San Francisco Performances presents Philip Glass, with Timo Andres and Maki Namekawa
2015-03-02
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
7:30 PM, Monday, March 2, 2015

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Philip Glass: The Études

[7:40 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [7:41 PM] Étude No. 1 (PG)
2. [7:45 PM] Étude No. 2 (PG)
   [7:51 PM, applause, PG off, pause to change the piano bench]
3. [7:51 PM] Étude No. 3 (MN)
4. [7:56 PM] Étude No. 4 (MN)
   [8:02 PM, applause, MN off, pause to change the piano bench]
5. [8:04 PM] Étude No. 5 (TA)
6. [8:12 PM] Étude No. 6 (TA)
7. [8:18 PM] Étude No. 7 (TA)
   [8:28 PM, applause, TA off, pause to change the piano bench]
8. [8:29 PM] Étude No. 8 (PG)
9. [8:34 PM] Étude No. 9 (PG)
10. [8:37 PM] Étude No. 10 (PG)
    [set ends 8:45 PM, applause for a minute or two, then break]

[9:05 PM lights down]

1. [9:06 PM] Étude No. 11 (MN)
2. [9:12 PM] Étude No. 12 (MN)
   [9:17 PM, applause, MN off, pause to change the piano bench]
3. [9:19 PM] Étude No. 13 (TA)
4. [9:23 PM] Étude No. 14 (TA)
5. [9:30 PM] Étude No. 15 (TA)
6. [9:35 PM] Étude No. 16 (TA)
   [9:38 PM, applause, TA off, pause to change the piano bench]
7. [9:38 PM] Étude No. 17 (PG)
   [9:43 PM, applause, PG off, pause to change the piano bench]
8. [9:44 PM] Étude No. 18 (MN)
9. [9:52 PM] Étude No. 19 (MN)
10. [9:59 PM] Étude No. 20 (MN)
    [show ends 10:05 PM, applause for a few minutes, then all off without a word]

• Timo Andres: piano;
• Philip Glass: composer, piano;
• Maki Namekawa: piano.

While not particularly different in style, hearing all of Philip Glass' piano études in a single evening was nonetheless a rewarding experience. As acknowledged in the program notes, the composer was clearly the least accomplished of the performers in a technical sense, yet he brought both mirth and gravitas to the performance, and his struggle to share the beauty of these compositions on the face of advancing age and arthritic fingers was certainly inspiring. Glass might have dropped a few more clams into the mix than his compatriots, but he also add a nice element of swing, and a sense of je ne se qua (?) that was absent from the more cerebral approaches of the other two players.

On a technical level, Timo Andres sounded more than equal to the task of playing these works, but overall, his approach seemed to be a little rushed. I was glad to hear him finish with étude 16, a work significantly more languid than the other nineteen, as that allowed Andres to show us that he wasn't all flash – I would certainly go see another recital by him in the future.

Maki Namekawa, draped in a gorgeous kimono of wintry white with blue and pink flowers, offered us a middle ground between the two men. She was clearly able to pull off the technical side of the works, and seemed to concentrate her attention on exposing the heart of Glass' that beat within each piece. In some cases this meant doing and rocking in time to the arpeggiated cords; other times dancing left hand over right (or vice versa) in order to add the embellishments that punctuated some of the chordal patterns. Often this effort meant allowing the tempo to accelerate or decelerate according to the unwritten breath patterns of the works, a reminder that despite the surface appearance, this is not meant to be music for mechanical jukeboxes, but pieces of art for living, breathing performers.

Giacomo Fiore posted a fine review for SFCV; Stephen Smoliar posted a review for the Examiner that seems to me to sum up the evening quite well.

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