Kronos Quartet: Listen Local
2013-02-21
Lam Research Theater
701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA
8:00 PM, Thursday, February 21, 2013

Back to the previous event ☸ Back to the 2013 yearbox ☸ Back to the 2013 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[8:03 PM lights down, announce; no musicians onstage; applause at entrance]

[work ends 8:18 PM]
(brief pause)

[set ends 8:43 PM]

[9:06 PM lights down]

1. Rahul Dev Burman: Mehbooba Mehbooba (Beloved, O Beloved) +
2. Tanburi Cemil Bey: Evic Taksim +
3. Traditional: Wa Habibi (O My Beloved) +
4. Gétatchèw Mèkurya: Aha gèdawo +

[9:18 PM pause]

1. Born
2. Home
3. Rain
4. Learned in the South
5. English
6. A Piece of π
7. Coffee
8. Cupertino
9. The Tongue
10. Henry in Cuffs
11. I Don’t Know
12. Mother
    [set ends 9:53 PM]

Richard Wagner (arr. Aleksandra Vrebalov): Prelude from Tristan und Isolde (1859)
[show ends 10:08 PM]

• Written for Kronos
• Arranged for Kronos

• Hank Dutt: viola;
• David Harrington: violin;
• John Sherba: violin;
• Jeffrey Zeigler: cello.

First set was interesting, but not all that memorable on first encounter. Becker's piece employed backing tracks from scratchy old 78's, which kinda covered up the sound of Kronos. I assume the composer intended this effect, but I found it annoying and distracting except for the brief section that found Kronos playing along to the tune of the old record.

Lacking electronics or accompaniment, Stookey's piece was a bit more conventional, but I found it lacking in tunefulness and structure. It swept by in small episodes of bowing and scraping with nary a melody to remember.

Ah well, them's the breaks when ya want to hear what's new. Hopefully Pamela Z's piece will be more substantive!

<(wip)>

Back to the previous event ☸ Back to the 2013 yearbox ☸ Back to the 2013 event list! ☸ On to the next event!