SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center is Back

 

The Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera gave their first performance of this season in the recently refurbished  SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center.  The program consisted of:

Beethoven "The Consecration of the House" Overture, Op. 124

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453.

Sibelius Symphony No 2 in D minor, Op 43.

Jeffrey Kahane both conducted and played the piano in the Mozart.  This is something going on now.  Instead of hiring both a conductor and a pianist, one hires someone who can do both at the same time, thus getting two for the price of one.  This is, of course, what would have happened in Mozart's day.  The concert was good but not very exciting.

The picture above is the only one I could find that shows the new configuration of the seats in the reconstructed center.  Previously the seats extended all the way across with aisles only at the ends. Now we have a more conventional configuration.  There is an orchestra pit, but it was covered for our performance.  

They told us the sound was amplified.  It had a kind of flat sound which diminished the expected and desired dynamic range.  Classical music is not normally amplified, and if you are amplifying it, it is considered a sign that you have failed in any kind acoustic design. People came down from the balcony and said they could hear nothing up there.  We'll see.

New Fidelio Recording

Conductor - Marek Janowski,

Leonore - Lise Davidsen,
Florestan - Christian Elsner,
Rocco - Georg Zeppenfeld,
Don Fernando - Günther Groissböck,
Jaquino - Cornel Frey,

My copy of Beethoven's Fidelio with Lise Davidsen came in the mail today.  I loved her in the Royal Opera production, but there were a number of things that didn't quite succeed.  The men's chorus here is perfection.  O Welche Lust is a beautiful piece, beautifully done here. It wasn't very attractive at the Royal Opera.  On the first disc the voices are well balanced.

And then we come to Florestan and his big aria.  I'm used to Jonas Kaufmann, whom I once described as "a Florestan to die for," and Ben Heppner.  This one is too light, particularly when paired with Lise Davidsen.  She lightens her performance a bit.  I love Lise too much to turn it down, and she is incredible here.  Later in the act she lets it rip, and the Florestan can't really balance with her.  He's not that bad.  He just doesn't come up to Lise's standard.  This opera is hard to cast.  Who has come along to follow Jonas?  

In general I find this enjoyable.

Lise records Fidelio

 

This recording of Beethoven's Fidelio with Lise Davidsen is to be released on July 16.  On my side expectations are high.  Her intelligence has caused me to feel humble.

Fidelio from the Met

Conductor...............James Levine
Production..............Jürgen Flimm

Leonore.................Karita Mattila
Florestan...............Ben Heppner
Don Pizarro.............Falk Struckmann
Rocco...................René Pape
Marzelline..............Jennifer Welch-Babidge
Jaquino.................Matthew Polenzani
Don Fernando............Robert Lloyd

I think I like this production of Fidelio from 2000 quite a lot.  The cast alone is spectacular.  I have only one question.  Why would Rocco suggest Fidelio as a husband for his daughter when he is clearly already wearing a wedding ring?  Curious.  Rocco isn't at all clownish here.

Fidelio is good with money, so Rocco likes him.  Jaquino is very butch and waves around machine guns.  Yes, we've gone modern here. Why wouldn't Marzelline like Matthew Polenzani?  Does he ever get the girl?

Ben Heppner is glorious, though it is difficult to believe he's starving.  That's opera. I love every note of this piece.  Leonore and Florestan sing O namenlose Freude, the walls open up and Don Fernando arrives.  All is as it should be.  Karita Mattile is wonderful in this, but I would love to see my current obsession in this production.  When they say King, the titles say President.  So maybe this is the American's saving Europe scenario.

It's everything a great Fidelio should be.  Karita says that's her real hair.

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Lise's New Album

Lise Davidsen's new album is out, and I'm having a hard time thinking of anything to say.  Listen for yourself?

I chose this track because it is the thing I least expected.  I was thinking to criticize her Italian work, and then came this.  She is glorious beyond my wildest imagination.  Everyone who has experienced her live says you need to be there.  Go away stupid virus.  I'm doing all I can do.  If you wanted something serious and sensible, I apologize.  I follow opera for passion alone.

The recording includes Beethoven, Mascagni, Verdi, Cherubini and Wagner.  My son said it's amazing, like something from a bye-gone era.

Lise Davidsen from Trondheim in Norway

 

Lise gave a concert today from Trondheim with James Gaffigan who is their regular guest conductor.  The program alternated instrumental numbers and vocal numbers.  On Monday Lise gave an all Grieg recital with 100 in the audience. The Norwegian government reimposed the lockdown just before this concert.  There are more than no people here but maybe 10?  We don't get to see them.

