Concerts from the Library of Congress, 2008-2009

2008-2009 Schedule of Events and Performances

Season-at-a-Glance   2008: Sept. | October | November | December   2009: February | March | April | May

All concerts are free but most require tickets (see ticket information and dates when tickets are available for each concert). All programs and dates are subject to change without notice. Please check this page for the most up-to-date information. Request ASL and ADL accommodations five days in advance at 202-707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.

September 2008

Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 7:00pm
LECTURE by Dr. Annegret Fauser
After Pearl Harbor: Music, War, and the Library of Congress

Dr. Annegret Fauser from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, gives the second lecture in a series by members of the American Musicological Society who have done significant research using the collections of the Library’s Music Division.

Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)

October 2008

Friday, October 16, 2008 at 7:00pm - Coolidge Auditorium
SOLDIERS OF MUSIC: ROSTROPOVICH RETURNS TO RUSSIA
Emmy-award winning documentary film produced by Peter Gelb and Susan Froemke
No tickets required.

Friday, October 17, 2008 at 8:00pm
Image: Collegium Vocale GentCOLLEGIUM VOCALE GENT and KRISTIAN BEZUIDENHOUT, guest-director/fortepiano

"The singing is by turn luscious and full-bodied or restrained but with a dynamic tensile strength." (Ensemble Vocale Gent)

"A joy to hear and thrilling to watch...every note he played was lovingly produced.” (Kristian Bezuidenhout)

The Haydn Songbook (Hob.XXVb-c):
Moderato from Sonata in G minor, Hob. XVI:44
Der Greis, Hob. XXVc:5
Betractung des Todes, Hob. XXVb:3
Image: Kristian Bezuidenhout Andante and Finale: Presto from Sonata in D Major, Hob. XVI:51
Der Augenblick, Hob. XXVc:1
Alles hat seine Zeit, Hob. XXVc:3
Verliebte Pein, Hob. XXVIa:29
Die Harmnonie in der Ehe, Hob. XXVc:2
Die Warnung, Hob. XXVc:6
Die Beredsamkeit, Hob. XXVc:4
Allegro moderato from Sonata in B minor, Hob. XVI:32
Abendlied zu Gott, Hob. XXVc:9
Wider den Übermut, Hob. XXVc:7
Das Leben is ein Traum, Hob. XXVIa:21
Lento “Consumatum est” from Seven Last Words, Hob. XX/1:1C

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: "Homo Musicus: How Music Began" – Ellen Dissanayake, University of Washington, author of Art and Intimacy: How the Arts Began (Part of “Music and the Brain”)

** JIM HALL TRIO has been rescheduled from October 24 to March 20 **
> View concert details below
Please note: REFUNDS FOR TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE PLACE OF PURCHASE THROUGH 11/7/08.

Friday, October 24, 2008 at 6:15pm
MUSIC and the BRAIN Lecture/Presentation

“The Brain on Jazz – Neural Substrates of Spontaneous Improvisation” - Charles J. Limb, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Peabody Conservatory (Part of “Music and the Brain”)
Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)

Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 8:00pm
Messiaen Centenary
Image: Christopher TaylorCHRISTOPHER TAYLOR, piano

“infectious zest and a real sense of music-drama”

MESSIAEN: Vingt regards sur l’Enfant Jésus

This admired mathematician-turned-pianist has gained a following for his blazing accounts of one of the great Herculean challenges of the piano repertory, performing from memory the composer’s contemplations on mystical love, “as if on assignment from the Divine.”

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Messiaen in War and Peace: From Vingt Regards to Harawi and the Tristan trilogy” –
Peter Hill, University of Sheffield and editor of The Messiaen Companion. (Part of “Music and the Brain”)

Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 8:00pm
Image: Fireworks EnsembleFounder's Day Concert

FIREWORKS ENSEMBLE

"Labels did indeed cease to matter: this was just music, and it sounded like music to keep."

Fireworks frolics, waltzes, swings, bounces, and rocks through 700 years of party music. Dance tunes from an anonymous 14th-century work through Haydn, Johann Strauss, Jr., Duke Ellington, Copland, and Sapo Perapaskero, to the Bee Gees, AFX, David Byrne, R.D. Burman, and New Order.

