1998-1999 Season Schedule

JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET

Now well into its second half-century, the Juilliard won rave reviews at home and abroad for its 1997-98 season, which introduced the group's new second violinist, Ronald Copes. "Juilliard String Quartet lives up to legendary status," wrote the Cincinnati Enquirer; "...incredible virtuosity and artistic skill," was Die Welt's verdict.

The Juilliard will play the Library's Stradivari instruments in Felix Mendelssohn's Quartet in A major, Op. 13; Dmitri Shostakovich's Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73, and Maurice Ravel's Quartet in F major.

AL AYRE ESPAÑOL

The recipient of awards from Gramophone and Diapason D'Or, Al Ayre Español appears regularly at important early music festivals across Europe, in Utrecht, Stuttgart, Madrid, Barcelona, and the Festival of Flanders.

Marta Almajano, soprano; Carlos Mena, countertenor: Lluís Vilamajó, tenor; Jordi Ricart, baritone; Barry Sargent, violin; Tjamke Roelofs, violin; Richte van der Meer, violoncello; Juan Carlos Rivera, archlute/guitar; Luz Martín León-Tello, castanets.

A stellar vocal quartet paired with a quintet of period instrumentalists, Al Ayre Español makes its official U.S. debut at the Library of Congress with "Flores de Música: Music of 18th-century Spain." Goldberg magazine notes that conductor Eduardo López Banzo is turning a revealing spotlight on Spanish 17th-century masters; you'll hear villancicos, passacalles, and cantadas by Joseph de Torres, Francisco Pascual, Juan Manuel de la Puente, Antonio de Literes, and Joseph de San Juan.

DAVID & SOLOMON

A spectacular double bill presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Israel, David and Solomon brings together one of Israel's most famous performers, singer David De'or, with Habrera Hativit (The Gathering) and another Israeli star vocalist, Schlomo Bar. Using hand drums, Persian sentur, accordion, electric guitar, jambush, classical Indian drums, flutes, and violins, this eclectic and original ensemble's performances provide a unique perspective on the richness of Israel's ethnic music.

Sponsored by the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce, the concert is part of Zion's Call, a special series of Library of Congress events celebrating Israel at 50, the fiftieth anniversary of the state of Israel.

OPUS ONE

An impressive foursome makes its formal debut at the Library: violinist Ida Kavafian, violist Steven Tenenbom, cellist Peter Wiley, and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. These much-admired artists are veterans or present members of some of the world's most prestigious chamber groups-the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Tashi, the Beaux Arts Trio and the Orion String Quartet.

Opus One is the result of a mutual joy of musicmaking among four extraordinary instrumentalists and friends. Join them for Ned Rorem's Autumn Music; Stephen Hartke's "King of the Sun" Quartet for Piano and Strings, and the Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 87 by Antonín Dvorák.

MASTER CLASS WITH IDA KAVAFIAN

Ms. Kavafian will work with students from the school's honors program and young artists from the community. The two-hour class will be open to the public, and students and music lovers at all levels are welcome.

Presented in cooperation with the Levine School of Music as part of the Lillian R. Spracker Master Class Series.

November 6, 1998

AXEL STRAUSS, violin and ROHAN DESILVA, piano

The 1998 Walter W. Naumburg Violin Award tops the list of prizes won by the twenty-four year old German violinist Axel Strauss, in a travelogue of competitions -- Stresa (Italy), Kocian (Czechoslovakia), Wieniawski (Poland), Varga (Switzerland) and Germany's Bach Festival.

With pianist Rohan deSilva, Axel Strauss makes his Washington debut in the Coolidge Auditorium, performing works by J. S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Arnold Schoenberg, Erich Korngold, and Henryk Wieniawski.

6:30 p.m., Pre-concert Lecture -- Mr. Strauss's recital will be introduced with an informal guest lecture by a familiar figure, Robert Mann, the former first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet. Mr. Mann is president of the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation.

ARDITTI STRING QUARTET with URSULA OPPENS, piano

"...virtuosic mastery of nearly unplayable repertoire..." - The Globe and Mail

"To each work...Oppens brings both a formidable technique and an unerring ear for seductive sonority." - Time

"Magnificent" is The London Times judgement on the Arditti Quartet's performances of the music of Elliott Carter, considered America's most distinguished living composer. The Arditti's partner for this rare Washington visit is Ursula Oppens, who has won equal renown as a sterling interpreter of the established repertoire and as a champion of contemporary composers.

These superb new music advocates join their considerable forces to premiere Mr. Carter's 1998 Quintet for Piano and String Quartet, a Library of Congress commission, in a concert honoring his 90th birthday. The new Carter work shares the program with Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata in A-flat major, Op. 110, and the Grosse Fuge, Op. 133, from his Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130.