Verdi                    Overture from the Sicilian Vespers

Verdi                   "Ma dall 'arido stelo divulsa" from Ballo in Maschera                          

Verdi                     Dance from Act III Macbeth  

Verdi                    "Tu che la vanita" from Don Carlo

Intermission

Beethoven             Leonore Overture #3

Beethoven            "Abscheulicher" from Fidelio

Wagner                 Forrest Murmers from Siegfried

Wagner                 "Dich teure Halle" from Tannhaeuser

 

It was nice to see so many young women in the orchestra in Trondheim.  Lise stays in the wings until just before she sings as though perhaps this were an opera. Each of her numbers is introduced by an instrumental piece by the same composer.  So we are hearing instrumental pieces by Verdi.  For the second Verdi she comes out in the break which is what is expected.  I have heard her sing the Verdi Requiem from a few years ago, but this is the most Verdi opera I have heard.  I think she will work her way into the Verdi heroines, and perhaps Don Carlo would make a good start.

The Beethoven and Wagner I have heard before, of course, but they are wonderful again.  This concert is all Lise sings big, which is what she is famous for.  I find her very exciting.

After the end of the concert, Decca released the new recording which can be found on lisedavidsen.com.  Only the third aria from the Thursday concert is from the new recording.  She is very wonderful and has a style uniquely her own.  Future things include a recording of Fidelio and a whole Grieg album.  Forgive me if I can't act like this glorious soprano is all new to me. James Gaffigan recommends being in the room with her.  I'm working on it.

James Gaffigan is very lively and entertaining in addition to being a good conductor.  I enjoyed him.

Starry Heavens Concert

Selfie

All the music on this concert is by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Programm

Ludwig van Beethoven
Irish Songs

 Baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer and piano trio.

1. Since grey beards inform us (WoO153, Nr. 4)
2. The Pulse of an Irishman (WoO154, Nr. 4

Ludwig van Beethoven
Schottische Lieder op. 108

 Baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer and piano trio.

1. The Shepherd’s Song
2. O sweet were the hours
3. Come fill, fill, my good fellow
4. O Mary, at thy window be
5. Faithfu’ Johnie
6. Sunset
7. Bonny Laddie, Highland Laddie

Ludwig van Beethoven
Sechs Lieder von Gellert, op. 48

Soprano Lise Davidsen with Sophie Raynaud on piano.

1. Bitten
2. Die Liebe des Nächsten
3. Vom Tode
4. Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur  "The heavens declare the glory of Gott"
5. Gottes Macht und Vorsehung
6. Bußlied

Ludwig van Beethoven
Heiligenstädter Testament (Brief des Komponisten Ludwig van Beethoven an seine Brüder Kaspar Karl und Johann von 1802) 

Nikolaus Bachler, reader.  There is no music.

Ludwig van Beethoven
Streichquartett a-Moll, op. 132, 3. Satz
Canzona di ringraziamento. Molto adagio 

Musicians from the orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper

One knows from hanging around in libraries that these songs exist.  They're in the complete works, after all.  But one never hears them performed.  Schubert seems to have kicked other people's songs out of the way.   The Scottish songs are in Scottish dialect, and Lise sings only in German.  She hits just the right religious note.  I wish I was seeing more of her.  I noticed that both singers rushed on to the next song with no pause between.  Just because songs appear together on the same opus doesn't mean it is all one piece.  It was possible to tell how many songs had been sung only by looking at the program.  A small separation would have worked better for me.  One wishes to characterize each song individually.

For the speaking there are no titles.  Nikolaus Bachlere has a lot of confidence in his diction. 

This virtual concert comes with a sound machine in case you were missing the normal noises of a concert.  It includes booing.

Royal Opera Fidelio revisited

There is an audio copy floating around the internet from a radio broadcast from the Royal Opera of the Fidelio from last summer that includes Jonas Kaufmann.  He became ill before the broadcast into movie theaters, but this is an earlier performance.  So we have Lise Davidsen, Jonas Kaufmann and Tony Pappano together.  Look on rai?  I'm told it has been taken down.  This is the one.  We can only hope we will get other opportunities to see them together.  Two of my opera loves on the same stage might be too much for me.  O Gott, welch ein Augenblick.

