MET MUSEUM PRESENTS – NOVEMBER 2013
• Calder Quartet’s Bartók with David Longstreth and Iva Bittová
• Alarm Will Sound Plays All-Steve Reich Program
• ACME Plays Schoenberg, Duo Amal Plays Stravinsky as Part of 1913: The World Implodes
• Concerto Köln Plays “Bach and the Italians”
• Decoda Explains “Line and Expression” in Music and Art
Performances
Friday, November 1, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Calder Quartet with David Longstreth – Bartók Quartet Cycle
The six string quartets of Béla Bartók, composed between 1908 and 1939, are a towering oeuvre of 20th-century chamber music. In this series, the young California-based Calder Quartet, called “superb” by The New York Times and “formidable” by The New Yorker, perform the quartets in three concerts along with music focusing on Bartók’s deep debt to the human voice, with the help of two special guest artists.
For this program featuring the Bartók Quartets Nos. 3 and 4, the Calder Quartet is joined by David Longstreth, founder of the rock band Dirty Projectors, for performances of his new compositions created specifically for this program, as well as new arrangements of Dirty Projectors songs for voice and string quartet.
The series concludes on November 22 with Quartets Nos. 2 and 6, and a collaboration with the Czech singer, violinist, and composer Iva Bittová, featuring music by Janáček and Bartók and improvisations for voice and string quartet.
Dirty Projectors, an experimental rock band based in Brooklyn, has become, in the words of The New York Times, “synonymous with complicated, conceptual indie rock.” As Jon Pareles said in the Times in 2007, “There’s a world of cross-references in Dirty Projectors’ music: stuttering modal riffs from Mali, the meandering melodies of opera or modern music theater, pygmy antiphonal vocals, Captain Beefheart, Zimbabwean and Congolese rock, King Crimson, Talking Heads, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks.” http://dirtyprojectors.net
The Calder Quartet performs a broad range of repertoire at an exceptional level. Already the choice of many leading composers to perform their works—including Christopher Rouse, Terry Riley, and Thomas Adès—the group has been praised for their distinctive approach informed by a musical curiosity brought to everything they perform, from Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn to sold-out rock shows with bands such as The National or The Airborne Toxic Event. Known for the discovery, commissioning, and mentoring of some of today’s best emerging composers (with over 25 commissioned works to date), the group continues to collaborate with artists across musical genres. Inspired by pioneering American sculptor Alexander Calder, the Calder Quartet’s desire to bring immediacy and context to the works they perform creates an artfully crafted musical experience. http://calderquartet.com
Tickets: $40; Three-concert series: $100
Bring the Kids! $1 tickets for children (ages 7-16) when accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket (subject to availability).
Saturday, November 2, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME)
Called by Time Out New York “one of new York’s brightest new music indie-bands,” ACME performs Pierrot Lunaire, Schoenberg’s Expressionist melodrama of 21 songs for voice and piano, violin, cello, flute, and clarinet, with acclaimed actress Barbara Sukowa (Hannah Arendt); and selections from Ritornel, a new piece by the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner for music, Caroline Shaw.
Two path-breaking works were premiered within eight months of each other: Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (October 16, 1912) and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (May 29, 1913). This concert is part of 1913: The World Implodes, a series featuring performances of the two works in striking settings, and, to put the music of this period into context, four conversations curated and hosted by New Yorker Critic at Large Adam Gopnik.
Led by artistic director and cellist Clarice Jensen, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) is dedicated to the outstanding performance of masterworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, primarily the work of American composers. The ensemble presents cutting-edge literature by living composers alongside the “classics” of the contemporary. ACME’s dedication to new music extends across genres, and has earned the group a reputation among both classical and rock crowds. The New York Times describes ACME’s performances as “vital,” “brilliant,” and “electrifying." www.acmemusic.org
Tickets: $40
Bring the Kids! $1 tickets for children (ages 7-16) when accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket (subject to availability).
Saturday, November 9, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Duo Amal
Twenty-eight-year-old pianists Yaron Kohlberg of Israel and Bishara Haroni of Palestine are the preeminent pianists of their generation in their respective homelands. Together they are Duo Amal, and on this program they will perform arrangements of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 (1813) and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (1913). Stravinsky himself wrote the arrangement for piano four-hands.
