Saratoga Performing Arts Center Announces 2019 Classical Season

NEW YORK CITY BALLET • THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA • THE CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER

New York City Ballet residency highlighted by three SPAC Premieres from 21^st century choreographers; story ballet Coppélia, and a Gala program featuring Balanchine’s Apollo

The Philadelphia Orchestra season features 19 SPAC Premieres of iconic masterpieces including works by Copland, Piazzolla and Debussy and innovative newer works including compositions by Higdon, Clyne, Lopez and Bates

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin to return to lead the Orchestra for two weeks, including the season finale featuring the SPAC Premiere of Mozart’s Requiem

“Cinema Series at SPAC” Returns with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets™ in Concert; Disney • Pixar’s Up in Concert and Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights in Concert

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performs six programs with 23 works never before performed by CMS at SPAC

Saratoga Springs, NY (January 14, 2019) – The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) will welcome home resident companies – New York City Ballet, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – in a 2019 line-up marked by a record number of SPAC premieres of both iconic works of the classical repertoire and works by living composers and choreographers.

NEW YORK CITY BALLET (NYCB)’s residency (July 16 – 20) will once again feature four distinct programs including the story ballet Coppélia, which was premiered at SPAC, an evening dedicated to Balanchine and Tchaikovsky, and a program showcasing three SPAC Premieres by 21st century choreographers, highlighted by Kyle Abraham’s The Runaway, which fuses modern and classical technique and an eclectic soundtrack mixing composer Nico Muhly, singer James Blake, and hip-hop artists Jay-Z and Kanye West. The annual New York City Ballet Gala, on Saturday, July 20, will showcase George Balanchine’s Apollo, Christopher Wheeldon’s This Bitter Earth and a new piece by NYCB Resident Choreographer and Soloist Justin Peck.

THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA’S three-week residency (July 31 – August 17) will be highlighted by 16 SPAC premieres ranging from classical masterpieces to innovative contemporary compositions, marking a record number of pieces that have never before been performed on SPAC’s stage ranging from Mozart’s Requiem to Mason Bates’ Anthology of Fantastic Zoology.  The season will, once again, showcase two weeks under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director of both The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Metropolitan Opera. Nézet-Séguin will conduct the closing night performance of Mozart’s Requiem. The Orchestra’s 2019 season will also feature a line-up of acclaimed and emerging artists appearing at SPAC for the first time. Performing with The Philadelphia Orchestra for the first time is the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (AUG 15) and classical pianist Christian Blackshaw (AUG 17); making their SPAC debuts in 2019 are pianists Janice Carissa (AUG 2) and Jan Lisiecki (AUG 16), Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya (AUG 9), and the dancers of PHILADANCO (JUL 31) in The Philadelphia Orchestra’s opening night performance.

SPAC’s “Cinema Series” will delight audiences of all ages as the Orchestra accompanies, live to picture, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets™ in Concert; Disney • Pixar’s Up in Concert and Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights in Concert.

THE CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (CMS) returns (August 4 - 20) with a roster of internationally celebrated artists, taking audiences at the Spa Little Theatre on a musical journey with six programs designed specifically for the SPAC Residency of 23 works never before been performed by CMS at SPAC. In addition to performances by David Finckel and Wu Han, Co-Artistic Directors of CMS, in residency for all three weekends, audiences will experience the return of the Escher Quartet, plus debut appearances by four artists including Chinese violinist Angelo Xiang Yu, British flutist Adam Walker, Bulgarian violinist Bella Hristova and renowned American cellist Keith Robinson.

“Our beloved resident companies will be presenting a record number of works that have never before been performed at SPAC,” said Elizabeth Sobol, president and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center. “From contemporary works like Mason Bates’ Anthology of Fantastic Zoology and popular film scores to surprising omissions of masterpieces long overdue for the SPAC stage like Mozart’s Requiem, Copland’s Appalachian Spring and chamber music by Debussy, Brahms and Beethoven. 2019 season concerts will offer an extraordinary depth of repertoire performed by our incomparable resident companies and artists of matchless talent, providing audiences that perfect confluence of natural setting and great performance that make summers at SPAC so unforgettable.”