My first take is here.  I love this opera as no other and can't really explain why.  Pappano understands.  All it misses is Jonas.  Lise goes back into women's clothes, but looks nothing like she did at the beginning.  She is wonderful in this role, and I hope to see her in it again.

Fidelio from Birmingham

                                                     Marzelline - Leonore

Conductor	William Lacey
Director	Graham Vick

Florestan	Ronald Samm
Leonore	Jane Leslie MacKenzie
Rocco	Jonathan Best
Marzelline	Donna Bateman
Jaquino	John Upperton
Don Pizarro	Keel Watson
Don Fernando	Michael Druiett

This version of Beethoven's Fidelio from Birmingham, England, 2002, by way of Operavision, is sung in English in modern dress.  The performance is inside a large tent with the audience and performers all packed into the same space.  A row of washing machines lines one side.  The translation is excellent.  This is fun for some unknown reason.  They haven't fractured it as is sometimes the case.  The main difference is that between scenes there is rioting with a lot of anarchist shouting.  These are the political fights of today.  

I love this opera as I do not love other operas.  Here there is goodness and love.  In this production all is serious.  Rocco is never a clown.  We see the truth of the story even though it is very chaotic.  Only the camera brings sense and organization.  I love Leonore who risks everything for love.  One can't help wondering what it would be like to experience all this chaos and intensity live and in person.  I know what's going on, so I don't become confused by the at times overwhelming intensity.

For the second half many of the audience members stand on numbered spots and when told, put bags over their heads.  I have never experienced anything like this and think it would be amazing.

I like this tenor who does an excellent reading of Florestan's aria.  Much of the credit for the excitement in this performance must go to the young conductor William Lacey.  In the middle of the act, after Florestan and Leonore have sung of their nameless joy, comes a long instrumental part which must be one of the Leonore overtures.  It is staged with people coming out of their cells in the ground.

I've never seen anything like it, but I wouldn't have missed it.  Thank you, Graham Vick, and thank you Beethoven.

Beethoven's Birthday

  

For the occasion of Beethoven's birthday I have chosen this film of The Ode to Joy from the 60th anniversary celebration of the found of the German Federal Republic.  "All Menschen werden Brueder."

Fidelio from the Royal Opera 👍🏻

Tobias Kratzer ....  Director

Antonio Pappano ... Conductor

Lise Davidsen .. Leonore

David Butt Philip ... Florestan

Simon Neal ... Don Pizarro

Georg Zeppenfeld ... Rocco

Amanda Forsythe ...Marzelline

Robin Tritschler ... Jaquino

Egils Silins ... Don Fernando

I found access to Beethoven's Fidelio from the Royal Opera Covent Garden in March of this this year.  Look on Opera on Video.  This was supposed to include Jonas Kaufmann, but he dropped out.  This was early in the pandemic and he caught it.  Remember, I first saw him in Fidelio in Zurich.

The overture is staged, and if you pay attention you will see Lise appear dressed as a woman.  I didn't realize Lise Davidsen was so tall.  The guys are her size, which makes her believable as a man.  She makes this performance.  Her rendition of the big aria gives me shivers.  The staging is a distraction.

For me the saddest thing about the pandemic is the absence of all the planned Fidelios.  It's one of my favorite operas.  Die Liebe wirt's erreichen.  I love it because he loved it.  You can feel it.  Beethoven would never have spent so much time on something if he didn't love it.  It's a new style of opera with heavier voices.  Die Liebe wirt's erreichen.

In modern day stagings operas that come with spoken dialog frequently get their dialog rewritten to suit the director's whim.  That has happened here.  Marzelline learns the truth about Fidelio much sooner than usual.  For me the worst offense was the Fidelio from Salzburg where there were sound effects instead of talk.  At least they say understandable things.

Marzelline has a black eye in this production.  Jaquino seems always angry, so perhaps he has punched her.  There's no hint that they will get back together.

Our Florestan is chained to a rock in a well lit room where he is surrounded by men and women watching him.  He expects to meet Leonore in heaven.  I imagine that Jonas would have been rather different.  The staging of the ending is badly muddled.  There is no scene change before the celebration. When they sing "O namenlose Freude," you feel it. Marzelline shoots Pizarro.

This is a great role for Lise.  She should sing it all over.

Here's a sample.

