Curious Flights 2015-2016 Season

Curious Flights, the amiable concert series founded in 2013 by clarinetist Brenden Guy, returns this weekend for a 2nd season, with a concert of English vocal & chamber music at the SF Conservatory of Music. Past programs have featured genial performances from local & international musicians of new & rarely-presented works, & the new season is ambitious & pleasingly varied. This Saturday's concert looks charming & features soprano & Adler Fellow Julie Adams & piano whiz Keisuke Nakagoshi, as well as the Choir of St. Dominic's.

Future events include a recital by British violinist Madeleine Mitchell, performing works by mid-20th century American & UK composers, & a cutting-edge program of new music from Mason Bates, Samuel Adams & Simon Dobson, a British composer who seems to specialize in pieces for brass bands. The final concert of the season presents the West Coast premiere of Marc Blitzstein's Airborne Symphony, a massive cantata about the history of flight, requiring full orchestra, men's chorus, soloists & a narrator. The splashy program also has music by Erich Korngold, Aaron Copland & Samuel Barber. Marin Symphony's Alisdair Neale will conduct, & tenor Brian Thorsett & baritone Efraín Solís are the 2 soloists.

§ Curious Flights | 2015-2016 Season | Tickets

An English Portrait
Saturday, August 29, 2015, 8 p.m.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street, San Francisco

Recital Masters: Violinist Madeleine Mitchell
Wednesday, November 11, 2015, 7 p.m.
The Century Club of California, 1355 Franklin Street, San Francisco

Transatlantic Crossings
Saturday, March 19, 2016, 8 p.m.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

The Age of Flight
Saturday, May 28, 2016, 8 p.m.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

ABS: Sémélé

Rebecca Myers Hoke (Sémélé) and Sara LeMesh (Juno). Photo: Gas Lamp Productions.

Last week the American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy presented Sémélé, a 1709 opera by Marin Marais, in a concert version that was its North American premiere. ABS fielded a large orchestra of at least 45 musicians, plus a dozen soloists, plus a chorus of 17. The music is pretty & elegant throughout, with lots of dances & choruses. Characters behave politely, using flattering language no matter what the situation.

The performance was impeccably well-prepared. The orchestra played cleanly, with detailed articulation, & never tired over the 3-hour evening. Concertmaster Robert Mealy made a sweet sound, & the violins were perfectly synchronized even in very rapid passages. The extended trumpet solo in the Prologue was impressively secure & in tune, & the Fourth Air was exceptionally graceful. I liked the soft timbres of the woodwinds, & the flute solos were clear & smooth. The percussion had a cheerful bounciness. The low, heavy sound the strings made to depict an earthquake was striking. It was nice having the continuo harpsichord in front of the orchestra, where it was easier to hear.

The youthful cast were even & well-matched. Soprano Grace Srinivasan displayed a light, pretty voice as a Priestess & a shepherdess, & baritone Ben Kazez got a laugh for his wide-eyed exit as the drunken High Priest. This opera's Sémélé constantly worries about her predicament, & soprano Rebecca Myers Hoke was a tormented & even grieving Sémélé from the start, her voice sounding dark & mature. I liked soprano Chelsea Morris's beautifully sustained sound & gliding high notes as the confidante Dorine. Tenor Steven Brennfleck portrayed a stylish Adraste, & his phrasing was expressive & conversational. Bass Christopher Besch had a compressed sound & conveyed in authoritarian Jupiter. Mezzo Sara LeMesh was an appropriately stern Juno, her singing strong & vivid.

The chorus was satisfyingly proficient, & I enjoyed listening to their wonderfully balanced, polished sound. Conductor Jeffrey Thomas kept to regular, squared-up tempos & did a good job keeping everything consistent & together. The computer running the supertitles misbehaved several times during the show, resulting in the audience seeing the OS X desktop instead of the words. The audience was generally attentive, though there was some attrition after intermission. Each half of the concert received enthusiastic applause & cheers, & there was a partial standing ovation.

During the intermission I was introduced to journalist Chloe Veltman. I do not bake much, so I was unreasonable excited that the lemon yogurt cake I brought to share got good reviews. I found the recipe here, but to make it Sémélé Intermission Lemon Cake, use 2 lemons supplied by Patrick from his garden.