NEW YORK CITY BALLET: JULY 16 - 20

Tschaikovsky and Balanchine

TUESDAY, JULY 16 @ 8PM

THURSDAY, JULY 18 @ 2PM

Serenade                                              (Tschaikovsky/Balanchine)                          

Mozartiana                                            (Tchaikovsky/Balanchine)                           

Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2          (Tschaikovsky/Balanchine)

NYCB’s opening night and its Thursday matinee will celebrate three of Balanchine’s iconic ballets set to Tschaikovsky’s compositions, whose music was a great inspiration to the New York City Ballet co-founder.

Serenade, the first original ballet Balanchine created in America, is a milestone in the history of dance and remains a beloved, luminous work in the repertoire. Mozartiana, choreographed to a Tschaikovsky composition derived from Mozart piano pieces, creates an atmosphere of hushed contemplation. Balanchine first choreographed to this music at the start of his career in 1933, and nearly 50 years later, he returned to the score to create a new ballet, one of his last works. Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 is an ebullient work of classical virtuosity for 27 dancers.

SPAC Premieres By 21^st Century Choreographers

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17 @ 8PM

Varied Trio (in four)*                                      (Harrison/Frohlich)

New Peck*                                                     (Stevens/Peck)

The Runaway*                                      (Nico Muhly, Kanye West, Jay-Z, James Blake/Abraham)                             

Varied Trio (in four) by NYCB Ballet Master Jean-Pierre Frohlich is a collection of short dances for a couple whose movements resonate with the simple, minimalist Lou Harrison score.

Set to a commissioned score for full orchestra, Justin Peck’s new work – his fourth collaboration with acclaimed composer and singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens – will premiere as part of New York City Ballet’s 2019 winter season.

Kyle Abraham’s choreographic perspective takes center stage in The Runaway, which fuses modern and classical technique, accented by dramatic lighting, imaginative costumes by Giles Deacon, and an eclectic soundtrack mixing composer Nico Muhly, singer James Blake, and hip-hop artists Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Coppélia

THURSDAY, JULY 18 @ 8PM

FRIDAY, JULY 19 @ 8PM

SATURDAY, JULY 20 @ 2PM

Coppélia                                                              (Delibes/Balanchine, Danilova)

Considered one of the greatest comedic ballets of the 19th Century, Coppélia premiered in Saratoga in 1974 and was co-commissioned by SPAC. Choreographed by George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova after Marius Petipa, it has remained one of the best-loved classical works in the ballet repertory. Called one of the “happiest ballets in existence,” it tells the story of an eccentric inventor and the lifelike doll he creates. The work is visually stunning, with storybook sets and a cast of dancing children. The music of Coppélia links two great historical periods of ballet — the French Romantic style and the Russian Classical style.     

SPAC’s NYC Ballet Gala

SATURDAY, JULY 20 @ 8PM

Apollo                                                                  (Stravinsky/Balanchine)

This Bitter Earth                                                (Richter,Otis/Wheeldon)

New Peck                                                            (Stevens/Peck)

SPAC’s NYC Ballet Gala, the finale to New York City Ballet’s 2019 residency, will be highlighted by Balanchine's first collaboration with Stravinsky and one of his earliest international successes, Apollo. The ballet presents the young god as he is ushered into adulthood by the muses of poetry, mime, and dance.

This Bitter Earth is a pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s Five Movements, Three Repeats. The full work was originally created for Fang-Yi Sheu & Artists, a group led by former Martha Graham Dance Company star Fang-Yi Sheu that included NYCB dancers Wendy Whelan, Tyler Angle, and Craig Hall. This breathtaking and poetic dance explores the haunting, tenuous melodies of Dinah Washington’s soulful rendition of This Bitter Earth remixed with British composer Max Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight.

The 2019 residency will conclude with Justin Peck’s new work – his fourth collaboration with Oscar-nominated composer Sufjan Stevens. 

*indicates SPAC premiere

THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA: JULY 31 – 17

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 @ 8PM: Festive Fireworks

Stéphane Denève, conductor

Dancers of PHILADANCO

Rimsky-Korsakov              Sheherazade  

Ravel                                    La Valse              

Tchaikovsky                        1812 Overture

Opening Night of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s August residency will continue the new tradition of featuring Tchaikovsky’s famed 1812 Overture, complete with fireworks and live cannon fire as the kick-off to the 2019 Orchestra season. New to the program for 2019, will be the SPAC premiere of dancers from the Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO).