 

Fidelio from Theater an der Wien

You could stare at this picture for hours and nothing about it would make you think of Beethoven's Fidelio.  This performance takes place in the Theater an der Wien (Vienna, Austria) where the opera made its debut in 1805.  This performance is of the 1806 version and was performed before cameras but no audience.  It was intended as part of the 250 anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven.  It came to me via medici.tv.

Manfred Honeck | Conductor
Christoph Waltz | Stage director

Eric Cutler | Florestan
Nicole Chevalier | Leonore/Fidelio
Gábor Bretz | Don Pizarro
Christof Fischesser | Rocco
Mélissa Petit | Marzelline
Benjamin Hulett | Jaquino
Károly Szemerédy | Don Fernando

Throughout the performance people walk up and down the stairs without falling down.  I am not able to forget the danger.  Seated on the stairs in chains is Florestan.  For some reason this picture which suggests nothing at all is never confusing.

The plot is not complex. Jaquino loves Marzelline.  Marzelline, who smokes and wears pants, probably to reduce the possibility of falling, loves Fidelio.  Fidelio isn't who he seems to be.  This is the liveliest staging of the opening scene with Marzelline and Jaquino that I've seen.  They are seriously fighting.  It's fun.  Except for the stairs.  These two young people are quite enjoyable.

There seems to be some confusion about Rocco.  He's Marzelline's father, I believe, but at the end when Florestan is rescued, they seem to blame him for everything.  It's my understanding that he just works there.

I love this opera and always know what is going on.  Someone with less experience would have to tell me if the staging worked.  I enjoyed all the singing, especially  Eric Cutler, Nicole Chevalier and  Mélissa Petit.

Scarlata and Kalish at Sac State

Yesterday I attended a vocal recital with baritone Randall Scarlata and pianist Gilbert Kalish at California State University Sacramento as part of this year's New Millennium concert series.  I last saw Kalish in this same series accompanying Dawn Upshaw two years ago. 

What made this particular recital unusual was the emphasis on standard vocal repertoire. How often to you see that these days?  They performed sets by Ives (English), Fauré (French), Beethoven and Schumann (German) with an encore "Ständchen" by Schubert.  These are the mountains of classical song.  To give you an idea of the selections, in this entire program nightingales were mentioned at least four different times, including rossignol in French and Nachtigal in German.

Mr. Scarlata has a particular style of presenting which he employed in all four sets.  He uses gestures, facial expressions and walking rather more than is usually the case, but I found it moving and never too much. 

When Upshaw came, she also did some Charles Ives.  Perhaps Kalish is fond of him, as am I  I was not familiar with any of these but enjoyed their presence.  I like the idea that Ives would become standard repertoire.

Gabriel Fauré setting four texts by Paul Verlaine formed another group.  In my mind Fauré is the greatest of all French chanson composers.  There was a bit of name dropping when Scarlata mentioned discussing repertoire with the great French baritone Gérard Souzay.

For the Ludwig van Beethoven year (250 years since the birth of LvB) we were presented with the very first song cycle, Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte on poems by Alois Isidor Jeitteles.  It establishes the genre by focusing on an unhappy love affair. 

We finished with the greatest of all song cycles, Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe on poems by Heine.  Scarlata got so excited singing "Ich grolle nicht" that his face turned quite red.  This is a very beautiful set of songs that start sentimental and end tragic. 

There were appropriate changes in style as we moved from one composer to another.  The problem with performing standard repertoire is that one has ones own idea of what one should hear.  I loved the emotion but would have liked a more highly developed idea of legato.  Don't get the wrong idea.  I was very happy to hear this.

Sacramento Philharmonic does Beethoven

In Sacramento a Beethoven Festival has been created from a spectacularly disastrous concert in Vienna in 1808 where everything was composed and performed by Beethoven.  It was intended to be a benefit for Beethoven, but everything seems to have gone wrong.  For one thing it was freezing cold inside the venue.  It was Beethoven's final public appearance as a soloist because he was obviously going deaf.  Concerts that lasted 4 hours were not uncommon in Beethoven's time, but we are not so enduring and have divided it into two concerts.  It is important to remember that at this time Berlioz had not yet invented standing in front of an orchestra and waving a stick.  Beethoven would probably have sat at the piano the entire time.

Our series of two concerts are created around conductor/pianist Jeffrey Kahane.  People who conduct and play as soloists at the same time are regularly seen at the Sacramento Philharmonic.  This works better than you would think. 

