2012-2013 119th season
“this exaltation, this splendor, this bliss� Poet C.K. Williams on Beethoven (page 8)
vibrant performances You’ll feel a magical vibe as soon as you enter Alexander Hall’s Richardson Auditorium. And a soul-stirring vitality from the very first notes of the concert. Because Princeton University Concerts has a mission to create life-changing experiences. This season we’ll continue a 119-year tradition by presenting some of the world’s greatest musicians right here in Princeton. And we’ll pay tribute to Woodrow Wilson (class of 1879), the 13th President of Princeton, 100 years after he became President of the United States. It’s all part of Princeton University Concerts’ devotion to History in
the Music Making. Subscribe now, and let’s make some history together.
“utterly gripping” Concert Classics Series
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2012, 8 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
TAKÁCS STRING QUARTET SCHUBERT BRITTEN DVOŘÁK
String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor, D. 804 (“Rosamunde”) String Quartet No. 2 in C Major String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 (“American”)
The Takács has entered the pantheon of the world’s great string quartets, as evidenced by their hugely engaging performances and unique blend of drama, warmth and humor, as well as their recent appointment as Associate Artists of London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. Takács “established itself as one of the world’s eminent string ensembles soon after its founding in 1975,” according to The New York Times, which termed their recent Carnegie Hall performance “utterly gripping.” Their program begins with one of Schubert’s last quartets and, marking the centenary of his birth, one by Britten, who in 1945 called it “the greatest advance that I have yet made.” The evening concludes with Dvořák’s “American” Quartet, which, during a visit to the Czech community in Spillville, Iowa, spilled out of the composer in a matter of days.
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“worthy of our yearning” Concert Classics Series
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012, 8 pm Princeton University Chapel
TENEBRAE*
Britain’s Premier Chamber Choir Nigel Short, Director
presented in collaboration with McCarter Theatre
Choral works by Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Arvo Pärt and Paul Mealor “Song shows us a world that is worthy of our yearning, it shows us our selves as they might be if we were worthy of the world.”
— Salman Rushdie, from The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Few things can move us as deeply as the human voice in song—in exaltation, in ecstasy, in memorial. In just over a decade, Britain’s 17-voice Tenebrae has combined passion and precision to become one of the premier chamber choirs in the world. This year they won a BBC Music Magazine Award after being the first artists nominated twice in one category. Their concert will reveal treasures of the Russian repertoire as well as works by Paul Mealor, the British choral composer who’s been wildly popular since his music was performed at the recent Royal Wedding. The evening will be downright Princetonian as well, since one of Tenebrae’s principal singers, Gabriel Crouch, directs Princeton’s Glee Club and Choral Program. And Tenebrae are known for exploiting the unique qualities of the space in which they’re performing, which in this case will be the gothic splendor of the Princeton University Chapel.
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“Religious fervor and Angelika sexual Kirchschlager* ecstasy * Ian Bostridge are almost THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2013, 8 pm
Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
Mezzo-Soprano
Tenor
indistinguishable in
”
these songs.
Julius Drake Piano HUGO WOLF
Selections from Spanisches Liederbuch
Now that we have your attention, here’s what else Britain’s Opera Today said of this duo’s performance of Hugo Wolf’s treatment of 16th- and 17th-century Spanish poems: “Ian Bostridge and Angelika Kirchschlager revealed the profound emotional intensity of Wolf’s art; the concentrated ardour of their performance intimated the heightened passion and expressive angst which, as well as driving Wolf’s creative spirit, also led to persistent depression and resulted in insanity and finally death in a mental asylum at the age of 42.” Mr. Bostridge ranks Wolf with Schubert and Schumann as the best of the 19th-century’s song composers. He and Ms. Kirchschlager will only perform these alluring songs at two other venues— Lincoln Center and the Kimmel Center—which puts Princeton University at the center of the lieder universe in 2013.
