Symposiums
Helicon at The Morgan Library & Museum
“Réalitiés Invisibles”
Music from the Life of Marcel Proust
4 October 2011
- Nicholas Phan, tenor • Pedja Muzijevic, piano
- Jennifer Frautschi and Mark Steinberg, violins
- Hsin-Yun Huang, viola • Edward Arron, cello • Richard Howard, reader and translator
Marcel Proust—a writer consumed by the exploration of memory—was a famous lover of music, the invisible art that only exists in the passage of time. Helicon’s program “Réalitiés Invisibles” presents music important in Proust’s life and work with readings from A la recherche du temps perdu by Richard Howard.
Tickets are $35 ($25 for Morgan Library members). To purchase tickets online, please click here or call The Morgan Library box office at (212) 685-0008 ext. 560.
Symposium 99 - Bachs Violin
The Voice of Bach's Violin
23 and 24 October 2011
- J. S. Bach's Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard
- Obbligato Arias from the Cantatas
We open our 27th Season in the intimate world of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Symposium 99, "The Voice of Bach's Violin," presents three exquisite sonatas for violin and harpsichord with cantata arias for baritone with violin and organ obbligato.
This program explores the interconnectedness of Bach's vocal and instrumental music and the deep sense of spirituality that infuses both his sacred and secular music.
Symposium 100 - Symphonic Chamber Music
Symphonic Chamber Music from the 18th Century
On Period Instruments
11 and 12 December 2011
- Mozart Concerto for Fortepiano and Strings (chamber version)
- Haydn Symphony 101 »The Clock« arranged for Flute, Strings, and fortepiano by J. P. Salomon
An important—though now little-known—element of 18th-century musical life was the transcription of the latest symphonic repertoire for chamber ensemble. Often produced by the composers themselves, these arrangements brought music from the grand concert halls into the private music rooms of those with sophisticated musical taste.
Helicon's 100th Symposium features some of the finest such works performed on instruments of the time. Pedja Muzijevic is the soloist in a Mozart concerto for fortepiano and string quartet, and English violinist Monica Huggett leads Haydn Symphony 101 »The Clock« arranged for flute, string quartet, and fortepiano by Haydn's London concertmaster, Johann Peter Salomon.
Symposium 101 - 17th-century Italian Song
"Udite Amanti"
Songs of Love from 17th-century Italy
12 and 13 February 2012
- Songs from Caccini's "Le nuove musiche"
- Music by Barbara Strozzi and Merula
Throughout history, humankind has always sung about love. Just in time for Valentine's Day, 2012, Helicon presents a remarkable program of music written at the very birth of "modern music" in 17th-century Italy.
Accompanied by lute and harp, renowned mezzo-soprano, Jennifer Lane will sing a program traversing all the elements of love from maternal to romantic to thwarted to fulfilled, all within the virtuosity indigenous to Italian culture.
Symposium 102 - Brahms and Schubert
"Late Works"
Romantic Masterpieces on Period Instruments
29 and 30 April 2012
- Brahms Clarinet Quintet & Schubert Cello Quintet in C
The final creations of an artist take on special significance whether or not the artist was aware of where he was in his life cycle. We close Helicon 27th Season with two major chamber music masterpieces that came in the final creative periods of Brahms and Schubert.
Brahms was retired from composition when he met the clarinet virtuoso Richard Mühlfeld, whose playing inspired him to compose again. Brahms created for Mühlfeld some of his most personal chamber music, crowned by the automnal Quintet for Clarinet and Strings. Schubert's final instrumental work is the exravagently beautiful Cello Quintet in C. Whether or not the 31-year-old composer understood that his health was fast failing, this lavish work's expressive breadth is a testament to Schubert's grasp of full experience of humanity.