First Concert January 19

Piano Concerto No. 4
Kahane, our conductor/pianist, was a definite hit in this piece and handled both his tasks well.  After the concerto, he played an extemporized solo version of "America the Beautiful." 

"Ah, Perfido" concert aria.
Soprano Mary Evelyn Hangley
She was fine in this piece, but I couldn't help thinking her Italian diction could have been better.

Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”
This is a program symphony, which means there is an associated story.  Heiligenstadt, a town up the Danube from Vienna, was a favorite place for Beethoven to compose, and the story is sort of an homage to this place.  The ensemble became a bit ragged toward the end.

Second Concert January 26

Choral Fantasy
Conductor/pianist Jeffrey Kahane
Soprano:  Liisa Davila, Mezzo Soprano:  Julie Miller, Tenor:  Jonathan Smucker, Bass:  Phil Skinner,
Tenor:  Salvatore Atti, chorus.
The Choral Fantasy is a one of a kind piece.  It starts off like a piano sonata, then is joined by the orchestra for a while.  Just about when you are wondering why there is a chorus on the stage, a group of soloists join the group as a small ensemble.  Finally the chorus also sings to end in an impressive finale.  I can't think of anything like it.  This is a fun piece with nice work for the piano.  It was enjoyably performed, unlike Beethoven's rendition.

Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus from Mass in C Major
Soprano:  Liisa Davila, Mezzo Soprano:  Julie Miller, Tenor:  Jonathan Smucker, Bass:  Phil Skinner
This is not the most fascinating mass, but all performed well.

Symphony No. 5
This concert was sold out, a first for the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera.  The presence of Beethoven's Fifth undoubtedly provides the explanation.  Believe it or not, it continues on after the famous 4 note theme.  This was the highlight of the concert.  It is an impressive piece, but you didn't need me to tell you that.  Kahane stood on the podium for this.  I enjoyed his work.  He forcefully prevented the audience from applauding between movements.

Performing this two concert series was a kind of musicological experiment in discovering performance practices in Beethoven's time.  The disasters found at Beethoven's original concert were entirely avoided. 

Takács Quartet

👍🏻

We finished the New Millennium concert series at Sacramento State with a grand performance by the Takács String Quartet, a founding member of the Gramophone Hall of Fame.  This is what quartet playing is supposed to sound like.  They are from Hungary and have been playing together for over 40 years.  Wow.  For our concert they played:

• Mozart's String Quartet No 14, K.387 (1782)  This is the first of the Haydn Quartets, in the standard 4 movements.

• Mendelssohn's String Quartet No. 6, Op.80 (1847)  This is the last piece completed by Mendelssohn before his death.  I especially liked the first of four movements.

• Beethoven's String Quartet No.14 Op. 131 (1826) This piece listed 7 movements, but they all seemed to flow one into the other.  An especially fast section seemed a Presto to me--section 5.  I turned out to be correct.  They are famous for their Beethoven.

This was a treat.  They have recorded extensively for Decca.

Beethoven and Mozart in Sacramento

Dmitri Sitkovetsky came to Sacramento to conduct and play solo violin for the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera.  I found this to be a particularly well constructed concert program and assigned this success to Dmitri.  Thank you for coming.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Suite No. 4 "Mozartiana", Op. 61 (1887)  

These movements are all based on music by Mozart. (Notes from Wikipedia)

1. Gigue. Allegro (G major) After the Little Gigue for piano, K. 574. 
2. Menuet. Moderato (D major) After the Minuet for piano, K. 355. 
3. Preghiera. Andante ma non tanto (B♭ major) After Franz Liszt's piano transcription of the Ave verum corpus, K. 618. (In 1862 Liszt wrote a piano transcription combining Gregorio Allegri's Miserere and Mozart's Ave verum corpus, published as "À la Chapelle Sixtine" (S.461). Tchaikovsky orchestrated only the part of this work that had been based on Mozart.) 
4. Thème et variations. Allegro giusto (G major) After the piano Variations on a Theme by Gluck, K. 455. (The theme was the aria "Unser dummer Pöbel meint", from Gluck's opera La Rencontre imprévue, or Les Pèlerins de la Mecque). 

I admit I'm not a huge Tchaikovsky fan.  Sitkovetsky conducted.

