Metropolitan Museum Concerts December 2007

Hélène Grimaud Continues the PianoForte Series with Members of New York Philharmonic, Salzburg Marionettes Perform a New Production of The Sound of Music Featuring Broadway Vocal Talent (Extra Performance Added), and
Christmas Concerts Feature Chanticleer, Aulos Ensemble, and More

For tickets, call the Concerts & Lectures Department at 212-570-3949, or visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets, where updated schedules and programs are also available.
Tickets are also available at the Great Hall Box Office, which is open Tuesday-Saturday 10-5:00, and Sunday noon-5:00.
Student discount tickets are available for some events; call 212-570-3949.

Sunday, December 2, 2007, at 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.-Chanticleer – "A Chanticleer Christmas"
Tuesday, December 4, 2007, at 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.
Chanticleer's annual Christmas program celebrates the mystery and wonder of the holiday with a program of traditional carols, medieval and Renaissance sacred works, and spirituals. The Metropolitan Museum's Christmas Concerts take place in front of the Museum's Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche in the Medieval Sculpture Hall.
Chanticleer is known for its vivid interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music. With its blend of 12 male voices, ranging from countertenor to bass, the ensemble has earned international renown as "an orchestra of voices."
Chanticleer will tour to 22 states across the United States this season, including appearances at Walt Disney Concert Hall under the auspices of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.. In January 2008, the ensemble will perform at major venues in Paris, Luxembourg, Bruges, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Vilnius. In the fall of 2007, Chanticleer releases its newest Christmas CD, Let It Snow, featuring the ensemble with the Chanticleer Holiday Orchestra (Warner Classics and Jazz).In December 2002, the PBS series Great Performances broadcast "Christmas with Chanticleer," taped in the Metropolitan Museum's Medieval Sculpture Hall. And Chanticleer's 2002 recording of Sir John Tavener's Lamentations and Praises, a work co-commissioned by the Museum, won a Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance.
Medieval Sculpture Hall
Tickets: $70

Friday, December 7, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. -Salzburg Marionettes
The Sound of Music
The Salzburg Marionettes, a Metropolitan Museum family favorite, returns with a brand-new production of The Sound of Music, which has its world premiere at the Dallas Theater Center a month before coming to New York. This unique Salzburg-based troupe performs two full-length productions at the Museum: The Sound of Music and The Magic Flute. Please note the just-added additional performance of The Sound of Music on Sunday, December 9, at noon.
These performances are made possible by Leon B. Polsky and Cynthia Hazen Polsky. The new Sound of Music production, directed by the Dallas Theater Center's artistic director emeritus Richard Hamburger, will be performed to a recording featuring the voices of a cast made up of Broadway actors including Jonathan Groff, the star of Broadway's Spring Awakening, as Rolf Gruber, doubling as Friederich von Trapp; Christiane Noll as Maria Rainer; Martin Vidnovic as Capt. von Trapp; Bill Youmans as Max Detweiler; Crista Moore as Elsa Schraeder; Michael McCarty as Franz; Jeanne Lehman as Mother Abbess; Joy Franz as Sister Berthe; Jennifer Hope Wills as Sister Sophia, doubling as Liesl von Trapp; Jenn Gambatese as Louisa von Trapp; Kelsey Fowler as Marta von Trapp; Matthew Gumley as Kurt von Trapp; Betsy Hogg as Brigitta von Trapp; and Kylie Goldstein as Gretl von Trapp; and the music is performed by the Istropolis Philharmonic Orchestra. After its Dallas premiere engagement, the production tours to San Antonio, Philadelphia, Princeton, Lancaster (PA), Baltimore, Gainesville (FL), Burlington (VT), Newark, and Providence, before arriving at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
For 94 years, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre has been renowned for its compelling drama-and-music presentations utilizing the remarkably lifelike movements of its elaborately costumed, two-foot tall, string-manipulated puppets, and lavish sets. "Through the space of a performance," said the New York Times, "they manage virtually without interruption what is denied to performers of flesh and blood: the leap to the realm of pure idea, where thought and expression are one." The Salzburg Marionettes perform to recordings of 18th- and 19th-century operas made by the world's leading orchestras and singers.
The company's current director, Gretl Aicher, is the granddaughter of Anton Aicher, its founder. The company employs about 12 full-time puppeteers, all of whom have spent years developing their technique. The company has its own costume department, a carpentry department, and a puppet studio where the puppets are made. A sculptor designs the heads.
In 1994 and 1995, the productions of five Mozart operas were recorded for television and video with Sir Peter Ustinov as the narrator, including The Magic Flute, a signature piece for the Salzburg Marionettes since its first production in 1952. In 1996, the Salzburg Marionettes participated for the first time in the Salzburg Festival, with a new production of Weber's Oberon, and 1998 saw the first co-production with the Salzburg Easter Festival, Prokofieff's Peter and the Wolf. The production of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream premiered in 2001.
Tickets: $45

Saturday, December 8, 2007, at 3:00 p.m. - Salzburg Marionettes
The Sound of Music
See December 7 above.
Tickets: $35

