THE 17TH ANNUAL BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL FRANZ LISZT AND HIS WORLD THREE FASCINATING WEEKENDS OF DISCOVERY: AUGUST 11 – 13, AUGUST 18 – 20, AND OCTOBER 27 – 28
MUSIC FESTIVAL AT HEART OF BARD SUMMERSCAPE 2006 EXPLORES LIFE, CAREER, ACHIEVEMENT AND INFLUENCE OF COMPOSER, PIANO VIRTUOSO, MYSTIC, VISIONARY AND INTERNATIONAL CELEBRITY WHO EMBODIED SPIRIT OF 19TH-CENTURY ROMANTICISM
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE PERFORMANCES OF MANY RARELY HEARD WORKS BY LISZT AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES– INCLUDING LISZT’S INNOVATIVE TONE POEMS AND HIS MONUMENTAL MISSA SOLEMNIS; ACCOMPANYING LECTURES, SYMPOSIA AND OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS BRING A THRILLING AND EXUBERANTLY COLORFUL EPOCH FULLY TO LIFE
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — “Franz Liszt and His World” is the subject of the 17th annual Bard Music Festival and a centerpiece of the 2006 Bard SummerScape Festival. As in previous years, the Bard Music Festival will present two summer weekends of orchestral and chamber music, as well as recitals, symposia, panels, and more, on the Bard College campus (August 11-13, August 18-20) – with a third weekend in the fall bringing this year’s festival to a close (October 27-28). The opening program on August 11, Liszt: Mirror of the 19th Century, includes a pre-concert lecture by festival co-director Leon Botstein, and a concert of Liszt compositions ranging from the firestorm of Réminiscences de Don Juan, for solo piano, to songs and choral works, and including both the famous solo-piano transcription of Franz Schubert's dramatic song Erlkönig (The Erl-king) and a moving tribute to Wagner, Liszt’s son-in-law, At the Grave of Richard Wagner (Am Grabe Richard Wagners).
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was one of the first international musical superstars: a true revolutionary who invented the piano recital – touring, performing and composing during his long lifetime a vast number of works that continue to be influential. His world was indeed the world of creativity. Thus the scope of this year's Bard Music Festival is perhaps the broadest to date. As an advocate for the “Music of the Future”, Liszt extended his legendary generosity to a broad range of composers and performers, from Mendelssohn and the Schumanns (whose genius he recognized but who were themselves resistant to Liszt's aesthetic agenda) to Berlioz, Chopin, and Wagner. Many of these contemporaries, as well as Liszt’s successors (virtually none of whom could escape his or Wagner's influences) are also to be heard.
Each weekend spotlights facets of Liszt's artistic identity: the performer, phenomenon and critic; the nationalist, teacher and mystic; the visionary and experimentalist. The Bard Music Festival will present performances of representative compositions from all stages of his career. Liszt’s world comprised salon music, grand opera, virtuoso showpieces, nationalist statements and mystical meditations.
Other composers featured in “Franz Liszt and His World”
Past and present, the composers and artists who inspired Liszt or were influenced by him came from many of the far-flung parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from Russia, Poland, France, the German states, Scandinavia, Italy, the USA, England and Ireland. Included on the programs are Haydn, Weber and Paganini; such opera composers as Meyerbeer, Rossini, Donizetti, Halévy, Bellini and, of course, the great Wagner; and pianist/composers Brahms, Busoni, Chopin, Debussy, Grieg, Anton Rubinstein and Schumann. Additionally, patrons attending the first weekend of “Franz Liszt and His World” may also take in a refreshing triple-bill of comic operettas by Jacques Offenbach.
