Early Music Exposed, A Daylong Event, Celebrates the Reopening of
The André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments,
Till Fellner's Beethoven Sonata Cycle Continues with "Pathétique" and "Les Adieux,"
Menahem Pressler & Gautier Capuçon Perform Together, and
Sweet Honey In The Rock Makes Its Museum Debut
For tickets, call the Concerts & Lectures Department at 212-570-3949, or visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets, where updated schedules and programs are 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 and group discount tickets are available for some events; call 212-570-3949.
Tickets include admission to the Museum on day of performance.
Friday, March 5, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. -Sweet Honey In The Rock®
The acclaimed a cappella women's ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock® makes its Metropolitan Museum debut with its only New York concert of the season, performing selections from its repertoire of sacred music from the Black church, music of the civil rights movement, and songs of struggle for justice everywhere.
Sweet Honey In The Rock is Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson, and Shirley Childress Saxton.
Founded by Bernice Johnson Reagon in 1973 at the D.C. Black Repertory Theater Company, Sweet Honey In The Rock, internationally renowned a cappella ensemble, has been a vital and innovative presence in the music culture of Washington, D.C., and in communities of conscience around the world.
From Psalm 81:16 comes the promise to a people of being fed by honey out of the rock. Honey – an ancient substance, sweet and nurturing. Rock – an elemental strength, enduring the winds of time. The metaphor of sweet honey in the rock captures completely these African American women whose repertoire is steeped in the sacred music of the Black church, the clarion calls of the civil rights movement, and songs of the struggle for justice everywhere. Rooted in a deeply held commitment to create music out of the rich textures of African American legacy and traditions, Sweet Honey In The Rock possesses a stunning vocal prowess that captures the complex sounds of Blues, spirituals, traditional gospel hymns, rap, reggae, African chants, Hip Hop, ancient lullabies, and jazz improvisation. Sweet Honey's collective voice, occasionally accompanied by hand percussion instruments, produces a sound filled with soulful harmonies and intricate rhythms.
Sweet Honey's latest release, Experience…101 was a 2008 Grammy® Award nominee. Recently, Sweet Honey was asked to compose new material in celebration of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater's 50th anniversary.
Tickets: $40
Saturday, March 6, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. - Antioch Chamber Ensemble:
A Tribute to Bronzino; World Premiere of Bruce Adolphe's Of Art and Onions: Homage to Bronzino
The Antioch Chamber Ensemble, a New York vocal group (Joshua Copeland, director), performs a concert inspired by the exhibition "The Drawings of Bronzino." The program will feature the world premiere of Bruce Adolphe's Dell'arte e delle cipolle: Omaggio al Bronzino (Of Art and Onions: Homage to Bronzino) as well as music by Monteverdi and his contemporaries. Joining the ensemble are musicians Martha McGaughey, viola da gamba; Gabriel Shuford, harpsichord; and John Ferrari, vibraphone.
This is a co-production with the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, Florence, and The Learning Maestros, New York.
This event is presented in conjunction with "The Drawings of Bronzino," January 20 – April 18, 2010. The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in collaboration with the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi and the Polo Museale Fiorentino, Florence. The exhibition is made possible by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund. Additional support is provided by Dinah Seiver and Thomas E. Foster. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Dell'arte e delle cipolle: Omaggio al Bronzino (Of Art and Onions: Homage to Bronzino) is a 30-minute musical work for madrigal choir, viola da gamba, harpsichord, and vibraphone composed by Bruce Adolphe with texts by the Italian Renaissance painter and poet Agnolo Bronzino and Francesco Petrarch. It was commissioned by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence to celebrate the unprecedented exhibitions in 2010 of Bronzino's drawings in New York and of his paintings in Florence. Among the Bronzino poems set in the piece are two written to Laura Battiferri, a poet of whom Bronzino painted a now-famous portrait. In the portrait Laura is holding a book of sonnets by Petrarch, and Adolphe also set part of the Petrarch sonnet that is shown in the picture. Adolphe also chose two fragments of poems by Petrarch to complete the circle of references, and part of an important comic poem, "La Cipolla di Bronzino Pittore" ("The Onion by Bronzino the Painter"), in which Bronzino compares poetry and painting to onions. The centerpiece of the work is an instrumental movement called "Venus,"a tribute to Bronzino's well-known paintings of the goddess of love and beauty.
