Bard SummerScape 2017 – “Chopin and His World” (June 30–Aug 20) – Opens This Friday with Festival Debut of New York City Ballet MOVES

Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. – The curtain rises on the 2017 Bard SummerScape Festival this Friday, June 30, ushering in seven weeks of music, opera, theater, dance, film, and cabaret. At the heart of these offerings is the 28th Bard Music Festival, which explores “Chopin and His World” through twelve chamber, orchestral, choral, and operatic programs – two of which feature the American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein – supplemented by panel discussions and special events (August 11–13; August 18–20). Other SummerScape highlights include a rare, fully staged production of Antonín Dvořák’s grand opera Dimitrij, from award-winning director Anne Bogart (July 28–August 6); the world premiere of A PINK CHAIR (IN PLACE OF A FAKE ANTIQUE), an homage to Polish artist and director Tadeusz Kantor by The Wooster Group (July 13–23); the SummerScape debut of New York City Ballet MOVES, with a program featuring Jerome Robbins’s Chopin-set Dances at a Gathering and In Creases by rising star Justin Peck (June 30–July 2); a film series exploring “Chopin and the Image of Romanticism” (July 27–August 20); and cutting-edge cabaret, live jazz, dancing and more in Bard’s authentic Belgian Spiegeltent (June 30–August 19). 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)

“Botstein and Bard SummerScape show courage, foresight and great imagination, honoring operas that larger institutions are content to ignore.” (Time Out New York)

“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)

“The experience of entering the Fisher Center and encountering something totally new is unforgettable and enriching.” (Time Out New York)

…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

2016: Puccini and His World

2015: Chávez and His World

2014: Schubert and His World

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: Janáček 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: Bartók and  His World

1994: Schumann and His World

1993: Dvořák and His World

1992: Richard Strauss and His World

1991: Mendelssohn and His World

1990: Brahms and His World

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SummerScape 2017: key performance dates by genre

MUSIC

Bard Music Festival, Weekend One: “Chopin, the Piano, and Musical Culture of the 19th Century” (Aug 11–13)

Bard Music Festival, Weekend Two: “Originality and Virtuosity” (Aug 18–20)

OPERA

Antonín Dvořák: Dimitrij

Sosnoff Theater

July 28* & August 4 at 7:30 pm

July 30*, August 2 & August 6* at 2 pm

Tickets start at $25

DANCE

New York City Ballet MOVES: Robbins’s Dances at a Gathering and other works by Balanchine and Peck

Sosnoff Theater

June 30; July 1 & 2* at 7:30 pm

July 2 at 2 pm

Tickets start at $25

THEATER

The Wooster Group: A PINK CHAIR (IN PLACE OF A FAKE ANTIQUE) (world premiere)

LUMA Theater

July 13, 14, 15*, 20, 21 & 22 at 7:30 pm

July 16*, 19, 22 & 23* at 2 pm

Tickets start at $25

FILM SERIES

“Chopin and the Image of Romanticism”

Ottaway Film Center

Thursdays and Sundays, July 27–Aug 20

Tickets: $10

SPIEGELTENT

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

Dates, times, and prices vary

All programs are subject to change.

Venues:

SummerScape opera, theater, and dance performances and most Bard Music Festival programs are held in the Sosnoff Theater or LUMA Theater 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, and 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 Coach 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 round-trip fare is $40 and reservations are required. The coach departs from behind Lincoln Center, on Amsterdam Avenue between 64th and 65th Streets. Find additional details at: fishercenter.bard.edu/transportation.

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

WEEKEND ONE: Chopin, the Piano, and Musical Culture of the 19th Century

Friday, August 11

PROGRAM ONE*

The Genius of Chopin

Sosnoff Theater

7:30 pm Preconcert Talk: Leon Botstein

8 pm Performance*: Katarzyna Sądej, mezzo-soprano; Benjamin Hochman & Orion Weiss, piano; The Orchestra Now, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director; and others

 

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Variations on “Là ci darem la mano,” Op. 2 (1827)

Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21 (1829)

Preludes, Op. 28 (1831–38)

Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61 (1845–46)

Songs

Tickets: $25–$60

Saturday, August 12

PANEL ONE

Chopin: Real and Imagined

Olin Hall

10 am–noon

Free and open to the public

PROGRAM TWO

Chopin and Warsaw

Olin Hall

1 pm Preconcert Talk: Jeffrey Kallberg

1:30 pm Performance: Danny Driver & Anna Polonsky, piano; Jesse Mills, violin; Horszowski Trio; members of The Orchestra Now

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Polonaise in B-flat minor, Op. posth. (1826)

Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in G minor, Op. 8 (1828)

Józef Elsner (1769-1854)

Sonata in D (1798)

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 85 (1816)

Karol Kurpiński (1785-1857)

Fantasia Chwila snu okropnego (1816/1820)

Wilhelm Würfel (1790-1832)

Grande fantaisie lugubre, Op. 18 (1818)

Karol Lipiński (1790-1861)

Violin Concerto No. 3 (1835?)

Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831)

Etude in C and Polonaise in F minor (n.d.)

Tickets: $40

PROGRAM THREE

From the Opera House to the Concert Hall

Sosnoff Theater

7 pm Preconcert Talk: James Parakilas

8 pm Performance: Nicole Cabell, soprano; Jenni Bank, mezzo-soprano; Issachah Savage, tenor; Alexandra Knoll, oboe; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op. 13 (1828)

Louis Spohr (1784-1859)

Overture to Faust (1816)

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)

Symphony No. 1 in C (1807; rev. 1810)

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)

Ballet from Robert le diable (1831)

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-35)

Oboe Concerto (c. 1825)

Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

Act 3 from Otello (1816)

Tickets: $25–$75

Sunday, August 13

PROGRAM FOUR

The Piano in the 19th Century

Olin Hall

10 am Performance with Commentary, with Piers Lane, piano

Works by Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49); Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943); and others

Tickets: $40

PROGRAM FIVE

The Consequences of Emancipation: Chopin’s Jewish Contemporaries

Olin Hall

1 pm Preconcert Talk: Leon Botstein

1:30 pm Performance: Tyler Duncan, baritone; Michael Brown, Danny Driver, Simon Ghraichy, Erika Switzer & Orion Weiss, piano; members of The Orchestra Now, conducted by Benjamin Hochman

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Ballade No. 4, Op. 52 (1842)

Waltz, Op. 64, No. 2 (1846-47)

Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870)

Concerto No. 3 in G minor, Op. 58 (1820)

Henri Herz (1803-88)

Rondo Turc, Op. 85, No. 4 (1835)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47)

Prelude and Fugue in E minor, Op. 35 (1827/1841)

Ferdinand Hiller (1811-85)

Alla memoria di Vincenzo Bellini (1885)

Sigismond Thalberg (1812-71)

Fantaisie sur Andante finale de Lucia di Lammermoor, Op. 44 (1842)

Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-88)

From 25 Preludes, Op. 31 (1847)

Songs on texts by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), by Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864), Robert Schumann (1810-56), and Franz Liszt (1811-86)

Tickets: $40

PROGRAM SIX*

Virtuosity and Its Discontents

Sosnoff Theater

4:30 pm Preconcert Talk

5 pm Performance*: Cecilia Violetta López, soprano; Piers Lane and Brian Zeger, piano; Dongfang Ouyang, violin; members of The Orchestra Now, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director; and others

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Souvenir de Paganini (1828)

Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66 (1834)

Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840)

La Campanella (1826)

Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785-1849)

Concerto in D minor, Op. 61 (1823)

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

From Maria Stuarda (1835)

Adolphe Adam (1803-56)

Bravura Variations on Mozart’s Ah! Vous dirai-je maman (n.d.)

Franz Liszt (1811-86)

From 6 Chants Polonais, S. 480 (1857-60)

Consolation No. 3 in D-flat, S.172 (1849-50)

Gnomenreigen, S. 145 (1862)

Robert Schumann (1810-56)

Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105 (1851)

Tickets: $25–$60

WEEKEND TWO: Originality and Influence

Thursday, August 17

SPECIAL EVENT

Movement, Miniatures, and Mysticism

Spiegeltent

8 pm Performance: Bard Music West

Trace the influence of Chopin’s work in the music of Les Six to Witold Lutosławski (1913-94); Henryk Górecki (1933-2010); Marta Ptaszyńska (b. 1943); Agata Zubel (b. 1978); and others

Tickets: $15-40

Friday, August 18

SPECIAL EVENT

The Romantic Wind Symphony

Sosnoff Theater

5 pm Performance: New York Wind Symphony

Charles Gounod (1818-93)

   Petite Symphonie for Winds, Op. 216 (1885)
Hector Berlioz (1803–69)

   Grande Symphonie funèbre et triomphale, Op. 15 (1840)

Tickets: $25-40

PROGRAM SEVEN

Chopin and the Piano

Sosnoff Theater

7:30 pm Preconcert Talk: Jonathan Bellman

8 pm Performance: Charlie Albright, Michael Brown, Danny Driver, Piers Lane, Anna Polonsky, and others, piano