Critical acclaim for the Bard Music Festival
Jeremy Eichler, newly-named chief music critic of the Boston Globe, wrote of last year’s Bard Music Festival in the New York Times:
“As in the past years, the … festival mixed orchestral and chamber concerts with supplementary events like panels, pre-concert talks and even documentary films, placing the composer’s achievement in a rich web of context. Bard’s formula seemed tailor-made for a figure like [Aaron] Copland, whose output remains little known by most listeners beyond the few works that made him famous. The festival dug deeper, not only by presenting the jazz-infused Copland, the early modernist Copland and the very unsimple 12-tone Copland but also by trying to integrate these disparate faces in a single whole with that elusive ring of unity.”
The late Shirley Fleming wrote in one of her last reports for Musical America in 2004 about “Shostakovich and His World”:
“In the typically thorough style of Bard president and conductor Leon Botstein [the Bard Music Festival] appears to leave no … stone unturned. Opera, films, plays, discussions … explore almost every imaginable facet of the subject at hand; foremost scholars in the field take part. … Publications produced in conjunction with the festival are in-depth, and constitute permanent additions to one's library – this year's … promises many evenings of concentrated reading.”
Music and More
This year's Liszt celebration will offer lectures and discussions during Weekend One by Christopher H. Gibbs, Kenneth Hamilton, Rena Mueller (panel discussion: “Liszt the Phenomenon”, 10 AM Aug 12), Anna H. Celenza, (“The Young Liszt”, 1 PM, Aug 12); Dana Gooley (“Virtuosity”, 10 AM Aug 13); Jim Samson (“Virtuosity Transfigured”, 1 PM Aug. 13) and Heather Hadlock (“Grand Opera before Wagner”, 4.30 PM Aug 13).
During Weekend Two, Michael P. Steinberg will moderate a symposium (“Music in 19th Century Culture”, 10 AM Aug 18); Rainer Kleinertz will give a pre-concert talk (“Liszt and National Aspirations”, 7.30 PM Aug 18), as will James Deaville (“Liszt and the Chamber Music Tradition”, 1 PM Aug 19); Jonathan Bellman will comment on “The “Gypsies”, the Hungarians, and the Exotic in Music” during a chamber music performance (10 AM, Aug 19), and Leon Botstein will moderate a panel discussion on the last day, at 10 AM, August 20, on the compelling topic of “Gender and Musical Culture”. Its subjects, all fascinating people, include Daniel Stern (Marie d'Agoult), George Sand, Carolyne, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein, Clara Schumann and George Eliot.
Finally, at the end of the festival – corresponding with the anniversary of the end of Liszt's 75-year life – the issue of spirituality will be addressed in a pre-concert talk by Richard Wilson (“Late Liszt: Spirituality and Experimentation”, 1 PM, Aug 20). From this period come such works as Angelus and abstract solo piano pieces, some inspired by Richard Wagner's death. The chamber concert after Wilson's talk precedes the final orchestral concert (4.30 PM, Aug. 13), which will present not only a variety of unusual symphonic poems, but also Liszt's Missa solemnis, and the "Prelude” and “Good Friday Music" from Wagner's Parsifal. Leon Botstein will conduct the American Symphony Orchestra, in residence at Bard throughout the festival.
Franz Liszt and His World – the book
Princeton University Press will again publish a volume of new scholarship and interpretation as well as documents – many previously unavailable in English – on Franz Liszt and His World. The 17th in the Bard Music Festival series, the volume is edited by Christopher H. Gibbs and Dana Gooley, and will be on sale at the Festival as well as through off-campus booksellers.