Internationally acclaimed, PHILADANCO is celebrated for its innovation, creativity and preservation of predominantly African-American traditions in dance. Described as “Exuberant” by the New York Times, Philadanco has grown, since 1970, from a community arts organization based in West Philadelphia to a dance company celebrated throughout the world. Joan Myers Brown and her 17 dancers are famed for innovative choreography, blending African American-based dance with ballet, jazz, and modern.

The evening will be conducted by Stéphane Denève, who is currently in his fifth season as principal guest conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, a position that runs through the 2019-20 season. He has led more programs with the Orchestra than any other guest conductor since making his debut in 2007, in repertoire that has spanned more than 100 works, ranging from Classical through the contemporary, including presentations with dance, theater, film, and cirque performers.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1 @ 2PM: Beyond Baroque

Stéphane Denève, conductor

Palestrina/orch. Stokowski          “Adoramus te”*

Ravel                                           Le Tombeau de Couperin

Stravinsky                                     Suite from Pulcinella

Bach/orch. Stokowski                     Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor

Bach/orch. Stokowski                     Fugue in G minor (“Little”)*

Bach/orch. Stokowski                     Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Leopold Stokowski, known for his long tenure as music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, was a cultural pioneer, bringing the latest in art and music to Philadelphia during the first half of the 20th century and presenting it in bold, new ways – most notably his incredible orchestrations of famous works by such composers as Giovanni Pierluigi da Pergolesi and Johann Sebastian Bach.

This robust program features Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which has become a vastly popular piece, especially in the horror genre, and has been prevalent in pop culture since well before the sound film era. Although a great masterwork in the classical cannon, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor saw renewed popularity from an orchestration by Stokowski that he and The Philadelphia Orchestra performed in the 1940 animated film Fantasia.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 @ 8PM: Songs of the Sea

Stéphane Denève, conductor

Janice Carissa, piano   

Britten                                                  “Four Sea Interludes,” from Peter Grimes*

Ravel                                                    Piano Concerto in G major

Debussy/orch. Stokowski             “The Sunken Cathedral,” from Preludes*

Debussy                                               La Mer

A native of Indonesia and a Young Scholar of Lang Lang's International Music Foundation, pianist Janice Carissa will make her SPAC debut performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major on August 2. Also highlighting the evening under the baton of Stéphane Denève are the “Four Sea Interludes” from Britten’s opera Peter Grimes and Debussy’s “The Sunken Cathedral,” both appearing at SPAC for the first time.

Debussy’s musical innovations became closely associated with the Impressionist movement, a term that was initially used pejoratively in connection with Claude Monet’s paintings. Many of Debussy’s pieces were inspired by images and by nature. As he once remarked: “I am trying in some way to do ‘something different’—an effect of reality—what some imbeciles call ‘Impressionism,’ a term that is utterly misapplied, especially by the critics.” In La Mer he offers three meditations on the sea: “From Dawn to Midday at Sea,” “Play of the Waves,” and “Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea.”

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3 @ 8PM: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets™ in Concert

Williams                               Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets™ (complete with film)*

The concert will feature The Philadelphia Orchestra performing, live to picture, every note from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets™, the second installment of the popular series. Audiences will be able to relive the magic of the film in high-definition projected on the big screen while hearing the live symphony orchestra perform John Williams’ Grammy-nominated score.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets™, based on J.K. Rowling’s novel, cars fly, trees fight back and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical abilities and courage.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7 @ 8PM: Yannick Returns

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Clyne                                     Masquerade*  

Chausson                            Poème de l'amour et de la mer

Rachmaninoff                    Symphony No. 1*  

Masquerade “draws its inspiration from the original mid-18th-century promenade concerts held in London’s pleasure gardens” according to composer Anna Clyne and was dedicated to the Proms' concertgoers for which this piece originally premiered.  This richly orchestrated work includes an old English country dance melody and a drinking song to add a festive flair to the program. 

Chausson’s Poème de l'amour et de la mer, which translates to Poem of Love and the Sea, is a 19th-century song cycle about love, loss and the sea. This program, marking the return of Yannick Nézet-Séguin to SPAC’s podium, celebrates the interplay between the romantic texts of Maurice Bouchor and Chausson's lush orchestration. According to Yannick, "This is just an amazing collection of poems and it got me thinking how color in symphonic music can be ... a way of getting to a true soul of a piece."

