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 in Russia and admired; 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: Bhavesh Patel, narrator
Mikhail Glinka (1804–57)
Variations on the Russian Folk Song
“Among the Gentle Valleys” (1826)
Orion Weiss, piano
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47)
Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14 (1830)
Orion Weiss, piano
Fromental Halévy (1799–1862)
From La juive (1835) (Scribe)
Rachel! quand du Seigneur
Noah Stewart, tenor
Kayo Iwama, piano
Louis Spohr (1784–1859)
From Faust (1852) (Bernard)
Liebe ist die zarte Blüte
Alfred Walker, bass-baritone
Kayo Iwama, piano
Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840)
Cantabile, Op. 17 (1824)
Luosha Fang ’11, violin
Oren Fader, guitar
Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–88)
From Les mois, Op. 74, No. 6 (ca. 1872)
Promenade sur l’eau
Orion Weiss, piano
Michael Balfe (1808–70)
From The Bohemian Girl (1840–43) (Bunn)
I Dreamt That I Dwelt in Marble Halls
Jana McIntyre, soprano
Kayo Iwama, piano
Adolphe Adam (1803–56)
Bravura Variations on Mozart’s Ah! vous dirai-je maman (1849)
Jana McIntyre, soprano
Keith Bonner, flute
Kayo Iwama, piano
INTERMISSION
Hector Berlioz (1803–69)
Harold en Italie, Op. 16 (1834; arr. Liszt)
Harold in the Mountains. Scenes of Melancholy, Happiness, and Joy
March of the Pilgrims Singing the Evening Hymns
Serenade of an Abruzzese Mountaineer to His Sweetheart
The Brigands’ Orgies. Reminiscences of the Preceding Scenes
Luosha Fang ’11, viola
Piers Lane, piano
Artists & Scholars
Jana McIntyre
Soprano
Noah Stewart
Tenor
Alfred Walker
Bass-baritone
Luosha Fang ’11
Viola
Oren Fader
Guitar
Piers Lane
Piano
Orion Weiss
Piano
Kayo Iwama
Piano
Keith Bonner
Flute
Bhavesh Patel
Narrator
Peter Bloom
Musicologist, Preconcert Talk
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
Find answers to some of the most common questions patrons have regarding our venues and performances. If you have a question not answered in our FAQs, please call 845-758-7900 or email boxoffice@bard.edu during regular Box Office hours.