Concert Classics Series
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“dancing expressivity”
Concert Classics Series
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013, 8 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
THE ENGLISH CONCERT
Harry Bicket, Director
Baroque Chamber Orchestra Works by Handel, Telemann and Purcell When the Father of our country was born in 1732, Henry Purcell, alas, was long dead—but Georg Philipp Telemann was writing music in Hamburg, and George Frideric Handel was composing in London. The music of these three composers will be performed here by one of the world’s finest chamber orchestras, the English Concert. The ensemble is acclaimed for its Handel interpretations, and its appearance on our series anchors the biennial American Handel Festival in Princeton in 2013. In the 1970s, this chamber orchestra, according to London’s Daily Telegraph, blazed the trail of “historically informed” performances of Handel and his baroque brethren. “Audiences were amazed to hear this music played on instruments appropriate to the period, and with a dancing kind of
expressivity rather than a heavy, romantic one,” said the newspaper, a revolutionary approach that George Washington surely would have related to.
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THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013, 8 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
ARTEMIS STRING QUARTET Mendelssohn String Quartet in D Major, Op. 44, No. 1 Bach Selections from The Art of the Fugue ASTOR Piazzolla Fugues Mendelssohn String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80 Mendelssohn’s exuberant String Quartet in D Major, the first movement of which calls to mind his famous Octet, was written less than a year into his marriage and following the birth of his first child in 1838. Nine years later, after his beloved sister Fanny died, he wrote, “With her kindness and love she was part of myself every moment of my life… I will never, never be able to get used to it. Perhaps she is lucky, in her marvelously harmonious existence, not to have experienced the pain of old age, of life gradually ebbing….” His anguished Quartet in F Minor was a memorial to Fanny. Within six months of her passing, Mendelssohn, too, escaped the pain of old age, dead at 38. These very disparate works, along with music of Bach and Piazzolla, will be in the sensitive hands of the Berlinbased Artemis String Quartet, one of the leading ensembles of their generation.
Concert Classics Series
“marvelously harmonious existence”
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“translucent as mist”
Concert Classics Series
THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013, 8 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
ELIAS STRING QUARTET * HAYDN JANÁČEK SCHUMANN
String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 6 String Quartet No. 2 (“Intimate Letters”) String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1
It wasn’t the first time an older, married man fell in love with a younger, unattainable woman—just one of the more artistically fruitful ones. In his 60s, Leoš Janáček met Kamila Stösslová, 38 years his junior, whose image he would call “translucent as mist.” Over the next decade plus, he wrote hundreds of intimate letters to her, kept a “Kamila” diary, and modeled operatic heroines after her. His Second String Quartet, “Intimate Letters,” is filled with “that sweetest longing” for Kamila. Her family joined Janáček in his native village in July, 1928; we can picture the composer pleased when Kamila’s husband departed. Then fate intervened. Kamila’s son got lost, and while looking for the little boy, Janáček literally caught his death of cold, expiring in August. The intensely talented Elias Quartet, newly recorded in a live concert at Wigmore Hall, will perform this powerful music along with quartets by Schumann and Haydn, the father of the form.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013, 8 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
RAFAL BLECHACZ,* BACH BEETHOVEN DEBUSSY SZYMANOWSKI
Piano
Partita No. 3 in A Minor, BWV 827 Sonata in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3 Suite Bergamasque Sonata No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 8
In 2005, a young Polish pianist was the uncontested winner of the 15th Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. What’s more, Rafal Blechacz took home special prizes for the best performances of mazurka, polonaise, concerto and sonata as well. That led to an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, which in turn led to “Best of the Year” honors from Gramophone Magazine for Mr. Blechacz’s recording of the Chopin Piano Concertos. With those bona fides, the young Pole is ideally suited to perform the varied works on this concert, including Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque, inspired in part by gossamer lines like these: Their song mingles with the pale moonlight, The calm, pale moonlight, whose sad beauty, beaming, Sets the birds softly dreaming in the trees… Verlaine’s poem, Moonlight, was the basis of the Suite’s third movement, the achingly beautiful Clair de Lune. It promises to be an exquisite moment not to be missed.