Closing the evening is the SPAC premiere of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 @ 8PM: American Idylls

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Higdon                                  blue cathedral*

Copland                                Appalachian Spring*

Respighi                               Fountains of Rome

Bates                                     Anthology of Fantastic Zoology*  

August 8 will feature three SPAC premieres: blue cathedral, an orchestral composition by the American composer Jennifer Higdon and one of the composer's most performed works; the orchestral suite from Copland’s Appalachian Spring, the Pulitzer Prize-winning depiction of the American idyll, which also popularized the Shaker folk song "Simple Gifts”; and Mason Bates’ Anthology of Fantastic Zoology, titled after mythical creatures from the book of the same name by Argentinian literary giant Jorge Luis Borges. The work exploits the virtuosity of the Orchestra to evoke what the composer calls a “psychedelic bestiary.”

Fountains of Rome, the piece that eventually put Respighi on the international map, celebrates four of the city’s famous fountains as a highlight of this aquatic-themed program.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 9 @ 8PM: South American Sounds

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor

Elizabeth Hainen, harp

Márquez                              Danzón No. 2

Ginastera                             Harp Concerto*

Piazzolla                               Tangazo*  

López                                    Perú negro*

Under the baton of Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya, making his first-ever SPAC appearance, this program will transport listeners to South America with three SPAC premieres that explore the sounds of Argentina and Peru.

The effervescent Harp Concerto by the celebrated Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera was premiered by The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1965 and is today performed by the current principal harp, Elizabeth Hainen, considered one of classical music's great harp ambassadors. Hailed by the Washington Post for her “unusual presence with silky transparency” and by the New York Times for her “earthy solidarity,” she has thrilled audiences throughout the world with programs showcasing the diversity—and virtuosity—of her modern-day instrument.

The allure of tangos and other dance-inflected rhythms merge in Piazzolla’s sultry music with his sophisticated compositional training in Paris, where he went at the urging of Ginastera. Tangazo is one of Piazzolla’s late compositions, which he originally wrote for a small ensemble and then arranged for full orchestra. The concert concludes with Perú negro by the young Peruvian composer Jimmy López. A celebration of AfroPeruvian traditions, the work honors López’s compatriot, this concert’s conductor, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, by using a four-note theme based on his initials.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 10 @ 8PM: Disney • Pixar’s Up in Concert

Constantine Kitsopoulus, conductor  

Giacchino                           Up (complete with film)*

Making its SPAC premiere as part of the film’s 10^th anniversary, Disney • Pixar’s Up in Concert will be screened alongside The Philadelphia Orchestra performing its Academy® and Grammy® Award-winning score, live to picture as the second film in the popular “Cinema Series at SPAC.”

The Academy Award-winning film features a 78-year-old curmudgeonly balloon salesman named Carl as its hero. When he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America, he finally fulfills his lifelong dream of adventure. But after Carl discovers an 8-year-old stowaway named Russell, this unlikely duo soon finds themselves on a hilarious journey in a lost world filled with danger and surprises.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14 @ 8PM: Chaplin City Lights 

Kensho Wantanabe, conductor

Chaplin                                 City Lights (complete with film)*

Charlie Chaplin’s immortal romantic comedy City Lights gets even brighter when The Philadelphia Orchestra performs Chaplin’s score live while the complete film — considered to be among the greatest ever made — is shown on a giant screen above the stage for the final installment of the “Cinema Series @ SPAC.”

Charlie Chaplin, one of the towering icons of film history, central to the field of film as a producer, director, and actor, is instantly recognizable to people around the world for his signature character, the Tramp. In 1999, the American Film Institute placed him on its list as one of the “greatest male movie stars of all time”; it also acknowledged his film City Lights as one the “100 best American films ever made.”

Chaplin, unlike most directors in the silent film era, composed the music for City Lights: “I tried to compose elegant and romantic music to frame my comedies in contrast to the tramp character, for elegant music gave my comedies an emotional dimension. Musical arrangers rarely understood this. They wanted the music to be funny. But I would explain that I wanted no competition, I wanted the music to be a counterpoint of grace and charm, to express sentiment, without which, a work of art is incomplete.”

