Concert 3
Thursday March 17, 2011
Concert 7:30 PM (Pre-Concert Talk at 6:30 PM)
Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Three Faces of Romanticism: Music of Wagner, Schreker and Schumann
The Romantic movement in music embraced almost the whole of the nineteenth century, and then, in its 20th century afterlife, gave birth to some marvelous and strange post-romantic masterpieces. The earliest work on this program, Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony, is the Romantic Symphony par excellence, deeply personal in its expression, with the dual influences of folk music and nature at every turn, and with the admixture of religious awe as well. Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, based on themes from the opera Siegfried and composed as a surprise gift for his wife, is music’s most beautiful Christmas present (and the perfect, sure-fire antidote for people who think they don’t like Wagner!). The latest work on the program, Schreker’s Chamber Symphony, is strange, intoxicating and dreamlike. A true masterpiece, even though rarely heard, its subtle, ever-shifting luminosity of instrumental color is like nothing else in music. We are thrilled to be able to bring this amazing musical experience to our audience!