§ Sémélé (1709)
Composed by Marin Marais (1656-1728)

American Bach Soloists Academy Orchestra
American Bach Choir
Jeffrey Thomas, conductor

The Grand Priestess of Bacchus: Julianna Emanski Grace Srinivasan, soprano
The Grand Priest of Bacchus: Ben Kazez, baritone
Apollon: Matthew Hill, tenor
Cadmus: Corbin Phillips, baritone
Sémélé: Rebecca Myers Hoke, soprano
Dorine: Chelsea Morris, soprano
Adraste: Steven Brennfleck, tenor
Mercure (Arbate): David Rugger, baritone
Jupiter (ldas): Christopher Besch, bass
Junon: Sara LeMesh, mezzo-soprano
Shepherd: Ryan Strand, tenor
First shepherdess: Hannah De Priest, soprano
Second shepherdess: Grace Srinivasan, soprano

2015 American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy
Thursday August 13, 8p
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

ABS: Versailles & The Parisian Baroque

Last Friday evening the American Bach Soloists held the 1st concert of their summer Festival & Academy, which runs at the SF Conservatory of Music through August 16th. The event opened Bayreuth-style, with a trumpet fanfare proclaimed from the topmost level of the lobby 15 minutes before the performance. In keeping with this year's theme, the program consisted of dance suites by 3 composers of the French high Baroque.

Conductor Jeffrey Thomas briefly introduced the scenario of Jean-Féry Rebel's Les Élémens, which depicts nothing less than the emergence of the universe. Maestro Thomas had the string section play the motives representing water, air, fire & earth so that we could recognize them later. The piece begins with a shockingly dissonant chord, which sounds nothing like the 18th century, though the rest of the music was conventional.

The orchestra of about 25 gave a flawless, well-prepared performance which could go straight to CD. The violins' phrasing was precise & emphatic. The woodwinds sounded lovely. The flute & piccolo were clean, woody & never breathy.  I enjoyed the oboe solos, which were consistently smooth, clear & even. The bassoons had a distinctive, mellow sound that was less flatulant than their modern equivalent. The brass instruments blended nicely, & the orchestral balances seemed right. There were more fine woodwind solos, especially from the oboe, in the suite by Aubert, & the violins played rapid 16th note passages with impressive synchronization. Maestro Thomas was a calm conductor. He led with small, undemonstrative gestures, & tempos were straight & unrushed.

The program concluded with a selection of instrumental numbers from Rameau's opera Naïs. Rameau's colorful & inventive music stood out from the courtly pieces in the 1st half. The strings were gently heaving in the Sarabande, & Maestro Thomas gave the Gavotte pour les Zéphirs a nice, airy feeling. It was fun hearing the tambourine & the vigorous chordal flourishes from the strings. ABS audiences are dedicated, & they were attentive throughout, though I couldn't tell if the man in the row in front of me was headbanging to Rameau or just repeatedly nodding off.

§ Versailles & The Parisian Baroque - Part I
American Bach Soloists
Jeffrey Thomas, conductor

Lobby music:
Concert de trompettes pour les festes sur le canal de Versailles
Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657-1726)

Les Élémens, Symphonie Nouvelle
Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747)

Concert de symphonies, Suite II in D Major, Op. 9, no. 2
Jacques Aubert le Vieux (1689-1753)

Ouverture & Suite from Naïs, Opéra pour la Paix
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)

2015 American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy
Friday August 7 2015, 8p
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Up-coming: ABS Festival & Academy

American Bach Soloists begins its 6th summer Festival & Academy this Friday, running August 7th to 16th, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The festival presents ABS musicians, guest artists & students in performances, master classes & lectures. Many of the events are free. This year's theme is “Versailles & The Parisian Baroque,” & the festival opens with a 2-concert survey of French music, including Jean-Féry Rebel's ballet music for Les Élémens, which depicts the emergence of order out of chaos. Vocal works by André Campra & Quirinus van Blankenburg feature in the 2nd evening.

A 2-day Baroque Marathon, August 10th & 11th, includes French motets & chamber music by Zelenka, Telemann & others of the German Baroque. There will be plenty of Bach vocal works too, & a complete performance of cantata BWV 131, Aus der Tiefen ruf ich, Herr, zu dir. The Distinguished Artist Series concert spotlights Baroque trumpeter John Thiessen in a program of Italian & English works, along with soprano Kathryn Mueller.

