Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Presents WINTER FESTIVAL: THE MAGIC OF SCHUBERT

This year's Winter Festival at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS), from January 22 to February 12, celebrates the creative career of Franz Schubert and his lasting legacy, as seen in the composers who followed him. The concerts feature Schubert's masterful and influential song cycles, lieder and chamber music as well as one program exploring how other composers have been inspired by his work.

"He was a young man with all of this ambition," said CMS Artistic Director David Finckel, "waking up to the fact that he did not want to be known just for little pieces like songs and miniatures [following his then-fatal diagnosis of syphilis at age 25]. To leave a lasting legacy and be more on par with other renowned composers, he needed to write larger-scale compositions, including substantial chamber works. We want to show how Schubert forced himself to become a mature composer before his time. He was writing music in his late 20s with the kind of sophistication and depth that artists don't usually attain until their 50s and 60s. He had a self-accelerated maturity unlike anyone else's."

The Festival opens on January 22 with one of Schubert's late masterworks: Schubert's seminal and intensely somber song cycle Winterreise, for which CMS Artistic Director and pianist Wu Han is joined by the young Berlin-based baritone Nikolay Borchev in his only New York appearance this season.The program concludes with Beethoven's last quartet (and his last full work in any genre), performed by the Orion String Quartet, which recently announced it would retire at the end of the 2023-24 season; this is one of their last appearances in New York.

On January 24, in Grand Statements, the Escher Quartet, one of the illustrious alumni ensembles of the Bowers Program (CMS's residency for young artists), performs two of Schubert's late Quartets: Quartettsatz, the first movement of an unfinished quartet written in 1820, which was premiered posthumously by Johannes Brahms; and the composer's last quartet, No. 15 (1826). In between, pianist Gilbert Kalish performs Schubert's last piano Sonata, D. 960, which, although largely dismissed in the 19th century, has long been considered a core part of the piano repertoire.

On January 29 and 31, in The Virtuoso Tradition, an intergenerational ensemble of Bowers Program alumni - pianists Alessio Bax and Gloria Chien, violinist Benjamin Beilman and cellist David Requiro - are joined by two seasoned chamber music artists - pianist Wu Han and violist Paul Neubauer - to perform four of Schubert's virtuoso works, including one that is new to the CMS stage, Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F major, his first work for piano quartet (1816), heard less frequently than the famous "Trout Quartet," which was composed three years later.

On February 3, "Schubert Forever" explores the influence of Schubert's lieder on subsequent generations of composers, including both vocal and instrumental compositions. The acclaimed Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano performs selections from Previn's Vocalise and Mahler's Rückert-Lieder. The instrumental repertoire on the program includes two works new to the CMS stage-Liszt's "Die Forelle" for Piano and Ernst's Grand Caprice on Schubert's "Erlkönig" for Violin-alongside music by Mendelssohn, Harbison, Korngold and Schubert. In the ensemble for the concert are pianists Michael Stephen Brown and Gloria Chien, violinists Kristin Lee and Sean Lee, violinist/violist Yura Lee (on viola), and cellist Keith Robinson.

The Magic of Schubert culminates on February 10 and 12 in From Song, featuring the acclaimed young soprano Joélle Harvey singing three of Schubert's lieder, including his famous "Gretchen am Spinnrade" for voice and piano (written in 1814, three months shy of Schubert's 18th birthday). Ms. Harvey also performs two songs with unusual instrumental additions to the standard voice-and-piano pairing: "Auf dem Strom," which features a horn, and "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen," which adds a clarinet (both from 1828). Also on the program is Schubert's Five German Dances for string quartet, a work that is also new to the CMS stage. Schubert's grandest chamber work, the massive six-movement Octet in F major for Winds and Strings, brings the concert-and the festival-to a triumphant conclusion.

A complete list of programs and artists follows below

CMS WINTER FESTIVAL: THE MAGIC OF SCHUBERT

Alice Tully Hall

* Indicates a work new to CMS.

Into Eternity
Sunday, January 22, 2023, 5:00 pm

NIKOLAY BORCHEV, Baritone
WU HAN, Piano
ORION STRING QUARTET
DANIEL PHILLIPS, Violin
Todd Phillips, Violin
STEVEN TENENBOM, Viola
TIMOTHY EDDY, Cello

Schubert Winterreise for Voice and Piano, D. 911, Op. 89 (1827)
NIKOLAY BORCHEV, Baritone, WU HAN, Piano

Beethoven Quartet in F major for Strings, Op. 135 (1826)
ORION STRING QUARTET (D. Phillips, T. Phillips, Tenenbom, Eddy)

Grand Statements
Tuesday, January 24, 2023, 7:30 pm

GILBERT KALISH, Piano
ESCHER STRING QUARTET
ADAM BARNETT-HART, Violin
BRENDAN SPELTZ, Violin
PIERRE LAPOINTE, Viola
BROOK SPELTZ, Cello

Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor for Strings, D. 703 (1820)
ESCHER STRING QUARTET (Barnett-Hart, Brendan Speltz, Lapointe, Brook Speltz)

