92NY Announces Steven Isserlis, Cello and Jeremy Denk, Piano as Part of THE BACH-MENDELSSOHN CONNECTION
Each performance and evening will explore the inspiration and influence in the world of two genius composers.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jun. 02, 2022
The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) will present Steven Isserlis, cello and Jeremy Denk, piano, on June 4, 2022 at 8pm ET. The performance continues The Bach-Mendelssohn Connection, a ten-day festival of concerts and salons that will explore the unexpected or hidden connections between Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn. Each performance and evening will explore the inspiration and influence in the world of two genius composers. The concert will also be available via livestream and available for 72 hours from time of broadcast. Tickets for both the in-person and livestream options are $20-$50 and are available at 92ny.org/event/steven-
The program opens with a performance of the Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Minor from Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II by Jeremy Denk. Isserlis then performs music from the Bach Suites. Illuminating his performance: a reading from his acclaimed book, The Bach Cello Suites, A Companion by Edoardo Ballerini, actor and award-winning narrator of audiobooks by Amor Towles, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Isabel Allende, and many others.
In the second half of the program, Isserlis and Denk perform two Mendelssohn works, including the composer's passionate D-Major Sonata - a work Fanny Mendelssohn frequently programmed in her salons, and ideal ground for these two musicians' amazing artistry.
J. S. BACH: Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Minor, BWV 849 (from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I)
J. S. BACH: Selections from Unaccompanied Cello Suites
Reading from Isserlis' The Bach Cello Suites - A Companion
MENDELSSOHN: Variations Concertantes for Cello and Piano, Op.17
MENDELSSOHN: Cello Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58
"The Bach-Mendelssohn Connection is the vision of our beloved colleague Hanna Arie-Gaifman," said Amy Lam, Vice President, Tisch Music, 92NY. "We're grateful to Hanna for continuing to share her deep musical intellect and passion with us, and for bringing some of classical music's most acclaimed artists to our stage this summer."
"This festival seeks to discover lesser-known connections between two composers from different eras," said Hanna Arie-Gaifman, Director Emeritus, Tisch Center for the Arts, 92NY. "The salons pay tribute to two seldom recognized salonieres - Sara Levi and Fanny Mendelssohn - musicians, composers and performers of rare quality who created the intimate human musical experiences we all crave these days."
The festival will continue with six more days of music. A full list of performances and dates are listed below. Concerts are for fully vaccinated audiences. For more information, including purchasing tickets and COVID-19 protocols for in-person performances, please visit 92NY.org/Concerts.
Concerts
MARIA WLOSZCZOWSKA, violin
Jeremy Denk, piano
Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 7:30 PM
Kaufmann Concert Hall/Online
World-renowned pianist and MacArthur "Genius" Grant recipient Jeremy Denk joins violin sensation and 2018 Bach International Violin Competition winner Maria Wloszczowska to perform Bach's intimate and wondrous Six Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard - music that was presented in the historical chamber music series Mendelssohn organized in Leipzig, and also in Fanny Mendelssohn's salons. Denk, who regularly collaborates with several of today's premier violinists, believe Wloszczowska to be one of the instrument's most exciting young artists. She makes her NY debut with this concert.
J.S. BACH: Six Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard, BWV 1014-1019
BRANDON Patrick George, flute
MAHAN ESFAHANI, harpsichord
Friday, June 10, 2022, 7:30 PM
Kaufmann Concert Hall/Online
Multiple award-winning Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord, joins leading soloist and Grammy-nominated chamber musician Brandon Patrick George, flute, for works by J.S. and C.P.E. Bach. The flute and harpsichord were crucial to Mendelssohn's musical education, and though he composed no piece featuring them, these works had a clear influence on his writing. In this final mainstage concert of the festival, George and Esfahani conjure Bach's time and share a source of Mendelssohn's inspiration.
J.S. BACH: Sonata in C Major for Flute and Basso Continuo, BWV 1033
C.P.E. BACH: Sonata in A Minor for Solo Flute, Wq.132
J.S. BACH: Sonata in A for Flute and Harpsichord, BWV 1032
C.P.E. BACH: Harpsichord Sonata in A Minor, Wq. 49/1, "Württemberg"
J.S. BACH: Sonata in B Minor for Flute and Harpsichord, BWV 1030
Salons
J.S. Bach Before and After: Predecessors and Sons in the Salon
MAHAN ESFAHANI, clavichord
CORINNA DA FONSECA-WOLLHEIM leads pre-concert meditation
Monday, June 6, 2022, 6:30 PM
Arader Galleries
Mahan Esfahani celebrates the history and revival of the clavichord, with works by Spanish Renaissance composer Antonio Cabezon, German Baroque composer Johann Jakob Froberger, and J.S. Bach and his two eldest sons. Selections include J.S. Bach's French Suite No. 2 in C Minor. Esfahani wrote about the clavichord in a New Yorker feature in 2020, noting that some believe it to have been Bach's favorite instrument.
ANTONIO CABEZON: Diferencias sobre "El Canto Llano del Caballero"
JOHANN JAKOB FROBERGER: Toccata in F Major
JOHANN JAKOB FROBERGER: Tombeau de Monsieur Blancrocher
W.F. BACH: Fantasia in E Minor, Fk. 21
J.S. BACH: Prelude in C Minor, BWV 990
J.S. BACH: "French" Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813
C.P.E. BACH: Fantasia in F-Sharp Minor, Wq. 67
Homage to the Salons of Fanny Mendelssohn
MISHKA RUSHDIE MOMEN, piano
Thursday, June 9, 2022, 6:30 PM
Arader Galleries
A celebration of Fanny Mendessohn's hugely influential salons, and a microcosm of the kind of program she herself would have presented, with works by Bach, Beethoven and Chopin, and including a sampling of her own underrepresented compositions. Her programs, which included works by Bach and Beethoven, preceded Felix's innovation of historical concerts in Leipzig. Until then concerts consisted of music by living composers. Featuring pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen, and including a brief reading from the letters between Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn.
Felix Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words, Op. 62, No. 5
Felix Mendelssohn: Variations Sérieuses, Op. 54
J.S. BACH: Prelude and Fugue in F Major, BWV 880 (from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II)
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata in F Major, Op. 10 No. 2
FANNY MENDELSSOHN: Hensel - from Das Jahr, Nos. 1, 6, 13
BACH: Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 846 (from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I)
CHOPIN: Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op. posthumous. 66
About The 92nd Street Y, New York: The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a world-class center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. 92NY offers extensive classes, courses and events online including live concerts, talks and master classes; fitness classes for all ages; 250+ art classes, and parenting workshops for new moms and dads. The 92nd Street Y, New York is transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92NY's programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92NY.org.
Videos