The festival is proudly touting their concert version of Marin Marais’s 1709 opera of Sémélé as the 1st complete performance outside of Europe. Demand for tickets was so high that an additional performance has been added for August 13th. We also get the traditional 2 performances of Bach's Mass in B Minor, which are frequent sell-outs as well.

§ American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy
Versailles & The Parisian Baroque
August 7 - 16, 2015
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

§ Festival Website | Schedule | Tickets

§ 2015 ABS Summer Festival at a Glance
August  7, 5:00 pm | Opening Night Gala Dinner: Dobbs Ferry of San Francisco
August  7, 8:00 pm | Versailles & The Parisian Baroque - Part I
August  8, 2:30 pm | Public Colloquium - "The Culture of Versailles" (FREE)
August  8, 8:00 pm | Versailles & The Parisian Baroque - Part II
August  9, 7:00 pm | Bach's Mass in B Minor
August 10, 3:00 pm | Academy-in-Action "Baroque Marathon" Concert I
August 10, 8:00 pm | Academy-in-Action "Baroque Marathon" Concert II
August 11, 3:00 pm | Master Class: Harpsichord (FREE)
August 11, 5:00 pm | Lecture: Kenneth Slowik (FREE)
August 11, 8:00 pm | Academy-in-Action "Baroque Marathon" Concert III
August 12, 3:00 pm | Master Class: Violin & Viola (FREE)
August 12, 5:00 pm | Lecture: Robert Mealy (FREE)
August 13, 3:00 pm | Master Class: Violoncello, Viola da gamba, Violone, Contrabass (FREE)
August 13, 5:00 pm | Lecture: Corey Jamason (FREE)
August 13, 8:00 pm | Marais's Sémélé (Added performance)
August 14, 3:00 pm | Master Class: Winds & Brass (FREE)
August 14, 5:00 pm | Lecture: Judith Malafronte (FREE)
August 14, 8:00 pm | Marais's Sémélé
August 15, 3:00 pm | Master Class: Voice  (FREE)
August 15, 5:00 pm | Lecture: Debra Nagy (FREE)
August 15, 8:00 pm | Distinguished Artist: John Thiessen, Baroque trumpet
August 16, 2:00 pm | Bach's Mass in B Minor

4th of July Illuminations Show

The 4th of July fireworks show in San Francisco is an iffy thing. The weather was misty at the pier at Aquatic Park, so this year's show was mostly illuminated fog, accompanied by cheesy songs about America, blasted from loudspeakers.

The crowds were definitely sparser & more low-key than usual.

Just before the start of the show, 3 gentlemen showed up with a miniature hot air balloon & proceeded to light its flame.

The successful launch received applause from the crowd, & the sky lantern wafted up & eastward, toward Fisherman's Wharf.

SF Opera iCalendar Fix

The calendar page on the San Francisco Opera website has an iCalendar link which I thought would be handy for importing their performance calendar into my Google Calendar. However, when I tried it, Google Calendar only created one event. There's a slight problem with the file, but after a bit of hacking, I came up with a fixed version. If anyone would like to give it a try, I've uploaded it here. For the tech-savvy, I've also made it available on github.

SFSFF: All Quiet on the Western Front

When I arrived an hour early for opening night of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival on Thursday, there were already 2 lines outside the Castro Theatre. In his introductory speech, Board President Robert Byrne told us it was not OK to skip any of the festival's great programs. A representative from NBCUniversal, one of the sponsors, announced that the company was committed to restoring 15 of its silent films in the next 4 years. Mike Mashon of the Library of Congress introduced the opening night film, All Quiet on Western Front. He explained that though it was produced as a sound film, a silent version was also made for the European market. The hyped-up audience applauded any mention of "nitrate" & "35mm" in his remarks.

The film was accompanied by the 6-member Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra on piano, violin, cello, clarinet, cornet & trombone. For each scene, they vamped on one of a handful of themes, ranging from jaunty to martial to lyrical. The score was tuneful & had a 19th century feel. The movie ran well over 2 hours, plus an intermission, & the band's playing was impressively consistent throughout. Additional musicians supplied sound effects for the battle scenes. We heard a whistle & bass drum for explosions, as well as the sound of marching, gun shots & machine gun fire.

