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| Steven Vanhauwaert, Artistic Director for the Second Sundays at Two series. |
Classical Crossroads
DAVID J BROWN
As with the 2020-21 season of the South Bay Chamber Music Society (see the previous LA Opus post, with links to all seven of the SBCMS's pre-recorded concerts), the South Bay area's other principal purveyor of live chamber music, Classical Crossroads, Inc., also tackled head-on the challenge of maintaining its mission in the face of the constraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Arguably, the task Classical Crossroads faced was even more daunting, with 19 events planned across two series. In fact, the Saturday afternoon "The Interludes" series (frequently reviewed in LA Opus in previous years) was suspended, but for this season, along with First Fridays at First!~fff—recorded at the usual venue of First Lutheran Church and School, Torrance—Classical Crossroads took under its wing the previously separate Second Sundays at Two, performed in Rolling Hills United Methodist Church.
Fortunately, all the streamed recordings are still available to be enjoyed on YouTube, and the high standards of performance and video and audio presentation achieved by the team of Jim Eninger (publisher of the invaluable Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter) and Karla Devine for "First Fridays at First!~fff" and Artistic Director Steven Vanhauwaert of "Second Sundays at Two" can be appreciated at the links below.
However, professional concerts free of charge to the audience, whether live or virtual, need sponsorship. If you enjoy any or all of the following, please consider a donation to Classical Crossroads here!
(Kevin Kwan Loucks, piano; Iryna Krechkovsky, violin; Ross Gasworth, cello)
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 (mvts 1, II)
DVOŘÁK: Piano Trio No.4 in E Minor, Op. 90, "Dumky" (mvts IV, VI)
(Canadian pianists Bernadene Blaha and Kevin Fitz-Gerald from USC Thornton School Faculty)
BEETHOVEN: Three Marches for Four Hands, Op. 45
DEBUSSY: Petite Suite for four hands, L65
DVOŘÁK: Slavonic Dances Op. 46: Nos. 5, 2, 1
SCHUBERT: Marche Militaire in D Major, D733, Op. 51 No. 1
(Pianist Mi-Hyun Suh was first-place winner of Peninsula Symphony’s 2020 Knox Competition)
LISZT: Piano Sonata in B minor, S.178
(Fabio Bidini, Piano Chair at Colburn Conservatory, and LACO Principal Cellist Andrew Shulman)
BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102 No. 1
BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102 No. 2
(Steven Vanhauwaert, piano; Clive Greensmith, cello)
DVOŘÁK: Silent Woods, Op. 68
DEBUSSY: Cello Sonata in D Minor
SCHUMANN: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70
(Mark Robson, piano)
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"
LISZT: Tre sonetti di Petrarca S.158
LISZT: Franz Liszt: Valse oubliée, No. 1 S.215/1
(Sung Chang, piano)
SCHUBERT: Drei Klavierstücke, D946
LISZT: Liebestraum No.3 (Love's Dream), S541
CHOPIN: Scherzo No.3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39
This recital by organist David York was given in honor and remembrance of the late organist Namhee Han.
J. S. BACH: In dir ist Freude (In Thee Is Gladness) from Orgelbüchlein, BWV615
VIVALDI (arr J. S. BACH): Largo e spiccato from Concerto in D Minor, BWV596
HOWELLS: Psalm Prelude, Set 1, No. 3, Op. 32—Psalm 23
BUXTEHUDE: Chaconne in E minor
BURKHARDT: Andante Tranquillo from The Balboa Park Suite
FRANCK: Pièce Héroïque in B minor FWV37
(Kevin Kwan Loucks, piano; Iryna Krechkovsky, violin; Ross Gasworth, cello)
BEETHOVEN: Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 “Archduke”
This recital by the Israeli pianist Einav Yarden was streamed from her home in Berlin.
BEETHOVEN: Eleven Bagatelles, Op. 119
BRAHMS: Fantasies Op. 116, Nos. 1-3
SCHUMANN: Three Fantasiestücke, Op. 111
(Connie Kim-Sheng, piano; Kyle Gilner, violin, Sarah Kim, cello: from USC Thornton
School of Music)
HAYDN: Piano Trio No. 43 in C Major, Hob.XV:27
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio No.1 in D Minor, Op.49
(Eric Byers, cello; Lucia Micarelli, violin; Fabio Bidini, piano)
BRAHMS: Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87
RAVEL: Sonata in A minor for violin and cello M73
(Violinist Elizabeth Hedman and pianist Robert Thies)
BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No.9 in A major, Op. 47, “Kreutzer”
PÄRT: Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in Mirror)
Cellists Emilio and Cara Elise Colón joined pianist Steven Vanhauwaert in a two-part
streamed recital. See Part II at SS@Two: April 11 below.
HANDEL: Trio Sonata, Op. 2 No. 8, HWV393
SCHUMANN: Fantasiestücke for Cello and Piano, Op. 73
CASSADO: Toccata, “After Frescobaldi,” 1925
CASSADO: Requiebros, 1934
BARRIÈRE: Sonata No. 10 in G Major for two cellos
BEETHOVEN: Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 5, No. 1
Still to come in Classical Crossroads' 2020-2021 season are, firstly, another two-part recital, this time by the Portugal-based DSCH—Shostakovich Ensemble, who will play Schubert's Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat major D898 in the First Friday at First!~fff slot on May 7 at 12:15 p.m., and then Schubert's Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major D929 in Second Sunday at Two on May 9, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.
And then both seasons end with a solo piano recital. On Friday, June 4, 2021 at 12:15 p.m. the performance by Korean-born Jeeyoon Kim centers on a set of Brahms Variations accompanied by original illustrations from the artist Moonsub Shin, while Sunday, June 13, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. will see the very familiar figure of Steven Vanhauwaert once more at the keyboard of RHUMC's Steinway.