Saturday, December 8, 2007, at 7:00 p.m., - Salzburg Marionettes
The Magic Flute
See December 7 above.
Tickets: $45

**Sunday, December 9, 2007, at Noon - Salzburg Marionettes
The Sound of Music
**This performance was added to the previously announced schedule.
See December 7 above.
Tickets: $35

Sunday, December 9, 2007, at 3:00 p.m. - Salzburg Marionettes
The Sound of Music
See December 7 above.
Tickets: $35

Thursday, December 13, 2007, at 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.- "Music for the Spirit"
A program of music arranged for four cellos and voice, features mezzo-soprano Mary Nessinger and cellists Judith Serkin, Priscilla Lee, Theodore Mook, and Clancy Newman performing works by Bach, Boismortier, Cervetto, Falla, Klengel, and Pärt, as well as traditional Christmas carols. The Metropolitan Museum's Christmas Concerts take place in front of the Museum's Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche in the Medieval Sculpture Hall.
In the days immediately after 9/11, Metropolitan Museum Concerts & Lectures General Manager Hilde Limondjian arranged a series of daytime concerts to provide solace and refuge to the grieving public. One of the concerts featured a quartet of cellos including Judith Serkin, Theodore Mook, and Clancy Newman. Hilde Limondjian was so impressed with their moving performance that she invited them to perform this holiday program, the title of which she bestowed herself.
Medieval Sculpture Hall
Tickets: $60

Saturday, December 15, 2007, at 8:00 p.m. -Guarneri String Quartet
Guarneri String Quartet – Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley, violin; Michael Tree, viola; and Peter Wiley, cello – performs four concerts of quartets by Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Foss, Haydn, Kodály, Mendelssohn, and Smetana. The Guarneri String Quartet made its first appearance in the Metropolitan Museum Concerts series in 1965 and has been performing there annually ever since.
This second concert features Bartók's String Quartet No. 2, Op. 17; Haydn's String Quartet No. 27 in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4; and Beethoven's String Quartet No. 13 in B flat Major, Op. 130.
The spring series of the Guarneri String Quartet is supported by the Grace Jarcho Ross and Daniel G. Ross Concert Fund.
The Guarneri String Quartet has announced its retirement at the completion of the 2008-2009 season. In the coming seasons the quartet will celebrate by doing what it does best - touring extensively throughout the United States as they have for nearly 45 years. These performances also include their annual Metropolitan Museum concert series as well as a collaboration with the Johannes String Quartet. The ensemble also makes its annual tour to Europe this winter.
One of the longest-continuing artistic collaborations of any ensemble in the world, the Guarneri has been featured in many television and radio specials, documentaries, and educational presentations, including a full-length film entitled High Fidelity - The Guarneri String Quartet. It has won numerous awards, including the first New York Seal of Recognition and the Award of Merit from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, as well as the 1996 Deutsche Schallplattenkritik Award for their recording of Juan Crisostomo Arriaga's String Quartets Nos. 1-3. The quartet records on the Arabesque, Philips, and RCA Red Seal labels and performs in many of the major concert halls throughout North and South America, Europe, the Far East, and Australia.
Tickets: $50

Sunday, December 16, 2007, at 8:00 p.m. -Hélène Grimaud, Piano
With Members of the New York Philharmonic
Hélène Grimaud performs a program of chamber music with members of the New York Philharmonic (with which she performs the Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major the two days prior): Brahms' Sonata for Piano and Cello in E Minor, Op. 38; and Sonata No. 2 for Piano and Clarinet in E-flat Major, Op. 120, No. 2; Schumann's Sonata for Piano and Violin in A Minor, Op. 105; and Three Romances, Op. 94, for piano and oboe. She will be joined by orchestra members Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples, Associate Principal Cello Eileen Moon, and Associate Principal Clarinet Mark Nuccio.
This is the second concert of the season's collaboration with the New York Philharmonic; the first, which opened the season, featured pianist Simon Trpceski. It is also the sixth event in the season's PianoForte series of piano recitals; next in the series is Stephen Kovacevich on February 21, 2008.
Born in Aix en Provence, Hélène Grimaud was accepted into the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris at the age of 13. Her international concert career began in 1987 with performances at MIDEM in Cannes, La Roque d'Anthéron Piano Festival and a concert with the Orchestre de Paris at the invitation of Daniel Barenboim.
Hélène Grimaud now performs regularly in most of the leading music centres and with major orchestras worldwide, and she continues to appear with conductors of the highest calibre. The current season began with concerts with the Orchestre de Paris and Christoph Eschenbach in Bucharest and at the BBC Proms in London, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam under Riccardo Chailly; future engagements include concerts in Japan with the Czech Philharmonic and Vladimir Ashkenazy and performances with the Danish National Radio Symphony with Thomas Dausgaard, Detroit Symphony with Neeme Järvi, and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic with Peter Eötvös.
An award-winning recording artist since the age of 15, Hélène Grimaud has recently signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
At the French 'Victoires de la Musique' she was nominated Soloist of the Year in 2000, and in January 2002 was appointed an Officier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. Hélène Grimaud is ambassador of Montblanc's arts and culture projects.
Tickets: $45

