By Michelle Dulak Thomson, San Francisco Classical Voice
Photo by Saverio Truglia
The first thing to be said about the 2013-14 San Francisco Performances season is that it's full of ridiculously difficult programs. András Schiff plays the Bach Partitas in one concert, Oct. 6 — OK, that's plausible — but in a second, Oct. 13, he plays Bach's Goldberg Variations and Beethoven's Diabelli Variations in one sitting. As a concept, that's fantastic; as a reality, that's nuts. Except that he is one of the very few pianists I can imagine pulling it off.
Then we have the Juilliard Quartet playing the Schubert G-Major Quartet, Oct. 27. I'd love to hear anyone play the piece, but the last time, in LP days, I heard the Juilliards play it, I wasn't happy at all. But that was a long time ago, and it's not the same quartet; I'd give this a try.
And a fantastic program by the Pacifica Qt. and Marc-André Hamelin, containing Shostakovich's 7th quartet, plus piano quintets by Lev Ornstein and Dvorák. If you can't imagine Hamelin and the Pacificas playing Dvorák's Op. 81, well, neither can I. That's why I really wish I could be there.
The Alexander Quartet is a presence in the season, as ever, but twice over. "Mozart in Vienna" is an overview of the late Mozart chamber music — something that cannot, I think, be done often enough, even if it is likely to draw only fans of the quartet. The other series is something else. "The String Quartet at a Time of War" is wonderful programming. (OK, I would've ditched Shostakovich 8 for almost anything else, but that's just me.) The four programs go through the numbered Britten quartets (plus the early Three Divertimenti), pairing them with works by Walton, Pavel Haas, and Bartók. If you ever needed an incentive to get up early on a Saturday morning, this series is it; it's catnip for quartet-lovers.
Speaking of Pavel Haas, the quartet named after him is also on the schedule, playing (among other things) the marvelous Dvor(ák Op. 51 Quartet. The Quatuor Ebène (a group I haven't heard, but which has had a lot of magnificent press) is there. And did I mention Pieter Wispelwey, playing all the Bach cello suites in two concerts? And Hamelin again, with violinist Anthony Marwood and clarinetist Martin Fröst, playing (among other things) Bartók's Contrasts?
These are good times to be a classical music lover in the Bay Area.