Concert Classics Series
“sad beauty, beaming”
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Concert Classics Series
“this exaltation, this splendor, this bliss” Thursday, May 9, 2013, 8 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
RICHARD GOODE, C.K. WILLIAMS,*
Piano
Poet
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110 Selections from JANÁČEK On an Overgrown Path Other works by BEETHOVEN, BRAHMS and CHOPIN Fast on the heels of the successful Princeton University Concerts collaboration of countertenor David Daniels and choreographer Mark Morris, two more superlative artists partner in 2013: Grammy-winning pianist Richard Goode and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet C.K. Williams. The New York Times calls the poetry-loving Mr. Goode “a poet of the piano,” while Paul Muldoon hails Mr. Williams—who has written of music as “this exaltation, this splendor, this bliss”—as “one of the most distinguished poets of his generation.” The poet and the pianist will alternate, with Mr. Williams giving his poetic take on the pieces Mr. Goode performs. Among them: Janáček’s On an Overgrown Path, one of the works in which the composer expressed his profound despair at the death of his 21-year-old daughter. Missing the partnership of these like-minded poets—a Princeton exclusive—would be tragic indeed.
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Special Event
back by popular demand
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 7:30 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
JULIA FISCHER,
Violin
BACH YSAŸE
Violin Partita No. 3 Violin Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2 BACH Violin Sonata No. 1 HINDEMITH Violin Sonata, Op. 11, No. 6 Dream for a moment, as Julia Fischer has, of being the soloist for a piano concerto and a violin concerto—on the same program! Ms. Fischer not only dreamt it, she pulled it off, which begins to suggest just how talented she is. One of the hottest artists in the entire world of classical music, this extraordinary young German violinist (she’ll turn 30 in 2013) will return to Princeton for her only solo recital outside of Carnegie Hall before taking a short hiatus from U.S. recitals. Ms. Fischer seems to have enjoyed her 2012 Princeton experience as much as Princeton enjoyed having her; not only did she love Richardson Auditorium— where she gave a typically dazzling display of her fiery technique—she became involved with University students to an extraordinary degree as well. And as for choosing the violin, we observe that it’s easier to carry a Guadagnini on a transatlantic flight than, say, a Bechstein.
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“like winning the lottery, minus the taxes” Special Event
Tuesday, February 12, 2013, 7:30 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall a special double bill
ECCO,*
East Coast Chamber Orchestra
& YOU
MOZART Divertimento in F Major, K. 138 BARTÓK Divertimento plus… a community reading—(piece TBD) with ECCO—all amateur string players invited! Imagine hearing two dozen of the very best young string players in the country play music they love with all the passion and fire at their command. Now imagine that, as a bonus, they ask you to play with them! It would be like winning the lottery, minus the taxes. That’s precisely what ECCO is, and what they’ll do in Princeton. The East Coast Chamber Orchestra comprises members of the world-renowned orchestras of Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, along with leading young chamber musicians and Time For Three’s Nick Kendall. What this democratic ensemble does not have is a conductor. Their concert will include a delightful Divertimento by Mozart and a feisty one by Bartók. In between those two works, every string player with an instrument in tow will be invited to perform with ECCO! Even if you’re not concertizing yourself, the experience is guaranteed to reverberate for a very long time.
