Upcoming Performances

We hope you can join us this winter for two brand-new chamber music programs for clarinet and piano...

PROGRAM #1

Grand Duo

music by Weber, Beethoven, Poulenc, and Bernstein

Join Mirage Ensemble members clarinetist Rob Bailis, lauded for his "sweet, singing tone...and technical wizardry" (S.F. Classical Voice), and pianist Hadley McCarroll, hailed for her "...lively and exhilarating..." pianism, (San Francisco Classical Voice), in a program of music both virtuosic and intimate, featuring music ranging from Beethoven's late period to Poulenc's zenith.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20th at 4 PM

Old First Concerts

1751 Sacramento Street in San Francisco

Tickets: $15 General, $12 Seniors (65 and older), $12 Full Time Students

Call: (415) 474-1608

http://www.oldfirstconcerts.org/

We feature great duos of the clarinet and piano repertoire, including Carl Maria von Weber's masterwork Grand Duo Concertante, the last work Weber composed for the clarinet. We look briefly to the late period of Beethoven, with his Bagatelles op. 126 for solo piano, one of the last pieces he wrote for his own beloved instrument. These six tiny magical pieces are more reminiscent of a late string quartet in their economy of expression, harmony and voice-leading, and are simply beautiful. Francis Poulenc wrote the Sonata for clarinet and piano in 1962, one of the last pieces he completed; unfortunately he didn't live to see it played-it was premiered posthumously by Leonard Bernstein and Benny Goodman in 1963. Leonard Bernstein's first published piece was also a Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, which looks ahead to his great musical "West Side Story" with its Cuban and jazz rhythms, and to his opera "A Quiet Place" with its intimate, poignant melodies.

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PROGRAM #2

Songs without words:

great instrumental music inspired by song

works by Gershwin, Bernstein, Copland, and others!

In our second program we look to masterworks from popular song composers in the classical idiom, featuring arrangements, improvisations and homages.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd at 8 PM

The Berkeley Hillside Club

2286 Cedar St.

Berkeley, CA 94709

Tickets: $15 general ($10 for Club members and Seniors)

http://hillsideclub/concerts.htm.

Come enjoy an evening of great music as we pay homage to popular song and the composers who produced memorable classical vocal music as well as major instrumental chamber music works. Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" for solo piano was the most famous rag of its day, inspiring George Gershwin to write in a more popular style as a teenager composing his first songs. Gershwin had such success with his songs that he published improvisations for solo piano on "I Got Rhythm" and "Clap Your Hands", in addition to arranging his wildly popular "Three Preludes for Piano" for clarinet and piano. In 1942 Leonard Bernstein published his first work, Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, which looks ahead to the musical "West Side Story" with its Cuban and jazz rhythms, and to his opera "A Quiet Place" with its intimate, poignant melodies. In 1920, while studying in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, Aaron Copland was delighted and shocked that he could sell a quickly composed piano piece "The Cat and the Mouse" (Scherzo Humoristique) to Debussy's publisher! Gerald Finzi composed nine vocal cycles, countless choral works and, sadly for us, few chamber music pieces. The Five Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano are a cornerstone of the clarinet and piano literature by one of the most popular 20th century British composers.