Bard Music Festival
Program Seven • Berlioz: The Composer as Writer
August 16
Berlioz was one of the first composers to publish memoirs for posterity. Encompassing many of his earlier writings, especially those devoted to his travels, they are sometimes unreliable, yet also vivid, personal, and entertaining.
Program Seven alternates chamber works by the composer and his contemporaries with readings about them from his memoirs, letters, and criticism. Featured composers include Fromental Halévy, creator of the popular grand opera La Juive; Mikhail Glinka, whom he met and admired in Russia; Ireland’s Michael Balfe, whose music he conducted in London; and Charles-Valentin Alkan, dubbed “the Berlioz of the piano.”
Niccolò Paganini’s Cantabile is juxtaposed with a complete account of Berlioz’s Harold en Italie, as arranged with piano accompaniment by Franz Liszt, a lifelong friend. As Berlioz recounts, Paganini first commissioned the work to showcase his Stradivarius viola, then rejected it as insufficiently virtuosic, and finally hailed it as a masterpiece, sending Berlioz the extravagant sum of 20,000 francs by way of apology.
Program
6:30 pm • Preconcert Talk with Peter Bloom
7 pm • Performance: Jana McIntyre, soprano; Noah Stewart, tenor; Alfred Walker, bass-baritone; Luosha Fang, viola; Piers Lane and Orion Weiss, piano; and others
Hector Berlioz (1803–69)
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (1834; arr. Liszt)
Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840)
Cantabile (1823)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47)
Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14 (1830)
Piano works and arias by Louis Spohr (1784–1859), Fromental Halévy (1799–1862), Adolphe Adam (1803–56), Mikhail Glinka (1804–57), Michael Balfe (1808–70), Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–88)
Plan Your Visit
Eat & Stay
Nearby villages and towns in the Hudson Valley boast a large selection of restaurants, as well as a variety of hotels, motels, inns, and bed & breakfasts.
Eat & StayDirections
Bard College’s main campus is located in Annandale-on-Hudson (a hamlet of Red Hook), New York, on the east bank of the Hudson River, about 90 miles north of New York City and 220 miles southwest of Boston. The Taconic State Parkway and the New York State Thruway provide the most direct routes to our campus. Click the Google map below, or get directions by entering the following address into your GPS: 60 Manor Avenue, Red Hook, NY 12571.
From the East
If you are traveling from east of the Hudson River in New York State, take the Taconic State Parkway to the Red Hook / Route 199 exit, drive west on Route 199 through the village of Red Hook to Route 9G, turn right onto Route 9G, drive north 1.9 miles, turn left onto Annandale Road, then turn right onto Manor Ave.
From the West
If you are traveling from west of the Hudson River, take the New York State Thruway (I-87) to exit 19 (Kingston), take Route 209 (changes to Route 199 at the Hudson River) over the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge to Route 9G, turn left onto Route 9G, drive north 3.5 miles, turn left onto Annandale Road, then turn right onto Manor Ave.
About the Venue
Sosnoff Theater
Accessible Seating
Wheelchair-accessible seating is available in all seating areas for patrons in wheelchairs and their companions. There is an elevator to all levels of the Sosnoff Theater and a wheelchair lift is used to access front-row wheelchair seating.
Wheelchair-Accessible Restrooms
Restrooms at all locations are wheelchair accessible. Single-use restrooms are available at most locations.
All-Gender Restrooms
Bard College and the Fisher Center support guests of any gender identity/expression in using the restroom of their choice. Additionally, all-gender restrooms are available at all venues.
More Info
Our driving principle is to operate with a duty of care for all our community—artists, audiences, and staff alike.
In order to share performances with as many audience members as possible, we ask that you read our Health and Safety Protocols on the FAQs page and commit to participating in our community of care.
Read the FAQs and Safety Protocols