A complete schedule of the 28 events in August and four in October follows, with full details and ticket prices. All events take place in Bard’s Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts unless otherwise indicated. The box bffice telephone number is 845-758-7900, and further information about Bard and environs – as well as ticket-ordering – is at the festival web site: http://www.bard.edu/bmf/2006/
Bard Music Festival subjects since 1991:
Bartók 1995
Beethoven 2000
Brahms 1990
Copland 2005
Debussy 2001
Dvořák 1993
Haydn 1997
Ives 1996
Janáček 2003
Liszt 2006
Mahler 2002
Mendelssohn 1991
Schoenberg 1999
Schumann 1994
Shostakovich 2004
Strauss (Richard) 1992
Tchaikovsky 1998
BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL REDISCOVERIES
Franz Liszt
and his world
AUGUST 11-13, 18-20 AND OCTOBER 27-28, 2006
Schedule 2006
BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL WEEKEND ONE
Program One: Liszt: Mirror of the 19th Century
Friday, August 11, 2006
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
8:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Leon Botstein
8:30 pm Performance: Nicole Cabell, soprano; Rohan De Silva, piano; John Hancock, baritone; Valentina Lisitsa, piano; Giora Schmidt, violin; Konstantin Scherbakov, piano; Peter Orth, piano; Christian van Horn, bass; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
Réminiscences de Don Juan
From Années de pèlerinage
From Etudes d'exécution transcendante
Am Grabe Richard Wagners
Rhapsodie hongroise (arr. Liszt/Joachim)
Transcription of Schubert's Erlkönig
Songs and Choral Works
Tickets: $20, 35, 45
Panel One: Liszt the Phenomenon
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Olin Hall
10:00 am–noon
Christopher H. Gibbs, moderator; Kenneth Hamilton; Rena Mueller; Richard Wilson
Free and open to the public
Program Two: The Young Liszt: From Vienna to Paris
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Olin Hall
1:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Anna H. Celenza
1:30 pm Performance: Michael Abramovich, piano; Simone Dinnerstein, piano; John Hancock, baritone; Martin Kasik, piano; Janice Weber, piano; Peter Orth, piano; Bard Festival Chamber Players
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
From Années de pèlerinage, première année, Suisse
From Etudes d'exécution transcendante
Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), Invitation to the Dance
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837), Septet in D minor, Op. 74
John Field (1782–1837), Nocturne No. 2 in C minor
Carl Czerny (1791–1857), String Quintet
Ignaz Moscheles (1794–1870), Gigue, Op. 58
Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49), from Two Etudes, Op. 10; Mazurka
Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–88), from Trois morceaux dans le genre pathétique, Op. 15; from Gigue et air de ballet dans le style ancien, Op. 24
Adolph von Henselt (1814–89), from Douze études caractéristiques, Op. 2
Clara Wieck (1819–96), Souvenir de Vienne, Op. 9
Songs by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) and Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Tickets: $35
Special Event: The Piano and the 19th Century
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Olin Hall
5:00 pm Performance with commentary by Kenneth Hamilton
Franz Liszt (1811–86), Hexaméron, Variations on the March from I puritani
Free and open to the public
Program Three: Politics, Painting, Theater, and Poetry
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
7:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Jeffrey Kallberg
8:00 pm Performance: American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director; Arnaldo Cohen, piano; Alexander Markov, violin
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major
Heroïde funèbre, symphonic poem
Hunnenschlacht, symphonic poem
Die Ideale, symphonic poem after Schiller
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1814–65), Concerto pathétique in F-sharp minor, Op. 23
Joachim Raff (1822–82), The Tempest, overture
Tickets: $25, 40, 55
Program Four: Virtuosity Blowout
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Olin Hall
10:00 am Pre-concert talk: Dana Gooley
10:30 am Performance: Michael Abramovich, piano; Laura Flax, clarinet; Bard Festival Chamber Players; Melvin Chen, piano; Valentina Lisitsa, piano; Giora Schmidt, violin; Sara Cutler, harp
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
From Réminiscences de Robert le diable
Grand galop chromatique
