CMS in May: All-star vocalists; music by Jorg Widman, Tan Dun & more

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
David Finckel and Wu Han, Artistic Directors

May 2025
Concert Calendar

MAY 2
THE CHARLES WADSWORTH LEGACY
With an all-star vocal ensemble:
Amanda Batista, Soprano; Frederica von Stade, Mezzo-Soprano; Ben Bliss, Tenor; Thomas Hampson, Baritone

MAY 4
TCHAIKOVSKY’S SOUVENIR DE FLORENCE

MAY 6
BEETHOVEN TRILOGY III: ELGAR’S QUINTET

MAY 9
BEETHOVEN TRILOGY III: BEETHOVEN QUARTET CYCLE V
Calidore String Quartet

MAY 13
BEETHOVEN TRILOGY III: MONTGOMERY, WIDMANN, AND TAN DUN
Juilliard String Quartet; Wu Man, Pipa; Tony Arnold, Soprano

MAY 15
ROSE STUDIO SERIES V

MAY 18
2024-2025 SEASON FINALE
BEETHOVEN TRILOGY III: BEETHOVEN QUARTET CYCLE VI

† Indicates that this artist is a current Bowers Program member.
* Indicates a CMS premiere.

Friday May 2, 2025, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Alice Tully Hall
THE WADSWORTH LEGACY
Amanda Batista, Soprano | Frederica von Stade, Mezzo-Soprano
Ben Bliss, Tenor | Thomas Hampson, Baritone
CMS honors the legacy of Founding Artistic Director Charles Wadsworth, who redefined chamber music for the latter half of the 20th century. Before CMS was founded, “chamber music” to most audiences meant string quartets, with the occasional piano trio or other standard ensemble. Wadsworth expanded the repertoire that audiences heard regularly, through less standard groupings of instruments as well as the frequent inclusion of singers and the presence of multiple generations playing together on stage, all of which have become hallmarks of the Chamber Music Society. Read more about Wadsworth's legacy HERE.

To celebrate Wadsworth's legacy, the program opens with Johann Gottlieb Goldberg’s Trio Sonata for Two Violins and Continuo, which opened CMS’s first-ever concert on September 11, 1969, labeled as Bach's Trio (it was later recognized as the work of pianist/composer Goldberg). An all-star, intergenerational vocal quartet -- soprano Amanda Batista in her CMS Mainstage debut, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, tenor Ben Bliss in his CMS debut, and baritone Thomas Hampson -- joined by pianists Ken Noda and Wu Han, perform a selection of lieder by Robert Schumann.The evening closes with Saint-Saëns' Septet in E-flat major for Trumpet, Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, and Piano, an unusual ensemble that is yet another legacy of Charles Wadsworth.
Event page

Goldberg Trio Sonata in C major for Two Violins and Continuo, DürG 13 (before 1756)
Schumann Spanische Liebeslieder for Four Voices and Piano Four Hands, Op. 138 (1849)
Schumann “Liebhabers Ständchen” for Soprano, Tenor, and Piano, Op. 34, No. 2 (1840)
Schumann “Ich bin dein Baum” from Minnespiel for Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone, and Piano, Op. 101, No. 2 (1849)
Schumann “Tanzlied” for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone, and Piano, Op. 78, No. 1 (1849)
Saint-Saëns Septet in E-flat major for Trumpet, Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, and Piano, Op. 65 (1879–80)

Amanda Batista, SOPRANO • Frederica von Stade, MEZZO-SOPRANO • Ben Bliss, TENOR • Thomas Hampson, BARITONE • Ken Noda, Wu Han, PIANO • Francisco Fullana, Chad Hoopes, VIOLIN • Paul Neubauer, VIOLA • Sterling Elliott†, CELLO • Nina Bernat†, DOUBLE BASS • David Washburn, TRUMPET

Sunday May 4, 2025, 5 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Alice Tully Hall
TCHAIKOVSKY’S SOUVENIR DE FLORENCE
An ensemble of six string players, including CMS Artistic Director and cellist David Finckel, offers Tchaikovsky's blockbuster Souvenir de Florence as well as Strauss's sextet from Capriccio. Two trios open the program: Bach's “Ricercar a 6,” in which the composer used six voices to compose his fugue-on-demand for Frederick the Great, and Schubert's Trio in B-flat major.
Event page

Bach “Ricercar a 6” from Musical Offering, BWV 1079 (1747)
Haydn Trio in G major for Violin, Viola, and Cello, Hob. XVI:40, Op. 53, No. 1 (1784)
Schubert Trio in B-flat major for Violin, Viola, and Cello, D. 581 (1817)
Strauss Sextet for Strings from Capriccio, Op. 85 (1941)
Tchaikovsky Sextet for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Two Cellos, Op. 70, “Souvenir de Florence” (1890)

Paul Huang, Danbi Um, VIOLIN • Matthew Lipman, Timothy Ridout, VIOLA • David Finckel, Sihao He, CELLO

Tuesday May 6, 2025, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Alice Tully Hall
BEETHOVEN TRILOGY III: ELGAR’S QUINTET
CMS's year-long series featuring the works and influence of Beethoven nears its end with the composer's late period alongside works from Brahms and Elgar, also composed late in their careers. Beethoven's pivotal Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major is arguably his first “late-period” work. Brahms's Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor is imbued with a sense of nostalgia characteristic of his later years. And Elgar's Piano Quintet in A minor builds on the earlier traditions of Beethoven's piano quintet and was composed later in Elgar's career during a reflective period after World War I.
Event page