I'd never seen All Quiet on the Western Front before. The artful framing & camera movements give it a European style. The movie does a good job depicting the spectacle of battle without glorifying it. A staccato sequence showing soldiers being mowed down by machine guns is particularly effective, & I experienced a real sense of loss as the characters got picked off one by one. The traumas that the soldiers suffer made me think of the Vietnam War for some reason. My festival companion thought that the movie soft-pedaled the episode in which 3 young soldiers exchange food for a night with a trio of French country girls.

§ All Quiet On The Western Front
Lewis Milestone, USA, 1930 • 134 mins.
Live musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2015
Thursday May 28, 7:00 pm
Castro Theatre

Up-coming: NCCO Plays Schubert, Stravinsky & Bermel

Wednesday morning I attended the open rehearsal for this week's New Century Chamber Orchestra concerts, the last of the current season. Music director Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg kept checking the time & moving things along, so it was more a run-through than a working rehearsal. We got to hear the entire program. Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg, standing in front of the orchestra, was the soloist & leader for Stravinsky's Suite Italienne. She & the orchestra gave the piece a variety of colors, & each movement had a clear, contrasting mood. The performance was energetic & emphatic. In the 4th movement, she humorously told the orchestra, "You sound like you're burping."

Composer Derek Bermel was present & explained to the audience that his piece Murmurations was based on the movements of flocks of birds he saw in Rome. It's in 3 movements, fast-slow-fast, & runs about 20 minutes. The orchestra did a good job maintaining the non-stop tremolos depicting fluttering wings in the 1st & last movements. A duet for 2 violins in the 1st movement clearly depicts 2 birds swooping around one another. The attractive 2nd movement features a long, suspended melodic line over arpeggios & pizzicatos in the low strings. Mr. Bermel followed along with a score & gave the orchestra notes after each movement. He interrupted the start of the 2nd movement, because he thought it was too slow.

After a break we heard a vigorous performance of Schubert's Death & the Maiden. The orchestra played out, often digging into their strings forcefully. The 1st & 3rd movements were percussive, & the 2nd movement was dark & urgent. The final movement was fast, loud & stomping.

Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg has a lot of excess energy, & she could not resist making a few mischievous jokes at the expense of Mr. Bermel. The audience was attentive & applauded after each piece. Right before the break, the orchestra played Happy Birthday for a member of the audience, & someone even brought out a cake with yellow frosting. Coffee, donuts & slices of cake were served during the break.

§ New Century Chamber Orchestra
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Music Director & Concertmaster

Program 4. Schubert and Stravinsky Masterpieces

Igor Stravinsky
Suite Italienne, Arr. Albert Markov

Derek Bermel
Murmurations (2015)

Franz Schubert
String Quartet in D Minor D. 810, Death and the Maiden, Arr. Gustav Mahler

Open Rehearsal
Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 10am, Kanbar Performing Arts Center, San Francisco

Concerts
Thursday, May 28, 2015, 8pm, First Congregational Church, Berkeley
Friday, May 29, 2015, 8pm, First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto
Saturday, May 30, 2015, 8pm, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco
Sunday, May 31, 2015, 5pm, Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, San Rafael

Satirical Magazines at SFPL

While at the Main Branch Library on Tuesday, I got sidetracked by an exhibit of "subversive humor magazines" on the top floor. It does a good job putting Charlie Hebdo in context, & I actually learned something.

The story begins with Le Charivari, an illustrated Parisian newspaper founded in 1832. Its political & social satire ran afoul of government censors, & it shutdown within a few years. It was the direct inspiration for London's Punch magazine, among others.

If nothing else, the exhibit shows that dumb humor is nothing new.

These magazines clearly reached an artistic peak in the decades around 1900.

This sensitive drawing by Käthe Kollwitz appeared in Simplicissimus, the famous German satirical paper.

It was interesting to learn about Krokodil, the Soviet Union's official satire magazine. Judging by the pages on display, the United Sates & Britain were major targets. The collector Nat Schmulowitz obtained these by subscribing to the magazine directly. When it turned out the U.S. Postal Service was seizing them instead, he sued them to get his missing issues.

