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 # # #