Saans (Breath): Reena Esmail - Suzana Bartal, Vijay Gupta, Peter Myers

Saans (Breath), by Reena Esmail (2017) Suzana Bartal, piano Vijay Gupta, violin Peter Myers, cello *** “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.” ― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar *** The breath makes love real. Reena was inspired to write Saans by the story of the composer Cesar Franck, who dedicated his soaring violin sonata for his friend Eugene Ysaye. The composer and the violinist sightread the sonata on the night of Ysaye's wedding. As Reena was completing her Clarinet Concerto, she saw that the 2nd movement of it would be the perfect wedding present for her dear friend and colleague - the amazing pianist Suzana Bartal - and her husband, the composer Eric Tanguy. While Suzana's wedding took place in Paris, Saans was being premiered in Los Angeles. Two years later, Suzana, Peter and I performed Saans at The Wallis Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills - and the next day, Reena and I married each other. *** Created by Louis Ng Filmed at University of La Verne, February 17, 2020