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15 @ 8PM: Marsalis Swing Symphony    

William Eddins, conductor

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

TBA

Marsalis                               Swing Symphony*

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), comprising 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today, has been the Jazz at Lincoln Center resident orchestra since 1988. Under Music Director, Grammy Award-® and Pulitzer Prize-winner Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performs a vast repertoire, from rare historic pieces to Jazz at Lincoln Center-commissioned works, including compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus, and many others.

Commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, Swing Symphony is Marsalis’s third symphonic work, which he describes as a symphonic meditation on the evolution of swing. Swing Symphony will feature both JLCO and The Philadelphia Orchestra, following an opening piece by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16 @ 8PM: Jan & Yannick

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Jan Lisiecki, pianist

Wagner                Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin*      

Grieg                     Piano Concerto

Dvorák                  Symphony No. 7

Making his SPAC debut is 23-year-old Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, who has won acclaim for his extraordinary interpretive maturity, distinctive sound, and poetic sensibility. The New York Times has called him “a pianist who makes every note count.” Lisiecki’s insightful interpretations, refined technique, and natural affinity for art give him a musical voice that belies his age. He will perform Grieg’s Piano Concerto, marking the first time that the piece has been played on SPAC’s stage in more than a decade.

Under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the program will also feature Dvorák’s impassioned Symphony No.7, considered one of his towering achievements, and Wagner’s Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17 @ 8PM: All Mozart

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Christian Blackshaw, piano

Albany Pro Musica

Mozart                Piano Concerto No. 27, K. 595*

Mozart                 Requiem*

Mozart’s haunting Requiem came at the very end of his life: He died before he could finish it. A choral masterpiece featuring four renowned vocalists and the powerful forces of the Albany Pro Musica, it is considered one of the greatest expressions of faith ever cast as a work of art. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra and the new Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, will lead the Orchestra as the finale to the classical season on the amphitheater stage.

Making his Philadelphia Orchestra debut on SPAC’s stage for the finale performance is pianist Christian Blackshaw, celebrated for his recordings of Mozart and called the “eternal perfectionist’ by Gramophone magazine.

*indicates SPAC premiere

THE CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER: AUGUST 4 – 20

All 23 works featured in the 2019 CMS season have never before been performed by CMS at SPAC.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 4 @ 3PM: Thrills & Chills

Ravel                     Jeux d'eau for Piano

Fauré                    Fantasy for Flute and Piano, Op. 79

Poulenc                Sonata for Flute and Piano

Foss                       Capriccio for Cello and Piano

Britten                  Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 6

Beethoven         Trio in D major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 70, No. 1, “Ghost”

Michael Brown, Piano; Bella Hristova, Violin;

Angelo Xiang Yu, Violin; Nicholas Canellakis, Cello; Adam Walker, Flute.

French color, American optimism, British wit and German drama combine to kick off the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s season at SPAC. Ravel’s iconic water work, Jeux d’eau, begins a program which includes reflective and dynamic works by Poulenc and Fauré; Lukas Foss’s lively cello and piano Capriccio; Britten’s humorous and bold violin suite; and Beethoven’s Shakespeare-inspired “Ghost” trio, a game-changer in the chamber music landscape. 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 6 @ 8PM: Instrumental Array

Bach                      Concerto in D minor for Keyboard, Strings, and Continuo, BWV 1052

Kodály                   Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7

Spohr                    Grand Nonetto in F major for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Bass, Op. 31

Michael Brown, Piano; Bella Hristova, Violin; Angelo Xiang Yu, Violin; Kerri Ryan, Viola

Nicholas Canellakis, Cello; David Finckel, Cello; Nathaniel West, Double Bass; Adam Walker, Flute; Stephen Taylor, Oboe; Ricardo Morales, Clarinet; Angela Anderson Smith, Bassoon; Jeffrey Lang, Horn.

Three compositions, three undeniable masterpieces. CMS celebrates the virtuosity and genius of the baroque keyboard concerto with JS Bach, Hungarian flair and nationalism with Zoltan Kodály’s Duo for Violin and Cello, and an inventive collaboration of nine winds and strings in Spohr’s Grand Nonetto, the first work ever to be written for this unusual grouping of instruments.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 11 @ 3PM: Deeply Inspired

Schubert              Trio in B-flat major for Violin, Viola, and Cello, D. 581

Mozart                 Concerto No. 12 in A major for Piano and String Quintet, K. 414

Mendelssohn    Trio No. 2 in C minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 66

Juho Pohjonen, Piano; Wu Han, Piano; Chad Hoopes, Violin; Arnaud Sussmann, Violin; Matthew Lipman, Viola; David Finckel, Cello; Keith Robinson, Cello.