Schubert Sonata in B-flat major for Piano, D. 960 (1828)
GILBERT KALISH, Piano

Schubert Quartet in G major for Strings, D. 887, Op. 161 (1826)
ESCHER STRING QUARTET (Barnett-Hart, Brendan Speltz, Lapointe, Brook Speltz)

The Virtuoso Tradition
Sunday, January 29, 2023, 5:00 pm
Tuesday, January 31, 2023, 7:30 pm

ALESSIO BAX, Piano
GLORIA CHIEN, Piano
WU HAN, Piano
BENJAMIN BEILMAN, Violin
PAUL NEUBAUER, Viola
DAVID REQUIRO, Cello

*Schubert Adagio and Rondo concertante in F major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, D. 487 (1816)
GLORIA CHIEN, Piano, BENJAMIN BEILMAN, Violin, PAUL NEUBAUER, Viola, DAVID REQUIRO, Cello

Schubert Allegro in A minor for Piano, Four Hands, D. 947, Op. 144, "Lebensstürme" (1828)
ALESSIO BAX, Piano, WU HAN, Piano

Schubert Fantasy in C major for Violin and Piano, D. 934, Op. 159 (1827)
BENJAMIN BEILMAN, Violin, GLORIA CHIEN, Piano

Schubert Trio No. 1 in B-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, D. 898, Op. 99 (1827)
ALESSIO BAX, Piano, BENJAMIN BEILMAN, Violin, DAVID REQUIRO, Cello

Schubert Forever
Friday, February 3, 2023, 7:30 pm

Jennifer Johnson CANO, Mezzo-soprano
MICHAEL Stephen Brown, Piano
GLORIA CHIEN, Piano
KRISTIN LEE, Violin
SEAN LEE, Violin
YURA LEE, Viola
Keith Robinson, Cello

Mendelssohn Lied ohne Worte in D major for Piano, Op. 85, No. 4 (1845)
GLORIA CHIEN, Piano

Schubert "Ballet Music No. 2" for Violin and Piano from Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern, D. 797 (arr. Kreisler) (1823, arr. 1917)
KRISTIN LEE, Violin, MICHAEL Stephen Brown, Piano

*Liszt "Die Forelle" from Six Melodies of Franz Schubert for Piano, S. 563 (1844)
MICHAEL Stephen Brown, Piano

Previn Vocalise for Soprano, Cello, and Piano (1995)
Jennifer Johnson CANO, Mezzo-soprano, Keith Robinson, Cello, GLORIA CHIEN, Piano

*Ernst Grand Caprice on Schubert's "Erlkönig" for Violin, Op. 26 (1854)
SEAN LEE, Violin

Mahler Rückert-Lieder for Mezzo-Soprano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano (arr. Stéphane Fromageot) (1901-02)
Jennifer Johnson CANO, Mezzo-soprano, SEAN LEE, Violin, YURA LEE, Viola, Keith Robinson, Cello, MICHAEL Stephen Brown, Piano

John Harbison November 19, 1828 for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1988)
MICHAEL Stephen Brown, Piano, KRISTIN LEE, Violin, YURA LEE, Viola, Keith Robinson, Cello

Korngold Quintet in E major for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 15 (1921)
GLORIA CHIEN, Piano, KRISTIN LEE, Violin, SEAN LEE, Violin, YURA LEE, Viola, Keith Robinson, Cello

From Song
Friday, February 10, 2023, 7:30 pm
Sunday, February 12, 2023, 5:00 pm

Joelle Harvey, Soprano
KEN NODA, Piano
STELLA CHEN, Violin
CHO-LIANG LIN, Violin
PAUL NEUBAUER, Viola
NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, Cello
Edgar Meyer, Double Bass
SEBASTIAN MANZ, Clarinet
PETER KOLKAY, Bassoon
KEVIN RIVARD, Horn

Schubert "Gretchen am Spinnrade" for Voice and Piano, D. 118, Op. 2 (1814)
Joelle Harvey, Soprano, KEN NODA, Piano

*Schubert Five German Dances for String Quartet, D. 90 (1813)
STELLA CHEN, Violin, CHO-LIANG LIN, Violin, PAUL NEUBAUER, Viola, NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, Cello

Schubert "Auf dem Strom" for Voice, Horn, and Piano, D. 943, Op. 119 (1828)
Joelle Harvey, Soprano, KEVIN RIVARD, Horn, KEN NODA, Piano

Schubert "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" for Voice, Clarinet, and Piano, D. 965, Op. 129 (1828)
Joelle Harvey, Soprano, SEBASTIAN MANZ, Clarinet, KEN NODA, Piano

Schubert Octet in F major for Winds and Strings, D. 803, Op. 166 (1824)
SEBASTIAN MANZ, Clarinet, PETER KOLKAY, Bassoon, KEVIN RIVARD, Horn, CHO-LIANG LIN, Violin, STELLA CHEN, Violin, PAUL NEUBAUER, Viola, NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, Cello, Edgar Meyer, Double Bass