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864), from Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 23
Sigismond Thalberg (1812–71), Variations on Il barbiere di Siviglia, Op. 63
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst (1814–65), Le roi des aulnes, Op. 26
Anton Rubinstein (1829–94), from Six Studies, Op. 23
Carl Tausig (1841–71), Das Geisterschiff, Op. 1a
Works by David Popper (1843–1913), Sophie Menter (1846–1918), and Elias Parish Alvars (1808–49)
Tickets: $30
Program Five: Virtuosity Transfigured: In the Shadow of Paganini
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Olin Hall
1:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Jim Samson
1:30 pm Performance: Martin Kasik, piano; Diane Walsh, piano; Alexander Markov, violin
Franz Liszt (1811–86), from Etudes d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini
Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840), from Twenty-four Caprices, Op. 1
Robert Schumann (1810–56), from Six Etudes pour le pianoforte d'après les caprices de Paganini, Op. 3, and Six Etudes de concert d’après les caprices de Paganini, Op. 10
Johannes Brahms (1833–97), Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35
Tickets: $35
Program Six: Grand Opera before Wagner
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
4:30 pm Pre-concert talk: Heather Hadlock
5:30 pm Performance: Nicole Cabell, soprano; Philippe Castagner, tenor; Brandon Jovanovich, tenor; Olga Makarina, soprano; Christian van Horn, bass; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; members of the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director
Excerpts from operas by:
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782–1871)
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864)
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
Giovanni Pacini (1796–1867)
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
Fromental Halévy (1799–1862)
Vincenzo Bellini (1801–35)
Tickets: $25, 40, 55
BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL WEEKEND TWO
Symposium: Music in 19th-century Culture
Friday, August 18, 2006
Campus Center, Multipurpose Room
10:00 am–noon and 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Michael P. Steinberg, moderator; Katherine Bergeron; Esther Da Costa Meyer; Dana Gooley; Griselda Pollock; and others
Cosponsored by the Cogut Center for the Humanities, Brown University, Michael P. Steinberg, director
Free and open to the public
Program Seven: Liszt and National Aspirations
Friday, August 18, 2006
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
7:30 pm Pre-concert talk: Rainer Kleinertz
8:00 pm Performance: Jeremy Denk, piano; Jill Grove, mezzo-soprano; Chu-Fang Huang, piano; Ani Kavafian, violin; Piers Lane, piano; Bard Festival String Quartet; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral conductor
Franz Liszt (1811–86), Rákóczy March
Mikhail Glinka (1804–57), Cercassian March, from Ruslan i Lyudmila (trans. Liszt)
Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49), Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44. "Frühling," from Six chants polonaises¸ Op. 74 (trans. Liszt)
Bedrich Smetana (1824–84), String Quartet No. 2 in D minor
Modest Musorgsky (1839–81), The Nursery
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907), Sonata No. 3 in C minor, for violin and piano
Giovanni Sgambati (1841–1914), Mêlodie de Gluck
Choral music by Robert Schumann (1810–56) and Franz Liszt
Eugene d'Albert (1864-1932), Serenata
Tickets: $20, 35, 45
Program Eight: The “Gypsies”, the Hungarians, and the Exotic in Music
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Olin Hall
10:00 am Performance with commentary by Jonathan Bellman
Chu-Fang Huang, piano; Ieve Jokubaviciute, piano; Orion Weiss, piano; Bard Festival Chamber Players
Franz Liszt (1811–86), from Hungarian Rhapsodies
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), from Trio No. 23, in G major
Franz Schubert (1797–1828), Divertissement à l'hongroise, in G minor, D818
Johannes Brahms (1833–97), from Hungarian Dances, WoO1
Works by Márk Rózsavölgyi (1789–1848) and Mihály Mosonyi (1815–70)
Tickets: $30
Program Nine: Between Two Schools: Liszt and the Chamber Music Tradition
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Olin Hall
1:00 pm Pre-concert talk: James Deaville
1:30 pm Performance: Bard Festival String Quartet; Sophie Shao, cello; Sharon Roffman, violin; Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, piano; Jeremy Denk, piano; Andrew Garland, baritone; Marka Gustavsson, viola; Anna Polonsky, piano
