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Bard SummerScape 2014 opens next week with “Schubert and His World” (June 27–Aug 17)

Friday, June 27 sees the curtain rise on the 2014 Bard SummerScape Festival, ushering in seven weeks of music, opera, theater, dance, film, and cabaret. The hub of these offerings is the Bard Music Festival, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary season with an exploration of “Schubert and His World,” comprising twelve orchestral, chamber, and operatic progams – a number of them featuring members of the American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein – supplemented by panel discussions and special events (Aug 8–10 & Aug 15–17). Other SummerScape highlights include the return of the Trisha Brown Dance Company, which presents Proscenium Works: 1979–2011 as part of its farewell tour (June 27 & 28); the first U.S. production in 100 years of Euryanthe, an opera by Schubert’s contemporary Carl Maria von Weber (July 25–Aug 3); the world premiere of Love in the Wars, John Banville’s new stage adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s Penthesilea (July 10–20); a film series titled “Schubert and the Long 19th Century” (July 3–Aug 3); and entertainment ranging from cutting-edge cabaret to live music for dancing in Bard’s authentic Belgian Spiegeltent (June 27–Aug 17). All SummerScape offerings take place in the striking Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and other venues on Bard College’s idyllic Hudson River campus.

What critics are saying about Bard SummerScape…

“Ever a hotbed of intellectual and aesthetic adventure.” (New York Times)

“Seven weeks of cultural delight.” (International Herald Tribune)

“One of the major upstate festivals.” (New Yorker)

“A highbrow hotbed of culture.” (Huffington Post)

“The smartest mix of events within driving distance of New York.” (Bloomberg News)

“Leon Botstein’s Bard SummerScape and Bard Music Festival always unearth piles of buried treasure.” (New Yorker)

“One of the best lineups of the summer for fans of any arts discipline.” (New York Sun)

“One of the great artistic treasure chests of the tri-state area and the country.” (GALO magazine)

“One of the New York area’s great seasonal escapes.” (American Record Guide)

“A haven for important operas.” (New York Times)

“An indispensable part of the summer operatic landscape” (Musical America)

“A spectacular venue for innovative fare.” (Travel and Leisure magazine)

“It’s hard not to find something to like, and it’s even harder to beat the setting.” (New York Post

…and about the Bard Music Festival

 “The summer’s most stimulating music festival.” (Los Angeles Times)

“It has long been one of the most intellectually stimulating of all American summer festivals and frequently is one of the most musically satisfying.” (Wall Street Journal)

“Part boot camp for the brain, part spa for the spirit.” (New York Times)

“A highlight of the musical year.” (Wall Street Journal)

“The most intellectually ambitious of America’s summer music festivals.” (Times Literary Supplement, London)

“One of the ‘Ten Can’t-Miss Classical Music Festivals.’” (NPR Music)

“A two-weekend musicological intensive doubling as a sumptuous smorgasbord of concerts.” (New York Times)

“An always intrepid New York event.” (Time Out New York)

“Nothing quite compares to the fascinating summer programs popping out of Leon Botstein’s brain.” (Bloomberg News)

 “One of New York’s premier summer destinations for adventurous music lovers.” (New York Times

Past seasons at Bard SummerScape

2013: Stravinsky and His World

2012: Saint-Saëns and His World

2011: Sibelius and His World

2010: Berg and His World

2009: Wagner and His World

2008: Prokofiev and His World

2007: Elgar and His World

2006: Liszt and His World

2005: Copland and His World

2004: Shostakovich and His World

2003: Janácek and His World

2002: Debussy and His World

2001: Mahler and His World

2000: Beethoven and His World

1999: Schoenberg and His World

1998: Tchaikovsky and His World

1997: Haydn and His World

1996: Ives and His World

1995: Bartok and  His World

1994: Schumann and His World

1993: Dvorak and His World

1992: Richard Strauss and His World

1991: Mendelssohn and His World

1990: Brahms and His World

 

 

SummerScape 2014: key performance dates by genre

MUSIC

Bard Music Festival, Weekend One: “The Making of a Romantic Legend” (Aug 8–10)

Bard Music Festival, Weekend Two: “A New Aesthetics of Music” (Aug 15–17) 

* Round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available for certain performances on August 8, 10, 15, and 17. The round-trip fare is $20 and reservations are required; see further details below.

