Robert Schumann News

From the Top, the nationally-distributed NPR program and podcast that celebrates the voices and talents of America's brightest young classical musicians, will bring its next live recording event to the Center for the Arts on Saturday, February 29 at 8 p.m. Guest hosts Greg Anderson (a From the Top alum himself) and Elizabeth Joy Roe of the acclaimed piano duo Anderson & Roe will interview and perform with each of the exceptional young artists, ages 12 - 18, showcasing not just their inspiring talent, but also giving insight into the lives of these young, aspirational artists. 

When Franz Schubert died at age 31, the sum total of all his worldly goods accumulated in his bohemian lifestyle included clothing, bedding and some books. The official legal inventory concluded, a?oeNo belongings of the deceased are to be found.a?? The composer's manuscripts were in the hands of a friend who later gave them to Schubert's brother, Ferdinand. In the coming months, Ferdinand sold countless songs, chamber music and solo piano music to a publisher, but Schubert's larger orchestral works and operas gathered dust on a shelf.

The critically acclaimed Chappaqua Orchestra invites audiences to their next performance, on Sunday, March 8 at Tarrytown Music Hall at 13 Main Street, Tarrytown. at 1:00 PM. The orchestra will open the concert with the joyful symphonic tone poem 'For A Beautiful Land,' by the American composer and Iowa native Linda Robbins Coleman.

The Iris Trio pairs works by Schumann and Mozart with modern tributes to these masterpieces by György Kurtág and Christof Weiss on Homage and Inspiration, their debut album, available on Germany's Coviello Classics label on February 7, 2020. Comprised of three outstanding musicians - clarinetist Christine Carter, violist Molly Carr, and pianist Anna Petrova - who first came together in New York City during their years at the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, the Iris Trio has performed extensively across Germany, as well as in North America and elsewhere in Europe, consistently offering 'a musical and lively performance, strong in technical nuance, and with an exquisite balance of sound' (Augsburger Allgemeine).

Currently in their third season in residence at Union Temple of Brooklyn, An die Musik NYC is a concert series bringing the people of New York City high-quality classical music at affordable prices. AdM presents internationally renowned performers alongside rising talents from the NYC community.

This February, the Houston Symphony, under the direction of Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada, presents a two-week, in-depth exploration of the life and works of the great German Romantic composer Robert Schumann. The Schumann Festival comprises not only full symphonic performances at Jones Hall, but also a recital, a lecture, chamber and vocal music concerts, and a gallery tour/performance in venues across Houston, making it an exceptionally immersive artistic experience.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's (LACO) three-program In Focus series explores during the 2019-20 season Beethoven's great chamber works and also includes works by Strauss, Mendelssohn and Schumann, as well as a LACO-commissioned world premiere by composer/pianist Sarah Gibson, a?oea serious talent to watcha?? (Atlanta Journal Constitution), which features the composer on piano and was inspired by Clara Schumann on the 200th anniversary of her birthday. Curated by Concertmaster Margaret Batjer and highlighting an array of LACO artists plus, this season, special guests pianist  Andrew von Oeyen and the Miró Quartet, In Focus provides insights into the quintessence of some of the great chamber music repertoire through the lens of LACO artists in an intimate setting with each program presented in back-to-back performances on Thursdays at First Presbyterian of Santa Monica and Fridays at San Marino's The Huntington, at 7:30 pm. Batjer leads Strauss' Metamorphosen for String Septet and Beethoven's Septet for Winds and Strings on February 20 and 21, 2020; von Oeyen, a pianist lauded for his a?oeindisputable gifts and an extravagantly thorough and effortless techniquea?? (Los Angeles Times), is featured on Beethoven's Piano Trio and Schumann's Piano Quintet on a program that also includes the Gibson world premiere on April 2 and 3, 2020; and the Miró Quartet, a?oea marvel of single-minded phrasing and airtight ensemblea?? (Washington Post), performs Beethoven's String Quartet No. 12 and Mendelssohn's String Octet on April 30 and May 1, 2020.

On Monday, March 2, 2020, at Carnegie Hall, the Oratorio Society of New York performs the U.S. premiere of a new critical edition of one of the masterpieces of choral music, Brahms's A German Requiem (Ein deutsches Requiem) a?" a work that the organization gave its very first U.S. performance, more than 140 years ago. OSNY Music Director Kent Tritle conducts, and the featured soloists are Susanna Phillips, soprano, and Takaoki Onishi, baritone.

CARTELERA CNMO 1-6 febrero 2020

Husson University welcomes celebrated classical pianist Fei-Fei (pronounced fā-fā) Dong to the stage of the Gracie Theatre on Sunday, February 9, 2020, at 2 p.m. Support from the Husson Recital Fund, created by John E. Kilgore, Jr., is helping to make this concert and other classical music performances possible at the Gracie Theatre.

