Newsletter,
Summer 2015
A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
As
Music In Deerfield's Artistic Director, or as I prefer, “Music
Picker-Outer,” my job gets both easier and harder each season.
Easier because there are so many great groups to choose from.
More difficult because – there are so many great groups to choose
from. Here's who's coming up in our 2015-16 season; I hope I
picked good ones!
Do
you like your music intense, mature, and “as sleek and elegant
as an Armani suit?” That's how The Strad described
Quartetto di Cremona , who lead off the season
on Saturday, October 10, at 8:00 p.m. From the city that gave
us the immortal violins of Stradivarius and Guarnerius, the
Cremona will perform works from arguably the home town of the
string quartet, Vienna: Mozart's “Dissonance” Quartet, Schubert's
“Death and the Maiden” Quartet, and two spectral works by Anton
Webern.
America
produces some pretty great string quartets, also. The Parker
Quartet , Grammy winners now in residence at Harvard,
has been lavishly praised by the critics. On Sunday, November
8, at 4:00 p.m., they'll play the brand new (2014!) “Helix Spirals”
composed for them by much-honored American composer Augusta
Read Thomas, as well as Beethoven's “Serioso” Quartet (Op. 95),
and Romantic master Robert Schumann's Quartet No. 1.
Especially
if you've enjoyed the wild, edgy, and up-to-the-minute music
of ensembles such as A Far Cry and Brooklyn Rider, you'll want
to join us at 4:00 on Sunday, December 20, for Sybarite5.
This eclectic, energetic string quintet will perform
Piazzolla tangos, Radiohead songs,
and their six-composer “Look Back/Move Forward” Suite. “(T)hat
impassioned playing, those hard-driving rhythms, the blissed-out
faces of the mostly young audience…Genuine, spontaneous…excitement.”
( Washington Post )
Tradition
will be restored on Sunday, February 7, at 4:00 p.m., when three
works from the bull's-eye of the string quartet repertoire,
Beethoven's “Razumovsky” Quartets, will come to vibrant, resonant
life under the hands of the Miró Quartet ,
a standard-bearer of their generation of American classical
ensembles.
A
piano trio that calls itself Latitude 41 (the
latitude of the venue of their Rhode Island debut) impressed
our audience with their first Music In Deerfield performance,
with a focused, sonorous, elegant, and intense sound.
They'll be back in our latitude on Sunday, March 21, at 4:00
p.m., to perform trios by Beethoven (Op. 1, No. 1), Shostakovich
(No. 1), and Saint-Sa ëns.
Not
enough Beethoven for you yet? Not to worry. On Saturday, May
7, at 8:00 p.m., three of Beethoven's Sonatas for Piano and
Violin will be on the program by the duo of Jonathan
Biss & Miriam Fried . He's emerging as one of America's
pre-eminent Beethoven pianists. She's a much-admired soloist,
chamber musician and educator. And she's his mother, so probably
doesn't mind that his name comes first.
And
as for all the great groups we didn't get to in 2015-16, well,
there are many more years to come!
Newsletter,
Summer 2014
A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
Two
stunning young string quartets in their area debuts. An American
violin diva. Old Russian friends playing great Russian music.
Eight performers from one of the world's foremost chamber festivals.
A pair of chamber music legends. A quartet on the cutting edge.
The
cast of a new TV reality show? No! It's the lineup for the 36
th season of Music In Deerfield, six concerts that, from October
foliage to May flowers, will complement the New England landscape
with a colorful and diverse selection of old and new masterworks.
In response to audience requests, we've scheduled three of the
concerts for Sunday afternoons at 4:00; the others will take
place Saturday evenings at 8:00. And each concert will be preceded
one hour earlier by Concert Conversations, my (and your) discussion
of the programs with the artists.
The
season starts on Saturday evening, October 11, with one of the
youngest ensembles ever presented by MID. But don't let the
Ariel Quartet's youth fool you. With already ten years of experience,
mentoring from such chamber music greats as Paul Katz, Donald
Weilerstein (both of the Cleveland Quartet) and Kim Kashkashian,
graduates of the New England Conservatory's prestigious Professional
String Quartet Training Program, and a position as quartet-in-residence
at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music,
these four talented Israelis are set to become a defining chamber
ensemble for their generation. For us, the Ariel will play Haydn
(Op. 76, No. 4), Schumann (Op. 41, No. 2) and Schubert (D. 887).