 

OPERA

Carl Maria von Weber: Euryanthe

Sosnoff Theater

July 25* and Aug 1 at 7 pm

July 27, 30, and Aug 3 at 2 pm

Tickets start at $25

 

Franz Schubert: Die Verschworenen

Franz von Suppé: Franz Schubert (1864)

Sosnoff Theater

Aug 10 at 5:30 pm* (BMF Program 6)

Tickets start at $25

 

Franz Schubert: Fierrabras

Sosnoff Theater

Aug 17 at 4:30 pm* (BMF Program 12)

Tickets start at $25

 

DANCE

Trisha Brown Dance Company: Proscenium Works: 1979–2011

June 27 & 28 at 7:30 pm

June 28 at 2 pm*

Sosnoff Theater

Tickets start at $25

 

THEATER

John Banville: Love in the Wars – A version of Heinrich von Kleist’s Penthesilea

Theater Two

Previews July 10 and 11 at 7:30pm

Performances July 12*, 17, 18, and 19 at 7:30 pm and July 13*, 16, 19, and 20* at 2 pm

Tickets start at $25

 

FILM SERIES

“Schubert and the Long 19th Century”

Thursdays and Sundays July 3 to August 3 at 7pm

Ottaway Film Center

Tickets: $10

 

SPIEGELTENT

Live Music, Cabaret, Festival Dining, and After Hours salon

Dates, Times, and Prices vary

Venues:

SummerScape opera, theater, and dance performances and most Bard Music Festival programs are held in the Sosnoff Theater or Theater Two in Bard’s Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, designed by Frank Gehry and celebrated since its opening as a major architectural landmark in the region. Some chamber programs and other BMF events are in Olin Hall. The Spiegeltent has its own schedule of events, in addition to serving as a restaurant, café, and bar before and after performances. Film Series screenings are at the Jim Ottaway Jr. Film Center in the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Center.

New York City Round-Trip Bus Transportation:

To make a reservation on the round-trip SummerScape coach provided exclusively to ticket holders for specific performances indicated by * in the listings above, call the box office at 845-758-7900 or select this option when purchasing tickets. The new, lower round-trip fare is $20 and reservations are required. The coach departs from behind Lincoln Center, on Amsterdam Avenue between 64th and 65th Street. Bus departure time will be included on the ticket order receipt, or visit fishercenter.bard.edu/visit/transportation.

 

Program details of 2014 Bard Music Festival, “Schubert and His World”

WEEKEND ONE: The Making of a Romantic Legend

Friday, August 8

Program One

The Legacy of a Life Cut Short

Sosnoff Theater

7:30 pm                 Pre-concert Talk by Leon Botstein

8 pm                         Performance: Paul Appleby, tenor; Deanna Breiwick, soprano; Dover Quartet and guest; Tyler Duncan, baritone; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Anna Polonsky, piano; Rebecca Ringle, mezzo-soprano; Orion Weiss, piano; members of the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director

 

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Gretchen am Spinnrade, D118 (1814)

   Overture to Der vierjährige Posten, D190 (1815)

   Symphony No. 3 in D, D200 (1815)

   Fantasy in F minor for piano duet, D940 (1828)

   String Quintet in C, D956 (1828)

   Dances, songs, and partsongs

Tickets starting at $25

 

Saturday, August 9

Panel One

Invention and Reinvention: Who Was Schubert?

