San Francisco Contemporary Music Players AKA SFCMP
2013-04-01
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA
8:00 PM, Monday, April 1, 2013
[7:15 PM pre-show chat and Q&A session with Steve Schick, Graeme Jennings, Chaya Czernowin, and Lewis Nielson; ends 7:48 PM]

[8:02 PM lights down, Introduction by Roz Kennedy; 8:07 PM musicians onstage]

Tonight's first piece didn't really engage me as much as I'd hoped. Too clever by half? Perhaps. Lewis Nielson's introduction during the pre-show chat/Q&A session and essay primed me well for what I heard; I just didn't dig it that much. A nice collection of bowing and scraping, but not much in the way of melodic or harmonic development.

* Hanna Addario-Berry: cello; * Tod Brody: flute;
* Kyle Bruckmann: oboe;
* Chris Froh: percussion;
* Graeme Jennings: violin;
* Dana Jessen: bassoon;
* Ellen Ruth Rose: viola;
* Steven Schick: conductor.

[8:26 PM pause to reset the stage; ready to go at 8:29 PM]

Built on a droning base motif, I really enjoyed this piece. Listening to this work set me drifting back through hazy recollections of past concerts, with the thought arising that i should revisit the Z section of my CD collection to see if I have anything else to listen to from Ziporyn. Mid-reverie, I was startled to notice that the character of the drone had changed. I was at a loss to identify the difference at first, for the characteristic steady pulse of the opening was still present, but after a moment of more concentrated attention, I realized the difference: whereas the opening pulse was produced by trilling on open fingerholes, the new pulse was tongued against the reed, markedly changing the sound quality of that drone. Pretty darn cool, and probably quite exhausting for the players, as that section didn't last all that long before returning to a finger-based source.

• Jeff Anderle: bass clarinet;
• Peter Josheff: bass clarinet;
  * Bill Kalinkos: clarinet;
  * Steve Sanchez: clarinet.

[set ends 8:47 PM… applause until fadeout]

[9:02 PM back in front to find Graeme set up and working a few last minutes at his piece; heads offstage after a minute; 9:08 PM lights down, go!]

Meh. Best part of this work was that GJ borrowed an amp so that we could better hear the strange harmonics of the hardanger. Sadly, Lim's composition didn't seem to say all that much to me. The Q&A written up in the program implied that the work was intended to evoke ecstatic trance, but I didn't pick that up at all. Just a disconnected ramble across a sparsely drawn soundscape.

• Graeme Jennings: amplified hardanger fiddle.

[9:16 PM ends; 9:19 PM Steven Schick previews next season for us – sounds exciting! 9:22 PM On with the show!]

What with its rather spare beginning, my initial impression of this work was that it was similar to the LN piece, and would prove to be as tedious. Moreover, it was pretty obvious to me that DT had failed to turn on his guitar amp, rendering his part that much less audible than the other naturally louder instruments in the mix. Happily, I found another lesson in the fallacy of snap decisions, as the work soon evolved into something quite different. A really engaging synchrony between the percussion and piano soon captured my attention, and as that duo gradually crescendoed to a triple forte, the other instruments dropped out. Can't fight that! Like a passing wave, this roar peaked and then left growing calm in it's absence, the silence soon filled in by a return of the twittering from the strings and then a more harmonius dialogue amongst the woodwinds. As the latter part rose in prominence, I was reminded of EZ's work from the first set, and upon breaking my reverie to return attention to the current work, I noticed that the strings were now blending with the woodwinds – both groups drawing out shapely, sinuous lines of sound that merged into a seamless blend. Cool! It seemed unusual to me to hear the violin sounding like a clarinet, or the bassoon like a cello, but there it was. The concluding section seemed to reprise a bit of the first material – perhaps the conclusion of an arched design? Anyways, it was neat, and it made me curious to hear the remaining parts planned for this tryptich on a future program.

* Hanna Addario-Berry: cello; * Jeff Anderle: clarinet, bass clarinet; * Chris Froh: percussion;
* Graeme Jennings: viola;
* Dana Jessen: bassoon;
* Peter Josheff: clarinet, bass clarinet;
* Steven Schick: conductor;
* David Tanenbaum: guitar;
* Eric Zivian: piano.
[show ends 9:34 PM]

Tonight's final score: 1 solid hit; another decent try, and two whiffs. Not bad for the first day of the baseball season…

Evan Ziporyn talks about Hive with SFCMP
Stephen Smoliar's review