Is
there a more winning classical musician in America than Rachel
Barton Pine? By now universally recognized as one of our finest
violinists, Rachel will be joined on Sunday afternoon, November
9 by her frequent partner Matthew Hagle. Their program will
consist of sonatas by Schubert (Op. 162, D.574), Prokofiev (Sonata
No. 1, Op. 80), and Franck (A Major), as well as selections
from her acclaimed album of “Violin Lullabies.” With perhaps
the sweetest violin sound going, Rachel will surely warm up
a chilly fall afternoon, and your heart, with her November program.
It's
been too long since the St. Petersburg String Quartet has played
in the Valley. Now in their 29 th (!) year, our Russian friends
will be back with us on Sunday afternoon, December 14, to do
what they do best: play great Russian music. The program will
be bracketed by two lyric and intense quartets: Shostakovich
No. 4 and Tchaikovsky No. 3. In-between, they will play an arrangement
by their violist, Boris Vayner, of the epic Chaconne in D Minor
for solo violin by J. S. Bach. Join us for some pre-Yule fire!
Each
season, the Marlboro Music Festival, one of the world's greatest
summer music get-togethers, assembles some of its best programs
for national tours during the chillier months. Well, on Saturday
evening, February 8, 2015, we'll enjoy a concert by one of the
biggest Musicians From Marlboro groups yet: eight musicians,
including four singers, two pianists, a violinist and a cellist,
all accomplished or emerging stars in their field. Highlighting
the program are the Neue Liebeslieder (“New Lovesong”) Waltzes
by Brahms – that's where the four singers and two pianists come
in – and Beethoven's “Ghost” Piano Trio, alongside works by
Schubert and modern Hungarian master György Kurtág.
Put
together a pair of prize-winning violin soloists, the principal
violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the principal cellist
of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and what do you get? The Johannes
Quartet, that's what, and that's who's playing music by celebrated
composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen (“Homunculus,” composed
for the Johannes) and Mendelssohn (Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80)
on Sunday afternoon, March 22, 2015. But that's just the first
half. On the second, the Johannes will be joined by two members
of the legendary Guarneri Quartet, violist John Dalley and cellist
Peter Wiley, for one of Brahms's most sumptuous works, the Sextet
No. 2 in G Major. Mmmmm!
OK,
after five programs drawn mostly from the core of the chamber
repertoire, it will be time on Saturday evening, May 2, 2015,
to take you out to the edge. And who better to guide us through
today's new classical sounds than Brooklyn Rider, the string
quartet “with a difference” that wowed MID audiences two seasons
ago? This time, the adventurous foursome will combine standard
rep by Haydn (“Rider” Quartet) and Janácek (“Kreutzer
Sonata” Quartet) with music by acclaimed jazz pianist-composer
Vijay Iyer and selections from their own collection of musical
impressions, the “Brooklyn Rider Almanac.” And so, we'll end
Music In Deerfield's 36 th season with a look and listen toward
the future – including MID's 37 th ! Please join us.
Newsletter,
Summer 2013
A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
Old
friends, new discoveries, chamber masterworks, dazzling pianism
and, for the first time, a chamber orchestra – Music In Deerfield's
35 th season has something for every music lover, and six concerts
to satisfy discriminating listeners with a large and adventurous
appetite.
One
of the “new discoveries” will open the season on Columbus Day,
Saturday, October 12. Hailed by The New Yorker
as “destined for great things” when they performed together for
the first time in 2011, the Horszowski Trio
take their name from legendary pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski (1892-1993),
a celebrated teacher whose last pupil at the Curtis Institute
was the Trio's pianist, Rieko Azawa. Their program will
include Haydn's C major Trio, Hob XV: 27, John Harbison's Trio
No. 2, "Short Stories," and Dvorák's Trio in
F minor, Op. 65.
Another
exciting Music In Deerfield debut will be on Saturday, November
2, with the appearance of one of the world's most acclaimed chamber
ensembles, Spain's Cuarteto Casals. Described
in The Strad as “a quartet for the new millennium,”
the Casals just marked its fifteenth season with a series of Franz
Schubert's fifteen quartets in Madrid, Florence, London, Lisbon
and Schwarzenberg. The quartet has compiled a substantial
discography with the Harmonia Mundi label, including to date nine
CD's, with repertoire ranging from lesser known Spanish composers
to Viennese classical masters to 20th Century greats. And
some of each will be on the November 2 program of Haydn (Op. 33,
No. 3, “The Bird”), Shostakovich (No. 7), Joaquín Turina
(“La oración del torero”) and Eduard Toldrà (“Vistes
al mar” Quartet).
