# Brentano String Quartet with Jonathan Biss & Hsin-Yun Huang at Herbst Theatre, October 19, 2016

[San Francisco Performances](http://www.sfperformances.org/performances/1617/BrentanoBiss.html) presents the [Brentano String Quartet](http://brentanoquartet.com/) with special guests, [Jonathan Biss](http://www.jonathanbiss.com/) and [Hsin-Yun Huang](http://www.hsinyun.com/)  
2016-10-19  
[Herbst Theatre](http://performances.org/)  
[401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-4522 USA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=401+Van+Ness+Avenue,+San+Francisco,+CA+94102-4522+USA&hl=en)  
7:30 PM, Wednesday, October 19, 2016

[[2016-10-17|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2016|Up to the 2016 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2016#October_events|Up to the 2016 event list!]] ☸  [[2016-10-20|On to the next event!]]

## Tentative Program

* Bach: Selections from _Art of the Fugue_
* Elgar: Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84
* Gesualdo: Selected Madrigals
* Mozart: String Quintet in E flat Major, K. 614

## Set One

[7:30 PM lights down, announcements, band out]

### Bach: Selections from Art of the Fugue

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1782): Selections from _the Art of the Fugue_, BWV 1080 (ca. 1740)

01. [7:31 PM] _Contrapunctus I_
02. [7:35 PM] _Contrapunctus VII, a 4, per Augmentationem et Diminutionem_
03. [7:37 PM] _Contrapunctus IV_
04. [7:42 PM] _Contrapunctus IX, a 4_  
[selection ends 7:48 PM; applause & bows, then all off for a moment or two]


### Elgar: Piano Quintet in A minor

[7:51 PM; the performers return, joined by Jonathan Biss]

Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84, (1918) with special guest, [Jonathan Biss](http://www.jonathanbiss.com/)

01. [7:52 PM] _Moderato_
02. [8:06 PM] _Adagio_
03. [8:17 PM] _Andante; Allegro_  
[set ends 8:27 PM; applause and bows, all off by 8:30 PM]

## Set Two

[8:46 PM lights down, waiting]

### Gesualdo: Selected Madrigals

Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613): Five Madrigals from Book 6, (1611), arranged by [Bruce Adolphe](http://bruceadolphe.com/), and extracted from his work, _Oh Gesualdo, Divine Tormentor_ (2004)

01. [8:47 PM] No. 9: _Deh, come invan sospiro (Ah, how I sigh for you in vain)_
02. [8:50 PM] No. 2: _Beltà, poi che t'assenti (Beauty, since you depart)_
03. [8:53 PM] No. 4: _Resta di darmi noia (Cease to give me annoyance)_
04. [8:56 PM] No. 22: _Già piansi nel dolore (Formerly I wept in my grief)_
05. [8:58 PM] No. 17: _Moro, lasso, al mio duolo (I die, alas, in my suffering)_  
[selections ends 9:01 PM; applause and bows, then all off for a moment]

### Mozart: String Quintet in E flat Major

[9:04 PM; the performers return, joined by Hsin-Yun Huang]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): String Quintet in E flat Major, K. 614 (1791), with special guest, [Hsin-Yun Huang](http://www.hsinyun.com/)

01. [9:05 PM] _Allegro di molto_
02. [9:13 PM] _Andante_
03. [9:20 PM] _Menuetto: Allegretto_
04. [9:25 PM] _Allegro_  
[show ends 9:30 PM]


## Performers

### Brentano Quartet

[Brentano Quartet](http://brentanoquartet.com/)

* Misha Amory: viola;
* Serena Canin: violin;
* Nina Lee: cello;
* Mark Steinberg: violin.


### with Special Guests

* [Jonathan Biss](http://www.jonathanbiss.com/): piano;
* [Hsin-Yun Huang](http://www.hsinyun.com/): viola.

## Notes

The best thing about tonight's concert was having a seat in the center of the third row ... exactly right for great sound and a good view of the communication between the musicians. And it didn't hurt that the program opened with Bach and ended with Mozart!

I love the spare precision which Bach spins forward to fill his compositions, and I would have been perfectly happy to hear the Brentano Quartet run through the entire _Art of the Fugue_ collection if they'd announced that as the program. More Bach = more better by me! As the program notes for this portion of the show were written by Mark Steinberg, I'm going to hazard a guess that the arrangement of the four pieces we heard was his work too.

The following piece by Elgar was quite a change. Lush, romantic, stormy, whimsical ... it allowed Jonathan Biss and the quartet to exhibit many moods and emotions. I suppose I should take time to study it a bit later on, so as to become more familiar with the piece -- to my recollection, this is the first time I've heard it performed.

Set break was followed by a leap backwards to the Renaissance madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa, Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, as filtered through the modern arrangements of [Bruce Adolphe](http://bruceadolphe.com/), who revised five of Gesualdo's original five-part vocal works into a string-quartet-sized package, then tucked in a final "commentary" piece of his own and published it in 2004 as _Oh Gesualdo, Divine Tormentor_. The program included fine notes by Adolphe about the work, but made no explanation for the omission of that last section from tonight's performance.

Closing a show with Mozart is generally a sure-fire way to please the crowd, and K.614 is up there at the top of Mozart's chamber works. I was surprised then to hear at least two "blips" during the performance where I thought one or more of the players had drifted out of sync with the rest of the unit. Perhaps they didn't put quite as much rehearsal time into this piece? Or maybe someone was extra tired after a long day? My friend Monique said she didn't hear anything amiss, so it could be that I simply misheard things ... I dunno. In any event, I was slightly let down here -- another case where I would have been better to begin listening without such high expectations!

[Program Notes](http://sfperformances.org/img/perfnotes/1617/BrentanoBissNotes.pdf)

Steven Winn posted a nice [review](https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/san-francisco-performances/late-show-biss-and-brentano-come-to-grips-with-beethoven) of this past Saturday evening's gig, including some promo comments about the program for SFCV.

{{tag>music Brentano_Quartet Jonathan_Biss Hsin-Yun_Huang Herbst_Theatre Misha_Amory Serena_Canin Nina_Lee Mark_Steinberg  }}

[[2016-10-17|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2016|Up to the 2016 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2016#October_events|Up to the 2016 event list!]] ☸  [[2016-10-20|On to the next event!]]