San Francisco Performances presents Alexander String Quartet with Robert Greenberg
2016-12-03
St. John's Presbyterian Church
2727 College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705-1247 USA
10:00 AM, Saturday, December 3, 2016

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

[10:05 AM welcome from Melanie Smith]

1. [10:07 AM] [Lecture by Robert Greenberg]
   [ends 10:34, pause for a bit of tuning]
    
   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): String Quartet No. 18 in A major, K. 464, 1784
2. [10:35 AM] Allegro
3. [10:42 AM] Menuetto
4. [10:48 AM] Andante
5. [11:01 AM] Allegro non troppo
   [set ends 11:07 AM; all off after a minute or so]

[11:29 AM back for part two]

1. [11:30 AM] [Lecture by Robert Greenberg]
   [ends 12:00 PM, pause for a bit of tuning]
    
   Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5, 1799
2. [12:01 PM] Allegro
3. [12:08 PM] Menuetto - Trio
4. [12:13 PM] Andante cantabile con variazioni
5. [12:23 PM] Allegro
   [show ends 12:30 PM; applause for awhile, then out]

Alexander String Quartet

• Zakarias Grafilo: violin;
• Frederick Lifsitz: violin;
• Sandy Wilson: cello;
• Paul Yarbrough: viola.

• Robert Greenberg: lecturer.

Woke up bright and early (thanks to my rooster alarm, cock-a-doodle-do!), dragged my sorry ass out of bed, got dressed, washed up, then headed down to St. John's for this morning's show, the first of four lecture-concert programs in the current season: Beethoven: Before and Beyond, pairing four of Ludwig van's chamber works against the works of four other composers, beginning today with Mozart's influence on Beethoven.

To my ears, K.464 certainly sounds fresh and modern – it's a bit more challenging to listen to than his usual tuneful fare, and I can see why the piece hasn't really ever caught on with the listening public – it's not the easily singable Mozart they expect to hear. A great way to start off this series!

Beethoven cribbed his String Quartet No. 5 in A Major more-or-less directly from Mozart's amazing K.464, and Robert Greenberg's second-half lecture illuminated how this wasn't really any sort of plagiarism, but instead Beethoven's way of learning from his predecessor.

If I hadn't run out of steam, I probably would have had something to say about the second half performance, but all I can recall just now, is that I liked the Mozart better.

Program Notes

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