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Selections from Etudes, Op. 10 (1830) and 25 (1836)

Nocturne, Op. 27, No. 2 (1836)

Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35 (1839)

Polonaise in A-flat, Op. 53 (1842)

Scherzo in E, Op. 54 (1842)

Barcarolle in F-sharp, Op. 60 (1845-46)

and other works

Tickets: $25–$60

Saturday, August 19

PANEL TWO

Chopin’s Place in 19th-Century Performance Culture

Olin Hall

10 am–noon

Free and open to the public

PROGRAM EIGHT

Chopin and the Salon

Olin Hall

1 pm Preconcert Talk: Byron Adams

1:30 pm Performance: Monika Krajewska, mezzo-soprano; Michael Brown and Anna Polonsky, piano; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Bard Festival Chamber Players; members of The Orchestra Now

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C, Op. 3 (1829-30)

Waltzes Op. 34, No. 3 (1838) and Op. 70, No. 1 (1835)

John Field (1782-1837)

Nocturne No. 12 in G, H.58D (1822)

Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838)

Concerto No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 55 (1812)

Louis Spohr (1784-1859)

Octet in E , Op. 32 (1814)

Maria Szymanowska (1789–1831)

Songs and Mazurka No. 8 in D (n.d.)

Auguste Franchomme (1808–84)

Nocturne, for two cellos, in E minor, Op. 14, No. 1 (1837)

Clara Wieck (1819–96)

Soirées Musicales, Op. 6, No. 3 (1836)

Pauline Viardot (1821-1910)

From 6 Mazurkas de Chopin (1848)

Tickets: $40

PROGRAM NINE*

The Polish National Opera: Halka

Sosnoff Theater

7 pm Preconcert Talk: Halina Goldberg

8 pm Performance*: Amanda Majeski, soprano; Teresa Buchholz, mezzo-soprano; Miles Mykkanen, tenor; Aubrey Allicock, baritone; Liam Moran, bass-baritone; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director; and others; directed by Mary Birnbaum; scenic design by Grace Laubacher; lighting design by Anshuman Bhatia

Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819–72)

Halka (1858)

Tickets: $25–$75

Sunday, August 20

PROGRAM TEN

From the Sacred to the Revolutionary: Choral Works from Poland and France

Olin Hall

10 am Performance: Bard Music Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director

Works by Bartłomiej Pękiel (d. 1670); Marcin Mielczewski (1600-51); Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki (c. 1665−1734); Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842); Józef Elsner (1769−1854); François-Adrien Boieldieu (1775−1834); Daniel François Esprit Auber (1782–1871); Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864); Fromental Halévy (1799−1862); Louis Lefébure-Wély (1817−69); and others

Tickets: $40

PROGRAM ELEVEN

Chopin’s Influence

Olin Hall

1 pm Preconcert Talk: Richard Wilson

1:30 pm Performance: Monika Krajewska, mezzo-soprano; Michael Brown, Simon Ghraichy, Piers Lane, piano; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; and others

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 65 (1846)

Robert Schumann (1810–56)

“Chopin,” from Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834–35)

Johannes Brahms (1833–97)

Intermezzo, Op. 118, No. 2 (1893)

Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)

Nocturne, Op. 54, No. 4 (c. 1891)

Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)

Impromptu, Op. 25, No. 1 (1880)

Ignacy Paderewski (1860–1941)

Melodie, Op. 8, No. 3 (1882)

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)

Étude No. 12, Pour les accordes (1915)

Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915)

From 24 Preludes, Op. 11 (1888-96)

Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937)

From Mazurkas, Op. 50 (1924-25)

Works by Henryk Wieniawski (1835–80); Moritz Moszkowski (1854–1925); and Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Tickets: $40

PROGRAM TWELVE*

Shared Passions, Different Paths

Sosnoff Theater

3:30 pm Preconcert Talk

4:30 pm Performance*: Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano; Danny Driver, piano; Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; The Orchestra Now, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director; and others

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–49)

Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise, Op. 22 (1830−35)

Hector Berlioz (1803–69)

   Roméo et Juliette, symphonie dramatique, Op. 17 (1839)

Tickets: $25–$75

 

Bard SummerScape ticket information

Tickets for all Bard SummerScape events are now on sale. For tickets and further information on all SummerScape events, call the Fisher Center box office at 845-758-7900 or visit fishercenter.bard.edu/summerscape.

The 2017 SummerScape season is made possible in part through the generous support of Jeanne Donovan Fisher, the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation, the Board of The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, the Board of the Bard Music Festival, and Fisher Center members, as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

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© 21C Media Group, June 2016