Music I'm Listening to: Hilary Hahn in recital, San Francisco

I attended what was nominally a San Francisco Symphony concert at Davies Symphony Hall last night, March 12 (which happened to be my birthday). The SFS is actually on tour in Europe at the moment. The concert last night was Hilary Hahn in recital – Hahn alone on the stage usually filled with musicians, dressed in a beautiful dark grey and Prussian blue dress adorned with sparkly silver sequins. 

She played one of the Bach sonatas for solo violin and two of the partitas – and played them very beautifully indeed (Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001; Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002; and, after intermission, Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004). They say muscle memory takes over, but I'm always astounded by the feats of memory playing pieces like this without a score involves. It was mesmerizing. The audience was very appreciative and coaxed her into an encore which she introduced by saying "I think I've got one more in me...." It was a movement from one of the other Bach solo violin pieces.

Berenice Bing, A Lady and a Roadmap, Oil on Canvas, 1962

Earlier in the day I had been to the Asian Art Museum to see a show of newly acquired works by Chinese-American artist Berenice Bing, an artist I became aware of only recently (some of her work was included in the show of paintings by female abstract expressionist painters at Modern Art West last September, in Sonoma). I hadn't realized that she worked with people like Diebenkorn and Lobdell, among others. 

Berenice Bing, Lotus Goddess, 
watercolor and mixed media on paper, 1986-1988

There was also an interesting show of prints by Yoshida Hodaka. I've long been familiar with Hodaka, but it seems his entire family – his mother, his wife, and others – were artists. The show included prints by all of them. 

As it was my birthday, I indulged in oysters and sparkling wine at dinner afterwards. A much better day than my birthday last year which was spent dealing with the death of one of our cats at the hand (paw?) of some kind of predator in the middle of the night. 

Yosshida Hodaka, Red Wall B, photo etching
and woodblock print, 1995