Music at Century Club: Zurich Beethoven Trio

Welcome to the second concert of "Music at The Century Club" - where we bring a casual and intimate musical experience to a beautiful and historic venue in the middle of San Francisco.

The Century Club of California is one of the oldest women’s clubs in San Francisco. Founded in the 1888 to nurture women in public life, its membership has been deeply involved in the social and cultural growth of the city since its inception. Its circa 1905 clubhouse was spared during the firestorm that followed the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, as nearly everything east of Franklin Street burned. While San Francisco was rebuilding , the clubhouse temporarily became home to City Hall offices, the California State Supreme Court, while continuing to host other important civic and cultural events in its ballroom auditorium. .

“Music at The Century Club” brings back the feeling of turn-of-the-century elegance, but with a casual and intimate touch. Concerts are held in the ballroom of the club - join us with a glass of champagne and get up close with the musical performers, as they will play their first set "on the floor" in the midst of the audience, before taking their second set "on the stage" to showcase the club’s beautiful Steinway piano and the superb acoustics of the room.

This concert will feature the Zurich Beethoven Trio, an ensemble featuring Bay Area groupmusers Ian Scarfe (piano) and James Jaffe (cello), joined by the Swiss clarinetist Lux Brahn. The trio has been touring the U.S. and Europe for ten years!

The musical selections will feature Mikhael Glinka's passionate "Trio Pathetique", a work that bridges the classicism of Beethoven's era with the early-Romantic yearnings of Chopin. The cello will be highlighted in an arrangement of a "Suite of Spanish Folksongs" by Manuel de Falla, and the clarinet will sing out in a pair of "Fantasy Pieces" by the Danish composer Niels Made.

True to their namesake, the Zurich Beethoven Trio will also perform music by the great Ludwig: The Piano Trio, Op. 38. This rarely-heard gem is an arrangement Beethoven made of his "Septet", a hugely popular work from his early years in Vienna. This version takes the original music for 7 instruments, and repackages it for only 3, boosting the energy and virtuosity of the piece while keeping the conversational aspects of it.

What's the music?

Ian Scarfe

James Jaffe Cello

Lux Brahn

Attendees

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Laura Jane Y.

Judith M.

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Anne D.

Sakura K.

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Holly T.

Nailia M.

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Denny A.

Robert Z.

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Owen E.

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David G.

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Mary H.

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Mary H.

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Thomas H.

Candice W.

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Ranveig E.

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Véronique K.

Tane B.