KRISTALLNACHT REMEMBRANCE CONCERT

Paul Traver conducts, with Rosa Lamoureaux, soprano; Patricia Green, alto; Robert Petillo, tenor; and bass-baritone Donald Boothman.

"A time to weep-a time to build" is the motto for a special concert marking the 60th anniversary of the Kristallnacht destruction in Germany. The distinguished Dresden String Quartet, members of the Dresden Staatskapelle, will perform Felix Mendelssohn's Quartet in A major, Op. 13; Erwin Schulhoff's Five Pieces for String Quartet; and premiere a work by the young German composer Karsten Gundermann, Weihe des Hauses (Dedication of the House). The evening centers on the world premiere of a Library of Congress commission: Herman Berlinski's cantata Maskir Neshamoth (In Remembrance of the Soul), for flute, vocal quartet, string quartet, and percussion. Texts are drawn from a wealth of sources: the Psalms, Hebrew and Spanish medieval poems, and poetry by modern authors including Nelly Sachs, Arnold Schoenberg, and Paul Celan.

Presented in collaboration with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

THE MOTOWN SOUND: A SYMPOSIUM

Antonio Stradivari Anniversary Concert - JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET

For more than six decades, the resident string quartet of the Library of Congress has presented a concert honoring master Italian instrument maker Antonio Stradivari on the anniversary of his death. Continuing a tradition established by its predecessor, the Budapest String Quartet, the Juilliard plays the Whittall Stradivari instruments in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Quartet in D minor, K. 421; Elliott Carter's Quartet No. 5; and Ludwig van Beethoven's Quartet in F major, Op. 59, No. 1.

6:30 p.m., Pre-concert Lecture: The Stradivari Society presents a pre-concert lecture-demonstration with special guest violinist, Janice Martin. The Society's President, Geoffrey Fushi, will discuss the characteristics of Antonio Stradivari's instruments, often investigated, but never quite identifiable.

CECIL TAYLOR, piano

Cecil Taylor's name seems to evoke nature imagery from many critics; his playing has been said to resemble Niagara Falls, a volcano, a great river, thunderheads, a high wind, and a stampede. A brilliant improviser, composer and pianist, Taylor was voted the number one pianist in the DownBeat critics' poll for nine consecutive years. A giant figure in the jazz avant-garde, he shared with Ornette Coleman the charge of freeing jazz from the restraints of convention, creating a complex vocabulary that produces a rich tapestry of texture and rhythmic accent.

THE METAMORPHOSEN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA - Scott Yoo, conductor ; Karol Bennett, soprano

"Metamorphosen is a marvel...intonation is flawless, ensemble is silky smooth; Yoo steers his colleagues with superior interpretive ideas." - The San Francisco Examiner

"Bennett was altogether extraordinary. She has...an ability to shape a musical line through dynamics and rhythm that is at once instinctive and profound." - The Boston Globe

The five-year-old Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra is one of the finest chamber orchestras performing today, admired for "the poise and sound of a virtuoso string ensemble...[with] plenty of those ineffable qualities of musicianship, such as vitality, conviction and excitement." (The Boston Globe)

Deriving its name and inspiration from Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen for 23 Solo Strings, the orchestra programs new and unfamiliar works side-by-side with masterpieces; Felix Mendelssohn's String Symphony No. 11 in F major shares the program with Earl Kim's Three Songs for soprano and string orchestra, Anthony Brandt's Breathing Room (1998), and the world premiere performance of a Library of Congress commission by Donald Sur.

JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET

"...irresistible power, nuance, and vision...detail and architecture at a level that defines the best of chamber music." - The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Juilliard will play the Library's Stradivari instruments in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Quartet in A major, K. 464; Arnold Schoenberg's Quartet No. 3, Op. 30; and Bedrich Smetana: Quartet No. 1 in E minor ("From My Life").

KIM KASHKASHIAN, viola and PETER NAGY, piano

Virtuosic violist Kim Kashkashian is hailed internationally as an artist of formidable talent. Impeccable technique, a profound musical intelligence, and an intense personal conviction produce what The New York Times has described as "an almost human quality and emotional force from her instrument."

*Robert Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 73
* Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata, Op. 147
* Claude Debussy: Rhapsody No. 1 for viola and piano
* Johannes Brahms: Sonata in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1

Pianist and Artistic Director James Tocco and a group of colleagues from the youthful Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival perform two strikingly colorful and seldom-heard chamber works: Darius Milhaud's jazzy La Création du monde, from 1923, arranged for piano quintet; and Ernest Chausson's opulent Concerto for violin, piano, and string quartet, Op. 21. Plus a violin and piano duo, Night Music, by the Festival's composer-in-residence for 1999, Ned Rorem.