6:15 pm - Whittall Pavilion (no tickets required)
Preconcert presentation: “Dangerous Music” – Jessica Krash, George Washington University and Norman Middleton, Music Division (Part of “Music and the Brain”)

Friday, October 31, 2008 at 7:00pm - Mary Pickford Theater
APPARITION of the ETERNAL CHURCH
A documentary by Paul Festa.

Paul Festa's 58-minute film captures the responses of 31 authors, musicians, filmmakers and dancers to Olivier Messiaen's monumental organ work. "Is it possible to portray, through time-bound, invisible sound, the spiritual, the architectural, the eternal," writes Festa. "Resolution abuts eternity, eroticism, asceticism, spiritual ecstasy, physical torture. Together, the music and its interpreters conjure something like what William Blake famously called the marriage of heaven and hell."

No tickets required. Seating is limited.

Reservations may be made one week before any given screening by calling (202) 707-5677 between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted. Programs subject to change without notice.

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November 2008

Saturday, November 1, 2008 at 8:00
Image: Tony Arnold, Jacob GreenbergMessiaen Centenary
TONY ARNOLD, soprano
JACOB GREENBERG, piano

“Together. . .a combination of stunning power and beguiling subtlety.”

This young soprano is renowned for her uncompromising performances and a pure, seductive vocal timbre. Her program offers Messiaen’s rarely-heard song cycle based on a Peruvian love song, “Harawi,” the first work in the composer’s Tristan trilogy.

Liebestod: Songs of Love and Death
Carter: Voyage
Mozart: Das Veilchen
Berlioz: Le Spectre de la Rose
Sibelius: Svarta Rosor
Kurtág: Requiem for the Beloved
Harbison: Breakfast Song
Adés: Life Story
Messiaen: Harawi (A Song of Love and Death)

6:15 pm – Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: "The Complete Works for Violin and Piano" by Messiaen performed by Paul Festa, violin and Jerome Lowenthal, piano. Includes: Theme and Variations; Le Loriot from Catalogue d'oiseaux (piano solo); Fantasie (Washington premiere); and, "Louange à l'immortalité de Jésus" (mvt VIII of Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps)

Friday, November 7, 2008 at 8:00pm
Image:  Tetzlaff QuartettTETZLAFF QUARTETT

"highly expressive, probing and passionate performances"

Led by virtuoso violinist Christian Tetzlaff, who founded the group in 1994, the quartet appears in a few notable venues each season, making American stops this year including Carnegie Hall and the Library of Congress.

MOZART: Quartet in D minor, K. 421
BERG: Lyric Suite
SIBELIUS: Quartet in D minor (“Voces Intimae”)

Friday, November 7, 12:00-2:00pm
Violin masterclass
with Christian Tetzlaff
Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “The Music of Language and the Language of Music” – Aniruddh D. Patel, Neurosciences Institute and author of Language and the Brain (Part of “Music and the Brain”)

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 8:00 pm
KUSS QUARTET

"provocative, driving, impassioned playing”

Formed by students at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, this stellar quartet appears at the world’s prestigious chamber music venues including Wigmore Hall and the Concergebouw and in its edgy Kuss Plus series at Berlin clubs, offering a mirror to contemporary music culture.

HAYDN: String Quartet in D Major, op. 64, no. 5 (“Lark”)
LACHENMANN: String Quartet no. 3 (“Grido”)
SCHUBERT: String Quartet in A minor, D. 804 (“Rosamunde”)

Image: Takacs Quartet and MuzsikasFriday, November 14, 2008 at 8:00 pm
TAKÁCS QUARTET / MUZSIKÁS
with special guest MÁRTA SEBESTYÉN

“left its audience breathless, invigorated and delighted” (TAKÁCS QUARTET)

Image: Marta Sebestyen“a breathtakingly kaleidoscopic display of music” (MUZSIKÁS )

"Meticulously stitched together," a rollicking exploration of the folk and gypsy roots in Béla Bartók's research into folk music. The program features Bartók's Fourth String Quartet and Violin Duos counterpoised with dances from Transylvania and folk ballads.

