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I have to say that last night's appearance at the Yerba Buena Theater in San Francisco of the Bang on a Can All-Stars from New York City was a bit of a disappointment.
That's not to say that it wasn't a joy to see such really accomplished musicians, led by clarinetist and composer Evan Ziporyn, playing at their best. But the choice of what to play was the real disappointment of the evening..
Why is it that groups coming to the Bay Area from points East or Europe think they need to dumb-down their programs for the local audience?
In New York and other places the All-Stars champion really challenging works and music they commission themselves. And while last night they did play at least one piece by each of their founding members, David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe, they weren't anything we hadn't heard before (Cheating, Lying, Stealing; I Buried Paul; Big Beautiful Dark & Scary, resp.), the rest of the program, with Don Byron and Iva Bittova, would have been more fitting at a jazz nightclub like Yoshi's.
Why not play selections from Michael Gordon's new Van Gogh, or The Carbon-Copy Building by the composers collective? Or some of the many works that they've commissioned from other composers over the years.
Instead, I think they tried to play it safe. Which is disappointing.
I've heard better from Don Byron, and the Bittova pieces all appear on her album Elida (Cantaloupe Music, 2005).
Ok. It's expensive to go on tour. All that equipment, hotels, transportation. So better make sure to fill the hall.
In fact, the hall was not full .. maybe 3/4. At $45/ticket, that's not surprising. (I thought the Yerba Buena Center was supposed to be affordable.)
I couldn't attend the Marathon event held earlier that day in the Forum. It was free. But one friend, whose opinions I tend to align with mostly, was equally disappointed.
Bottom line: "So Mr Grumpy Pants, how was the concert?" -- It COULD have been better.
PS: I saw both Joshua Kosman of the Chronicle and Jason Serinus of the SF Classical Voice in the audience. It will be interesting to read their reviews.
PPS: Here is Jason's review. And here is Kosman's. Compare and contrast.