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Special Event
Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 7:30 pm Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
INON BARNATAN,
Piano
paderewski memorial concert
“HONORING WOODROW WILSON” BEETHOVEN BEETHOVEN SCHUMANN CHOPIN SCHELLING STOJOWSKI
Thirty-two Variations, C Minor Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”) Carnaval, Op. 9 Selected Pieces Nocturne à Raguse By the Brookside
Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan gave a memorable performance here with cellist Alisa Weilerstein in the Fall of 2011, earning an invitation to return to Princeton for a solo recital. He will do so in historic fashion with a tribute to the friendship between Woodrow Wilson, President of Princeton from 1902 to 1910 and later, of the United States, and Ignacy Paderewski, pianist, composer, and, in 1919, second Prime Minister of an independent Poland. When Wilson died in 1925, Princeton University Concerts invited Paderewski to perform a recital in honor of his late friend, colleague and political ally. Mr. Barnatan will recreate that recital to mark 100 years since Wilson entered the White House. The program includes Beethoven’s famed Waldstein Sonata and Schumann’s charming Carnaval. Mr. Barnatan was recently praised by The New Yorker for “uncommon sensitivity” in a “brilliant recital,” while the San Francisco Chronicle said he “possesses tons of technique,” and added that his West Coast audience “cheered the performance to the rafters.” Given the uniquely Princetonian nature of this concert, we predict that Richardson Auditorium will be filled to its rafters.
“uncommon sensitivity”
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Richardson Chamber Players
Our resident ensemble of performance faculty, distinguished guest artists and supremely talented students
Sponsored by Princeton University Concerts Michael Pratt, Director Formed in 1994-95, this mixed ensemble comprises Princeton’s Performance Faculty, distinguished guest artists, and supremely talented students of the University. One of their three concerts this season is devoted to Henry Purcell, who held concurrent positions as organist of Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal; such was the glory of his music that upon his death in 1695 he was buried adjacent to the Westminster organ. Another highlight is a pair of works from the
Sunday, November 11, 2012, 3 pm
Music for a While
Richardson Baroque playing an all-Purcell program Players to include Wendy Young, harpsichord; Nancy Wilson and Vita Wallace, baroque violins; Vivian Barton, cello and gamba; Laura Heimes, soprano
Sunday, February 17, 2013, 3 pm
Bachianas & More Villa-Lobos KURT WEILL Hindemith Villa-Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6 for Flute and Bassoon Frauentanz, 7 Poems from the Middle Ages, Op. 10 for Soprano and Instruments Die Junge Magd, Song cycle for Mezzo-soprano, Flute, Clarinet, and String Quartet Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for Soprano and an Orchestra of Cellos
magnificent Bachianas
Players to include Jayn Rosenfeld, flute; Bob Wagner, bassoon;
Brasileiras by Heitor
Chris Komer, horn; Rutao Mao, violin; Danielle Farina, viola;
Villa-Lobos, including his
Susannah Chapman, cello; Martha Elliott, soprano; Barbara Rearick,
best-known piece, the
mezzo-soprano; Michael Pratt, conductor
hauntingly lovely No. 5 for soprano and cellos. Its poetry speaks of “the moon gently appearing beyond the horizon, embellishing the eventide, like a sweet maid preparing herself till she’s dreamily gorgeous, with her soul avid to become beautiful…”
Sunday, April 28, 2013, 3 pm
Something Slavic BARTÓK RACHMANINOFF GYöRGY KURTáG Chopin DvoŘÁk
Romanian Folk Dances for Violin and Piano Vocalise for Viola and Piano Bach Transcriptions for Piano Four Hands Polonaise Brillante for Cello and Piano Quintet for Piano and Strings, Op. 81
Players to include Margaret Kampmeier and Edmund Niemann, pianos; Lisa Shihoten, violin; Jessica Thompson, viola; Tom Kraines, cello
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SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
and take advantage of one of the lowest ticket prices in town. 609-258-2800 · princetonuniversityconcerts.org
ticket prices
SPECIAL EVENTS
FULL SUBSCRIPTIONS (the best deal)
julia fischer, violin
Concert Classics Series 8 concerts, save up to 30%
Add this event to a full CONCERT CLASSICS SERIES and receive a 20% discount off the single ticket prices.
Takács String Quartet Tenebrae Angelika Kirchschlager and Ian Bostridge The English Concert Artemis String Quartet Elias String Quartet Rafal Blechacz Richard Goode and C.K. Williams
A $32 B $24 C $16
A $229 B $179 C $119 make your own SERIES Choose 3 or more different series concerts from all of our offerings and save 10% off the single ticket prices. Please call us at 609-258-2800 to make your own series or buy one of our suggested packages below.