The Antioch Chamber Ensemble is currently celebrating its 12th season of music-making, having made its debut at the gala opening of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in 1997. Under the leadership of founding Artistic Director Joshua Copeland, the ensemble strives to present a diverse program of the world's greatest choral literature, both sacred and secular, and has performed works ranging from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary masterpieces with a core group of ten to twelve of the New York metropolitan area's finest singers. In 2008, Antioch was awarded first-place honors in the prestigious Tolosa International Choral Competition in Spain, establishing them among the top rank of professional choirs in the world. In recent seasons, Antioch has been acclaimed in the press as "stellar," "flawless," "an exceptional group," and "a spectacular example of what a classical choir should sound like."
Tickets: $40
Wednesday, March 10, 2010, at 6:30 & 8:30 p.m. -The Band of the Irish Guards and Royal Regiment of Scotland
The Band of the Irish Guards and Royal Regiment of Scotland, Major S. C. Barnwell, music director, are renowned for performances of rousing marches, folk songs, and Celtic dances from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. For this program, these regimental bands will perform in the dramatic setting of The Temple of Dendur.
The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing
Tickets: $50
Saturday, March 13, 2010 – Early Music Exposed – An Exploration of Early Music
To celebrate the reopening of The André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments, the Metropolitan Museum Concerts & Lectures department presents Early Music Exposed, a daylong exploration of early music coordinated and hosted by Frederick Renz, founder of the Early Music Foundation and Director of Early Music, New York. Three two-hour-long sessions feature lecture-demonstrations on subjects including the use of period instruments, historical performance practices, and reading from original manuscripts, offered by some of New York's most notable exponents of historically informed performance, some of whom will showcase instruments from the Museum's collection.
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon Morning Session:
The Jigge Is Up: Dance in Shakespeare's Time
Featuring: the New York Historical Dance Company, Dorothy Olsson and Kaspar Mainz, co-directors, with Flying Forms, an instrumental ensemble
The Art of Persuasion: A Musician's Rhetoric
Featuring: Parthenia: A Consort of Viols, with Gary Thor Wedow, lecturer; Julianne Baird, soprano; and Paul Hecht, actor
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Afternoon Session:
From Chant to Organum: Improvised Polyphony of the Middle Ages
Featuring: Lionheart, a male vocal sextet
From Manuscript to Concert Hall: Revival of Fifteenth-Century Chansons
Featuring: Asteria, voices and lute
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Evening Session:
Playing by Numbers: Baroque Continuo Realized
Featuring: ARTEK, an instrumental and vocal ensemble, Gwendolyn Toth, director
The Flute's Glory Days: Traversing the Eighteenth-Century Traverso
Featuring: Members of the Grand Tour Orchestra, Charles Brink, director
Tickets for the entire day: $45
Tickets for single sessions: $20
Friday, March 26, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. -Till Fellner, Piano – Beethoven Piano Sonatas
Acclaimed as one of the most brilliant pianists performing today, Till Fellner continues with his three-season traversal of the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven at the Metropolitan Museum his only New York performances of the season. In 2009-2010, the second year of the cycle, he performs three programs that will feature the "Pastorale," "Moonlight," "Pathétique," and "Les Adieux" sonatas.
This last of the three programs this season features Sonatas in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1; G Major, Op. 14, No. 2; C Minor, Op. 13, "Pathétique"; B-flat Major, Op. 22; and E-flat Major, Op. 81a, "Les Adieux."