Two path-breaking works were premiered within eight months of each other: Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (October 16, 1912) and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (May 29, 1913). This concert is part of 1913: The World Implodes, a series featuring performances of the two works in striking settings, and, to put the music of this period into context, four conversations curated and hosted by New Yorker Critic at Large Adam Gopnik.
Protégés of Maestro Zubin Mehta, the concert pianists Bishara Haroni and Yaron Kohlberg joined forces in 2011, after a collaboration at a concert for peace at the Oslo Opera House. The duo's performances in prominent halls throughout the globe, such as the Beijing Concert Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, and Goyang Center of the Arts in Korea, as well as at concerts for the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and Beethovenfest Bonn in Germany, have led to critical acclaim and enthusiastic reception from the public. In October 2013, Duo Amal performs Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos with the Israel Philharmonic led by Christoph von Dohnányi. Kohlberg is the winner of ten international piano competitions, among them the Cleveland (second prize, 2007), Parnassos (first prize, 2006), and Top of the World (Tromso, 2011). Haroni has performed under the baton of conductors Lorin Maazel, Daniel Barenboim, and Zubin Mehta, and has appeared with major orchestras including the London Philharmonic. www.duo-amal.com
Tickets: $40
Bring the Kids! $1 tickets for children (ages 7-16) when accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket (subject to availability).
Saturday, November 16, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Alarm Will Sound: All-Steve Reich Concert
Alarm Will Sound, the 20-member New York group of composer/performers led by Music Director Alan Pierson, is known for bringing vitality, intelligence, and a sense of adventure to a broad variety of musical and theatrical expression. The acclaimed ensemble will perform, work with curators and educators, and conduct talks and workshops in a season-long artist residency at the Met.
The New York premiere of Radio Rewrite (2013), a piece based on songs by Radiohead, highlights a program that features Reich’s Clapping Music, Piano Counterpoint, City Life, Four Genesis Settings, and New York Counterpoint.
Among the residency’s succeeding performances are Twinned, a site-specific dance work created for The Charles Engelhard Court in The American Wing with music by Aphex Twin, Tyondai Braxton, and Edgard Varèse and choreography by John Heginbotham (Feb. 20, 2014); and I Was Here I Was I, a Metropolitan Museum-commissioned music theater work combining narratives surrounding the history of The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing, by Kate Soper (composer) and Nigel Maister (librettist/director) to be performed in the Lila Acheson Wallace Galleries of Egyptian Art and The Temple of Dendur (June 20, 2014).
“Alarm Will Sound brings to their performances a deep-rooted sense of discovery that stems from their creativity as composers and their appetites for all kinds of art,” said Limor Tomer, the Met’s General Manager of Concerts & Lectures. “Their nimbleness and their work in a variety of media make them wonderful collaborators with the Met.”
Alarm Will Sound has established a reputation for performing demanding music with energetic skill. ASCAP recognized their contributions to new music with a 2006 Concert Music Award for "the virtuosity, passion and commitment with which they perform and champion the repertory for the 21st century." Their performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the Financial Times and as "a triumph of ensemble playing" by the San Francisco Chronicle. The New York Times says Alarm Will Sound is "the future of classical music" and "the very model of a modern music chamber band." www.alarmwillsound.com
New Pre-Concert Cocktails: A menu of limited-edition specialty cocktails celebrating Alarm Will Sound will be available for purchase before performances in either The Petrie Court Café or The Great Hall Balcony Bar. Both inspired by and named in honor of the ensemble’s first performance at the Met, “The Permanent Collection” menu will feature an assortment of classic cocktails with a modern twist. This menu will be offered throughout the year, exclusively on evenings when Alarm Will Sound performs.
Tickets: $50
Bring the Kids! $1 tickets for children (ages 7-16) when accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket (subject to availability).
Wednesday, November 20, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Concerto Köln: Bach and the Italians
One of Europe’s most prominent period instrument ensembles, Concerto Köln focuses on the Italian influences at work in the music of J.S. Bach, and the great cross-fertilization that occurred when artists traveled throughout Europe, infusing their new host countries with ideas and culture from their homes. The program features dall’Abaco’s Concerto a più istrumenti, Op. 5, No. 3; Locatelli’s Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 1, No. 12; Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in D Minor, RV 407, and Sammartini’s Sinfonia in A Major; as well as Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 4 & 5.