Words, Music and Song Tenebrae Angelika Kirchschlager and Ian Bostridge Richard Goode and C.K. Williams
Next Generation ECCO, East Coast Chamber Orchestra Rafal Blechacz Elias String Quartet
Art of the Piano
Inon Barnatan Rafal Blechacz Richard Goode and C.K. Williams
Blockbusters
Takács String Quartet Julia Fischer Angelika Kirchschlager and Ian Bostridge
The String Quartet Takács String Quartet Artemis String Quartet Elias String Quartet
Sunday Afternoon Serenades
Richardson Chamber Players (3 concerts)
ecco, East Coast Chamber Orchestra FREE for all full subscribers. Limit one ticket per person.
INON BARNATAN, piano Add this event to a full CONCERT CLASSICS SERIES and receive a 20% discount off the single ticket prices. All tickets $12.
STUDENT TICKETS Students of all ages with a valid ID can attend our concerts for as little as $5. Student tickets go on sale September 4, 2012.
SINGLE TICKETS If available, single tickets go on sale September 4, 2012. To be alerted about single ticket sales, please sign up for our e-mail or mailing list by visiting princetonuniversityconcerts.org.
VENUES & PARKING All concerts take place in Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall, unless otherwise noted. Richardson Auditorium is located on the Princeton campus behind Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street.
on campus Parking is available in the visitor parking area in Lot 23 and at the West Garage, both located on Elm Drive off of Faculty Road, a ten-minute walk to Richardson Auditorium. TigerTransit extends its hours of the Central Line shuttle bus from both locations to Richardson on concert nights. The shuttle runs every fifteen minutes until 10:30 pm.
off campus The best place to park is at metered spaces near Palmer Square and along Nassau Street. Three municipal parking garages that charge a fee are located on Chambers, Hulfish and Spring Streets in downtown Princeton near Palmer Square.
ACCESSIBILITY PLEASE NOTE A $6 processing fee is added to all orders. We are not able to offer refunds or exchanges on ticket orders. All programs and artists are subject to change.
Richardson Auditorium is accessible to patrons with disabilities. Space for wheelchair seating is available upon request. A limited number of parking spaces are available on campus for people with valid handicap permits. Please call the Concert Office for more information at 609-258-2800.
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why subscribe? Free Tickets Full subscribers are offered a free ticket to ECCO on Tuesday, February 12. Limit one ticket per person.
Single Ticket Discount Full subscribers receive $5 off single ticket prices to all Princeton University Concert events.
Ticket Discounts When possible, we offer discounted tickets to subscribers only. This year, add Julia Fischer, Inon Barnatan or the Richardson Chamber Players to a full subscription package and receive a discount.
The Best Seats Subscribers get the best reserved seats and can choose exactly where they want to sit.
PHOTOGRAPHY TAKﾃ，S STRING QUARTET: Ellen Appel. TENEBRAE: Eric Richmond. ANGELIKA KIRCHSCHLAGER: Nikolaus Karlinsky. IAN BOSTRIDGE: Ben Ealovega. THE ENGLISH CONCERT: Richard Haughton. ARTEMIS STRING QUARTET: Andreas Musculus. ELIAS STRING QUARTET: Ben Ealovega. RAFAL BLECHACZ: Felix Broede | Deutsche Grammophon. RICHARD GOODE: Sascha Gusov. C.K. WILLIAMS: Benoit Cortet. JULIA FISCHER: Julia Wesely. ECCO: Peter Checchia. INON BARNATAN: Marco Borggreve. POETRY Page 7: Excerpted from One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine translated by Norman R. Shapiro, published by the University of Chicago Press. ﾂｩ1999 by the University of Chicago. All rights reserved. GRAPHIC DESIGN and ILLUSTRATION
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