Christopher H. Gibbs, moderator; Leon Botstein; and others

Olin Hall

10 am–noon

Free and open to the public

  

Program Two

From “Boy” to Master: The Path to Erlkönig

Olin Hall

1 pm                         Pre-concert Talk: TBA

1:30 pm                 Performance: Dover Quartet; Andrew Garland, baritone; Sari Gruber, soprano; Julie Pilant, horn; Anna Polonsky, piano; Rebecca Ringle, mezzo-soprano; Orion Weiss, piano; and others

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   String Quartet in B-flat, D112 (1814)

   Erlkönig, D328 (1815)

   Songs, dances, and partsongs

Arias, songs, and other works by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–87), Antonio Salieri (1750–1825), Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752–1814), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91), Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (1760–1802), Carl Friedrich Zelter (1758–1832), Carl Czerny (1791–1857), and Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

Tickets: $35

  

SPECIAL EVENT

The Song Cycle as Drama: Winterreise

Olin Hall

5 pm                         Performance: Tyler Duncan, baritone; Erika Switzer, piano

 

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Winterreise, D911 (1827)

 

Tickets: $35

 

 

Program Three

Mythic Transformations

Sosnoff Theater

7 pm                         Pre-concert Talk: Christopher H. Gibbs

8 pm                         Performance: Rebecca Ringle, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Schroeder, baritone; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director

 

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Symphony No. 8 in B minor, “Unfinished,” D759 (1822)

   Sonata in C, “Grand Duo,” D812 (1824; orch. Joseph Joachim, 1855)

   Selections from Symphony in E Major, D729 (1821; orch. Felix Weingartner, 1934)

   Songs, orch. Hector Berlioz (1803–69); Franz Liszt (1811–86); Jacques Offenbach (1819–80); Johannes Brahms (1833–97); and Anton Webern (1883–1945)

 

Tickets starting at $25

 

 

 

Sunday, August 10

 

Program Four

Goethe and Music: The German Lied

Olin Hall

10 am                      Performance with commentary by Susan Youens; with Teresa Buchholz, mezzo-soprano; Judith Gordon, piano; and others

 

Songs by Franz Schubert (1797–1828); Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809); Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752–1814); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91); Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (1760–1802); Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827); Carl Friedrich Zelter (1758–1832); Carl Loewe (1796–1869), Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47); Robert Schumann (1810–56); and Hugo Wolf (1860–1903)

 

Tickets: $30

 

 

Program Five

Before Unspeakable Illness

Olin Hall

1 pm                         Pre-concert Talk: Byron Adams

1:30 pm                 Performance: Danny Driver, piano; Dover Quartet; Benjamin Hochman, piano; Jennifer Koh, violin; and others

 

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Quartettsatz, D703 (1820)

   Marche militaire, D733 (?1818)

   Fantasy in C, “Wanderer,” D760 (1822)

   Selections from 36 Originaltänze (Erste Walzer), D365 (1818–21)

   Songs

   Partsongs

 

Tickets: $35

 

 

Program SIX

Schubert and Viennese Theater

Sosnoff Theater

5 pm                         Pre-concert Talk: Morten Solvik

5:30 pm                 Performance: Paul Appleby, tenor; Deanna Breiwick, soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; members of the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director; and others

 

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Die Verschworenen, Singspiel in one act, D787 (1823)

Franz von Suppé (1819–95)

   Franz Schubert, operetta in one act (1864)

 

Tickets starting at $25

 

 

WEEKEND TWO: A New Aesthetics of Music

Friday, August 15

SPECIAL EVENTS

The “Path toward a Grand Symphony”: Schubert’s Octet

László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building

3 pm                         Performance: Faculty and students of The Bard College Conservatory of Music

 

Tickets: $25

 

Schubert’s Kosegarten Liederspiel

László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building

5 pm                         Performance: Commentary by Morten Solvik; with Paul Appleby, tenor; Deanna Breiwick, soprano; Rebecca Ringle, mezzo-soprano; Reiko Uchida, piano

 

Tickets: $25

 

Schubert on Film

For locations and times, please visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu/bmf

 Free and open to the public

 

Program SEVEN

Beethoven’s Successor?