On
Sunday afternoon, November 17, the Chiara Quartet,
MID favorites last heard playing Beethoven's complete quartets
will be back at Sweeney Concert Hall. Since then, the Chiara were
nominated for a Grammy for their recording of Jefferson Friedman's
String Quartet No. 3, and won the ASCAP/Chamber Music America
Award for Adventurous Programming for the 2010-2011 season.
Lauded in the Boston Globe for its "highly virtuosic,
edge-of-the-seat playing," the Chiara celebrate fourteen
seasons of playing together in 2013-14. They are currently Harvard
University's Blodgett Artists-in-Residence.
How
many ways are there to describe the pianist making his Music In
Deerfield debut on Friday, January 24, 2014? Here are a
few: Technical wizard. Complete musician. Throwback to the
heyday of the virtuoso pianist-composer. Quintessentially curious
and engaging 21 st century musician. Familiar presence, due to
his vast and growing discography of both masterworks and challenging
rarities, old and new. Legend in the making. Better to simply
describe him as Marc-André Hamelin,
and to suggest you get your tickets early to his recital of his
own “Barcarolle,” the “Night Wind” Sonata by Russian romantic
Nikolai Medtner, and Schubert's Four Impromptus, Op. 142.
Old
and new, tradition and exploration, also come together in the
young, 18-member chamber orchestra A Far Cry,
who will perform on Friday, February 7. Standing at the forefront
of an exciting new generation in classical music, A Far Cry was
founded in 2007 by a tightly-knit collective of professional musicians
– the Criers – and since the beginning has fostered those personalities,
developing an innovative structure of rotating leadership both
on stage and behind the scenes. By expanding the boundaries
of orchestral repertoire and experimenting with the ways music
is prepared, performed, and experienced, A Far Cry has been embraced
throughout the world with more than three hundred performances
coast to coast and across the globe, five albums, and a powerful
presence on the internet. The Criers are proud to call Boston
home, and maintain strong roots in the city, rehearsing at their
storefront music center in Jamaica Plain and fulfilling the role
of Chamber Orchestra in Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum.
Few
ensembles were better received upon their first MID concerts than
the Jupiter Quartet, who will return to Sweeney
on Sunday afternoon, March 9 for a program featuring two quartets
by Beethoven (Op. 18, No. 2 and Op. 59, No. 2) surrounding one
by Bartók (No. 6). Now on the faculty of the University
of Illinois as String Quartet-in-Residence, the Jupiter also holds
visiting faculty residencies at Oberlin Conservatory and Adelphi
University, and have engaged in a multi-year residency at Atlanta's
beautiful Spivey Hall. Performing with an awesome combination
of tonal beauty, ensemble perfection and musical depth, the Jupiter,
together with the other artists on Music In Deerfield's 35th season,
demonstrate that the golden age of chamber music is…now.
Don't let it pass you by.
Newsletter,
Summer 2012
A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
On
six occasions over the next 10 months, Music In Deerfield and
Smith College will present classical music concerts as fine as
any taking place, anywhere.
That’s
a bold statement, to be sure. But as they used to say in the old
movie westerns, “it ain’t braggin’, if you can
back it up.” We invite you to see for yourself whether
it’s brag or fact, and to come on by for the 2012-13 season.
Starting
with the first occasion, on Saturday, September 29, when one of
the world’s most eminent and eloquent pianists, a master
of the great works by the great composers, will engage with possibly
the most profound music ever composed for the keyboard. Richard
Goode will return to Music In Deerfield to play Beethoven’s
last three Sonatas (Nos. 30-32), and will throw in a set of
Beethoven Bagatelles (“Trifles”) for good measure
So,
we start with tradition. How about we next blend tradition with
innovation, and hear what those crazy classical kids are up to?
The “kids” in question – actually seasoned young
pros – are the four virtuosi who make up the string quartet
known as Brooklyn Rider. Here’s an ensemble dedicated to
shaking up the quartet, one as likely to play music composed for
them by indie rockers as
they are to play Beethoven. And they’ll do both on Sunday
afternoon, November 11, in a program that includes Beethoven’s
ultrasublime
Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131.
