New Century Chamber Orchestra in the Presidio

The New Century Chamber Orchestra presented a thoroughly delightful concert on Sunday afternoon at the Presidio Theatre. The 600-seat theater near the Main Parade Lawn in the Presidio National Park is tricky to visit via public transportation, but it's a marvelous, comfortable venue that has started hosting its own programming, along with renting it to outside organizations like NCCO.

Music Director Daniel Hope is an excellent speaker, keeping his introductions short, informative, and amusing. The first work on the program was C.P.E. (Carl Philipp Emmanuel) Bach's 1745 Keyboard Concerto in D Minor. Carl Philipp Emmanuel was the second of J.S. Bach's 20 children and the most successful, becoming the court composer for the gay, art-loving Frederick, King of Prussia in Berlin, where C.P.E. Bach wrote over 40 keyboard concertos among hundreds of other works.

The soloist was the 46-year-old, New York based pianist Inon Barnatan, who did a lovely job with the three-movement concerto. However, after hearing music from this era performed on harpsichords and original string instruments by local organizations like the American Bach Soloists and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, this rendition just didn't sound quite right.

Next up was Shostakovich's lively 1933 Piano Concerto #1 with Inon Barnatan on piano and Brandon Ridenour on trumpet. Hope mentioned that Shostakovich started the composition as a trumpet concerto, but lost confidence in his trumpet writing abilities so he inserted himself as a piano soloist and turned it into what is essentially a concerto for trumpet and piano. This is youthful, sarcastic Shostakovich music, which I adore, and according to Hope the composer borrowed a lot from his time working as an accompanist for silent films, "jumping all over the place, even the Wild West." The performance by the entire ensemble was an utter delight.

After intermission, Hope explained that Bartok wrote his 1939 Divertimento for String Orchestra while a guest of Paul Sacher, the great Swiss conductor and patron of 20th century composers. Bartok desperately needed money to make his way to the United States before the Nazi takeover of Hungary, so this commission was a godsend. "Divertimento usually means a diversion -- light, simple, and amusing, and this work is none of those things, though I believe it's one of the greatest musical works of the 20th century," Hope explained.

The performance by the string chamber ensemble was alternately ferocious and mysteriously atmospheric, with a folk tune inflected final movement that had the entire cello and bass section bobbing their heads in time with the irresistable dance rhythms.