This event is one of several that celebrate the comprehensive reinstallation and opening of the Museum’s New European Paintings Galleries, 1250-1800.
Concerto Köln was founded in 1985, and it was not long before it had established a solid place amongst the highest-ranking orchestras for historical performance practice. Thoroughly researched interpretations brought to the stage with a new vivacity soon became the trademark of Concerto Köln. During extensive tours throughout the U.S., South East Asia, Canada, Latin America, Japan, Israel, and most countries in Europe, Concerto Köln has spread its musical message and the name of its hometown throughout the world. A partnership with high-end audio specialists MBL was established in October of 2009.
Since 2005, Martin Sandhoff has been responsible for the artistic direction of the orchestra, which uses concertmasters from both within and without the ensemble. The size of the ensemble varies according to program and repertoire. As an ensemble that feels a responsibility to historical performance practice, Concerto Köln performs predominantly without a conductor. For large-scale productions such as operas and oratorios, Concerto Köln works with conductors including René Jacobs, Marcus Creed, Daniel Harding, Evelino Pidò, Ivor Bolton, David Stern, Daniel Reuss, Pierre Cao, Laurence Equilbey, and Emmanuelle Haïm. www.concerto-koeln.de
Tickets: $60
Bring the Kids! $1 tickets for children (ages 7-16) when accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket (subject to availability).
Friday, November 22, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Calder Quartet with Iva Bittová – Bartók Quartet Cycle
The six string quartets of Béla Bartók, composed between 1908 and 1939, are a towering oeuvre of 20th-century chamber music. In this series, the young California-based Calder Quartet, called “superb” by The New York Times and “formidable” by The New Yorker, perform the quartets in three concerts along with music focusing on Bartók’s deep debt to the human voice, with the help of two special guest artists.
For this final program, featuring the Bartók Quartets Nos. 2 and 6, music by Janáček, and improvisations for voice and string quartet, the Calder Quartet is joined by the Czech singer, violinist, and composer Iva Bittová. Ms. Bittová, according to The New York Times, “represents a peculiarly Eastern European blend of tradition and modernity … She takes on the role of the singer as town crier whose voice animates old myths and current news.”
Iva Bittová herself says, “For many years, I have worked in a range of musical genres, including jazz, rock, classical and opera. … The violin accompanies me all the time. Everything around me is under its influence. The violin is a mirror reflecting my dreams and imagination. I believe there are fundamentals to my performance, such as the music’s vibration and resonance between violin and my voice. Their ‘symphony’ leads me on to perfection, even though I know it never can be attained.” www.bittova.com
The Calder Quartet performs a broad range of repertoire at an exceptional level. Already the choice of many leading composers to perform their works—including Christopher Rouse, Terry Riley, and Thomas Adès—the group has been praised for their distinctive approach informed by a musical curiosity brought to everything they perform, from Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn to sold-out rock shows with bands such as The National or The Airborne Toxic Event. Known for the discovery, commissioning, and mentoring of some of today’s best emerging composers (with over 25 commissioned works to date), the group continues to collaborate with artists across musical genres. Inspired by pioneering American sculptor Alexander Calder, the Calder Quartet’s desire to bring immediacy and context to the works they perform creates an artfully crafted musical experience. http://calderquartet.com
Tickets: $40; Three-concert series: $100
Bring the Kids! $1 tickets for children (ages 7-16) when accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket (subject to availability).
Saturday, November 23, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Decoda: Line and Expression
The acclaimed young New York ensemble Decoda (formerly The Declassified), called “a new collective of some of the brightest young classical musicians in the world” by Time Out New York, presents a program that, like etchings, creates momentum and interplay through the use of musical lines, and makes evident the connection between the free and improvisational approach of the etching process and music written using similar techniques. The program combines tastes of 18th-century France—Rameau’s Les Boréades and Couperin’s Les Barricades Mysterieuses (a clear example of how musical lines can build upon themselves and take flight)—with contemporary works: a playful orchestration of the Couperin work by Thomas Ades, Golijov’s Tenebrae, Nico Muhly’s Motion, and Pärt’s Fratres.