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Image: Daniel LevitinTuesday, November 18, 2008 at 7:00 pm
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature

Daniel Levitin, author of This is Your Brain on Music, will talk about his new book, The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. He will then sign copies of his book, which will be available for sale. Open to the public, no tickets required.

Director of McGill University’s Laboratory for Musical Perception, Cognition, and Expertise, and best-selling author of "This is Your Brain on Music," Dr. Levitin blends cutting-edge scientific findings with his own sometimes hilarious experiences as a former record producer and still-active musician. Earning advance raves from reviewers like Sting and Sir George Martin, the Beatles’ producer, his new book takes readers on a journey of the world through six types of songs-friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge; religion/ritual, and love.

Image: Mark O'Connor and Rosanne Cash Friday, November 21, 2008 at 8:00 pm
MARK O’CONNOR & ROSANNE CASH

An evening evoking the life of the legendary Johnny Cash, with O'Connor's work for piano trio, Poets and Prophets, and selections from his daughter Rosanne's powerful album, Black Cadillac, plus O'Connor's arrangements of her songs.

 

 

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

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December 2008

Image: Charles WuorinenFriday, December 5, 2008 at 8:00 pm
American Creativity: The Composer-Conductor
CHAMBER MUSIC OF CHARLES WUORINEN

"A composer of acuity, vision and striking resourcefulness"

with Mark Steinberg, violin; Alan Feinberg, piano; Jo Ellen Miller, soprano; Lois Martin, viola; Fred Sherry, cello; Moran Katz, clarinet; Michael Atkinson, French horn; and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.

WUORINEN: Sonata for Violin and Piano (McKim commission)
WUORINEN: The Winds
WUORINEN: Viola Variations
WUORINEN: A Winter's Tale for soprano and six players - text by Dylan Thomas

** CANCELLED ** (to be rescheduled in 2009)
6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion:
(no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Why Do Listeners Enjoy Music that Makes Them Weep?” –
David Huron, Ohio State University; author of Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation (Part of “Music and the Brain”)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 7:00pm – Mary Pickford Theater
Elliot Carter Centennial
Film: A Labyrinth of Time
Documentary by Frank Scheffer

A Labyrinth of Time (2006) Frank Scheffer's brilliant documentary illuminates Elliott Carter's musical development and projects his compositions in time, in a journey led by the composer himself. Beautiful pictures of the city of New York, of which Carter is a lifetime citizen, are used as metaphors, building a juxtaposition of Carter's music and its reflection on our democratic society.

No tickets required. Seating is limited.

The Mary Pickford Theater is located on the 3rd Floor of the Library's James Madison Building. No tickets required. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made one week in advance by calling (202-707-5677) between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted.

Image: Steve Antosca and Judith ShatinThursday, December 11, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Elliott Carter Centennial
VERGE ENSEMBLE
Steve Antosca,
Artistic Director

"A palliative for the sore ears. . .saturated with the traditional and the familiar."

ANTOSCA: kairos - time outside of time for violin, harpsichord, and computer (World premiere - McKim commission)
CARTER: Scrivo in Vento for solo flute
CARTER: Eight Pieces for Four Timpani
CARTER: Enchanted Preludes for flute and cello
SHATIN: Tower of the Eight Winds for violin and piano
(World premiere - McKim commission)
CARTER: A Mirror on Which to Dwell

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: A discussion with composers Steve Antosca and Judith Shatin.

Image: Harold Meltzer and Sara LaimonFriday, December 12, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Elliott Carter Centennial
SEQUITUR
Harold Meltzer & Sara Laimon,
Co-Artistic Directors

“boundaries crossed among artistic disciplines”

CARTER: Double Concerto for piano, harpsichord and two chamber orchestras
BURKE: Over a moving landscape for bass clarinet and nine instruments
CARTER: Duo for Violin and Piano (McKim commission)
MELTZER: Virginal for harpsichord and fifteen instruments

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: A discussion with composers Harold Meltzer and Steven Burke.

Image: Harlem QuartetThursday, December 18, 2008 at 8:00pm
Stradivari Anniversary
HARLEM QUARTET
CARTER BREY, cello

Image:  Carter Brey“played with panache" (Harlem Quartet)
“elegant, lithe, and supple performance” (Carter Brey)

This young all-Black and Latino ensemble opens with the Third String Quartet of an American pioneer, Walter Piston, and is later joined by Carter Brey, principle cellist of the New York Philharmonic, in Schubert's sublime String Quintet C Major, D. 956 -- his final chamber music work.