In the dead of winter, 92Y's February concert programs promise intimacy and warmth, along with some new sounds: world premieres by John Zorn, Natacha Diels, and Marcos Balter form the basis of cellist Jay Campbell's program with pianist Conor Hanick (February 14). Alexi Kenney's solo violin recital includes scores by Du Yun, Kaija Saariaho, Reich, Kurtág, Enescu, and others, interspersed with movements of Bach (February 7).

Wondering how to celebrate Beethoven's 250th birthday? Well, to paraphrase Julie Andrews, the air is alive with the sound of his music. Take a European riverboat cruise that promises performances of his string quartets, stream Immortal Beloved with Gary Oldman's intensely romantic portrayal of the gnarly uncompromising genius, or just buy tickets for the next all-Beethoven concert at your favorite concert hall, probably next weekend given the enthusiasm for the anniversary shown by most symphony orchestras. The San Diego Symphony, for one, is all-in with a a?oeBeethoven Festival.a?? A dozen concerts will feature at least one Beethoven work this season, perhaps too much of a good thing.

Mona Golabek, the sole performer of a?oeThe Pianist of Willesden Lanea?? at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, has truly followed a singular path, both in her career and in her life. She first came to prominence as a virtuoso concert pianist appearing with major orchestras around the world. In 1998, she began hosting her own successful syndicated radio show, a?oeThe Romantic Hour,a?? which combined romantic poetry and classical music. Her life took another unexpected turn in 2002 when she co-wrote the best-seller a?oeThe Children of Willesden Lanea?? which tells the story of her mother, Lisa Jura, whose life was saved as a young girl by the Kindertransport which took her away from her family in Nazi-occupied Austria to safety in London. In 2012, Ms. Golabek collaborated with Hershey Felder to create the stage adaptation a?oeThe Pianist of Willesden Lane.a?? She has since taken the show across the country and toured internationally, and now makes it her mission to use her mother's story as a catalyst to bring reconciliation in our divisive world. BroadwayWorld recently spoke with Ms. Golabek from her home in Los Angeles. In conversation, she exhibits the natural warmth and ease of an accomplished radio host and has just the barest hint of a sort of pan-European accent, perhaps another sign of the enduring influence of her mother.

On Sunday, February 9 at 2:00 p.m., beloved Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel returns to Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage for a recital featuring works by Ireland, Quilter, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, selections from Vaughan Williams's Songs of Travel as well as additional selections to be announced from the stage. He is joined by pianist Natalia Katyukova. This concert marks his first recital at Carnegie Hall in ten years; for his complete performance history please click here. The full program is listed below.

On Friday, January 10, 2020, baritone Will Liverman and pianist Jonathan King release their debut album Whither Must I Wander on Odradek Records. Whither Must I Wander is an exquisite recital of songs on the theme of travel by composers by Ralph Vaughan Williams, J. Frederick Keel, Herbert Howells, Aaron Copland, Steven Mark Kohn, Nikolai Medtner, and Robert Schumann. 

Pianist Stephen Hough's album Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces explores the composer's last four sets of piano miniatures—the Fantasias, Op. 116; Intermezzos, Op. 117; and Clavierstücke, Op. 118 & 119. The recording, Mr. Hough's sixth all-Brahms album, is released digitally and on disc by Hyperion Records on Friday, January 3. Digital pre-orders are currently available from Amazon and Apple Music / iTunes.

MusicaNova Orchestra (MNO) opens its 2020 with Rhineland Muses: Journeys in Romantic Music, on January 12, 2020 at 2:00 PM in the Music Theater at the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix. Tickets are available now online through the MIM box office (www.mim.org) for $33 and $38, plus fees. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door the day of the concert.

Sometimes orchestras program pieces to meet popular demand, and at other times, they program works to meet expectations or fulfill a sense of obligation. It's so easy to yield to inertia. This past weekend's Charlotte Symphony concerts balanced both types of choices. The DVOŘÁK'S NEW WORLD SYMPHONY is so popular in the Queen City that an extra row of seats was set up at Belk Theater behind the already-packed Grand Tier.

Catskill's adventurous Bridge Street Theatre opened its 2019 Season on January 6 with a take-no-prisoners performance by the Zelos Saxophone Quartet. Winner of the 2018 Frances Walton Competition, this vibrant and youthful ensemble, based in San Jose, CA, presented a jaw-dropping array of classic and contemporary works. Now, the theatre bookends its season with a performance by the ensemble's only female member, the astonishing Robin Lacey (accompanied at the piano by Dan Chien) on Saturday November 30, 2019, at 7:30pm.

Composer Jean-Féry Rebel was something of a rebel (sorry could not resist) in late 17th and early 18th century France for his use of unusual often dissonant harmony. Les Elémens ('The Elements') which describes the creation of the world was a radical work for its time and still feels surprisingly modern.