Tuesday, December 18, 2007, at 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. -Aulos Ensemble – Christmas Concert
Aulos Ensemble and soprano Julianne Baird perform a program of traditional songs, works by Corrette, Bruhns, Bach, and Rameau. The Metropolitan Museum's Christmas Concerts take place in front of the Museum's Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche in the Medieval Sculpture Hall.
Formed in 1973 by five graduates of the Juilliard School, the Aulos Ensemble has been hailed for its artistic intelligence based on informed scholarly insight and an uncompromising standard of excellence. Its performances have helped to create a new appreciation of the rich rewards of original instrument performance and have earned admiration from critics, who have praised Aulos concerts as "authentic Baroque performance at its best."
The Aulos Ensemble has collaborated with leading artists in the early music and original instrument realms from both the United States and Europe, including harpsichordists Trevor Pinnock and Albert Fuller, violinists Jaap Schroeder and Stanley Richie, cellist Anner Bylsma, oboist Michel Piguet, and vocalists Jan de Gaetani, Bethany Beardslee, Charles Bressler, Julianne Baird, Sanford Sylvan, and Dawn Upshaw. Across the country, the Aulos Ensemble's holiday concert tours and "Baroque Christmas" recording have become an essential part of holiday celebrations.
Soprano Julianne Baird numbers over 100 recordings to her credit on Decca, Deutsche Gramophone, Newport Classics, and Dorian. In addition to her major roles in Handel operatic and oratorio premieres, she has a new solo album titled Glorious Handel. The New York Philharmonic's recent commemorative box set to its century of recordings includes her recording of Reich's Tehillim. Recent recordings include Dance on a Moonbeam, featuring Baird with Meryl Streep and Frederica von Stade, Passionate Pavanes, and Handel's Deidamia, in which she sings the title role. Julianne Baird is an active teacher and scholar, with degrees from the Eastman School and a diploma from the Salzburg Mozarteum in performance. She also earned a Ph.D. in music history from Stanford University. Her publications include Introduction to the Art of Singing, from Cambridge University Press. Dr. Baird is is a distinguished professor at Rutgers University.
Medieval Sculpture Hall
Tickets: $60

Wednesday, December 19, 2007, at 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. -Burning River Brass – Christmas Concert
Burning River Brass performs music of Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Mel Tormé, a suite of Renaissance music, and traditional and contemporary Christmas carols. The Metropolitan Museum's Christmas Concerts take place in front of the Museum's Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche in the Medieval Sculpture Hall.
Burning River Brass made its debut in September of 1996 in Tremont, Ohio, under the auspices of Arts Renaissance Tremont, and by 1998 was touring nationally. In 1999 the ensemble was offered a recording contract by Dorian Recordings and shortly thereafter recorded its first CD, Of Knights and Castles. The disc was followed by the release of Russian Carnival in 2000 and the group's latest CD, Romanza Espana—Spanish Masterworks for Brass, released in the fall of 2004. In 2005, BRB recorded a Christmas CD titled Christmas around the World. All of the discs have been praised for their energy, sound, and style. Burning River Brass has been heard on NPR's Performance Today and Sunday Baroque as well as radio stations throughout the United States and abroad.
Medieval Sculpture Hall
Tickets: $60

Thursday, December 20, 2007, at 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. -Choristers of the Church of the Heavenly Rest – Britten's A Ceremony of Carols Christmas Concert
Choristers of the Church of the Heavenly Rest, Mollie Nichols, conductor, and harpist Emily Mitchell perform a program highlighted by Britten's A Ceremony of Carols. The Metropolitan Museum's Christmas Concerts take place in front of the Museum's Christmas tree and Neapolitan Baroque crèche in the Medieval Sculpture Hall.
The choristers of the Church of the Heavenly Rest on Fifth Avenue and 90th Street provide an important role in the liturgy on Sundays and special services by singing choral anthems, psalms and responses, and by leading the congregational singing of hymns. This semi-professional group of about 30 singers is comprised of some of the best vocalists in New York, plus a group of dedicated and talented singers.
Medieval Sculpture Hall
Tickets: $60

Thursdays, Nov. 29, Dec. 6 & 13, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. - "The Language of Music" with Stuart Isacoff
Pianist, composer, and writer Stuart Isacoff offers three lectures on understanding how music works; the stylistic changes from era to era, how composers manage to grip our emotions, and the wondrous power and imagination behind the world's musical masterpieces.
November 29: Humor in Music: Before Victor Borge, Haydn, Beethoven, and others were also funny men.
December 6: Secret Games: Invisible messages in Renaissance rhythms, hidden numbers in Bach's masterworks
December 13: The Exotic Allure: From Mozart to Ravel, the influences of Turkish, Spanish, Indonesian, and jazz music
Tickets: $23 (Series: $50)
November 1, 2007

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