Saturday, March 20, 11:00 a.m.- James Tocco Master Class, presented in collaboration with the Levine School of Music.

GERRY MULLIGAN CELEBRATION

The Library of Congress celebrates the birthday of composer, saxophonist and bandleader Gerry Mulligan, and the acquisition of his personal music collection, with an all-Mulligan concert. Come for an evening of chamber-sized Mulligan pieces played by a septet headlined by his friend and colleague, trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Trumpeter Randy Brecker, saxophonists Scott Robinson and Dick Oatts join longtime Mulligan quartet players Ted Rosenthal, bassist Dean Johnson, and drummer Ron Vincent in a retrospective of milestone Mulligan compositions.

RINALDO ALESSANDRINI, harpsichord

New to American audiences, harpsichordist and conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini has earned tremendous acclaim in Europe for thoughtful and revealing performances and recordings of Baroque masterpieces with his Concerto Italiano.

MASADA STRING TRIO

Dark, passionate and evocative music from a trio of major avante-garde players: violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Greg Cohen, and cellist Eric Friedlander.

Inspired by the creative genius of John Zorn, the Masada ensembles are an ongoing voyage of exploration. Zorn's original compositions excavate and expand elements of traditional Jewish music and philosophy, putting aside intellectual barriers to forge a synthesis of stylistic influences as wide-ranging as jazz, popular and art music, the cinema of the Far East, and the French New Wave. The artists unwrap a new Masada commission from the Library of Congress.

BEAUX ARTS TRIO

"Among the world's piano trios, there is none better..." - The New York Times

Pianist Menahem Pressler has two new partners in the trio he founded in 1955; violinist Young Uck Kim and cellist Antonio Meneses are newcomers to the trio but well-established stars in the international music world. This is their first appearance at the Library of Congress, where the Beaux Arts Trio has been in residence since 1982. Beethoven's Trio WoO39, Rorem's Night Music, Shostakovich's Trio, Op. 67, and the Trio in F minor, Op. 65 by Dvorak will be heard.

JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET

Ludwig van Beethoven's Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, is the centerpiece of the Juilliard's spring concerts. With pianist Alan Feinberg, the quartet's two violinists shine in performances of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K. 493 (Joel Smirnoff) and Ernst Bacon's Sonata for violin and piano (Ronald Copes).

ROMAIN GUYOT, clarinet and EMMANUEL STROSSER, piano

"His sonority is a dream; his phrasing is sustained by immense breath control, and his articulation is that of a bel canto singer." - Le Monde

Elegance, musicality and the ability to create "a real air of magic" are hallmarks of clarinetist Romain Guyot's expressive performing style. A winner of the 1996 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Guyot was named principal clarinetist of the Paris Opera Orchestra at age 22; he is also a member of the Paris Bastille Wind Octet and the Claude Debussy Wind Quintet, prizewinners at recent competitions in Munich and Tokyo.

Music by Johannes Brahms, Francis Poulenc, and Alban Berg, presented under the auspices of the Library's Isenbergh Clarinet Fund.

QUATUOR MOSAÏQUES

Clarity, radiance, and an expert command of classic period style characterize the brilliant Paris-based Quatuor Mosaïques. Specialists in the music of the Viennese masters, the ensemble is perhaps the finest period instrument quartet performing today.

Appearing to tremendous acclaim in Europe, the artists come to the U.S. for the first time this season, with a program that centers on Franz Joseph Haydn's Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 76, No. 4, and closes with Franz Schubert's "Rosamunde," D. 804.

GEORGE RUSSELL AND THE LIVING TIME ORCHESTRA

At 75, composer, theorist, and bandleader George Russell has been a provocative and intriguing figure for more than five decades. Winner of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship prize and the recipient of commissions from many prestigious international presenters, Russell is renowned for his innovative Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, influential well beyond the boundaries of jazz. Don't miss the chance to hear a new Library of Congress commission from Russell, on tour from England with his Living Time Orchestra for a few stops in the U.S. this spring.

BRENTANO STRING QUARTET with MITSUKO UCHIDA, piano

"Mitsuko Uchida...sublime." - The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"...superbly blended, seamlessly phrased, interpretively insightful playing." - The Toronto Star

The extraordinary pianist Mitsuko Uchida makes a rare chamber appearance with the Brentano String Quartet, in a program to be presented only at the Library of Congress, the Louvre, the Sydney Opera House, and London's Wigmore Hall. Henry Purcell: Four Fantasias for String Quartet; Franz Joseph Haydn: Quartet in E-flat, Op. 71, No. 3; Johannes Brahms: Quintet for piano and strings, Op. 34.