By WKTV Staff
ken@wktv.org
St. Cecilia Music Center’s 135th Anniversary Season will take a curtain call April 25 as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will be on stage with a program titled “From Mendelssohn” — works by the brilliant composer and other artists who admired him, namely Schumann, Brahms and Tchaikovsky.
Artists from CMS who will perform include pianist Inon Barnatan, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, violist Paul Neubauer, cellist Jakob Koranyi, and clarinetist Romie de Guise-Langlois.
“The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is amazing to watch with artistry that is always flawless,” St. Cecilia executive director Cathy Holbrook said in supplied material. “It is appropriate that we end this season with them to celebrate of our 135th Anniversary.
“The nine women who began St. Cecilia Music Society, over a century ago, created a vision. That vision remains our mission today: ‘To promote the study, appreciation and performance of music in order to enrich the lives of West Michigan residents.’ We’re excited to honor these inspiring women at our final event for the season with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.”
St. Cecilia Music Center was founded in 1883 by nine Grand Rapids women. At that time it was the only organization of its kind to be run solely by women. Through their efforts, SCMC’s historic building on Ransom Avenue was erected in 1894.
About the concert
St. Cecilia, in supplied material about the concert, states: “Mendelssohn’s combined mastery of melody, form, counterpoint, and the chamber idiom was admired and imitated by composers for generations to come.
“In a program bookended by two works of Mendelssohn from 1845, one brief, the other epic, we hear Mendelssohn’s close friend Robert Schumann’s response to Mendelssohn’s piano trios; how, near the end of his life, Brahms recalled Mendelssohn’s lyricism through the viola’s dark voice; and, how Mendelssohn’s great admirer Tchaikovsky combined the German’s signature scherzo idiom with Russian melancholy and splendor in three selections from The Seasons for solo piano.”
The specific selections will include: Mendelssohn: Lied ohne Wortein D major for Cello and Piano, Op. 109 (1845); Schumann: Märchenerzählungenfor Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, Op. 132 (1853); Brahms: Sonata in E-flat major for Viola and Piano, Op. 120, No. 2 – composed 1894; Tchaikovsky: Selections from Les saisonsfor Piano, Op. 37 (1875-1876); and Mendelssohn:Trio No. 2 in C minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano, Op. 66 (1845).
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert on April 25 are $45 and $40 and can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Tickets can also be purchased online at scmc-online.org.
A post-concert “Meet-the-artist” party, with complimentary wine will be offered to all ticket-holders giving the audience the opportunity to meet the artists and to obtain signed CDs of their releases.
