# Gidon Kremer & Kremerata Baltica at Bing Concert Hall, February 10, 2017

[Stanford University Live](http://live.stanford.edu/calendar/february-2017/kremerata-baltica) presents [Gidon Kremer](http://www.gidonkremer.net/) & [Kremerata Baltica](http://www.kremerata-baltica.com/)  
[Bing Concert Hall](http://live.stanford.edu/bingconcerthall/)  
[Stanford University, 327 Lasuen St, Stanford, CA 94305-5005 USA](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Stanford+University,+327+Lasuen+St,+Stanford,+CA+94305-5005+USA&hl=en)  
7:30 PM, Friday, February 10, 2017

[[2017-02-04|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2017|Up to the 2017 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2017#February_events|Up to the 2017 event list!]] ☸  [[2017-02-11|On to the next event!]]

## Tentative Program

* Glass (arr. Pushkarev): _Orpheus Suite_ for Strings and Percussion
* Kancheli: _Chiaroscuro_ for Violin, Chamber Orchestra, and Percussion
* Raskatov: _The Seasons Digest_ (after Tchaikovsky _Seasons_, op. 37a)
* Piazzolla (arr. Desyatnikov): _The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires_ for Violin and String Orchestra 

## Set One

[7:35 PM lights down, band out, chair-scraping]

### Glass (arr. Pushkarev): Orpheus Suite

Philip Glass (b.1937) (arr. Andrei Pushkarev (b. 1974)): _Orpheus Suite_ for Strings and Percussion (1991/2000/2016)

01. [7:36 PM] _the Café_
02. [7:41 PM] _Orpheus Bedroom_
03. [7:43 PM] _Orpheus and the Princess_
04. [7:47 PM] _Music Interlude_
05. [7:49 PM] _Orpheus' Return_
06. [7:55 PM] _Finale_  
[work ends 8:00 PM; applause and bows; GK offstage for a moment, then back]

### Kancheli: Chiaroscuro

01. [8:02 PM] Giya Kancheli (b.1935): _Chiaroscuro_ for Violin, Chamber Orchestra, and Percussion (2010)  
[set ends 8:23 PM; applause and bows; break]

## Set Two

[8:46 PM lights down, band out, sans GK]

### Raskatov: The Seasons Digest

Alexander Raskatov (b.1953): _The Seasons Digest_ (after Tchaikovsky _Seasons_, op. 37a) (2001)

01. [8:47 PM] _January: By the Fireside
02. [8:49 PM] _February: Carnival_
03. [8:50 PM] _March: Song of the Lark_
04. [8:51 PM] _April: Snowdrop_
05. [8:53 PM] _May: White Night_
06. [8:54 PM] _June: Barcarole_
07. [8:56 PM] _July: Song of the Reaper_
08. [8:57 PM] _August: Harvest_
09. [8:58 PM] _September: The Hunt_
10. [9:00 PM] _October: Autumn Song_
11. [9:02 PM] _November: Troika Ride_
12. [9:03 PM] _December: Christmas_  
[work ends 9:06 PM]

### Piazzolla: The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) (arr. Leonid Desyatnikov (b.1955)): _Las Quatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires)_ for Violin and String Orchestra (1965-69; arr 1991)

01. [9:08 PM] _Verano Porteño_
02. [9:14 PM] _Otoño Porteño_
03. [9:22 PM] _Primavera Porteña_
04. [9:28 PM] _Invierno Porteño_  
[work ends 9:34 PM]  
   
**1st Encore**
05. [9:36 PM] _?_    
[work ends 9:39 PM]  
   
**2nd Encore**
06. [9:40 PM] Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1986): music composed for the cartoon, _Bonifatsy's Holidays_  
[show ends 9:42 PM; bows and applause, done by 9:43]


## Performers

* [Gidon Kremer](http://www.gidonkremer.net/): violin, music director;

[Kremerata Baltica](http://www.kremerata-baltica.com/)