Beethoven Sonata in D major for Cello and Piano, Op. 102, No. 2 (1815)
Brahms Sonata No. 3 in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 108 (1886–88)
Elgar Quintet in A minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 84 (1918–19)

Alessio Bax, Michael Stephen Brown, PIANO • Benjamin Beilman, Richard Lin, VIOLIN • Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt, VIOLA • Paul Watkins, CELLO

Calidore String Quartet

Friday May 9, 2025, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Alice Tully Hall
BEETHOVEN TRILOGY III: BEETHOVEN QUARTET CYCLE V
The Calidore String Quartet continues its ambitious journey through Beethoven's string quartets at CMS with two of Beethoven's final quartets: Op. 132, renowned for its "Heiliger Dankgesang" movement—a hymn of joy and thanks for the gift of life following the composer's recovery from illness; and Op. 130, a work that broke the musical conventions of its time and continues to challenge performers and audiences alike; it is presented here with its original finale, the formidable "Grosse Fuge," Op. 133.
Event page

Beethoven Quartet in A minor for Strings, Op. 132 (1825)
Beethoven Quartet in B-flat major for Strings, Op. 130, with “Grosse Fuge,” Op. 133 (1825)

Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan, VIOLIN • Jeremy Berry, VIOLA • Estelle Choi, CELLO)

Wu Man, Pipa

Tuesday May 13, 2025, 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Alice Tully Hall
BEETHOVEN TRILOGY III: MONTGOMERY, WIDMANN, AND TAN DUN
Tony Arnold, Soprano; Wu Man, Pipa; Juilliard String Quartet
As a tribute to Beethoven’s uncanny connection to the music of our time, CMS offers works of bracing individuality written by five living composers from around the globe: Jessie Montgomery’s Duo for Violin and Cello; Evgeny Kissin’s Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello; Brett Dean’s Quartet No. 2 for Strings and Soprano “And once I played Ophelia,” featuring soprano Tony Arnold; Jörg Widmann’s String Quartet No. 8 “Study on Beethoven III”, which has direct links to Beethoven’s quartet legacy.; and Tan Dun’s Concerto for String Quartet and Pipa, with soloist Wu Man. The concerto was written for Wu Man in 1999, derived from the five-movement work for string quartet and pipa with water, metal, stones, and paper, Ghost Opera (1994), and recorded on Onyx (2008).
Event page

Jessie Montgomery Duo for Violin and Cello (2015)
Evgeny Kissin Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello (2022)*
Brett Dean Quartet No. 2 for Strings and Soprano, “And once I played Ophelia” (2013)
Jörg Widmann String Quartet No. 8, “Study on Beethoven III” (2019–20)*
Tan Dun Concerto for String Quartet and Pipa (1999)*

ony Arnold, SOPRANO • Gloria Chien, PIANO • Kristin Lee, Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, VIOLIN • Paul Neubauer, VIOLA • Sihao He, CELLO • Wu Man, PIPA • Juilliard String Quartet (Areta Zhulla, Ronald Copes, VIOLIN • Molly Carr, VIOLA • Astrid Schween, CELLO)

Thursday May 15, 2025, 6:30 & 9 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Rose Studios
ROSE STUDIO SERIES V: BEETHOVEN & ONSLOW
The Rose Studio Series concludes the season with a string quintet by rarely-heard 18^th-century French composer George Onslow, the first CMS performance of any work by this composer. His imressive output of string quartets and quintets—over 70 works—were held in the highest regard during his lifetime in Germany, Austria, and England. Onslow counted Schubert and Beethoven among his closest friends.
Event page

Beethoven Quartet in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 16 (1796, rev. 1810)
Onslow Quintet in F minor for Two Violins, Viola, Cello, and Bass, Op. 32 (1826)*

Gilbert Kalish, PIANO • Bella Hristova, Julian Rhee†, VIOLIN • Paul Neubauer, VIOLA • Nicholas Tzavaras, CELLO • Blake Hinson, DOUBLE BASS

Sunday May 18, 2025, 5 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Alice Tully Hall
BEETHOVEN TRILOGY III: BEETHOVEN QUARTET CYCLE VI
The Calidore String Quartet concludes the Beethoven Trilogy and the CMS Season with two of the composer’s final quartets, each a testament to his late-period genius. Op. 131 is a towering work that unfolds across seven interconnected movements without pause. Op. 135 is Beethoven’s farewell to the genre. Its enigmatic final movement, marked by the question Muss es sein? ("Must it be?"), offers a philosophical and playful resolution to Beethoven’s lifelong exploration of musical form, culminating in a decisive conclusion. CMS ends its season much like Beethoven concluded his quartets—bold, introspective, and forever looking to the future.
Event page

Beethoven Quartet in C-sharp minor for Strings, Op. 131 (1825–26)
Beethoven Quartet in F major for Strings, Op. 135 (1826)

Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan, VIOLIN • Jeremy Berry, VIOLA • Estelle Choi, CELLO)