Tag: Schumann
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PROGRAM NOTES: MURRAY PERAHIA
Johann Sebastian Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E flat major, BWV 815 Bach composed suites for keyboard, for various solo chamber instruments, and for full orchestra, each comprising a varied and aesthetically balanced collection of dance movements written in the fashionable style of his day. The harmonic task given to each two-section dance is…
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PROGRAM NOTES: KUOK-WAI LIO
Leoš Janáček: In the Mists Janáček’s four-movement piano cycle from 1912 presents us with intimate, personal and emotionally immediate music that stands stylistically on the border between eastern and western Europe. Its sound world is that of the fiddles and cimbalom (hammered dulcimer) of Moravian folk music. Equally folk-like is its use of small melodic…
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PROGRAM NOTES: ERIC OWENS, BASS-BARITONE
Eric Owens’ recital divides neatly into two halves – a German half and a French half, with the final song a true rarity that bridges the geographical and cultural divide. The German songs (Lieder) all tend to be of a dark, serious or melancholic nature, while the French songs (mélodies) are lighter, even airy and…
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GETTING TO KNOW BARITONE CHRISTIAN GERHAHER
Christian Gerhaher on the origins on German Lied (song): The German Lied was born into quite special circumstances. The composer found himself creating something with no pre-existing format, which in practical performance terms was restricted to a quite intimate situation, which will later become the famous Schubertiade. That means it had a more social than…
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LEILA GETZ: ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT CONCERT EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE
Last night I had one of the most perfect concert experiences of my life. I have been attending a conference of music managers and presenters in Budapest. I discovered that baritone Christian Gerhaher was singing an all-Schubert song recital in the Vienna Konzerthaus. It was sold out, but after 33 years in the concert presenting…
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PROGRAM NOTES: CHRISTIAN GERHAHER AND ANDRÁS SCHIFF
Ludwig van Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte Adelaide, Op. 46 An die ferne Geliebte, composed in 1816, stands proudly at the beginning of Christian Gerhaher’s recital as the first important song cycle from any composer, that is, a series of songs in which the constituent numbers are linked together by a theme or narrative of…
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PROGRAM NOTES: KIRILL GERSTEIN
Johann Sebastian Bach English Suite no. 6 in D minor, BWV 811 Bach’s Partitas, English Suites and French Suites – six of each – collectively rank among the glories of the keyboard literature. Each is a four-part sequence of dance movements, all in the same key but varied by rhythm, tempo and mood: Allemande, Courante,…
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AN INTERVIEW WITH FLORIAN BOESCH
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule. How did the New Year start for you? The New Year started with a Messiah concert in Zurich and then 5 days skiing with the kids and friends in Vorarlberg. That‘s a very good start! Who are the great influences in your life and in…
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PROGRAM NOTES: FLORIAN BOESCH
A recital of Lieder set exclusively to poems of Heinrich Heine and composed solely by Schubert and Schumann is particularly apt inasmuch as Heine was born the same year as Schubert (1797) and died the same year as Schumann (1856). He was not only one of Germany’s leading romantic authors, he also wrote about travel,…