Amherst College is pulling out all the stops to celebrate Franz Schubert’s Cello Quintet, which many musicians consider the composer’s greatest and most profound work.
Listening to the Amherst Schubert Project Sound Installation,
in the Mead Art Museum’s Rotherwas Room.
The Amherst Schubert Project will take place Sept. 19, 20 and 21. It will center on a live recording of performances over three consecutive evenings in the Buckley Recital Hall by the Brentano Quartet, newly appointed Quartet-in-Residence at Yale University, joined by Michael Kannen, Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Conservatory.
Other highlights, with complete schedule here, include:
- A symposium with lectures by leading Schubert scholars, “Pocket Recitals” by local musicians, Schubert-inspired new works by Amherst composers, pre-concert talks, and opportunities for discussion with the performers and sound engineers.
- A screening of the film A Late Quartet, starring Seymour Philip Hoffman, with soundtrack by the Brentano Quartet (September 11-14).
- A Sound Installation of the Adagio movement of Cello Quintet in the Mead Art Museum’s wood-paneled Rotherwas Room, built in 1611 and reassembled at Amherst in the 20th century. (August 26-September 28). Five speakers, positioned in a large oval configuration, will encourage visitors to walk among the speakers and hear each instrument’s voice.
For tickets to the concert (general public $28; senior citizens and Amherst College employees $22; students with valid ID $12) on Friday, September 19 at 8 pm, contact the Amherst College Music Department Concert Manager at 413-542-2195 or visit the website.
For tickets to the concerts (no charge) on Saturday, September 20 at 8 pm and/or Sunday, September 21 at 3 pm, send an email request to: amherst.schubert@gmail.com
Further information may be found at the Amherst Schubert Project website.
The Schubert Project is the brainchild of distinguished cellist and Amherst Music Professor Jenny Kallick (below). Kallick said she was inspired to create an event that offered a rare opportunity for members of the local audience to immerse themselves in a great musical work and participate actively in the creative process of a recorded performance by a distinguished ensemble.
“Audiences today have forgotten their crucial role in the concert hall, ” Kallick said. “Performers depend on their energy and concentrated listening. A live performance is the product of what the musicians and the audience achieve together.”
The three consecutive performances and live recordings of the Cello Quintet are extremely significant, Kallick said, a rare throwback to how classical music used to be recorded.
To encourage strong attendance at the concerts, and thus ensure optimal acoustics in Buckley, ticket buyers can attend all three performances for the price of one, and will be treated to other works as well: Mozart’s "Hunt Quartet" on Sept. 19; Bartok’s Quartet no. 3 on Sept. 20;and Schubert’s "Death and the Maiden" on Sept. 21. Each evening concert will also feature a pre-performance talk by the musicians, as well as additional dialogue afterwards.
“The thinking is that if you enjoy the first night, you’ll be inspired to come on the second and third night as well,” Kallick said. “We’ll also put the names of every concert-goer who attends all three performances in the CD booklet, since we consider them partners in all of this.”
Kallick said she’s hopeful that this rare assemblage of Schubert scholars, musicians and aficionados will emphasize that Amherst College is an elite liberal arts college, with a jazz ensemble, three choral groups, an orchestra and a chamber music series considered to be one of the best in the country.
“Letting people know that we are an arts campus is very important to me,” she said. “It’s an appeal that we have to foster, so that talented students who want to go to an arts campus know about that aspect of Amherst.”
Click here for Kallick’s answers to three questions: Why Schubert? Why the Cello Quintet? Why a Live Recording?