Pianist Shai Wosner Curates Signs, Games & Messages, a Three-Day Festival Inspired by the Musical Explorations of György Kurtág at Bard Conservatory, February 24–26

Second annual festival highlights include Pierre-Laurent Aimard performing U.S. premieres of Kurtág solo piano works and The Sayings of Péter Bornemisza, Op. 7: Concerto for Soprano and Piano with Aimard and Tony Arnold; Kurtág’s quartet Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánszky and Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, with movements from Cristóbal de Morales' 16th century Officium Defunctorum; and Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben paired with Kurtág’s Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova
 
Admission is free for all performances 

 
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY — Conceived and curated by pianist Shai Wosner, Signs, Games & Messages is an annual three-day, four-concert festival at Bard College Conservatory of Music that explores the music of Hungarian composer György Kurtág (b. 1926), as well as that of composers who influenced or were influenced by him. Using Kurtág as a point of departure into music regardless of century or style, the Festival places different pieces and composers in a dialogue outside of time. Performances take place at Olin Hall, Chapel of the Holy Innocents, and the Bitó Conservatory Building Performance Space on Friday, February 24 at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, February 25 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and on Sunday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. Admission is free for all performances. 
 
Reflecting on his inspiration for the festival, Shai Wosner said:
 
“The title of the annual festival—Signs, Games & Messages—taken from the work by Kurtág, captures the essence of his music and how it constantly interacts with other music and unfolds as a series of highly personal and condensed utterances. This year, the program centerpieces are 'messages' that reflect on the fragility of life—in particular the rarely-performed and monumental Sayings of Péter Bornemisza, and the great song cycle Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova. While sometimes late 20th-century music has a reputation for being ‘mathematical’ or ‘cerebral’, Kurtág stands for me as one of the big figures who forged a path for unapologetically visceral music, and opened the way for many who came after him.”
 
This year’s festival begins on Friday, February 24 with Pierre-Laurent Aimard performing solo piano works by Schubert and Kurtág, including U.S. premieres composed for Aimard by Kurtág during the pandemic and selections from the composer’s Játékok (Games)—short pieces stemming from the Hungarian tradition of blurring the lines between "educational" and "serious/concert" music. The program continues with Kurtág’s rarely performed The Sayings of Péter Bornemisza, Op. 7: Concerto for Soprano and Piano—a cornerstone of late 20th century repertoire widely considered one of Kurtág’s masterpieces—with Aimard and soprano Tony Arnold.  
 
The second program, during the afternoon on February 25, revolves around Bartok's Mikrokosmos (which inspired Kurtag's Games), performed by Bard Prep Division students ages 8-16, interspersed with other related 'game'-like pieces including Bizet’s Jeux d'enfants, Chick Corea’s Children’s Songs, Ravel’s Ma mère l'Oye, and selections by Bach, Chopin, Fauré, and Beethoven, performed by pianists including Frank Corliss, Kayo Iwama, Blair McMillen, Victoria Schwartzman, Susanne Son, Terrence Wilson, and Shai Wosner. 
 
That same evening, the third program centers on spirituality, juxtaposing Kurtág’s quartet Officium breve in memoriam Andreae Szervánszky with Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, both of which confront the reality of death and the possibility of renewed life. The pieces are interposed with movements from Cristóbal de Morales' 16th century requiem, Officium Defunctorum. Performers on this program include Bard’s Vocal Ensemble and String Quartet, and musicians from the Orion, Guarneri, and Borromeo quartets — violinists Daniel Phillips and Carmit Zori, violist Melissa Reardon, and cellist Peter Wiley —coming together for special performance of the Beethoven String Quartet. 
 
The final program on February 26 contrasts two song cycles about women: Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -Leben and Kurtág’sMessages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova, performed by pianist Kayo Iwama, members of the Bard Vocal Ensemble, and the Bard Contemporary Ensemble, conducted by Benjamin Hochman. Schumann’s piece is based on a male-written text that reflects outdated views on women of the time, while Kurtág's cycle is set to 15 poems by Rimma Dalos that are far more current in their sensibility. Heard side by side, the contrasting cycles explore both how the fragmentation in Schumann's music greatly influenced Kurtág's work, and how male-created art has perceived and portrayed a woman’s experiences through time.
 

     
FEBRUARY 24 at 8:00 PM 
Olin Hall
 
KURTÁG & SCHUBERT  Short solo piano works, including US premieres of Kurtág works written during the pandemic KURTÁG The Sayings of Peter Bornemisza, Op. 7: Concerto for Soprano and Piano (1963-1968)  
 
FEBRUARY 25 at 1:00 PM 
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
 
BARTÓK Selections from Mikrokosmos  BACH selections
CHOPIN selections
BIZET Jeux d'enfants, Op. 22
FAURÉ selections
COREA Children’s Songs
RAVEL Ma mère l'Oye
BEETHOVEN selection of bagatelles  
 
FEBRUARY 25 at 7:00 PM 
Chapel of the Holy Innocents
 
CRISTÓBAL DE MORALES Invitatorium from Officium Defunctorum (16th century) KURTÁG Officium Breve in memoriam Andreae Szervanszky, Op. 28  CRISTÓBAL DE MORALES "Forgive me, Lord" from Officium Defunctorum (16th century) BEETHOVEN String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132    
 
FEBRUARY 26 at 2:00 PM 
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
 
SCHUMANN Frauenliebe und -Leben, Op. 42 (A woman's love and life) KURTÁG The Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova, Op. 17 (1981)  
About Shai Wosner
Shai Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire—from Beethoven and Schubert to Ligeti and the music of today—reflect a degree of virtuosity and intellectual curiosity that has made him a favorite among audiences and critics, who note his “keen musical mind and deep musical soul” (NPR’s All Things Considered). In addition to his work as a solo recitalist and chamber musician, he has performed with major orchestras across the U.S., including the Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has performed abroad with the Staatskapelle Berlin, Vienna Philharmonic, and West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, among many other ensembles. His recordings range from Schubert sonatas—continuing his career-long, critically acclaimed engagement with the composer’s music—to chamber works by Bartók and Kurtág, to concerti by Haydn and Ligeti, to new commissions of solo piano works by some of today’s leading composers. He is a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award. He is Resident Artist of Peoples’ Symphony Concerts in New York and is on the piano faculty at the Juilliard School and Bard College Conservatory of Music. Born in Israel, Wosner enjoyed a broad musical education from a very early age, studying piano with Opher Brayer and Emanuel Krasovsky, as well as composition, theory, and improvisation with André Hajdu. He later studied with Emanuel Ax at the Juilliard School. 
 
About the Bard College Conservatory
Bard College Conservatory of Music expands Bard’s spirit of innovation in arts and education. The Conservatory, which opened in 2005, offers a five-year, double-degree program at the undergraduate level and, at the graduate level, programs in vocal arts, conducting, and instrumental performance, as well as Chinese music and culture. Also at the graduate level, the Conservatory offers an Advanced Performance Studies Program and a two-year Post-graduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship. The US-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music, established in 2017, offers a unique degree program in Chinese instruments. The Conservatory Orchestra has performed twice at Lincoln Center, and has completed three international concert tours to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; Russia and six cities in Central and Eastern Europe; and to three cities in Cuba. bard.edu/conservatory

This event was last updated on 01-24-2023

Back to Top