Having announced yesterday that LIEDER ALIVE! would host a concert in the fifth annual San Francisco International Piano Festival devoted to the first twelve of the 24 songs in Franz Schubert’s D. 911 Winterreise, it seems appropriate to review the “state of play” for the return of that organization’s Liederabend (evening of songs) Series. Almost exactly two years ago, LIEDER ALIVE! Founder and Director Maxine Bernstein announced the eight recitals scheduled for the 2019/20 season. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of this Series. As a result, in addition to the recitals, there will be two anniversary celebrations. As in the past the recitals will take place at 5 p.m. on a Sunday evening. While not all of the specifics have been finalized, here is an account of what has been planned thus far:
September 26: The expanded schedule will include three Songs Without Words programs, showcasing two pianists, who have worked extensively with LIEDER ALIVE! The first of these will be Jeffrey LaDeur. His program will begin with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 53 (“Waldstein”) sonata in C major. He will then perform all four of Frédéric Chopin’s ballades: Opus 23 in G minor, Opus 38 in F major, Opus 47 in A-flat major, and Opus 52 in F minor.
December 5: As has already been planned for the fifth annual San Francisco International Piano Festival, LaDeur will accompany mezzo Kindra Scharich for his second LIEDER ALIVE! appearance. Program details have not yet been finalized. However, the program, entitled On Wings of Song, will, appropriately enough, include music by Felix Mendelssohn. It will also include Johannes Brahms’ final vocal composition, his Opus 121 song cycle entitled Vier ernste Gesänge (four serious songs).
January 16: Bass Kirk Eichelberger will sing Franz Schubert’s final song cycle, his D. 957 Schwanengesang (swan song). Strictly speaking, this was not conceived as a song cycle, but that was the title given by Tobias Haslinger, who published the collection on Easter of 1829, about half a year after the composer’s death. Eichelberger will be accompanied at the piano by Ronny Michael Greenberg.
February 27: LaDeur will return for the second Songs Without Words recital. This time he will be joined by violist Paul Yarbrough. Scharich will also return as a guest artist to join Yarbrough and LaDeur.
May 15: The pianist for the final Songs Without Words program will be Peter Grünberg. The program has not been finalized. However, since Grünberg will be joined by cellist Oliver Herbert, one can expect at least one of the several highly imaginative compositions for cello and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven.
May 22: Grünberg will return to accompany soprano Esther Rayo. She will sing Manuel de Falla’s 1914 collection entitled Siete canciones populares españolas (seven Spanish folksongs). She will also include Mendelssohn on her program, along with Robert Schumann.
June 26: This program will feature Brahms’ Opus 52 Liebeslieder Walzer collection. This work is scored for four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) accompanied by two pianos. The pianists will be Amy Glenn and John Parr. Scharich and Eichelberger will return, joined by soprano Heidi Moss Erickson and tenor Thomas Glenn. Glenn will also sing Brahms’ Opus 103 Zigeunerlieder (gypsy songs).
July 10: Erickson will return with a recital devoted entirely to the songs of Richard Strauss, accompanied at the piano by Parr.
November 6: Soprano Alina Ilchuk will sing a program of songs based on texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine, set to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The title of the first anniversary celebration will be Korngold Kornucopia, and it will be presented in collaboration with the San Francisco International Piano Festival. Scharich and LaDeur will be joined by the members of the St. Lawrence String Quartet: violinists Geoff Nutall and Owen Dalby, violist Lesley Robertson, and cellist Christopher Costanza. Date and time have been finalized to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 3. The anniversary will also be celebrated by a special soirée, which was to have taken place during the current season. Greenberg was scheduled to accompany tenor Pene Pati in a program of vocal music by Richard Strauss and Giacomo Puccini, as well as a selection of Samoan songs. Plans for the rescheduling of this event have not yet been finalized.
All performances will be held at the Noe Valley Ministry at 1021 Sanchez Street, between 23rd Street and Elizabeth Street. Subscriptions for the full series will be $300 for reserved seating at all concerts and $200 for general admission. These may be purchased online from an Eventbrite event page. Single tickets for all concerts are $75 for reserved seating, $35 for general admission and a $20 discounted rate for students, seniors, and working artists. These may also be purchased in advance through Eventbrite using the hyperlinks attached to the dates for each of the concerts. Those interested in both subscriptions and single tickets may also call LIEDER ALIVE! at 415-561-0100.
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