Two Birthdays: Franz Schubert and Philip Glass
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
We're dedicating the entire program to two major composers who share a birthday tonight: Franz Peter Schubert and Philip Glass.
Tonight's survey begins, fittingly enough, with Schubert's ode to the wonders of music, "An die Musik," sung by the exquisite mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker with pianist Geoffrey Parsons. We'll follow that up with a rarely heard Glass work, his "Facades" for chamber ensemble and soprano saxophone, via the Philip Glass ensemble under Michael Riesman (with Jack Kripl on the sax).
Schubert's Third Symphony with Roy Goodman and the Hanover Band follows, as does the "Evening Song" from Glass' opera "Satyagraha," featuring tenor Douglas Perry. We'll also enjoy three Schubert gems as interpreted by cellist Misha Maisky: "Moments Musicaux No. 3," "Tauschung" (from "Die Winterreise"), and the lovely "Serenade" from "Schwanengesang."
Then it's (you guessed it) more "Schubert under Glass" as the Houston Symphony and violinist Robert McDuffie perform Glass' Violin Concerto, followed shortly thereafter by the marvelous Renée Fleming in Schubert's version of "Ave Maria." Towards the end of our evening, we'll hear a few selections from Glass' "Akhnaten" and the piece that first put him on the map, "Einstein on the Beach." Before that, however, we'll enjoy the perfect song cycle for the season: bass Shura Gehrman and pianist Nina Walker perform Schubert's "Die Winterreise" (The Winter Journey).
» View today's selected reading from "The Writer's Almanac"
   Hosted by Garrison Keillor
Tonight's survey begins, fittingly enough, with Schubert's ode to the wonders of music, "An die Musik," sung by the exquisite mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker with pianist Geoffrey Parsons. We'll follow that up with a rarely heard Glass work, his "Facades" for chamber ensemble and soprano saxophone, via the Philip Glass ensemble under Michael Riesman (with Jack Kripl on the sax).
Schubert's Third Symphony with Roy Goodman and the Hanover Band follows, as does the "Evening Song" from Glass' opera "Satyagraha," featuring tenor Douglas Perry. We'll also enjoy three Schubert gems as interpreted by cellist Misha Maisky: "Moments Musicaux No. 3," "Tauschung" (from "Die Winterreise"), and the lovely "Serenade" from "Schwanengesang."
Then it's (you guessed it) more "Schubert under Glass" as the Houston Symphony and violinist Robert McDuffie perform Glass' Violin Concerto, followed shortly thereafter by the marvelous Renée Fleming in Schubert's version of "Ave Maria." Towards the end of our evening, we'll hear a few selections from Glass' "Akhnaten" and the piece that first put him on the map, "Einstein on the Beach." Before that, however, we'll enjoy the perfect song cycle for the season: bass Shura Gehrman and pianist Nina Walker perform Schubert's "Die Winterreise" (The Winter Journey).
» View today's selected reading from "The Writer's Almanac"
   Hosted by Garrison Keillor
