inexpensive concerts
Apr. 28th, 2008 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacMy attendance of folk music concerts, once a regular part of my life, has slowly dribbled away since my usual companion moved away several years ago. Our customary destination was Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, a building that looks like it began life (and, for all I know, did) as a six-car garage, and whose warm ambience is due entirely to the echo of the hundreds of great folk musicians who've played there.
So what should finally get me back to the Freight today but a classical concert? Musicians from the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra are playing monthly chamber music concerts there, and this one was tempting: Brahms's two string sextets. It was less expensive than a typical Freight concert, and a lot less expensive than a typical chamber music concert.
So having carefully put together an agenda of errands in the area (and then getting started late because I was trying to finish a report for the Potlatch committee on the hotels we're considering), I headed up.
It's probably impossible to give a performance of the B-flat sextet that I'd dislike, but despite some intonation problems it'd have been enjoyable even without this boost. But the most wit and vigor of the evening came in the scherzo trio of the G major sextet.
The players solemnly concentrated on the sheet music before them, as classical chamber players do, except for SFCO music director Ben Simon, on first viola. He acted more like a folk musician, grinning delightedly at his colleagues whenever they took over the lead from him. (It switched frequently, the Brahms sextets being far from the first-violin-and-a-backup-band lineup of some string chamber music.) The audience was more folkie than classical too, applauding determinedly after every movement, but having either the concentration or simply the politeness to refrain from talking during the music.
Sunday afternoon I'd also gotten out for a little concert, this one free: a senior recital by a Stanford student flutist (accompanied by piano). Actually there were two student flutists. One had a good tone, and the other had a secure sense of pitch, and if their strengths could have been combined somehow, there'd have been one good flutist. The one with the secure pitch wheezed and overblew her way through a sonata by Martinu, who sure wasn't in a neoclassical mood the day he wrote this one.
So what should finally get me back to the Freight today but a classical concert? Musicians from the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra are playing monthly chamber music concerts there, and this one was tempting: Brahms's two string sextets. It was less expensive than a typical Freight concert, and a lot less expensive than a typical chamber music concert.
So having carefully put together an agenda of errands in the area (and then getting started late because I was trying to finish a report for the Potlatch committee on the hotels we're considering), I headed up.
It's probably impossible to give a performance of the B-flat sextet that I'd dislike, but despite some intonation problems it'd have been enjoyable even without this boost. But the most wit and vigor of the evening came in the scherzo trio of the G major sextet.
The players solemnly concentrated on the sheet music before them, as classical chamber players do, except for SFCO music director Ben Simon, on first viola. He acted more like a folk musician, grinning delightedly at his colleagues whenever they took over the lead from him. (It switched frequently, the Brahms sextets being far from the first-violin-and-a-backup-band lineup of some string chamber music.) The audience was more folkie than classical too, applauding determinedly after every movement, but having either the concentration or simply the politeness to refrain from talking during the music.
Sunday afternoon I'd also gotten out for a little concert, this one free: a senior recital by a Stanford student flutist (accompanied by piano). Actually there were two student flutists. One had a good tone, and the other had a secure sense of pitch, and if their strengths could have been combined somehow, there'd have been one good flutist. The one with the secure pitch wheezed and overblew her way through a sonata by Martinu, who sure wasn't in a neoclassical mood the day he wrote this one.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-04-29 03:36 pm (UTC)My Life Membership in the Freight looks like a better investment every time I look at current ticket prices.
Did you ever go to theatre in that building when it was the Addison Stage Company (IIRC), and the Freight was further north on San Pablo? In fact, did you ever go to the original F&S location?
no subject
Date: 2008-04-30 03:21 am (UTC)And of course they're planning to move to a purpose-built home downtown. Cody's is also moving downtown. OCH already moved downtown a long time ago. It's the place to be in Berkeley.
The current place is a good venue for chamber music. Small enough, and with quite good (in fact almost unforgivingly bright) acoustics.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-30 03:26 pm (UTC)I went to the original Freight in '68/'69, and they moved to Addison in the early 80's. The new place is a reasonable walk from home for me, and is very close to BART, which I think will be good. And I hope the space will be as good internally.
The GAMH used to have a lot that I liked, but I've not been there in a long time.