PIERROT UNMASKED Comes to Guarneri Hall

The nonprofit Guarneri Hall will present Pierrot Unmasked, a concert series exploring the poetic and theatrical context of Arnold Schoenberg’s seminal melodrama, Pierrot lunaire. On December 9th and 10th, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Pierrot Unmasked presents two different performances around the tragic-comic character Pierrot from Commedia dell'Arte, one with a reading of Albert Giraud’s poems on which Pierrot lunaire is based, and the other featuring a lively theatrical performance.  

The stock character Pierrot originated in the Commedia dell’Arte of 17th-century Italy. This sad clown has been a source of artistic inspiration since, reflected in the work of many French painters and Symbolist poets. Giraud’s 50-poem set, Pierrot lunaire: rondels bergamasques, formed the basis of the commission that resulted in Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire. The extended tonality of Schoenberg’s musical language super-charges the haunting, other-worldly quality of Giraud’s poems, making both performances of Pierrot lunaire uniquely evocative and modernistic experiences.

Guarneri Hall’s unique pair of evenings will provide context for Pierrot lunaire with in-depth perspectives on the literary and theatrical histories of the Pierrot character. Each evening will culminate in a performance of Pierrot lunaire by soprano Kristina Bachrach with pianist Daniel Pesca, flutist Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson, clarinetist Graham Steele Johnson, and Guarneri Hall’s resident ensemble, NEXUS Chamber Music, and include a post-performance Q&A session with the performers and event organizers. While the music is the same both nights—taking a cue from Schoenberg himself, who with his circle frequently staged performances where works were played twice in their entirety—the two evenings promise to offer uniquely different experiences, as outlined below.

Pierrot Unmasked: Pierrot the Poet

Monday, December 9th, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.

Renowned poet David Yezzi of Johns Hopkins University will discuss the interpretive implications of existing translations of the Giraud poems followed by a performance of the Schoenberg by Bachrach and NEXUS Chamber Music. Yezzi is an American poet, editor, actor, and professor, who currently teaches poetry in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. He last appeared in Guarneri Hall in 2021, reading poems of Emily Dickinson and Gustav Mahler.

Pierrot Unmasked: Pierrot the Actor

Tuesday, December 10th, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.

Pierrot the Actor will feature a semi-staged theatrical performance of Pierrot lunaire directed by actor-director Jim Iorio, Associate Professor of Theatre at Roosevelt University. The evening begins with Iorio providing the historical background of the character Pierrot, and completes with a semi-staged theatrical performance of the Schoenberg by Bachrach and NEXUS Chamber Music, directed by Iorio.

Performing artists include Kristina Bachrach, soprano; Daniel Pesca, piano; Brian Hong, violin and viola; Alexander Hersh, cello; Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson, piccolo and flute; Graeme Steele Johnson, clarinet and bass clarinet.

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