I also liked seeing issues of Tarantula, a 50's-style anti-Communist magazine smuggled into East Berlin from the West.

San Francisco is represented by The Nose, which published 25 issues in the 1st half of the 1990s. It seems to have aged well.

§ Mad World
Subversive Humor Magazines from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor
April 1 - May 31 2015
Skylight Gallery
Main Library

SF Silent Film Festival Schedule

§ SF Silent Film Festival 2015
Castro Theatre

Thursday May 28

7:00 pm
All Quiet On The Western Front
Lewis Milestone, USA, 1930 • 134 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

Friday May 29

10:00 am
Amazing Tales from the Archives (Free)
Serge Bromberg, Bryony Dixon & Robert Byrne, presenters
Musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin

1:00 pm
Cave of the Spider Women (Pan si dong)
Dan Duyu, China, 1927 • 60 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Frank Bockius

4:00 pm
When the Earth Trembled
Barry O'Neill, USA, 1913, USA • 48 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne

7:00 pm
The Last Laugh (Der letzte Mann)
F.W. Murnau, Germany, 1924 • 90 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Berklee Silent Film Orchestra

9:30 pm
The Ghost Train
Géza von Bolváry, UK/Germany, 1927 • 93 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne & Frank Bockius
Narration by Paul McGann

Saturday May 30

10:00 am
Speedy
Ted Wilde (Harold Lloyd), USA, 1928 • 85 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

1:00 pm
Visages d'enfants
Jacques Feyder, France, 1925 • 117 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne
Preceded by Serge Bromberg receiving 2015 SFSFF Award

4:30 pm
The Donovan Affair
Frank Capra, USA, 1929 • 73 mins.
Musical accompaniment and narration by the Gower Gulch Players

7:00 pm
Flesh and the Devil
Clarence Brown (Greta Garbo, John Gilbert), USA, 1926 • 112 mins
Musical accompaniment by the Matti Bye Ensemble

9:30 pm
Pan
Harald Schwenzen, Norway, 1922 • 105 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Guenter Buchwald

Sunday May 31

10:00 am
The Amazing Charley Bowers
Charley Bowers, USA, 1926–28 • 75 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Serge Bromberg

12:30 pm
Avant-Garde Paris
Emak-Bakia • Man Ray, France, 1927 • 16 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Earplay
Ménilmontant • Dimitri Kirsanoff, France, 1926 • 44 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne

2:30 pm
Why Be Good?
William Seiter (Colleen Moore), USA, 1929 • 81 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

4:30 pm
Norrtullsligan
Per Lindberg, Sweden, 1923 • 86 mins.
Musical accompaniment by the Matti Bye Ensemble

7:00 pm
Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Berthelet (William Gillette), USA, 1916 • 116 mins.
Musical accompaniment by the Donald Sosin Ensemble

9:30 pm
The Swallow and the Titmouse (L'Hirondelle et la Mésange)
André Antoine, France, 1920  • 79 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne and Diana Rowan (harp)

Monday June 1

1:00 pm
So You Think You Know Silents (Free)
Bruce Goldstein, presenter • 60 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Steve Sterner

3:00 pm
The Deadlier Sex
Robert Thornby (Blanche Sweet), USA, 1920 • 60 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Guenter Buchwald

5:00 pm
100 Years in Post-Production: Resurrecting a Lost Landmark of Black Film History
Ron Magliozzi, presenter • USA • 60 mins.
Musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin

7:00 pm
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Fred Niblo, USA, 1925 • 141 mins.
Soundtrack with score by Carl Davis
Preceded by Kevin Brownlow in conversation with Serge Bromberg

Up-coming: SF Silent Film Festival

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is one of my favorite events, & this year it runs for 5 days, starting this Thursday night at the Castro Theatre. This year's selections look particularly strong, & I'd see everything If I could. The classics are represented by All Quiet on the Western Front, Murnau's The Last Laugh, Greta Garbo & John Gilbert in Flesh & the Devil, & Fred Niblo's Ben-Hur, puportedly the most expensive Hollywood production of the silent era.

