Even as the Marlboro Music Festival is celebrating its 60th anniversary
season, Vermont is the home of another music festival that’s
now rounding out its 66th(!) season. This morning I’ll talk with Phillip
Bush, Music Director of the Bennington Chamber Music Conference and
Composer’s Forum in anticipation of their final concert tomorrow
evening.
Franz Joseph Haydn’s "Gypsy rondo" Piano Trio ends with a big ol’ Hungarian style finale. We’ll hear an exciting performance of it from the 1998 Marlboro Music Festival this morning, along with a set of songs by Johannes Brahms, who had a lifelong fascination with Hungarian music.
You may know Beethoven’s Op. 11 better as the "Gassenhauer" Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano. In this morning’s 2008 live performance from the Marlboro Music Festival we’ll hear a clarinet substituting for the violin, giving the piece a very different character.
VPR Classical presents highlights of conversations with individuals whose work has made the 60th anniversary of the Marlboro Music Festival possible.(PHOTO: Dorothea von Haeften)
Matthew Arnold’s darkly evocative Victorian poem "Dover Beach" has inspired cultural references in everything from Ray Bradbury’s "Farenheit 451" to Joseph Heller’s "Catch-22". It inspired Samuel Barber too, and in 1931 he created a musical setting of the poem. This morning we’ll hear Barber’s "Dover Beach" in a live performance from last year’s Marlboro Music Festival.
Richard Strauss sure loved his wind instruments. The indelible result of
being the son of an excellent Horn player? …Probably. This morning’s
Marlboro Month feature piece is the Strauss Serenade in Eb for 13 Winds,
in an exciting – breezy! – live performance from the 2009 Festival.
Is it a concerto, or a domestic residence? The answer is: both. We’ll find out why and listen to Igor Stravinsky’s "Dumbarton Oaks" in a live performance this morning as part of our ongoing Marlboro Month, celebrating the 60th anniversary season of the Marlboro Music Festival.
Today we’ll hear form cellist Brook Speltz about the first time he performed publicly at Marlboro. He’ll take the stage twice in this weekend’s concerts, and we’ll hear a preview of those, plus a 2008 performance of one of Mozart’s string quintets.
Antonin Dvorak’s music appears frequently on the Marlboro Music Festival’s public concerts – that’s partly because it’s so listenable, and also because it has so much to teach performers. This morning’s "Marlboro Month" feature piece is the Dvorak Piano Quartet #2 in Eb, Op. 87.
We’ll hear a 2006 performance of Antonin Dvorak’s "Dumky" Trio from the Marlboro Dining Hall. The performance was not open to the public, only Marlboro participants and their close friends.