Bard Music Festival Presents
Program Nine: Art after the Catastrophe
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
7 pm Preconcert Talk: Christopher H. Gibbs8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
8 pm Performance: Marjorie Owens, soprano; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957)
Symphony in F-sharp, Op. 40 (1949–52)
Paul Hindemith (1895–1963)
Symphonia Serena (1946)
Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Four Last Songs (1948)
Korngold did not write large-scale concert works during the war, but once peace was restored he composed the Symphony in F-sharp that opens this program. Dedicated to the memory of Franklin D. Roosevelt, in gratitude to the nation that gave his family refuge, Korngold’s sole symphony is one of the most demanding orchestral works in the repertoire, and only received its live concert premiere some 15 years after his death. Yet, as Bruno Walter wrote to Dimitri Mitropoulos in 1956, it is “an important work of original thematic substance, of a rare emotional power in a masterly symphonic form.” Other composers shared Korngold’s compulsion to write ambitious art music immediately after the war. Paul Hindemith combined wry humor with intensely chromatic counterpoint in his Symphonia Serena, while the Four Last Songs for soprano and orchestra crowned the creative flowering of Richard Strauss’s final years.
Visiting us from the New York Metro Area?
Our luxury coach brings you round-trip from NYC's Upper West Side to the Fisher Center for just $40. Select the coach option available at checkout.
For more information, call 845-758-7900, e-mail [email protected],
or visit https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/bmf-2019-program-nine/.
Time: 8:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Location: Fisher Center, Sosnoff Theater
Ticket Information: Tickets start at $25SummerScape Coach from New York City is offered for this performance.
Buy Tickets