This program is in conjunction with the exhibition Artists and Amateurs: Etching in Eighteenth-Century France, which will be on view at the Museum through January 5, 2014. The exhibition is made possible by The Schiff Foundation.
Decoda (formerly known as The Declassified) is a cutting-edge chamber music society forging an integrated role for classical music in communities around the world. Based in New York City, Decoda maintains a flexible roster of a new type of musician: virtuoso, arts advocate and educator. They design residencies to reach audiences of broad scope, bringing creative concert experiences to schools, hospitals, prisons and bars, as well as major international concert halls. Decoda was founded in 2011 by alumni of The Academy, a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute. Upon leaving this prestigious fellowship, the musicians were inspired not only to keep playing together but also to create an entrepreneurial model for artists who want to engage meaningfully with society. As The Academy’s Ensemble ACJW, the musicians of Decoda presented residencies in Spain, Mexico, Iceland, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Japan. Their Carnegie Hall performances as Ensemble ACJW were called “dazzling” and “dynamic”; “categories be damned.” (The New York Times). In Decoda’s inaugural season, they designed acclaimed residencies in Iceland, South Carolina, and Florida, and throughout New York City. www.decodamusic.org
Tickets: $30
Bring the Kids! $1 tickets for children (ages 7-16) when accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket (subject to availability).
Every Friday and Saturday, 5:00–8:00 p.m. on the Balcony Bar—Free with admission
ETHEL and Friends
ETHEL, the acclaimed string quartet that Pitchfork.com described as “a necessary jet of cold water in the contemporary classical scene,” began as resident ensemble at the Metropolitan Museum’s Balcony Bar in October. Marking the first time that a prominent musical group has been featured in that venue, ETHEL will perform there each Friday and Saturday evening on a regular basis, sometimes with friends and collaborators, throughout the year. The quartet will also select musical groups from ETHEL’s expansive list of notable colleagues to perform when the group is on the road. This new programming initiative will provide a variety of musical experiences to Met audiences, delivered by a range of ensemble types and compositions.
Click here for the schedule of performers.
The Balcony Bar serves appetizers and cocktails on the second-floor balcony overlooking the Great Hall. Three sets of performances between 5:00 and 8:00 p.m. will take place each Friday and Saturday.
Free with Museum admission
Talks and Conversations
Tuesday, November 5, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Spark: Fabric Changes Everything: The Interwoven World
Eileen Fisher, Fashion Designer
Amelia Peck, Marica F. Vilcek Curator of American Decorative Arts, and Manager, The Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art
Paul van Zyl, Fashion Designer
Spark, a new conversation series hosted by Julie Burstein, Peabody Award-winning creator of public radio’s Studio 360, explores ideas and issues through the lens of the Met’s collection.
Pull on a thread from a bolt of cloth, and you unravel a story of empires, espionage, poverty, and a fabric trade that upended social order. In this program, Met curator Amelia Peck describes a moment in the 17th century when bed linens were the most valuable thing one owned, Paul van Zyl tells of his journey from human-rights activist to creator of luxury fashion brand Maiyet, and designer Eileen Fisher talks about her company’s focus on sustainability and human rights as well as beautiful clothes. This evening of illustrated conversation explores the “interwoven globe” and how fabric can, and did, change everything.
This event is in conjunction with the exhibition Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800, on view at the Museum through January 5, 2014. The exhibition is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Diane W. and James E. Burke Fund, The Coby Foundation, Ltd., The Favrot Fund, the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund, and the Quinque Foundation.
Tickets: $30
Thursday, November 7, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Masterworks from the Met
Three Masterpieces from the Age of Empires: Caravaggio, Velázquez, and Rubens
Jerrilynn Dodds, Dean, Sarah Lawrence College
The Baroque period yielded some of the most vital and brilliant artists of all time. Opulent courts, powerful patrons, colliding cultures, strengthening religions, and increasingly complex politics provided the backdrop for painting to become a potent expression of the moment. This series explores a work from the Met’s collection by each of three monumental figures of this remarkable age. From different corners of Europe, these great masters provide three different interpretations of Baroque art.
This last of three lectures focuses on Rubens’s Venus and Adonis (mid- or late 1630s).