The festival has been touting the restoration of When the Earth Trembled, a 1913 melodrama with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake at its climax, & Sherlock Holmes, a recently discovered 1916 feature starring William Gillette, the stage actor who established our iconic image of the detective. Cave of the Spider Women is a Chinese adaptation of an episode from Journey to the West. Other intriguing shows are a compilation of surreal shorts by Charley Bowers & an uncompleted film with an African-American cast that includes Bert Williams. I'm excited that Menilmontant is on the schedule. It's one of the best silent films I've ever seen, & I hope to learn more about it at the screening.

All the programs except for Ben-Hur are accompanied with live music, ranging from solo piano to a student orchestra from Boston's Berklee College of Music. Actors will perform the dialogue live for Frank Capra's The Donovan Affair, a talking picture with a missing soundtrack. The irrepressible film preservationist Serge Bromberg will speak in the festival's free Amazing Tales from the Archives presentation, accompany the Charley Bowers shorts on the piano, interview Kevin Brownlow before Ben-Hur & receive a well-deserved festival award at the screening of Visages d'enfants.

§ Festival Website | Musicians | Programs & Tickets | Passes

§ 20th Anniversary San Francisco Silent Film Festival
May 28–June 1, 2015
Castro Theatre

Cypress String Quartet, Minus One

I recently discovered that the renovated Presidio Officers' Club now hosts a full schedule of talks & musical performances. The events are free, though you're asked to register via Eventbrite to guarantee admittance.

It's a brisk 20 minute walk from my apartment, so there's no reason for me not to become a regular.

The venue is a reception hall with a high ceiling, different types of seating & a raised stage area at one end. Attendees were encouraged to bring drinks in from the tequila bar next door.

Friday evening I heard a concert by the Cypress String Quartet, except that due to a medical situation they were missing their 2nd violin. Fortunately the replacement program of solos, duos & trios turned out to be a bonus. It was a treat to hear cellist Jennifer Kloetzel play 3 movements from the Bach Solo Cello Suite in D minor in the 1st half. Her sound was wonderfully booming & reverberant, & her playing had momentum.

The members of Cypress make a consistently cushy, balanced & ripened sound. The evening's 2nd half was strong, beginning with 2 movements from Dohnányi's Serenade for String Trio. The vigorous & engaged playing made me want to hear the rest of the piece. Elena Ruehr's Prelude Variations for viola and cello, written to celebrate a marriage, felt like an intimate & languid conversation between the 2 instruments & was lovely. The concert ended with 3 movements from a Beethoven string trio, which the players gave an appropriately restless motion. They communicated the wildness of the finale without being harsh or rushed. There was no printed program, so the musicians gave friendly spoken introductions to each selection. Though outside noises sometimes intruded (the room adjoins a restaurant), the acoustics were good.

For some reason, many attendees brought small children with them.

A little girl sat in front of me during the 2nd half & was unable to stop playing with the hair at the back of her head, & so was able to be highly distracting without making any noise. Her mother was seated behind me & finally leaned over to reprimand the daughter. I thanked her.

§ Cypress String Quartet
Cecily Ward, violin
Tom Stone, violin
Ethan Filner, viola
Jennifer Kloetzel, cello

Ludwig van Beethoven
Duett mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern, WoO 32 ("Eyeglass Duo")
1st movement

Johann Sebastian Bach
Suite No. 2 in D minor for unaccompanied cello, BWV 1008
I. Prelude
II. Allemande
III. Courante

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Duo No. 1 in G major for violin and viola, K. 423
III. Rondeau. Allegro

Ernő Dohnányi
Serenade in C major for string trio, Op. 10 (1902)
I. Marcia. allegro
II. Romanza. adagio non troppo quasi andante

Elena Ruehr
Prelude Variations for viola and cello (2008)

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 3
I. Allegro con brio
V. Menuetto. Moderato - Minore
VI. Finale. Allegro

Presidio Sessions
May 22, 2015 at 6:00 pm
Presidio Officers’ Club

Salon at the Rex: Farallon Quintet

Wednesday evening in the Salon at the Rex I heard the Farallon Quintet present a program featuring the Mozart clarinet quintet. 1st violinist Dan Flanagan introduced the group as the 1st professional ensemble devoted to the clarinet quintet repertoire. So far they know of 600 pieces written for this particular configuration, besides the well-known examples by Mozart, Brahms & Weber.

