If you can judge a prophet by his followers, maybe you can judge a composer by the quality of musicians who are inspired to champion his music. And if that’s so, then Elliott Carter - the subject of a weekendlong celebration at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in advance of his 100th birthday Thursday - is doing something right.
The two-day bash, sponsored by San Francisco Performances, included a showing of Frank Scheffer’s documentary film “Elliott Carter: A Labyrinth of Time” and lectures by musicologist Robert Greenberg. But the chief focus, naturally, was the music, which got bold, impassioned and strikingly eloquent performances from artists devoted to Carter’s work.
Saturday’s concert by the Pacifica Quartet - violinists Simin Ganatra and Sibbi Bernhardsson, violist Masumi Per Rostad and cellist Brandon Vamos - was a complete tour through Carter’s string quartets, from the expansive breakthrough of the String Quartet No. 1, written in 1951, to the Fifth Quartet, which joined the catalog in 1995.
And on Sunday afternoon, pianist Ursula Oppens gave a similarly comprehensive overview of the composer’s keyboard works. The recital was anchored by his two major piano compositions - the Piano Sonata (1945-46) and “Night Fantasies” (1980) - and bedecked by a handful of shorter pieces dating from the past 15 years.
What came through most stirringly in both events was the devoted sense of advocacy that Carter seems to engender in performing musicians. As difficult as much of his music is for the listener, the difficulties it entails for instrumentalists - from both a technical and interpretive standpoint - can only be more profound.
Yet here were artists clearly delighted and eager to dedicate themselves to making the best possible case for this music - and succeeding in doing so.
Here is full article: Music review: Elliott Carter celebration
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