Over
the past few seasons, Music In Deerfield has hosted several members
of the current crop of American string quartets – the finest
this country has ever produced. Again, not braggin’, but
fact. And this season will be no exception, as you can hear on
Saturday, December 15, when the Escher Quartet comes to Music
In Deerfield. Just formed in 2005, the Escher has already been
recognized by Lincoln Center, the BBC and other very picky presenters
for their compelling sound and commanding artistry. Want to hear
what they’ve got? Come hear their program of Mozart (Quartet
in E-flat, K. 428), Benjamin Britten (his haunting third quartet,
marking his centennial year) and, yes, Beethoven (Op. 132, including
the “Holy Song of Thanks”).
On
Saturday, March 2, 2013, The Talich Quartet, our friends from
the Czech Republic, will make their third Music In Deerfield appearance.
Anyone who’s heard either of the first two concerts will
not have forgotten the sweetness and unanimity of their sound,
or their unassuming but probing musicianship. Nice program, too:
Spanish composer Joaquín Turina’s poetic “La
oración del torero” (The Bullfighter’s Prayer),
Ravel’s dazzling Quartet in F major, and the dramatic Quartet
in G Minor by Norwegian master Edvard Grieg. Quartetting at its
best.
In
barely a century at the center of the concert scene, the cello
has grown in stature and repertoire to become one of the most
welcome voices in classical music. And among current American
cellists, no one is more welcome to our stage than Zuill Bailey
– especially after his amazing evening of Bach Cello Suites
a few years back. At this writing, I can’t tell you what
Zuill will play on
March 30, 2013 or with whom. But I think we can trust him to deliver
the goods, and then some. Check musicindeerfield.org for updates.
It
was Robert Schumann who praised the music of Franz Schubert for
its “heavenly length.” I also once heard the late
Smith College violist Ernst Wallfisch quote his mentor Georges
Enesco, saying “Schubert’s works are so long because
his melodies are so beautiful, he couldn’t bear to let them
go.” Ardent Schubertian that I am, however, I have to admit
that there’s one major
Schubert work that has often tried even my patience: The Piano
Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major. So, what is the Trio doing on Music
In Deerfield's final concert? It’s being played by a newly-formed
ensemble whose recent CD of the same work made me finally see
the light. The Rhode Island-based Trio Latitude 41, each of whose
members is a distinguished soloist, will also play the elegant
Trio No. 1 by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns on their
season-ending concert on Saturday, May 11.
Of
course, you could attend other classical concerts on these six
dates. But I don’t think you could attend better ones.
Newsletter,
Summer 2011
A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
Attention
music lovers! Could you use a bit more allegro in your
moderato ? Are you suffering from acute Beethoven withdrawal?
Do viola jokes make you cry? Then step right up and try Music
In Deerfield's magical elixir: a program of six concerts over
six months, guaranteed to restore your sonic vigor and cure the
chamber music blues.
The
season opens on October 1 with an evening to satisfy even the
hungriest Beethoven fans: all five of his Sonatas for Cello and
Piano in one fabulous concert. On hand will be Pieter Wispelwey,
the Dutch cellist whose combination of fire and sensitivity have
earned him fans all over the world and here in the Pioneer Valley
through his previous MID performances. His collaborator will be
Lois Shapiro, the Boston-area pianist who matches Wispelwey's
interpretive skills note for note.
She's
been called "the pianists' pianist for Generation X"
and a throwback to such high priestesses of Bach as Wanda Landowska
and Myra Hess. She's been interviewed by NPR, the Wall Street
Journal and even the Howard Stern Show. Her new album “Bach: A
Strange Beauty” even cracked the Billboard Top 200. And on October
29, young American pianist Simone Dinnerstein plays just for you—or
it will seem that way during her program of Bach and Schumann.
Over
a six-week period every summer, top musicians from many generations
gather in southern Vermont to explore great works of the chamber
literature, only performing them when they feel they have gotten
the maximum from the music. Then, select repertoire from each
summer is featured on nationwide tours, one of which comes to
MID on November 11. That's when Musicians from Marlboro will perform
gorgeous String Quintets by Mozart and Mendelssohn, and the Quartet
No. 1 of 1906 by the English composer Frank Bridge.
Known
for their electrifying programming, the Boston-based Borromeo
Quartet will literally plug in for their concert of January 21,
in order to perform one of the most compelling artistic statements
of the last generation. In his “Different Trains”, Steve Reich
superimposes segments of interviews conducted with people recalling
train travel in the U.S. before World War II, as well as Holocaust
survivors describing life and trains during and after the War.
