What I did on Sunday ...

[calimac]

... was attend a string quartet concert at the behest of my editors at San Francisco Classical Voice. It sounded like a good program, so I jumped at the chance. And today is publication.

The problem with writing reviews for a general audience is that I can't put in lines like "The second violinist looked a bit like Ben Yalow, but only when he wasn't playing." On the other hand, professional publication means they provided a photo, so you can judge for yourself, so far as a little photo might help. (Left to right the players are in the order I discuss them in the last paragraph.)

The other thing I didn't write in the review, figuring most readers who cared would know the place already, was a description of the very strange venue it took place in. The Kohl Mansion is ... a mansion, a big house, a short stroll uphill on the same grounds from the labyrinth which B. and I walked in September. Concerts are held in what's closer to an enormous hallway than an actual room, with the players on a raised platform pushed against one wall halfway down. The hall is panelled in hardwood and plaster, and rises two stories high, which gives it a weirdly damp, hollow sound. Up on the second floor there are cutouts from an adjoining corridor. A few people sometimes stand up there, peering down at the concert from on high. I'd like to try being among them some day.

athenais, you'll note that the reviewer of the Kremerata Baltica concert really disagreed with us (well, at least with me) about the suitability of blowing up these chamber works to string-orchestra levels. She's one of the editors, and I made what I hope was not a mistake in showing her my review posted here.

Comments

[athenais.livejournal.com]

She sounded a lot more enthused about the arrangements than I believe was warranted, but that's a matter of personal taste, I suppose. I really did not care for the Violin Sonata as a string orchestra composition. I definitely thought the violin solo was much too weak against the massing of strings. But I liked the Schubert better than you did, if I recall, though nothing like as much as she did.