TURINA: La Oración del Torero
PISTON: String Quartet no. 3
STRAYHORN: Take the "A" Train
SCHUBERT: String Quintet in C Major, D. 95

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

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February 2009

Friday, February 6, 2009 at 8:00pm
Image: Cypress String Quartet Mendelssohn Anniversary
CYPRESS STRING QUARTET

“Apollonian restraint. . . Dionysian exuberance”

Kevin Puts, “an emerging young composer who is turning heads around the country,” has written a work in “response” to Mendelssohn’s first and Beethoven’s last string quartets.

MENDELSSOHN: String Quartet in A minor, op. 13
PUTS: World Premiere of a new work*
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in F major, op. 135

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Image: Kevin Puts* co-commissioned by the Library of Congress, Cypress String Quartet, Lied Center of Kansas, and the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center in Illinois.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: A discussion with composer Kevin Puts and members of the Cypress String Quartet (Part of “Mendelssohn on the Mall”)

Image: Keller QuartetSaturday, February 7, 2009 at 8:00 pm
HOMMAGE À BARTÓK

Image: Gyorgy KurtagA new work by Kurtág commissioned by the Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress and performed by the composer and his wife Márta highlights an evening that includes selections from Kurtág's Játékok and Bartók’s Quartet no. 5 with the Keller Quartet

(Part of “Extremely Hungary – Art and Culture Beyond Your Expectations,” co-sponsored by the Hungarian Cultural Center of New York and the Embassy of Hungary)

KURTÁG: Excerpts from Játékok (Games) and transcriptions
KURTÁG: Hommage à Bartók (World Premiere)
KURTÁG: 6 moments musicaux Op.44
BARTÓK: String Quartet no. 5 in B flat major, BB 110

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Image: Mira TrioTuesday, February 10, 2009 at 8:00pm
Mendelssohn Anniversary
MIRA TRIO
Byron Schenkman, piano; Gabriella Diaz, violin; Alexei Gonzales, cello

“a glowing depth of sound, a strong lyric impulse and natural musical heartbeat”

The trio is named after “Stella mira” (“wonderful star”) -- a red giant star also called Omicron Ceti. The special program designed for the Library of Congress’s Mendelssohn celebration offers a rare opportunity to hear Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel’s Piano Trio, op. 11, along with her brother’s second piano trio, op. 66, and some of their Songs without Words.

HENSEL: Piano Trio in D minor, op. 11
MENDELSSOHN: Lied ohne Worte. Andante espressivo in E-flat Major, op. 30, no. 1
HENSEL: Lied ohne Worte. Andante in G Major, op. 2, no. 1
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio in C minor, op. 66
HENSEL: Il Satltarello Romano, op. 6, no. 4
MENDELSSOHN: Andante cantabile in B-flat Major
MENDELSSOHN: Presto agitato in G minor
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Trio in C minor, op. 66

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Susan Clermont, Music Division, talks about the Mendelssohn collections in the Library of Congress (Part of “Mendelssohn on the Mall”)

Image: Atrium QuartetFriday, February 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Mendelssohn Anniversary

ATRIUM QUARTET

“a unanimity of musical feeling and intuition...only found in top-class quartets”

Founded at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, this young quartet won First Prize in the 2003 London International String Quartet Competition and the Premier Grand Prix in the 2007 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition.

