have a break between movements. That happens between the first movement, Adagio sostenuto,  and the second one, Allegretto. Mr. Keller quoted Liszt that the Allegretto is a “flower between two chasms.” There is a normal break before the Presto agitato ending. We are not left Romantically alone by a lake, perhaps feeling just a little glum, aware of the beauty around us, but realizing one can feel the spirits floating around the dark pines only so long. The final movement picks up the rhythms with force. It dances to the quickly rising and falling music as moonlight beams. Emanuel Ax played the delicate, powerful, gorgeous music with perfection. He seems to understand what is in the depths of the music.

Arnold Shoenberg, composer, (1874 – 1951)

Fortunately for the audience, Emanuel Ax spoke to us to explain what happens in the two selections by Schoenberg. The first one, Drei Klavierstucke, Opus 11 (1909), was played between the two Beethoven sonatas. The second opened the second half of the concert. Ax played Sechs kleine Klavierstuck, Opus 19 (1911)  before Schumann’s Fantasy in C major, Opus 17. He advised the audience that one does not need to think these approaches to music require mathematical brilliance. Instead, Schoenberg lets expression, emotion, even the concept of free association into the tightly composed sounds. That changed everything about listening to Schoenberg. In both pieces, I tried to hear the single musical sound and imagine what it was. Both of the pieces were intensely packed with memories, visions, experience. Schoenberg’s thoughts and attitudes were there for us to look at from every direction and begin to understand that sound can be real atoms of life.

Emanuel Ax, 2015

Robert Schumann, composer, (1810 – 1856)

It made me happy to know that Schumann’s Fantasy in C major, Opus 17 was the anchor of the program. It is a big work. Passionate, poetic, inventive music rolls forward and embraces its creator. He is forever the Romantic composer of the Romantic era and the romantic man who was in love with  Clara Wieck. Her father forbid her to see her dear Robert. She was widely recognized as the finest pianist of Europe. Her father sent her off on another tour to Dresden to keep her well known and away from her love. That was 1836. In 1838, he wrote to her about the Fantasy he was writing: “the first movement is the most passionate thing I have ever composed –a deep lament for you.” The next year he wrote, “In order to understand the Fantasie you will have to transport yourself into the unhappy summer of 1836, when I renounced you.” While their married life was a triumph for both of them, I was happy to hear this major work from Schumann because some classical music fans seem to be fascinated by Schumann more for the mysteries of his mental illness than the grand music he made. I think he is being championed by several artists and conductors now. Schumann described two imagined characters in his essays and compositions. Florestan is the more aggressive one, and Eusebius is often off in a dream or aligned with more tranquil music. In this Fantasy, the Florestan rules the first movement and Eusebius is also there for a section named The Sound of a Myth. The poetry of this music is not always dreamy and calm; poetry can be powerful, too. Schumann placed a poem by Friedrich Schlegel at the beginning of this score. “Through all the sounds in earth’s motley dream, one soft note can be heard by him who listens stealthily.” For the pianist, this Fantasy  is an extreme challenge to the best of technicians. Emanuel Ax played it as Schumann would want it to be. It was thrilling.

The audience went crazy for Emanuel Ax. He gave us two encores. After several curtain calls, he played Schubert’s Standchen, a song which Franz Liszt transcribed for the piano. Everyone continued applauding. Ax left again and came back to play Chopin’s Nocturne Opus 27, No. 1. It was beautiful. No one wanted to leave.