Franz Liszt (1811–86), Piano Sonata in B minor
Joachim Raff (1822–82), Sextett, Op. 178
Robert Volkmann (1815–83), Piano Trio in F major, Op. 3
Felix Draeseke (1835–1913), Valse-Scherzo, Op. 5, No. 2
Songs by Peter Cornelius (1824–74); Robert Franz (1815–92); Eduard Lassen (1830–1904); and Franz Liszt
Tickets: $35
Special Event: Liszt the Transcriber
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Olin Hall
5:00 pm Performance with commentary, with Sergei Dreznin, piano
Piano transcriptions by Franz Liszt (1811–86) of works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and others
Free and open to the public
Program Ten: Christ and Faust
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
7:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Alan Walker
8:00 pm Performance: Michael Hendrick, tenor; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
From Christus, oratorio
A Faust Symphony, after Goethe
Franz Schubert (1797–1828), Die Allmacht, Op. 79/2, D852 (arr. Liszt)
Hector Berlioz (1803–69), from L'enfance du Christ
Tickets: $25, 40, 55
Panel Two: Gender and Musical Culture: Stern, Sand, Sayn-Wittgenstein, Schumann, and Eliot
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Olin Hall
10 am–noon
Leon Botstein, moderator; Annegret Fauser; Nancy Reich; and others
Free and open to the public
Program Eleven: Late Liszt: Spirituality and Experimentation
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Olin Hall
1:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Richard Wilson
1:30 pm Performance: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, piano; Arnaldo Cohen, piano; Philippe Castagner, tenor; Anna Polonsky, piano; Orion Weiss, piano; Bard Festival Chamber Players; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
Angelus, for string quartet
Psalm 23
Der traurige Mönch, melodrama
From Années de pèlerinage, troisième année
La lugubre gondola II
Nuages gris
Bagatelle sans tonalité
Richard Wagner (1813–83), "Isoldens Liebestod," from Tristan und Isolde (trans. Liszt)
Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924), from Elegien
Claude Debussy (1862–1918), from Preludes, Book I
Songs and choral works by Franz Liszt; Anton Bruckner (1824–96); Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921); and César Franck (1822–90)
Tickets: $35
Program Twelve: Liszt and Wagner
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
4:30 pm Pre-concert talk: Christopher H. Gibbs
5:30 pm Performance: Andrew Garland, baritone; Jill Grove, mezzo-soprano; Jason Hardy, bass-baritone; Michael Hendrick, tenor; Olga Makarina, soprano; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
Orpheus, symphonic poem
The Bells of Strasbourg
From the Cradle to the Grave
Missa solennis ('Gran' Mass)
Richard Wagner (1813–83)
Prelude and “'Good Friday Music,” from Parsifal
Tickets: $25, 40, 55
BARD MUSIC FESTIVAL: WEEKEND THREE
Friday, October 27, 2006 - Saturday, October 28, 2006
Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Fall Program One: The New German School and Musical Narrative
Friday, October 27, 2006 (repeated Saturday, October 28)
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
7:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Christopher H. Gibbs
8:00 pm Performance: Simone Dinnerstein, piano; Nardo Poy, viola; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
Les Préludes, after Lamartine
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major
Totentanz
Richard Wagner (1813–83), Prelude and Liebestod, from Tristan und Isolde
Hector Berlioz (1803–69), Harold en Italie, Op. 16
Tickets: $25, 40, 55
The Master Class: Liszt as Teacher
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Olin Hall
10 am – noon
Free and open to the public
Fall Program Two: The War of the Romantics: Weimar and Leipzig
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
2:30 pm Pre-concert talk: Dana Gooley
3:00 pm Performance: Faculty and students of The Bard College Conservatory of Music
Franz Liszt (1811–86)
From Etudes d'exécution transcendante
From Années de pèlerinage
Johannes Brahms (1833–97), String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111
Richard Strauss (1864–1949), Wind Serenade, Op. 7
Works by Robert Schumann (1810–56)
Tickets: $20, 35, 45
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This event was last updated on 08-22-2006
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