MENDELSSOHN: String Quartet in F minor, op. 80
SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartet no. 5 in B-flat major, op. 92
BORODIN: String Quartet no. 2 in D Major

(Part of “Mendelssohn on the Mall”)

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Image: Trio Con Brio CopenhagenWednesday, February 18, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Mendelssohn Anniversary
TRIO CON BRIO COPENHAGEN
JAMES DUNHAM, viola

Image: James Dunham“lucid elegance. . .blending polish and fizzing energy in fine order”

With the violist of the unparalleled Cleveland Quartet, the Winner of the 2005 Kalichstein Laredo Robinson International Trio Award performs the twelve-year old Mendelssohn’s Piano Quartet in B minor, op. 3, “a specimen of extraordinary precocity.” Also in the program is the only Song without Words written for cello and Beethoven’s monumental “Archduke” Trio.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: R. Larry Todd, Mendelssohn scholar, Duke University

(Part of “Mendelssohn on the Mall”)

Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 7:00 pm - Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)
LECTURE by R. Larry Todd
Reflections on the Mendelssohn Bicentenary

Hailed in the New York Times as “the dean of Mendelssohn scholars in the United States,” R. Larry Todd is the author of Mendelssohn: A Life in Music (2003), the most up-to-date biography of the composer whose 200th birth anniversary occurs on February 9, 2009. A professor of musicology at Duke University, Dr. Todd shares his insights on the Mendelssohn reception in the 19th and 20th centuries, and how different composers responded to his music.

Image: Curtis Institute of MusicThursday, February 26, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Insights: Exploring the Collections
CURTIS ON TOUR Special Performance
(Open to the public. No tickets requried.)

Gifted performers from the Curtis Institute of Music perform Stravinsky’s L'histoire du soldat and a new work by alumnus and composer David Ludwig, who is also the narrator of the Stravinsky piece. They are joined by a faculty member, bassist Harold Hall Robinson.

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “The Birth of a Ballet Classic: the Genesis of Stravinsky’s Apollon-Musagète,” commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. Elizabeth Aldrich, Dance Curator, Library of Congress

Image: Mendelssohn Choir of PittsburghFriday, February 27, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Mendelssohn Anniversary
MENDELSSOHN CHOIR OF PITTSBURGH
Betsy Burleigh, Music Director

“impressive exuberance. . .clarity of rhythm and line"

Pittsburgh's largest choral group and the city's oldest continuously running cultural organization celebrates the anniversaries of Handel, Haydn, and Mendelssohn, and its own centennial.

MENDELSSOHN: Heilig (from Die Deutsche Liturgie, op. post.); Sechs Sprüche, op. 79; Psalm 55: Sechs Lieder (Im Freien zu singen)
RINDFLEISCH: Commissioned work
HAYDN: Selections from Partsongs, Hob. XV
HANDEL: Cantata XVI “No, di voi non vo’ fidarmi,” HWV 189; Selections from Messiah

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: Betsy Burleigh, Music Director, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh

(Part of “Mendelssohn on the Mall”)

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March 2009

Image: Belcea QuartetThursday, March 5, 2009 at 8:00 pm
BELCEA QUARTET

“irresistibly dynamic and compelling”

Established in 1994 at the Royal Academy of Music, this :stunning, unheralded British ensemble” has won top prizes at the Bordeaux and Osaka international competitions.

HAYDN: String Quartet in F-sharp minor, op. 50, no. 4
PROKOFIEV: String Quartet no. 1 in B minor, op. 50 (Coolidge commission)
SCHUBERT: String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 (“Death and the Maiden”)

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “From Mode to Emotion in Musical Communication” – Steven Brown, Director, NeuroArts Lab, McMaster University (Part of “Music and the Brain”)

Friday, March 6, 2009 at 8:00pm
Image: Sylvain Luc and Bireli  LagreneSYLVAIN LUC and PHILIP CATHERINE, guitars

“masterfully rendered. . .music that shines”

These brilliant French and Belgian guitarists display an affinity for the legendary Django Reinhardt, playing off each other with “an almost telepathic ease and a delicate rapport that lights up the pared-down instrumentation of two acoustic guitars...turning pop songs into gorgeous jazz balladry.”

Co-sponsored by the Embassy of France and the French American Cultural Foundation

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Friday, March 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Image: Quatuor EbeneQUATUOR ÉBÈNE

“interpreters of rare understanding and communicative flair”

Three quintessentially French chamber music masterworks are heard in one program, in stylish interpretations by this young Paris-based ensemble.