Their program began with Chad Cannon's Citizen 13660 - Vignettes, a work commissioned by the quintet. Mr. Cannon is based in Los Angeles & works for Hollywood as well as composing for the concert hall. The piece is comprised of 8 short movements, lasting about 20 minutes altogether. 2nd violinist Matthew Oshida explained that the titles of each movement come from Citizen 13660, the illustrated memoir by Miné Okubo about her experience as an interned Japanese American during World War II. The strings play a lot of simmering arpeggios, with a slow melody sometimes on top. The music is specific in depicting flurries of dust or the clanging of bells. The overall mood is sad & rueful. Clarinetist Natalie Parker made a clean, even sound that blended with the strings, & her playing seemed effortless.

I enjoyed hearing Mozart's brilliant clarinet quintet in the small salon space. It was like having the right-sized frame around a great picture. The quintet's tempos were flexible & slightly pushed, & the musicians clearly listened to each other. Mr. Flanagan's playing was forward & bright. Cellist Jonah Kim made every moment of his part look rewarding to play, & his phrasing was detailed & assertive. The quintet captured the humor of the Menuetto, & Ms. Parker lightly played a little cadenza in the final movement.

For an encore we heard Satie's Gymnopédie No.1, arranged by Mr. Flanagan for the clarinet on the melody. The arrangement sounded distinct from the piano version & worked well. As is customary at these events, there was an affable Q&A with the musicians afterward.

§ Farallon Quintet
Natalie Parker, clarinet
Dan Flanagan, violin
Matthew Oshida, violin
Elizabeth Prior, viola
Jonah Kim, cello
 
Chad Cannon (1985 - )
Citizen 13660 - Vignettes 

Wolfgang Amadeus Moart (1756 - 1791)
Quintet in A Major for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581

Encore:

Erik Satie (1866 - 1925)
Gymnopédie No.1
Arranged by Dan Flanagan

Salon at the Rex
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
6:30pm
Hotel Rex

I Am Michael

This week I got to see a preview screening of I Am Michael, a first feature by director Justin Kelly, which will play on opening night of Frameline39, June 18th at the Castro Theatre. The movie is based on the New York Times Magazine profile of Michael Glatze, who lived as an openly gay man in San Francisco in the 90s, founded a magazine for gay youth, then underwent a religious conversion & in 2007 renounced his homosexuality as a sin requiring healing. He is now a heterosexual Christian pastor, living in Wyoming & married to a woman.

The film stars James Franco as Mr. Glatze, & his massively charismatic performance carries the film. In early scenes he is warm & soulful, & he does a good job depicting Glatze's increasing alienation from the cozy throuple he has with two perfect boyfriends, played by Zachary Quinto & Charlie Carver. Mr. Franco is careful not to make Glatze seem malicious, even as he becomes hurtful toward his partners.

I appreciated the movie's neat, clear storytelling & translucent, widescreen photography. The story crosses the country a few times, & it's fun occasionally seeing the streets of San Francisco. The movie probably wouldn't offend the real-life Mr. Glatze, & the director tries not to editorialize, but there may be a hint of skepticism. When the film reached its abrupt ending, I felt the story wasn't really over.

At the festival press announcement, Frameline's programmers said they hoped this would be a provocative choice for opening night. The audience will no doubt react to the parting shot delivered by Mr. Quinto in a phone call with Glatze near the end of the film. Director Justin Kelly attends opening night.

§ I Am Michael
Written & Directed by Justin Kelly
2015, USA, 99 mins.

§ San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival
Thursday, June 18, 7:00 PM
Castro Theatre

Frameline39 Festival Announcement

Monday evening Frameline held a press announcement for the up-coming San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival, running June 18 - 28 at the Castro, Roxie & Victoria Theaters in San Francisco, the Elmwood in Berkeley & the Landmark in Piedmont. We saw the festival's colorful trailer, made by Peaches Christ & parodying The Wizard of Oz. Frameline’s Executive Director Frances Wallace, Director of Exhibition & Programming Desiree Buford & Senior Programmer Peter L. Stein cheerfully ran through festival highlights while seated on the stage of the Oasis club.