This marks the second year of a three-year period during which Fellner will focus on Beethoven: from October 2008 onward he plays all of the Beethoven piano sonatas in a cycle that will be presented in New York, Washington, Tokyo, London, Paris, Vienna, and other cities. In the spring of 2008, he began performing and recording all Beethoven piano concertos with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony. In November 2008 he performed the Beethoven Trios Op. 1 with Lisa Batiashvili and Adrian Brendel.
Born in Vienna, Till Fellner studied with Helene Sedo-Stadler before going on to study privately with Alfred Brendel, Meira Farkas, Oleg Maisenberg, and Claus-Christian Schuster. He first gained international recognition by winning first prize at the prestigious Clara Haskil International Competition in 1993. Since then Till Fellner has performed with many of the world's most famous orchestras and conductors, and has appeared in major concert halls and at important festivals in Europe, the United States and Japan. Till Fellner plays regularly in a trio with Lisa Batiashvili and Adrian Brendel and appears in song recitals with tenor Mark Padmore.
Till Fellner has recorded numerous CDs; the latest release was Bach's Well-Tempered Klavier, Book I (ECM Records).
Tickets: $45
Saturday, March 27, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. - Presenting Menahem Pressler:
Menahem Pressler, Piano & Gautier Capuçon, Cello
Presenting Menahem Pressler is series featuring the legendary pianist in three chamber programs. Having begun his Museum tenure in 1973 with the Beaux Arts Trio, Pressler returns to the Met stage with some of his favorite musicians.
In this program, Menahem Pressler and Gautier Capuçon, cello, share a program featuring Beethoven's Seven Variations on Mozart's "Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen" from Die Zauberflöte in E-flat Major, WoO 46; Beethoven's Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69; Schumann's Phantasiestücke for Cello and Piano, Op. 73; and Brahms's Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38.
Menahem Pressler, founding member and pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio, which had its final performances in 2008, has established himself among the world's most distinguished and honored musicians, with a career that spans over five decades. Pressler's extensive tours of North America and Europe have included performances with the orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, London, Paris, Brussels, Oslo, Helsinki, and many other cities. In addition to more than 50 recordings with the Beaux Arts Trio, Menahem Pressler has compiled over 30 solo recordings of music ranging from Bach to Ben Haim. In 2007 Menahem Pressler was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in recognition of a lifetime of performance and leadership in music. Pressler holds the rank of Distinguished Professor at Indiana University.
Cellist Gautier Capuçon has taken the international music world by storm since winning the Victoires de la Musique as "New Talent of the Year" in 2001. His collaborations include performances with Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Myung-Whun Chung, Leonid Kavakos, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, and Leonard Slatkin. He recently made his first appearance with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra, performing Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations and Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante; a recording of the performance was released in January 2010 on the Virgin Classics label, for which Mr. Capuçon records exclusively. His 2009 release of Dvorák and Herbert received the distinction of Editor's Choice from Gramophone Magazine. In 2008 he released Rhapsody, a disc of works by Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev with pianist Gabriella Montero. Additional releases from Virgin Classics include Haydn concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding, chamber music of Ravel with Renaud Capuçon and pianist Frank Braley, and a recording of contemporary violin and cello duos entitled Face à Face. The 2009-2010 season brings his San Francisco Symphony debut with Semyon Bychkov and his debut at the Savannah Music Festival.
Tickets: $45
Also in March 2010 – the following music lecture:
Wednesday, March 24, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. - Chopin and Schumann at 200 – David Dubal
In honor of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) and Robert Schumann (1810-1856), both of whom celebrate bicentennials this year, this lecture by author, teacher, and broadcaster David Dubal will explore the fragile relationship between the two virtuosi, who met only once in their lifetimes. Schumann was Chopin's most admiring critic, lauding his novel pianism in a famous review that proclaimed, "Hats off, gentlemen, a genius!" Chopin, however, could not abide Schumann's music. Despite their differences of opinion, Chopin dedicated his Ballade No. 2 in F Major to Schumann, and Schumann dedicated his Kreisleriana to Chopin, indicating the admiration they had for each other's talents. The program will include live performances by students from The Juilliard School.
Tickets: $23
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February 8, 2010
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