DEBUSSY: Quartet in G minor, op. 10
FAURÉ: String Quartet, op. 121
RAVEL: String Quartet in F Major

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “Halt or I’ll Play Vivaldi! Classical Music as Crime Stopper" – Jacqueline Helfgott, Seattle University and Norman Middleton, Music Division (Part of “Music and the Brain”)

* Please note: this concert was resheduled from October 24
Image: Jim Hall
Friday, March 20, 2008 at 8:00pm
JIM HALL TRIO

“shimmering webs of sound. . . .crystalline and tranquil"”

World grandmaster of the jazz guitar and recipient of an NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship in 2004, Jim Hall has also earned recognition as a composer and arranger.


Friday, March 27, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Image: New Zealand QuartetNEW ZEALAND QUARTET
RICHARD NUNNS,
traditional Maori instruments

“fluid and energetic. . .moments of uncommon eloquence”

New Zealand composer Gillian Karawe Whitehead has created “an eerily haunting and compelling aural landscape” in her work for strings and traditional Maori instruments performed by her compatriots for whom it was written.

MENDELSSOHN: String Quartet in E minor, op. 44, no. 2
WHITEHEAD: Puhake ki te rangi (“Spouting to the Sky”) for Image: Richard Nunnsstring quartet and Maori instruments
SCHUBERT: String Quartet in G Major, D. 887

6:15 pm – Whittall Pavilion: (no tickets required)
Pre-concert presentation: “The Mind of the Artist” – Michael Kubovy and Judith Shatin, University of Virginia (Part of “Music and the Brain”)

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April 2009

Image: Dominant QuartetFriday, April 3, 2009 at 8:00 pm
DOMINANT QUARTET

"empathetic, insistent, and gritty”

The Moscow-based all-women ensemble, founded in 1995 under the tutelage of Valentin Berlinsky, cellist of the venerable Borodin Quartet, is making its North American debut.

HAYDN: String Quartet in D Major, op. 76, no. 5
VAINBERG: Quartet no. 8 in C minor, op. 66
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in E minor, op. 59, no. 2

Friday, April 17, 2009 at 8:00pm
Image: Brentano Quartet, Richard Lalli and Peter SerkinBRENTANO QUARTET
PETER SERKIN, piano
THOMAS MEGLIORANZA, reciter

"intoxicating . . .a revelatory experience” (Brentano Quartet)
"uncanny clarity. . .entrancing suppleness. . .silken tone” (Peter Serkin)

HAYDN: Quartet in D minor, op. 76, no. 2 (“Quinten”)
WUORINEN: New Piano Quintet (commissioned by the artists) Washington premiere
SCHOENBERG: Ode to Napoleon, op. 41 for speaker, string quartet and piano
BEETHOVEN: Grosse Fuge, op. 133

Please note: The ticket supply for this concert, via Ticketmaster, has been exhausted; however, there are often up to 80 empty seats available for "sold out" concerts at start time. Interested patrons are strongly encouraged to come to the Library by 6:30 p.m. on concert nights to join the standby line for no-show tickets.

Saturday, APRIL 18, 2009 at 8:00pm
Image: Quatuor MosaiquesQUATUOR MOSAÏQUES

"assertion and divine elegance. . . .with bursts of passion"

The Vienna-based period-instrument ensemble comprising former players of Concentus Musicus offers two of Haydn's great quartets in bold and impetuous interpretations.

HAYDN: String Quartet in G minor, op. 20, no. 3
HAYDN: String in F Major, op. 77, no. 2
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in C minor, op. 18, no. 4

Friday, April 24, 2009 at 8:00pm
Image: Geringas Baryton TrioGERINGAS BARYTON TRIO

"liquid, passionate tone. . .an extraordinary range of hues."

A cellist’s cellist, Lithuanian David Geringas is held in high esteem in Europe as one of the great cellists of his generation. His trio with violist Hartmut Rohde and cellist Jens-Peter Maintz brings to Washington two programs that reflect Haydn's Italian and German Connections.

