This weekend is all about honoring the greats, from an exploration of Beethoven’s string quartets, to a documentary about author Toni Morrison. Plus a popular alternative band returns to San Diego.
La Jolla Music Society's Complete Beethoven String Quartets
Music
Beethoven’s string quartets are considered some of the greatest music ever written, and this weekend La Jolla Music Society SummerFest continues to showcase them.
As part of a two-season exploration of this music, the prestigious Brentano Quartet will perform. Brentano Quartet is the quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music and makes its SummerFest debut on Friday.
On Saturday, SummerFest favorite The Miro Quartet, will perform three more Beethoven pieces, including Quartet in F Major, the last major work the composer completed.
Details: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Conrad, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla. $42 to $86; find tickets here.
"Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am"
Film, Books
Writer Toni Morrison died Monday night at age 88, and in her honor Digital Gym Cinema brings back a documentary about her called "The Pieces I Am."
Morrison was a private person, never writing a memoir and rejecting the idea of biographies. But this film was made by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, a photographer and close friend of Morrison's.
The movie centers around an extended interview where the Nobel Prize-winning author discusses everything from her writing career to work inequality.
Details: Various times from Friday, Aug. 9, through Thursday, Aug. 15. Digital Gym Cinema, 2921 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. $8.50 to $11; find showtimes and tickets to "The Pieces I Am."
Death Cab for Cutie
Music
Alternative rock favorite Death Cab for Cutie returns to San Diego for two nights at The Observatory.
The band formed back in the mid 1990s and was known for its slow, earnest songs and lyrics that were full of wordplay and double meanings.
Later in its career, Death Cab for Cutie became a more polished band attracting mainstream attention and becoming a major influence for other indie and emo groups popular today.
Details: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Observatory, 2891 University Ave., North Park. $60; find tickets to Death Cab for Cutie.