The combination of speech, sound effects and Reich's motoric but
flexible music results in a work of rare and visceral impact.
And the intensity will not lessen when the Borromeo performs Schubert's
“Death and the Maiden” Quartet on the second half.
Also
based in Boston, the Jupiter String Quartet came to prominence
as resident ensemble with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln
Center. In their tenth season, the Jupiter recently took the major
step that all quartets must in their careers, by performing Beethoven's
complete quartets in concerts in New England and at the Aspen
Festival. They'll show us what they've got on February 4 with
works by three of the greatest quartet composers: Haydn (Op. 77,
No. 2), Beethoven (“Harp”) and Bartók (No. 6).
You
know what Music In Deerfield hasn't done in a long time? Present
the premiere of a major new chamber work. So, on March 31, our
season-concluding concert will feature the latest String Quartet
by Donald Wheelock, who recently retired after a long and productive
career on the faculty of Smith College, and whose works form a
worthy and distinguished contribution to the musical traditions
created and continued by the other composers on our series. Performing
will be the Ciompi Quartet, resident ensemble at Duke University
and frequent performers in New England, joined by flutist Laura
Gilbert, artistic director of New Hampshire's Monadnock Music
Festival.
So,
let's see…an evening of Beethoven, a stellar pianist, a world
premiere and three of New England's best ensembles. That ought
to keep you satisfied for while!
Newsletter,
Summer 2010
A
word from John Montanari.............................................
John
Montanari
Artistic Director
OK,
it's still early summer. Tanglewood has barely begun, and the
sweet corn is still weeks away. But before you know it,
the days will shorten, the leaves will reveal their inner brilliance,
and the time will come to put our summer music away and settle
in for the hearty sounds of fall and winter. When that time comes,
Music In Deerfield will be ready with a 32nd season filled with
superb artists and rich repertoire, beckoning you to join us and
your fellow music lovers for six concerts in the comfortable confines
of Smith College, Sweeny Concert Hall.
A
couple of seasons ago, after playing one of the late quartets
in their first Music In Deerfield appearance, I knew that the
Chiara Quartet was the right group to play the next complete Beethoven
cycle for us. Now half-way through their series, I join you in
eager anticipation of their three all-Beethoven concerts this
season. One interesting feature will be the Quartet in B-flat
Major, Opus 130, done “both” ways—with the alternate finale (Beethoven's
last music) on October 30, 2009, and with the original finale,
the amazing Grosse Fuge, on March 5, 2011.
Imagine
this: a two-CD set of J. S. Bach's complete Suites for Solo Cello
making it to #1 on the Billboard Classical chart, and remaining
there for several weeks. Now, imagine the artist featured in the
set coming to Northampton to play all six Bach Suites in one evening.
That's what will happen on November 20, 2009, when American cellist
Zuill Bailey occupies the Sweeney stage all by himself for a special
concert starting at 7:00 p.m. This should be a hot ticket, so
get yours early. Then, enter Zuill's name in the search window
at npr.org to listen back to an interesting conversation.
Experienced
record collectors (I won't say how experienced) may
recall a series of chamber music recordings on the Harmonia Mundi
France label featuring a flexible group known as “Les Musiciens.”
On February 18, 2011, three mainstays of the group (pianist Jean-Claude
Pennetier, violinist Régis Pasquier and cellist Roland
Pidoux) will feature trios by two of the most French of composers,
Gabriel Fauré and Maurice Ravel, along with a masterful
trio by Robert Schumann.
Speaking
of Fauré, perhaps the greatest French composer of chamber
music: The second of his two sensuous Piano Quartets (i.e., quartets
for piano and strings) will highlight the March 26, 2011, concert
by the Los Angeles Piano Quartet. In its 34th season, the LAPQ
is the standard-bearing American ensemble specializing in this
combination of instruments. But not content to stick exclusively
to the classic works in the genre, they'll also play a 2010 work
by Kamran Ince, an intriguing Turkish-American composer.
So…Beethoven
Quartets, Bach's Cello Suites, two French masters and something
new and different. That ought to keep us going until next summer!
Won't you please join us?
While
I have you, allow me to urge that you come around an hour before
the music starts for "Concert Conversations."
Starting at 7:00 p.m. in Earle Recital Hall, the musicians and
I have an informal and educational discussion about the night's
programming. And you're invited to join in the conversation
too!