The classical music scene

January 2007

January 30 – February 10 (various times): Essential Balanchine

Lincoln Center, New York State Theater, New York City Ballet

The centerpiece of this trio of ballets is Brahms’s Liebeslieder Walzer, opp. 52 and 65, which premiered in Balanchine’s choreography in 1960, with sets by Federico Berzeviczy-Pallavicini (1909-89), an American artist of Hungarian descent.

February 2007

February 9, 8 pm: Making Music: Composer Conductors

American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein, music director

Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall

George Szell – Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 4 (1913)
Paul Kletzki – Violin Concerto, Op. 19 (1928)
(World Premiere) Robert Davidovici,violin
Harold Farberman - Double Concerto for Violin and Percussion (2006)
(New York Premiere) Guillermo Figueroa, violin, Simon Boyar, percussion
Leonard Bernstein - Symphony No. 2 "The Age of Anxiety" (1949)
Benjamin Hochman, piano

George Szell [aka Széll György] was born in Budapest on April 7, 1897. Educated in Vienna, he studied composition with Max Reger and piano with Richard Robert, yet he eventually earned his worldwide fame as a conductor. After leading several major European symphony orchestras and opera houses, Szell settled in the United States in 1939, where he was at the Metropolitan Opera from 1942 to 1946, when he took over the music directorship of the Cleveland Orchestra, which he led until his death in 1970. Szell's ear for balance and orchestral transparency was legendary. Less known is his work as a composer; his Variations on an Original Theme, op. 4, show a remarkable talent and promise that was never fulfilled.

February 14, 4 pm: Master Class: Marta Eggerth, voice

Manhattan School of Music, Greenfield Hall

Legendary soprano Marta Eggerth was born in Budapest on April 17, 1912. After appearing in several opera and operetta productions in Budapest and Vienna, she starred in the first Hungarian sound film Csak egy kislány van a világon (dir. Béla Gaál, 1930). Between 1927 and 1938 she played in several classic German musical films. In 1938 Eggerth moved to the U.S. with her husband the tenor Jan Kiepura, with whom she toured all over the world in their production of Lehár’s The Merry Widow.

March 2007

March 27, 8 pm: NDR Symphony Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi, chief conductor, Vadim Repin, violin

Carnegie Hall, Isaac Stern Auditorium.

György Ligeti – Lontano
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Mahler Symphony No. 1, "Titan"

April 2007

April 11, 8 pm: Distinguished Artists in Recital: Miklós Perényi and András Schiff—Complete Beethoven Cello/Piano Works Part I

92^nd Street Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall

Celebrated pianist András Schiff and Miklós Perényi, one of today’s most important cellists, bring their great musical friendship to the stage of Kaufmann Concert Hall for a landmark event—a two-night journey through all of Beethoven’s music for cello and piano.

Sonata for Piano and Cello in F Major, Op. 5, No. 1
Sonata for Piano and Cello in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1
Variations in F Major on "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" from The Magic Flute, Op. 66
Sonata for Piano and Cello in A Major, Op. 69

April 12, 8 pm: Distinguished Artists in Recital: Miklós Perényi and András Schiff—Complete Beethoven Cello/Piano Works Part II

92^nd Street Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall

        Variations in G Major on “See the conquering hero comes” from Judas Maccabaeus
        Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 5, No. 2
        Variations in E-flat Major on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” from The Magic Flute
        Sonata for Piano and Cello in F Major, Op. 17
        Sonata for Piano and Cello in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2

April 30, 7:30 pm: Sergey Khachatryan, violin, New York Recital Debut; Lusine Khachatryan, piano

Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall

Beethoven – Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 12, No. 3
Schumann – Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 105
Shostakovich – Sonata for Violin and Piano

May 2007

May 10, 7:30 pm: Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano, Tamara Stefanovich, piano, Daniel Ciampolini, percussion, Joseph Gramley, percussion

Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall

Péter Eötvös – Kosmos for 2 Pianos
György Kurtág – Selections from Játékok
Steve Reich – Clapping Music
Grörgy Ligeti – "Fém" from Études pour piano, No. 8 (adapted for piano and percussion)
Nancarrow – Studies for Player Piano Nos. 2 & 9 (arr. for two pianos)
Ligeti – Poème symphonique for 100 Metronomes (chamber version for 8 human metronomes)
Ligeti – "Fanfares" from Études pour piano, No. 4 (adapted for piano and percussion)
Bartók – Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Op. 115

May 11, 7:30 pm: Perspectives: Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Pre-concert talk starts at 6:30 PM in Zankel Hall: Pierre-Laurent Aimard in conversation with Ara Guzelimian. The concert will feature works and extracts by Bartók, Beethoven, Cage, Janáček, Kurtág, Liadov, Ligeti, Messiaen, Murail, Mussorgsky, Ravel, D. Scarlatti, Schoenberg, Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, Stockhausen, Tchaikovsky, and Webern, juxtaposed in playful and sometimes startling ways. Through words and performance, Mr. Aimard will compare and contrast these composers’ radically different approaches to musical forms and ideas.