San Francisco Performances presents Quatuor Ebène
2014-03-03
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
1111 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, CA
7:30 PM, Monday, March 3, 2014

[7:37 PM lights down, announcements]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): String Quartet No.16 in E-flat Major, K.428/421b

1. [7:38 PM] Allegro non troppo
2. [7:45 PM] Andante con moto
3. [7:55 PM] Menuetto & Trio
4. [7:02 PM] Allegro vivace
   [set ends 8:07 PM]

Béla Viktor János Bartók (1881-1945): String Quartet No. 3 (1926), SZ 95

1. [8:13 PM] Prima parte: Moderato
2. [8:m PM] Seconda parte: Allegro
3. [8:m PM] Recapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato
4. [8:m PM] Coda: Allegro molto
   [set ends 8:28 PM]

[8:43 PM lights dimmed; tuning backstage; 8:49 out to play]

Mendelssohn: Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.13 (1827)

1. [8:50 PM] Adagio – Allegro vivace
2. [8:59 PM] Adagio non lento
3. [9:07 PM] Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto – Allegro di molto
4. [9:13 PM] Presto – Adagio non lento
   [set ends 9:22 PM; bows and applause, off for good at 9:25 PM without an encore]

Quatuor Ebène

• Pierre Colombet: violin;
• Mathieu Herzog: viola;
• Gabriel Le Magadure: violin;
• Raphaël Merlin: cello.

Arrived early with mom and snagged a good spot on Geary at Franklin, a block away from the church. Braved tonight's drippy drizzle to reach the lobby, then posted ourselves at the foot of the choir stairwell to await opening of the house. Waited about 10 min for the EQ soundcheck to finish. Upon getting the signal, we hustled up and in to grab primo seats at the front of the Stage Left choir seating – perfect for looking down on the group as they play, with just exactly the right angle on the cello.

Surprisingly, the venue is only about 2/3 full by the time they dim the lights – guess the weather is scaring folks away.

Mozart to start was a fine choice. I especially liked the theme of the fourth movement, which reminded me of a bird song.

The following work, Bartok's SQ3, is a rather jarring switch after the syruppy sweetness of the opening Mozart. Full of off-key scraping, plucking, and ominous skittering, this is a piece of much darker feelings. I was also a bit surprised when it ended – I guess I didn't notice reading that the movements ran together without pause.

I'm surprised that neither the Bartok nor Mendelssohn registered very strongly with me – I usually like Mendelssohn's pieces, but at this point, a scant ten days later, all I recall is a faint warm fuzzy feeling – happiness that the show ended on a bright note.

Stephen Smoliar posted a promo piece for the Examiner website.

Back to the calendar!