Lost to the world too soon, Schubert, Mozart and Mendelssohn gave classical music some of its most profound and compelling works. Deeply Inspired spotlights these iconic composers together in one performance, including an effervescent string trio written when Schubert was only 20 years old and Mendelssohn’s moving Piano Trio No. 2, the last chamber work the composer lived to see published.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 13 @ 8PM: International Voices

Burleigh               Southland Sketches for Violin and Piano

Adolphe               Couple for Cello and Piano

Stravinsky           L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale), Trio Version for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano

Falla                       Selections from Suite populaire espagnole for Violin and Piano

Dohnányi             Sextet in C major for Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano, Op. 37

Juho Pohjonen, Piano; Wu Han, Piano; Chad Hoopes, Violin; Arnaud Sussmann, Violin; Matthew Lipman, Viola; David Finckel, Cello; Keith Robinson, Cello; Ricardo Morales, Clarinet; Jeffrey Lang, Horn.

International Voices will take listeners on a journey through North America and Europe in this program of distinct voices that embody both eras and cultures. The evening will feature the picturesque work for violin and piano by Henry Burleigh, the song composer who introduced Dvorák to African-American spirituals; the vibrancy of a modern American composition by CMS’s own Bruce Adolphe; the political turmoil of Russia and Hungary with Stravinsky and Dohnányi; and the passion of Spain in Falla’s work inspired by popular melodies of his native country. 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18 @ 3PM: Vienna to Paris

Beethoven         Trio in C minor for Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 9, No. 3

Debussy               Quartet in G minor for Strings, Op. 10

Brahms                 Quartet No. 2 in A major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 26

Wu Han, Piano; Paul Huang, Violin; Paul Neubauer, Viola; David Finckel, Cello; Escher String Quartet: Adam Barnett-Hart, Violin; Danbi Um, Violin; Pierre Lapointe, Viola; Brook Speltz, Cello.

The majestic cities of Vienna and Paris were thriving centers of creative energy in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, nurturing many great artists.  Among those was Beethoven, who wrote a copious amount of works shortly after moving to Vienna in 1792, including his popular Op. 9 string trios.  A hundred years later, Debussy’s Paris provided a stunning backdrop for his string quartet, which revealed previously unimagined possibilities for quartet composition. Brahms’s blockbuster piano quartet provides a spectacular finish to the program.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 @ 8PM: Technical Brilliance

Mozart                                 Quartet in F major for Strings, K. 590, “Prussian”

Saint-Saëns                         Sonata No. 1 in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 75

Dvorák                                  Sextet in A major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Two Cellos, Op. 48

Wu Han, Piano; Paul Huang, Violin; Paul Neubauer, Viola; David Finckel, Cello; Escher String Quartet: Adam Barnett-Hart, Violin; Danbi Um, Violin; Pierre Lapointe, Viola; Brook Speltz, Cello.

Technical Brilliance features three incomparable craftsmen and the performers who bring their works to life on stage.  Mozart introduces the evening with his “Prussian” string quartet, a showcase for the cello; Saint-Saëns’s Sonata adds fireworks for the violin, and closing out this program and CMS’s 2019 residency at SPAC is Dvorák’s glowing String Sextet.

TICKETS:

Tickets available online at www.spac.org starting on Monday, January 14 for SPAC members and Thursday, January 29 to the general public.

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Saratoga Performing Arts Center

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), located in the historic resort town of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York, is one of America’s most prestigious summer festivals. Its tranquil setting in a 2,400-acre park preserve surrounded by hiking trails, geysers, and natural mineral springs draws vacation crowds and arts connoisseurs each year for immersive experiences of performances by resident companies New York City Ballet, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, Opera Saratoga, and concerts by Live Nation. SPAC also hosts the annual Saratoga Wine and Food Festival in addition to imaginative programming such as the popular “SPAC on Stage” series and Caffè Lena @ SPAC.

SPAC is a 501c3 charitable organization. Donations and proceeds from fundraising events benefit the Center’s children’s education programs and support the vibrancy of its classical season. For more information visit spac.org.