Haydn and the Italian Connection
TOMASINI: Baryton Trio in C Major
ROSSINI: Duo for 2 cellos
HAYDN: Duetto in D for 2 Barytons, Hob.X:11
HAYDN: Baryton Trio in C Major, Hob. XI:82
HAYDN: Baryton Trio in D Major, Hob. XI:97

Haydn and the German Connection
Sunday, April 30, 6:00 pm – National Gallery of Art (http://www.nga.gov/programs/music/)

Saturday, April 25 from 12:00-2:00pm
Cello masterclass with
David Geringas
Coolidge Auditorium (no tickets required)

Thursday, April 30 at 7:00 pm
LECTURE/DEMONSTRATION by Dr. Frank P. Baer
Touching History - Pianos in Perspective

Dr. Frank P. Baer, curator of historic instruments at the German National Museum, Nuremberg and fortepianist Ludwig Semerjian from Quebec, will share their experience of a journey into the land of the forgotten sound. Presented in collaboration with the Orchestre de la Nouvelle France and SMW World of Sound. Concert on May 1 (see below).

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May 2009

Image: Ludwig SemerjianFriday, May 1, 2009 at 8:00pm
LUDWIG SÉMERJIAN, fortepiano

“dazzling virtuosity, uncommon grace and poetic temperament”

This Canadian pianist has been praised for his penetrating and highly original interpretations of 18th- and 19th- century literature on period and modern instruments.

Haydn and the Road to Romanticism
MOZART: Sonata in C Major, K. 330
MOZART: Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 333
HAYDN: Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:52

Friday, May 8, 2009 at 8:00pm
Image: Ethos Percussion GroupETHOS PERCUSSION GROUP
BERNARD WOMA,
Master of the Ghanaian Xylophone
M’BEMBE BANGOURA,
Master Drummer from Guinea

"from the softest tappings to the heartiest roars, they achieved stunning atmospheric nuances”

Classical chamber music and world music playing styles merge in this collaboration between two cultural treasures of West Africa and the acclaimed virtuoso quartet of percussionists.

Image: M'bembe BangouraImage: Bernard Woma

Traditional music of the Dagara People and original works for the Ghanian gyil
Traditional music of Guinea in the style of Ballet Djoliba
Chamber works for percussion by Steve Reich, Iannis Xenakis, and Robert Levin


Image: Peter Sheppard-SkaervedSaturday, May 9, 2009 at 2:00pm
Insights: Exploring the Collections
THE REVOLUTIONARY VIOLIN
Lecture/Recital by Peter Sheppard-Skaerved
(Open to the public. No tickets requried.)

The French Revolution gave birth to completely new ideas of music and “violinism,” such as those of Marie Antoinette’s violinist, Giovanni Battista Viotti, whose classicism contrasted dramatically with the style of the arch-revolutionary Nicolò Paganini. Playing on the Library’s instruments, British violinist Peter Sheppard-Skaerved explores how Viotti influenced his contemporaries, among them, Pierre Baillot and Anton Reicha.

 

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 8:00pm
Image: Trio ApollonTRIO APOLLON

“poignant interpretation.”

Founded by soloists of the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, this trio comprises clarinet, viola, and piano, which Schumann described as “the most romantic combination of instruments.”

SCHUMANN: Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales), op. 132
MATTHUS: Wasserspiele (Dedicated to Trio Apollon)
BRUCH: Three Pieces from op. 83
FRANÇAIX: Trio

Image: Nicholas Kitchen Saturday, May 23, 2009 at 2:00pm
Insights: Exploring the Collections
BACH IN CREMONA
Lecture/Recital by Nicholas Kitchen
(Open to the public. No tickets requried.)

Violinist Nicholas Kitchen discusses and performs Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas— with projections of the manuscripts—on five extraordinary instruments in the Library’s Cremonese Collection — the two Guarneris (“Kreisler” and “Baron Vitta-Goldberg”), the “Brookings” Amati, and two of the Whittall Stradivari (“Betts” and “Castelbarco”).

Friday, May 29, 2009
CAROLE FARLEY, soprano
Image: John Constable and Carole FarleyJOHN CONSTABLE, piano

“Every song brings fresh evidence of high-level artistry in a contemporary style” (Carole Farley)
“all the musical reassurance that a soloist could wish for” (John Constable)

Acclaimed for her portrayals of the title roles in Lulu and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, American Met Opera soprano Carole Farley has won several Grand Prix du Disque, Deutsche Schallplatten, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice awards. The centerpiece of her Library concert with the versatile British accompanist is her gripping interpretation of Poulenc’s tour de force, La Voix Humaine, in a semi-staged production.

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