Wolfgang Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major (1775)

This is a lovely violin concerto, Mozart's last, from the time when part of his income source was playing violin solos.  He was 19.  Sources point out that his violin concertos don't show off all the possibilities of the violin as Beethoven and Brahms do.  Ok.  Mozart would have played these pieces himself, while Beethoven and Brahms would have relied on professional violin soloists active at their time.  Mozart's concerto is characterized by beautiful melodies and typical Mozart style.  For me it was very beautifully played.  Sitkovetsky was conductor and soloist.  The orchestra played well without constant attention from the maestro.

Arvo Pärt, Fratres (Brothers) (1977)  

The title refers to religious brothers.  This was the first time I have heard Arvo Pärt played live on a concert.  He is a living composer from Estonia.  This piece was undoubtedly chosen because it is also a violin concerto of sorts.  It begins with a series of jarring violin arpeggios and goes on to repetitive chords and arpeggios.  You will note that this piece dates one year after Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass.  Both Pärt and Glass are pioneers of the minimalist school.  We went to the lecture before where this was mentioned.  Sitkovetsky was the violin soloist and occasionally had opportunity to conduct.

Ludwig Beethoven Symphony No. 8 (1814)

Sitkovetsky returned to conducting for this.  This is a somewhat small symphony which could have come from an earlier period.  Again it was well played.

I enjoyed the way this concert was constructed with works from many styles which all related back to the influence of Mozart.  I especially liked hearing the Mozart concerto, a favorite.  Now that I understand that Arvo Pärt is a minimalist, I hope he will appear again for me.  Otherwise I only know about him from recordings.

The Ying Quartet

You could call them The Ying String Quartet, I suppose.  They started out as a family enterprise, but now the first violinist is not a family member.  They are Janet Ying (violin), Phillip Ying (viola), Robin Scott (violin), and David Ying (cello).  For our final New Millennium Concert Series program at Sacramento State we enjoyed this excellent quartet.  They are my favorite of the recent chamber music groups I have heard.

String Quartet No. 2 in D Major (1881) by Alexander Borodin
This piece sounds familiar because a couple of the movements provided source material for the musical Kismet.  It's also just very beautiful music from the high Romantic.

String Quartet No. 2 in F Major Op. 92 (1941) by Sergei Prokofiev
This is pleasingly modern but not too modern since it's based on Russian folk tunes.

Quartet in C Major, Op. 59 No 3 (1808) by Beethoven
This is one of the Razumovsky string quartets commissioned by a Russian Prince Razumovsky, thus continuing the Russian theme of the concert.

The selection of repertoire is part of what made this concert particularly pleasing, along with the beautiful romantic playing.

More Beethoven at Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera

Chee-Yun Kim 

The Sacramento Philharmonic performed Beethoven's Fourth Symphony in the first half and his Violin Concerto after the intermission.  Our guest conductor was Michelle Merrill, the first female conductor we have had.  She dressed all in black. 

The treat of the concert was the wonderful violinist Chee-Yun, called Chee-Yun Kim in our program.  She is from South Korea and was wonderful to hear. 

Our soloist played an encore of a very fancy solo violin arrangement of the Beatles' "Yesterday."

Pinchas Zukerman

Pinchas Zukerman played at our local college.  We were lucky to get him.  I asked "What's he going to play?"  The answer was, of course, violin sonatas.

Mozart
Beethoven
Brahms

This included a piece by Brahms called "Sonatensatz," which means movement from a sonata, a postumous composition.  I explained to the people sitting with me that Satz is German for sentence and is what they call a movement.  So why do we call it a movement?  I will communicate your sympathy.

I enjoyed the Brahms most.  I generally do. 

As an encore, he played a short romantic piece by a female composer named Maria Teresa....  I should have written it down.

Bach and Beethoven at the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera.

The latest concert with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera featured guest conductor Andrew Grams with Peter Serkin and Tomoki Park on the two Steinway grand pianos.

The concert opened with the Brahms Academic Festival Overture.  When they reached "Gaudeamus Igitur," my friend and I began to sing along.  I even remember the words from when I played a student in The Student Prince. 

The second piece was for 2 pianos and orchestra by Toru Takemitsu and was composed in part for Peter Serkin. I found this piece pleasant and enjoyable, but was shocked to find that I did not like at all the Bach Double Keyboard Concerto which was switched to BWV 1061 at the last minute from 1062.  Bach's keyboards would have been harpsichords, but we are all well accustomed to pianos on these pieces.

The concert closed with a lovely rendition of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.  Beethoven always comes through.  I liked Andrew Grams enthusiasm.