Tickets: $30; Three-talk series: $75
Tuesday, November 12, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Spark: Painting and Provocation
Simone Dinnerstein, Pianist
Sabine Rewald, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Curator for Modern Art
Deborah Tolman, Psychologist and Author
Dar Williams, Singer
Spark, a new conversation series hosted by Julie Burstein, Peabody Award-winning creator of public radio’s Studio 360, explores ideas and issues through the lens of the Met’s collection.
Met curator Sabine Rewald describes Balthus’s 1938 painting Thérèse Dreaming as “the epitome of dormant adolescent sexuality.” Ms. Rewald will be joined by pianist Simone Dinnerstein, who plays one of Balthus’s favorite Mozart sonatas. Psychologist and author Deborah Tolman talks about her book Dilemmas of Desire (2005), in which teenage girls speak candidly about their sexual curiosity and confusion. And Dar Williams sings a few of her songs that capture beautifully the dreams and desires of girls. Intimate, revealing, disturbing, and inspiring, the stories told this evening will explore what Thérèse may have been dreaming about.
This event is in conjunction with the exhibition Balthus: Cats and Girls--Paintings and Provocations, which will be on view at the Museum through January 12, 2014. The exhibition is made possible by the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust, the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, and Diane Carol Brandt.
Tickets: $30
Wednesday, November 13, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. in the Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall
Out of the Darkness: Jacopo Bassano’s The Baptism of Christ—A Venetian Masterpiece
Andrea Bayer, Curator, Department of European Paintings
Michael Gallagher, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge, Paintings Conservation
The Met Salon Series offers opportunities to engage with Met curators, artists, and guests in an intimate and informal setting, over coffee and light refreshments.
Jacopo Bassano’s last great masterpiece, The Baptism of Christ, has now undergone a technical examination and treatment that have confirmed its extraordinary quality and led to significant new observations about the artist’s technique and the issue of “non-finito” (“not-finished”). Andrea Bayer and Michael Gallagher discuss the findings of their study and the importance of Bassano’s work in the context of the Museum’s newly conceived Venetian Renaissance gallery.
Tickets: $30
Wednesday, November 20, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
Patriots, Pashas, and Peasants: French Painting from Delacroix to Courbet
Kathy Galitz, Associate Museum Educator
The 1820s witnessed the birth of Romanticism, as Delacroix, Ingres, and other French artists embraced new subjects, inspired by cross-Channel exchanges and the lure of the exotic. The Paris Salon of 1824 launched the battle between the Romantics and the Classicists, an aesthetic struggle that defined a generation of French artists. By mid-century, the modern-life subjects of Courbet and Manet threatened to subvert the artistic establishment, setting the stage for the Impressionist revolution.
The theme for this talk is “Lure of the Exotic.”
Tickets: $30; Six-talk series: $160
Major support provided by Adrienne Arsht, Brodsky Family Foundation, Isabel C. Iverson and Walter T. Iverson, Mrs. Joseph H. King Fund, Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Fund, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Mrs. Donald Oenslager Fund, Grace Jarcho Ross and Daniel G. Ross Concert Fund, The Giorgio S. Sacerdote Fund, Estate of Kathryn Walter Stein, Clara Lloyd-Smith Weber Fund, Xerox Foundation, and Dirk and Natasha Ziff.
Also made possible by The Cheswatyr Foundation, Martha Fleischman, Friends of Concerts & Lectures, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The Arthur Gillender Fund, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Kaplen Foundation, Susana Torruella Leval, Dorothy Loudon Foundation, Yvonne & Michael Marsh Family Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Samuel White Patterson Lecture Fund, Marianna Sackler, The C.F. Roe Slade Foundation, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, and Anonymous (2).
• For tickets, visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets or call 212-570-3949.
• Tickets are also available at the Great Hall Box Office, which is open Monday-Saturday 11—3:30.
• Tickets include admission to the Museum on day of performance.
• 30 & Under Rush: $15 tickets for ticket buyers 30 years and younger, with proof of age, the day of the event on select performances (subject to availability). For more information, visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets call 212-570-3949, or visit the box office.
• Bring the Kids!: $1 tickets for children (ages 7-16) for select performances when accompanied by an adult with a full-price ticket (subject to availability). For more information, visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets call 212-570-3949, or visit the box office.
October 1, 2013
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