Sosnoff Theater

7:30 pm                 Pre-concert Talk: Christopher H. Gibbs

8 pm                         Performance: Paul Appleby, tenor; Horszowski Trio; Sarah Shafer, soprano; Andrew Schroeder, baritone; Brian Zeger, piano; members of the Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; and others 

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   First Movement from String Quartet in D minor, D810 (1824)

   Fragment aus dem Aeschylus, D450 (1816)

   Die Allmacht, D852 (1825)

   Der Wanderer an den Mond, D870 (1826)

   Schlachtgesang, D912 (1827)

   Ständchen, D920 (1827)

   Piano Trio in E-flat, D929 (1827)

   Der Kreuzzug, D932 (1827)

   Die Sterne, D939 (1828)

   Auf dem Strom, D943 (1828)

 

Tickets starting at $25

 

 

Saturday, August 16

Panel TWO

Music’s “Far Fairer Hopes”: Originality and Influence

Morten Solvik, moderator; Scott Burnham; Kristina Muxfeldt; Richard Wilson

Olin Hall

10 am–noon

Free and open to the public

 

Program EIGHT

The Music of Friendship

Olin Hall

1 pm                         Pre-concert Talk: John M. Gingerich

1:30 pm                 Performance: Laura Flax, clarinet; Marc Goldberg, bassoon; Horszowski Trio; Piers Lane, piano; Rebecca Ringle, mezzo-soprano; and others

 Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Gondelfahrer, D809 (1824)

   Abschied von der Erde, D829 (1826)

   Widerspruch, D865 (1826)

   Grab und Mond, D893 (1826)

   Zur guten Nacht, D903 (1827)

   Selections from 12 Waltzes (Valses Nobles), D969 (1827)

Works by Ferdinand Schubert (1794-1859); Anselm Hüttenbrenner (1794–1868); Josef Lanner (1801–43); Benedict Randhartinger (1802–93); Franz Lachner (1803–90); Maximilian Leidesdorf (1787–1840); and others

Tickets: $35

 

Program NINE

Late Ambitions

Sosnoff Theater

7 pm                         Pre-concert Talk: Walter Frisch

8 pm                         Performance: Paul Appleby, tenor; Andrew Garland, baritone; Sarah Shafer, soprano; Rebecca Ringle, mezzo-soprano; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Miriams Siegesgesang, D942 (1828)

   Mass in E-flat, D950 (1828)

   Psalm 92, D953 (1828)

Luciano Berio (1925–2003)

   Rendering (1990)

 Tickets starting at $25

 

 

Sunday, August 17

Program TEN

Fellowship of Men: The Male Choral Tradition

Olin Hall

10 am                      Performance: Members of the Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director

 Works by Franz Schubert (1797–1828); Michael Haydn (1737–1806); Simon Sechter (1788–1867); Heinrich Marschner (1795–1861); Jan Kalivoda (1801–66); Franz Lachner (1803–90); Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47); Robert Schumann (1810–56); Johannes Brahms (1833–97); Anton Bruckner (1824–96); and others

 

Tickets: $30

 

Program ELEVEN

The Final Months 

Olin Hall

1 pm                         Pre-concert Talk: Scott Burnham

1:30 pm                 Performance: Deanna Breiwick, soprano; Laura Flax, clarinet; Piers Lane, piano; Anna Polonsky, piano; Orion Weiss, piano

 

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Rondo in A for piano four hands, D951 (June 1828)

   Der Doppelgänger, D957/13 (August 1928)

   Piano Sonata in A, D959 (September 1828)

   Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D965 (October 1828)

   Die Taubenpost, D965 A (October 1828)

 

Tickets: $35

 

Program TWELVE

Schubert and Opera

Sosnoff Theater

3:30 pm                 Pre-concert Talk: Michael P. Steinberg

4:30 pm                 Performance: Eric Barry, tenor; Eric Halfvarson, bass; Sara Jakubiak, soprano; Joseph Kaiser, tenor; Andrew Schroeder, baritone; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director, and others

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

   Fierrabras, D796 (1823)

Tickets starting at $25

 

Bard SummerScape Ticket Information

For tickets and further information on all SummerScape events, call the Fisher Center box office at 845-758-7900 or visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu. Fisher Center members receive priority access to the best seats in advance, and those who join the Center’s email list receive advance booking opportunities as well as regular news and updates. 

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 © 21C Media Group, June 2014

 

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