* Marie Helen Aavakivi: violin II;
* Emma Bandeniece: cello;
* Dzeraldas Bidva: concertmaster, violin I, Merano pocket trumpet;
* Peteris Cirksis: cello;
* Agata Daraskaite: violin I;
* Giedre Dirvanauskaite: principal cello;
* Lina Domarkaite: violin II;
* Iurii Gavryliuk: principal contrabass, bass;
* Ingars Girnis: viola;
* Mairead Hickey: violin I;
* Konstantins Paturskis: violin II;
* Dainius Peseckas: violin I;
* Madara Petersone: principal violin I;
* Kristaps Petersons: contrabass;
* Dainius Puodziukas: principal violin II;
* Ieva Puodziuke: violin II;
* Mykola Pushkarev: piano, prepared piano;
* Andrei Pushkarev: vibraphone, tympani, percussion;
* Aliona Rachitchi: violin I;
* Migle Serapinaite: violin I;
* Peteris Sokolovskis: cello;
* Andrei Valigura: principal violin II;
* Vidas Vekerotas: viola;
* Santa Vizine: principal viola;
* Zita Zemovica: viola.

## Notes

As my friend Susan put it at the conclusion of tonight's show: "sugar, pure sweet sugar!" Indeed, despite the fairly dark emotional world of Kancheli's _Chiaroscuro_, I'd agree that the overall impression tonight was of sweetness and light -- somehow it's hard to escape that in the string orchestra repertoire, but for the times when you want it, sweet! Hearing the Glass opener reminded me of seeing his movie works many years ago ... and rekindled the desire to see those multimedia operas brought to life again! Hopefully someone will decide upon a revival around here soon!

Kancheli's piece was unfamiliar to me; the strongest impression I got from this first listen was of contrast: of long, fairly quiet sections, punctuated by startlingly loud blasts of percussion. Interesting enough that I could stand to hear it again.

Opening the second half of the night, Raskatov's _Seasons Digest_, was another unfamiliar piece. And I'm embarrassed to say that I don't recall the Tchaikovsky suite that stimulated it, either. I would guess that I'd heard the Tchaikovsky at some point, but maybe not. In any case, Raskatov seemed to me to exhibit quite a sense of humor, what with the interjection of strange sounds via the prepared piano, percussion, and special instructions to the musicians, who whispered, sang, rang bells, scraped and tapped their instruments, stomped their feet, and generally added considerable visual interest to the performance.

I'm sure I've heard Piazzolla's _Four Seasons of Buenos Aires_ on several occasions, but this might have been the first time I'd encountered the arrangement by Desyatnikov -- I liked the sneaky way that he managed to insert quotes from Vivaldi here and there within the work -- it reminded me of a listener's version of "Where's Waldo?"

At this point, soon after the show, I have no idea what the first encore piece was, since Kremer made no introduction or announcement. I'm reasonably sure that the second piece was Weinberg's _Bonifatsy's Holidays_, since it jogged my memory of seeing them in 2014. Hopefully someone with better connections will post a review that fills in these blanks!

James Oestreich posted a [promo article](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/arts/music/gidon-kremer-a-violinist-on-a-mission-or-several-of-them.html) about Gidon recently in the NY Times.

[Program Notes](https://live.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/events/program-notes/Kremerata.pdf)

Tysen Dauer posted a [review](https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/stanford-live/kremerata-baltica-offers-a-lesson-in-joyful-music-making) of the show at SFCV.

{{tag>music Gidon_Kremer_&_Kremerata_Baltica Bing_Concert_Hall Gidon_Kremer Marie_Helen_Aavakivi Emma_Bandeniece Dzeraldas_Bidva Peteris_Cirksis Agata_Daraskaite Giedre_Dirvanauskaite Lina_Domarkaite Iurii_Gavryliuk Ingars_Girnis Mairead_Hickey Konstantins_Paturskis Dainius_Peseckas Madara_Petersone Kristaps_Petersons Dainius_Puodziukas Ieva_Puodziuke Mykola_Pushkarev Andrei_Pushkarev Aliona_Rachitchi Migle_Serapinaite Peteris_Sokolovskis Andrei_Valigura Vidas_Vekerotas Santa_Vizine Zita_Zemovica}}

[[2017-02-04|Back to the previous event!]] ☸ [[:#section2017|Up to the 2017 yearbox!]] ☸ [[:2017#February_events|Up to the 2017 event list!]] ☸  [[2017-02-11|On to the next event!]]