Ms. Wallace said that they aimed to provoke with the opening night film, I Am Michael, starring James Franco as Michael Glatze, the former gay activist who renounced his homosexuality & became a judgy heterosexual Christian pastor. The centerpiece narrative film, The Summer of Sangaile, is a romance from Lithuania, & the centerpiece documentary, Out to Win, looks at gay professional athletes. The festival will show several films about sports, including documentaries about gay athletes at the Sochi Olympics & competitors in an Australian rugby tournament. Closing night is Bare, a drama set in Nevada & starring Dianna Agron, with Paz de la Huerta as an alluring drifter.

I counted 15 shorts programs, including an all-animation compilation. Peter Greenaway's Eisenstein in Guanajuato, a fictionalized version of the Soviet director's 1931 visit to Mexico, was described as a "glitter bomb." Tab Hunter is scheduled to attend the screening of Tab Hunter Confidential, Jeffrey Schwarz's profile of the actor. There were shouts of approval when it was announced that the festival will host a special preview screening of Magic Mike XXL.

There will be a retrospective showing of Fassbinder's Querelle, as well as a new documentary about the director. The documentary The Yes Men Are Revolting will bring us up to date with Mike & Andy's political pranks. I was glad to see that Do I Sound Gay?, a humorous examination of the gay accent, is on the schedule.

I also had a nice time chatting with board members Liz Pesch & Christopher Wiseman. Mr. Wiseman was a delightful & persuasive conversationalist, so it's a good thing he warned me that he is a Bad Idea Bear.



§ Frameline39
San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival
June 18-28, 2015

§ Press Conference & Festival Launch Event
Monday, May 18, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Oasis

Maker Faire Bay Area 2015

Last weekend I was in San Mateo for the Bay Area Maker Faire, an exhibition emphasizing the intersection of art, play & technology.

I was there helping out Chris Jefferies, who is a friend & an advanced hobbyist. At his booth he demonstrated how to build sensor networks suitable for home automation.

The faire has also become a fashion-forward consumer trade show, with lots of small vendors & startups offering productized versions of many of the technologies on display.

The fairgrounds were packed both days, & the lines were so long at the food stalls that we gave up trying to buy lunch during the midday hours.

The event attracts affluent families, & there are lots of activities for kids.

I was enamored with the Steampunk village, set up like a gypsy camp in a corner of the fairgrounds.

I always enjoy the fanciful Burning Man vehicles. They seem to belong to another world.

My favorite object at the faire was this magnificent orrery, showing the planets revolving around a sun spouting real flames.

When I arrived on Saturday morning, not all the planets were rotating correctly, so Neo had to climb a ladder & give them a push to get them going.

I've been at Mr. Jefferies's booth for most of the years he's been exhibiting, & I've clearly backed the right horse, because on Sunday he was awarded an Editor's Choice ribbon. His ability to explain technical concepts to attendees was cited particularly.

§ Maker Faire Bay Area 2015
Saturday May 16th   10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 17th   10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
San Mateo County Event Center

Hookman

Two weekends ago, a friend who is a horror film aficionado took me to see Hookman, a one-act horror-comedy by Lauren Yee, playing in a small basement theater at Z Space. The main character is an understandably paranoid college freshman. She's just been in a car accident that killed her best friend, she's been date raped, & she's being menaced by a serial killer with a hook for hand but who may or may not be imaginary. The play is fast-moving & sharp, & the jumpy dialogue does a good job satirizing the disjointed thoughts of distracted teenagers. Though characters often behave clownishly, there are also discomfiting moments of blood & gore, & the man character's growing hysteria made me feel that something was at stake.

I was impressed by the swift scene changes, which cleverly transform the stage space completely for each location. The audience was hyped for the show, & there was much laughter as well as groans of revulsion. The young cast all looked like they were having fun. My theater companion thought that Taylor Jones in the lead role & Sarah Matthes as her best friend both got the right balance between the cartoony & the realistic. He also confessed that the play's demented epilogue was his favorite part of the show.

§ Hookman
Written by Lauren Yee

Presented by Encore Theatre in association with Z Space
Directed by Becca Wolff

Taylor Jones - Lexi
Sarah Matthes - Jess
Katharine Chin - Yoonji
Aily Roper - Chloe
Jessica Lynn Carroll - Kayleigh
Devin O'Brien - Hookman

May 8, 2015 at 8p
Z Below at Z Space