NCCO presents Ray Chen Leads
2016-11-10
Berkeley City Club Ballroom
2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
8:00 PM, Thursday, November 10, 2016

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• W. A. Mozart: Divertimento in F major, K. 138
• Benjamin Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge for String Orchestra, op. 10
• W. A. Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major
• Edward Elgar: Introduction and Allegro for Strings, op. 47

[8:08 PM lights down, opening remarks from Philip Wilder, band out]

W. A. Mozart (1756-1791): Divertimento in F major, K. 138 (1772)

1. [8:11 PM] Allegro
2. [8:15 PM] Andante
3. [8:20 PM] Presto
   [work ends 8:22 PM; Ray says a few words about the next piece on the program]

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976): Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge for String Orchestra, op. 10 (1937)

1. [8:24 PM] Introduction and Theme
2. [8:29 PM] Variation 1: Adagio
3. [8:30 PM] Variation 2: March
4. [8:32 PM] Variation 3: Romance
5. [8:34 PM] Variation 4: Aria Italiana
6. [8:35 PM] Variation 5: Bourée Classique
7. [8:37 PM] Variation 6: Wiener Waltzer
8. [8:38 PM] Variation 7: Moto perpetuo
9. [8:40 PM] Variation 8: Funeral March
10. [8:44 PM] Variation 9: Chant
11. [8:46 PM] Variation 10: Fugue and Finale
    [set ends 8:54 PM, bows for a moment, then all off]

[9:20 PM lights down, band out]

W. A. Mozart (1756-1791): Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K.216 (1775)

1. [9:21 PM] Allegro
2. [9:31 PM] Adagio
3. [9:41 PM] Rondeau
   [work ends 9:48 PM; after bows and applause, Ray talks briefly about the 1715 Stradivarius that he plays]

1. [9:51 PM] Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Introduction and Allegro for Strings, op. 47
   [set ends 10:06 PM]

Stephan Koncz (b. 1984): A New Satiesfaction (an arrangement of Erik Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1 (1888))

1. [10:09 PM] A New Satiesfaction
   [show ends 10:13 PM; bows, then all off around 10:14 PM]

• Robert Ashley: contrabass;
• Hrabba Atladottir: violin;
• Robin Bonnell: cello;
• Ray Chen: violin, guest concertmaster;
• Michelle Djokic: cello;
• Jenny Douglass: viola;
• Jory Fankuchen: violin;
• Eric Gaenslen: cello;
• Candace Guirao: violin;
• Dawn Harms: violin, conductor;
• Anna Kruger: viola;
• Anthony Manzo: contrabass;
• Michelle Maruyama: violin;
• Robin Mayforth: violin;
• Isaac Melamed: cello;
• Elizabeth Prior: viola;
• Cassandra Lynne Richburg: viola;
• Karen Shinozaki Sor: violin;
• Iris Stone: violin;
• Michael Yokas: violin.

One of the things I really enjoy about attending NCCO concerts is that they are far more intimate than most of the shows I go to. Of course, it helps that my on-going subscription has gotten me a prime seat (3rd row center this year), but even back eight or ten years ago, I remember hearing them do the Bach Brandenburg concerto's in a tiny church in Palo Alto and being blown away. “This is what it must have been like to be a Duke with a private string orchestra for your after-supper enjoyment” Yeah, that's the ticket!

So anyways, back to tonight. NCCO has been displaced from First Congregational Church on account of the building fire a few months ago (xref NBC news report); for tonight, the substitute venue is only a block or so away, in the Ballroom of the Julia Morgan-designed Berkeley City Club, AKA the Little Castle.

Someday I'll have to return for one of the architecture or historical talks. Or maybe just to enjoy a meal….

To return our attention to tonight's concert, despite the spartan folding chair, I was pleased to be sitting not ten feet from the orchestra. Being that close really lets you in on the action – all the looks and nods and grins and grimaces as the works unfurl. For the most part, Ray plays from memory tonight, and he often crosses his eyes while soloing, or rolls them back up in his head as he gazes to the heavens during his amazing cadenzas. The best of those came at the end of the first movement of Mozart's Violin Concerto… he just took off like a man possessed, sawing away intensely for a minute or two while the rest of us listened in awe. It's no surprise that his services are in high demand!

Georgia Rowe seems to agree with me – she posted a glowing review of tonight's show for the Mercury News. And Cheryl North posted an interesting promo article about Ray a week earlier. Three cheers to the folks at the Mercury for making an effort to keep cultural arts in the public eye! It sure beats reading about politics!

You can see (and hear) a fine string quartet version of the encore (featuring both Ray Chen and Stephan Koncz) on YouTube. Tonight's version was quite similar, if perhaps a bit richer and more sumptuous by the addition of multiple players for each part. Great stuff!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!