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Chamber Music San Francisco Series Opens

Janos Gereben on February 4, 2014

Eroica Trio opens chamber music series Chamber Music San Francisco
Eroica Trio opens chamber music series
's unique tri-city concert series features the Eroica Trio in Walnut Creek (Margaret Lesher Theatre, Feb. 8), San Francisco (Marines Memorial Theatre, Feb. 9), and Palo Alto (Albert & Janet Schultz Cultural Arts Center, Feb. 10).

The trio now consists of Erika Nickrenz, piano; Sara Parkins, violin; Sara Sant'Ambrogio, cello. The program is the Beethoven Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11; Benjamin Godard's Berceuse de Jocelyn; Rebecca Clarke's Trio; the Brahms Trio in C Major, Op. 87.

It's an impressive season: the Escher String Quartet in February; violinist James Ehnes and pianist Dmitri Alexeev (separate recitals) in March; San Francisco debut for the German Vogler Quartet, recitals by pianists Khatia Buniatishvili and Olga Kern in April; and the Archetti string ensemble and the Zivian-Tomkins Duo in May.

The Escher will perform quartets by Mozart, Dutilleux, and Dvořák. Ehnes recital features works by Copland, Grieg, Brahms, and Schubert. Alexeev has an extra-generous program of two Schumanns, with two Wagner-Liszt and Schubert-Liszt transcriptions each, and works by Liszt and Chopin.

The Vogler program opens with the Schubert Quartettsatz, presenting Beethoven's Quartet in D Major, Op. 18 No. 3; Schulhoff's Quartet No. 1; and conclude with Schubert's Quartet in A Minor ("Rosamunde").

Buniatishvili also offers a generous program: the Liszt Sonata in B Minor, Ravel La Valse, Chopin's Sonata No. 2, and Stravinsky's Petrushka. Kern will plays works by Mendelssohn (the rarely performed Variations Serieuses, Schumann's Carnaval, and Rachmaninov Preludes.

The Archetti performs the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, and other works by Bach, Corelli and Vivaldi. The Zivian-Tomkins Duo plays works for cello and piano by Beethoven on original instruments.