“Classics” is a program that presents a sampling of the greatest classical chamber music. The works of two geniuses, Mozart and Mendelssohn, and a towering giant, Beethoven, represent three of the standard chamber groupings: the string quartet, the piano quartet, and the piano trio. Leading off is Mozart’s String Quartet in D Major, an amazingly sunny work considering it was written at a time of great financial stress for the composer. It is a display of the intricate delicacy and dynamic contrasts one can expect from Mozart.
Next is Mendelssohn’s Piano Quartet in C Minor, Op. 1. Overflowing with musical genius, this wonderful quartet is, astonishingly, the work of a 13 year old, who had already studied and absorbed the work of Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Mendelssohn’s signature melodies and dancing notes are already there, and will show up again six years later in his incidental music for “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.”
The concert ends with the Beethoven Trio in E- Flat Major, Op.70. No. 2, a mature work, full of varying moods. This is the last of three Beethoven Piano Trios performed at SLLMF this season. The musicians performing these pieces are violinists Varty Manouelian (LA Philharmonic), Movses Pogossian (UCLA) and Philip Palermo (Indianapolis Symphony Associate Concertmaster); Bonnie Thron (North Carolina Symphony Principal Cellist); Laurie Kennedy (Portland Symphony Principal Violist), and pianist Mihae Lee (Boston Chamber Music Society).
Tickets for the series at Deertrees are $25. Tickets for anyone 21 and under are free. Visit www.sebagomusicfestival.org for ticket information or call 207-583-6747.
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