FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828) Four Lieder About the Composer Franz Schubert established the German lied as an important art form and then set a standard of excellence that no one since has quite matched. Schubert created more than 600 songs in … Continue reading
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The second concert from "A Festival of New Music" at Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin is about to begin. Daniel Barenboim and Emmanuel Pahud will answer your questions. #KeepCultureAlive #NewMusicFestival
Tune in to A Festival of New Music which will be live streamed from Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin at 9am (Vancouver time) today. Daniel Barenboim and Emmanuel Pahud have curated the festival to raise awareness of the challenges COVID-19 poses not only to the health and livelihood of people worldwide but also to cultural life. There are four performances in total which take place from July 9-12.
The VRS is a Festival Partner and the Pierre Boulez Saal has asked us to encourage people to donate to a cultural organization of our choice. We're happy to recommend the wonderful Vancouver Academy of Music. We've often partnered with VAM in the past to present masterclasses to its students. #keepculturealive #newmusicfestival
In this week's e-news we share details of a partnership with Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, plus our latest installment of Beyond the Concert Hall featuring Leila's chat with David Gordon Duke: bit.ly/31XnQnJ
A partnership with Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin
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We're delighted to be able to introduce VRS patrons and friends to A Festival of New Music featuring ten new works by Irini Amargianaki, Benjamin Attahir, Johannes Borowski, Luca Francesconi, Michael Jarrell, Philippe Manoury, Olga Neuwirth, Matthias Pintscher, Christian Rivet, and Jörg Widmann. Th...PROGRAM NOTES: Jerusalem Quartet with Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth
Posted onRichard Strauss String Sextet from Capriccio Capriccio (1942), Richard Strauss’ last stage work, is an opera about opera, constructed as a series of elegant salon conversations dealing with a question that has bedevilled opera lovers for centuries: which is more … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: EVGENY KISSIN
Posted onFrédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann “…calling it a sonata is a caprice if not a jest for Chopin seems to have taken four of his most unruly children and put them together possibly thinking to smuggle them, as a sonata, … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: CASTALIAN STRING QUARTET
Posted onFranz Joseph Haydn String Quartet in D, Op. 76 No. 5 Having recently returned from his hugely successful visits to England and been liberated from financial woes, Haydn composed a set of six String Quartets, Op. 76 which were commissioned … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: PAUL LEWIS
Posted onLudwig van Beethoven 11 Bagatelles Op. 119 Beethoven’s Op. 119 is a catch-all collection of pieces written without any preconceived formal plan for the enjoyment of amateur piano enthusiasts. The last five were published first as a contribution to a … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: INON BARNATAN
Posted onGeorge Frederick Handel Chaconne in G Major While Handel is principally remembered as a composer of operas and oratorios, it was well known to his contemporaries that he possessed major moxy as a keyboard performer, as well. In witness thereof, … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: EDGAR MOREAU & JESSICA XYLINA OSBORNE
Posted onFrancis Poulenc Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 143 Mozart meets Stravinsky – in a Paris cabaret. As unlikely as such a meeting might be in historical terms, it is about as good a description as you can find for … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: SIR ANDRÁS SCHIFF
Posted onRobert Schumann Variations on an Original Theme in E at major (“Ghost Variations”) WoO 24 In February of 1854, Robert Schumann was in a state of delirium, but a very musical one. He was surrounded by ghosts, he told his … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: BENEDETTI ELSCHENBROICH GRYNYUK TRIO
Posted onFranz Schubert Adagio from Piano Trio in E at Major Op. 148 D 897 Schubert’s Adagio for Piano Trio D 897 was composed in 1827 but only published decades later, under the publisher’s title Notturno. And indeed, the opening section … Continue reading
PROGRAM NOTES: SCHAGHAJEGH NOSRATI
Posted onJohann Sebastian Bach GOLDBERG VARIATIONS BWV 988 Historical Background Such was Bach’s mastery of his musical materials that he was often tempted to explore a particular genre or compositional technique in a systematic way by providing a quasi-exhaustive compendium of … Continue reading