Saturday November 9th, 2024, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Alice Tully Hall
SCHWANENGESANG
Matthew Polenzani, Tenor
CMS Debut and Polenzani's first-ever performance of Schwanengesang
American tenor Matthew Polenzani, one of today's most gifted and distinguished lyrical tenors, makes his CMS debut with his first-ever performance of Schubert's mystical song cycle, Schwanengesang. The collection of 14 songs was written at the end of Schubert’s life and published after his death. This is only the third time in CMS history that this song cycle has been performed in Alice Tully Hall; the first performance was by legendary baritone Hermann Prey in 1973. The second half of the concert is devoted to Robert Schumann’s transformative Piano Quintet, dedicated to his wife Clara, and noted for its lyricism and originality.

Schubert Schwanengesang for Voice and Piano, D. 957 (1828)
Schumann Quintet in E-flat major for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 44 (1842)
Matthew Polenzani, TENOR • Gloria Chien, Ken Noda, PIANO • Sean Lee, Richard Lin, VIOLIN •  Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt, VIOLA • Nicholas Canellakis, CELLO
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Thursday November 14th, 2024, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Rose Studio at CMS
SONIC SPECTRUM I
CMS's Sonic Spectrum series presents the work of predominantly living composers from diverse backgrounds and cultures in the intimate Rose Studio; the concerts are also available via free livestream. This season's first installment is anchored by George Crumb's Eleven Echoes of Autumn, performed by pianist Gilbert Kalish (a longtime friend and colleague of Crumb), flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester and violinist Bella Hristova. Also on the program are works balancing energy, rhythm and style by French composer Guillaume Conneson; Canadian composer Chan Ka Nin, who revels in luminous textures and exotic instrumental colors; celebrated Israeli-American composer Shulamit Ran; and prolific Australian composer Paul Dean. 

Guillaume Conneson Techno-Parade for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano (2002)*
Chan Ka Nin Among Friends for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano (1989)*
Shulamit Ran  Mirage for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano (1990)
Paul Dean Suite for Clarinet and Cello (2019)*
Crumb Eleven Echoes of Autumn (Echoes I) for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, and Piano (1965)*
Gilbert Kalish, Sahun Sam Hong†, PIANO • Bella Hristova, VIOLIN • Mihai Marica, CELLO • Tara Helen O’Connor, FLUTE • Jose Franch-Ballester, CLARINET
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Sunday, November 17th, 2024, 5:00 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Alice Tully Hall
VIRTUOSO WINDS
Poulenc’s effervescent Sextet, described by the composer as “an homage to the wind instruments I have loved from the moment I began composing” anchors this program of works for piano and wind instruments, which also includes works by Beethoven, Glière,  Martinů and Reinecke from the 18th through the 20th centuries. This concert is the culmination of an eight-city tour that will have taken the musicians to Madison, NJ; Brookville, NY; Grand Rapids, MI; Kansas City, KS; Vienna, VA; Chicago, IL; Reno, NV and Ashland, OR. CMS’s touring program presents 80 concerts this season around the globe, creating important opportunities for artists to connect with audiences worldwide. 

Beethoven Duo No. 3 in B-flat major for Clarinet and Bassoon, WoO 27 (1790–92)*
Glière Four Pieces for Horn and Piano, Op. 35 (1908)*
Poulenc Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon (1922, rev. 1945)
Martinů Sonata for Flute and Piano (1945)
Reinecke Trio in A minor for Oboe, Horn, and Piano, Op. 188 (1887)*
Poulenc Sextet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, and Piano (1932–39)
Anne-Marie McDermott, PIANO • Adam Walker, FLUTE • James Austin Smith, OBOE • David Shifrin, CLARINET • Marc Goldberg, BASSOON • Radek Baborák, HORN
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Thursday November 21st, 2024, 6:30 & 9:00 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Rose Studio at CMS
ROSE STUDIO SERIES II
In its intimate concert space, CMS presents two rarely heard works by French composers. Debussy's Trio in G major, suggested by Bowers Program violinist Lun Li, was written when Debussy was just 18, and thought to have been destroyed by the composer or lost to the ages; it was discovered and published in the 1980s but is rarely performed. Another French chamber work not heard often enough is the Quintet in A minor by Saint-Saëns, a work likely written when the composer was in his teens, as well. The ensemble also includes fellow Bowers Artists Anna Geniushene, piano, and Sterling Elliott, cello. 

Debussy Trio in G major for Piano, Violin, and Cello (1880)
Saint-Saëns Quintet in A minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 14 (1855)*
Anna Geniushene†, PIANO • Francisco Fullana, Lun Li†, VIOLIN • Matthew Lipman, VIOLA • Sterling Elliott†, CELLO
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Sunday November 24th, 2024, 6:30 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • David Geffen Hall
AN EVENING WITH SIR STEPHEN HOUGH
Celebrated polymath Sir Stephen Hough makes his CMS debut with the world premiere of his tone poem Les Noces Rouges for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello (CMS commission) with the Viano Quartet. The work is based on a grim vignette from Willa Cather's My Antonia, detailing a Russian wedding followed by a drunken banquet and a horrific night sleigh ride that culminates in a murder by wolves. The Quintet begins with the lower strings softly intoning a traditional hymn, before going on a journey that ends with terrifying, shrieking glissandos in the strings and vicious cluster chords in the piano representing the wolves. The remainder of the evening is devoted to the work of fellow virtuoso pianist-composers Chopin and Liszt (including Liszts's notoriously difficult B minor sonata, a dramatic 30-minute nonstop tour de force) and the less recognized but prolific French pianist-composer, Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944), who Sir Stephen describes as a "unique voice, combining the pianistic elegance of Saint-Saëns with the sweet melodiousness of Massenet."   

Chopin Nocturne in E-flat major for Piano, Op. 9, No. 2 (1830–31)
Chopin Nocturne in F-sharp major for Piano, Op. 15, No. 2 (1830–33)*
Chopin Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor for Piano, Op. 31 (1837)*
Sir Stephen Hough Les Noces Rouges for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello (World Premiere,
CMS Commission) (2024)*
Chaminade “Automne” from Six études de concert for Piano, Op. 35, No. 2 (c. 1886)*
Chaminade “Pas de écharpes” (Scarf Dance) from Callirhoë for Piano, Op. 37, No. 3 (1887)*
Chaminade Toccata for Piano, Op. 39 (1887)*
Liszt Sonata in B minor for Piano, S. 178 (1852–53)*
Sir Stephen Hough, PIANO • Viano Quartet†(Lucy Wang, Hao Zhou, VIOLIN • Aiden Kane, VIOLA • Tate Zawadiuk, CELLO)
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