San Francisco Performances presents Lera Auerbach, with Philippe Quint and Joshua Roman
2015-01-20
Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA
7:30 PM, Tuesday, January 20, 2015

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• Auerbach: Chorale, Fugue and Postlude for solo piano
• Auerbach: Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano
• Auerbach: Trio No. 2 “This Mirror Has Three Faces” for violin, cello and piano
• Prokofiev-Auerbach Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (from Prokofiev’s Flute Sonata, Op. 94)

[7:34 PM lights down, announcements, comments from Lera]

1. [7:39 PM] Poem No. 1
2. [7:42 PM] Poem No. 2

Lera Auerbach (b. 1973): Chorale, Fugue and Postlude for piano, Op. 31 (1994)

1. [7:46 PM] Chorale
2. [7:51 PM] Fugue
3. [7:55 PM] Postlude
   [work ends 7:57 PM, pause to set the stage for the other musicians]

[8:00 PM comments from Lera]

Auerbach: Tryptich: Trio No. 2, “The Mirror With Three Faces” for violin, cello and piano (2012)

1. [8:06 PM] Prelude (Left Exterior Panel)—Moderato libero
2. [8:11 PM] First Unfolding (Left Interior Panel)—Allegro appassionato
3. [8:13 PM] Second Unfolding (Right Interior Panel)—Tempo di valzer
4. [8:16 PM] Tell’em What You See (Center Panel)—Allegro assai
5. [8:23 PM] Folding - Postlude (Right Exterior Panel)—Adagio nostalgico
   [set ends 8:29 PM]

[8:51 PM lights down, comments from Lera]

Auerbach: Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano (2005)

1. [8:55 PM] Adagio tragico
2. [9:00 PM] Allegro marcato
3. [9:02 PM] Adagio pesante
4. [9:07 PM] Allegro assai
   [work ends 9:13 PM]

[9:16 PM comments from Lera]

Prokofiev-Auerbach Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano (from Prokofiev’s Flute Sonata, Op. 94) (2014) (world premiere)

1. [9:22 PM] Moderato
2. [9:30 PM] Scherzo
3. [9:36 PM] Andante
4. [9:40 PM] Allegro con brio
   [set ends 9:47 PM]

1. [9:49 PM] Auerbach: Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 28 (1992), 2nd Movement: Andante
   [show ends 9:54 PM]

• Lera Auerbach: piano, composer;
• Philippe Quint: violin (replacing Daniel Hope)
• Joshua Roman: cello.

Tonight's show was pleasant, if a trifle on the long winded side. It was interesting to hear Lera give us an account of her thoughts before each with on the program, but I would have preferred to have written program notes as an additional reference point.

Her accompanists acquitted themselves admirably, most particularly Philippe Quint, who stepped into a difficult situation ( and made it seem easy). Although I dislike looking upwards, I appreciated how my close seat allowed me to hear the rich sororities of Joshua Roman's cello and the various extended techniques employed by Quint. I thought it was particularly interesting that the raspy, buzzing tone Quint used through much of Sonata No. 3 evoked an “ugly beauty” reminiscent of a percussionist's muffled cymbal roll. Very cool, and something I don't recall ever hearing before from a violin! Methinks I'll be on the lookout for future bay area appearances by this young man!

Lera seemed particularly excited about her world premiere arrangement of Prokofiev's flute sonata, and took great pains to tell us much about the genesis of and justification for creating this work. Sadly, a decent fraction of the audience had slipped out by this point, perhaps a little over tired from a long night? Might have been more gratifying for her to start of with the new deal, the better to gain a big bang from the applause of the masses, but what do I know? Anyways, I enjoyed the piece, which clearly evoked its predecessor, sounding far lighter and more lilting than the darker, brooding material that preceded it tonight. Indeed,I amused myself by following the cello line as it ping pinged forth and back between elaborating on the primary lines of the other two instruments: I half expected that the cello would actually take the lead at some point, but if that occurred, I must have been distracted.

All in all, another great night in Miner Auditorium, yay!

Joshua Kosman posted a complimentary review for SFGate.

Stephen Smoliar posted a nice review of the show for the Mercury News.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!