BEMF presents Carolyn Sampson & Kristian Bezuidenhout in a recital of songs by Mozart, Haydn, and others—April 2 in Boston and premiering online April 9
| ARTIST: | Carolyn Sampson, sopranoKristian Bezuidenhout, fortepiano |
| WHEN: | Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 8pm ETNew England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, BostonVirtual Premiere: Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 8pm ETAvailable until Friday, April 22, 2022 at 11:59pm ET |
| PROGRAM: | Songs of Parting: Music by Mozart, Haydn, and othersAugust Bernhard Valentin Herbing: Montan & LalageWolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Lied der Trennung, K519Christian Michael Wolff: An das KlavierCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Sonata in E minor, Wq59/1:Friedrich Gottlob Fleischer: Das ClavierMozart: An Chloe, K524Mozart: Als Luise die Briefe ihres ungetreuen Liebhabers verbrannte, K520Mozart: Abendempfindung, K523Joseph Haydn: Sonata in G minor HXVI:44Haydn: Die Verlassene HXXVIa/5Haydn: Antwort auf die Frage eines Mädchens HXXVIa/46Haydn: Das Leben ist ein Traum HXXVIa/21Haydn: Arianna a Naxos HXXVIb:2 |
| TICKETS: | Tickets are priced at $80, $50, and $30 for the in-person performance, and $15 for the virtual event. All in-person tickets include a complimentary ticket for the virtual performance. To purchase tickets, visit BEMF.org or call the BEMF Box Office at 617-661-1812. Discounts are available for students and seniors. |
ABOUT THE PROGRAMExperience a thrilling collaboration between two Early Music superstars as soprano Carolyn Sampson and fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout present a recital of music by Mozart, Haydn, and their contemporaries. Celebrating the March 2022 release their new album for BIS Records, Trennung: Songs of Separation, the program explores themes of love and separation to richly varied effect. From the pleading of Mozart’s Lied der Trennung to the pathos and longing of Haydn’s Die Verlassene, from the tender lament of Mozart’s Abendempfindung to the anguished despair of Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos, explore the gamut of emotions when lovers are parted.
NEW YORK CITY PERFORMANCEThis program will be repeated at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City on Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 3pm. This concert will take place in the Morgan’s Gilder Lehrman Hall; tickets are $50, $40 for Morgan Members. To learn more or to purchase tickets, please visit https://themorgan.org/bemf/
COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLSAs we return to in-person performances with our 2021–2022 Season, the health and safety of our audience, employees, and artists is our highest priority. BEMF is joining many of our colleagues around Boston in requiring patrons to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated. Patrons may use either paper or electronic documentation. All staff and musicians will also be required to be vaccinated.
In addition, we will require patrons to wear a well-fitted mask covering their nose and mouth at ALL times at the concert venue, including throughout the performance. We will be reducing capacity significantly to ensure socially distanced seating at all venues and will not be offering ticket sales or ticket pick-up at the concert venue. For our patrons who cannot—or chose not to—attend a performance after a ticket purchase has been made, we are offering free ticket exchanges and refunds for all in-person performances up to 2 hours before concert start time, as well as Virtual Ticket options for all events. Visit BEMF.org/safety to review our current safety policies.
ASSOCIATED EVENTSA pre-concert video featuring the artists will be released during the week of March 28.
ABOUT THE ARTISTSEqually at home on the concert and opera stages, Carolyn Sampson has enjoyed notable successes in the UK as well as throughout Europe and the United States. On the opera stage her work has included the title role in Semele and Pamina in The Magic Flute for English National Opera, various roles in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and both Anne Truelove in The Rake’s Progress and Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande for Scottish Opera. Internationally she has appeared at Opéra de Paris, Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Montpellier and Opéra National du Rhin. She also sang the title role in Lully’s Psyché for the Boston Early Music Festival, which was released on CD and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy. Carolyn’s numerous concert engagements have included the BBC Proms, English Concert, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Sixteen, Freiburger Barockorchester, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, and Vienna Symphony Orchestra. In the US Carolyn has featured as soloist with the Boston, Cincinnati, Detroit, and San Francisco Symphonies, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, and is a regular guest at the Mostly Mozart Festival. In October 2013 she made her Carnegie Hall recital début to a sold-out audience in the Weill Recital Hall.
Kristian Bezuidenhout is one of today’s most notable and exciting keyboard artists, equally at home on the fortepiano, harpsichord, and modern piano. Born in South Africa in 1979, he began his studies in Australia, completed them at the Eastman School of Music, and now lives in London. After initial training as a pianist, he explored early keyboards, studying harpsichord with Arthur Haas, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and continuo playing and performance practice with Paul O’Dette. Kristian is now a regular guest with the world’s leading ensembles including the Freiburger Barockorchester, Les Arts Florissants, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre des Champs Elysées, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has guest-directed (from the keyboard) the English Concert, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Tafelmusik, and Dunedin Consort (Bach St. Matthew Passion), and has performed with celebrated artists including John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Frans Brüggen, Trevor Pinnock, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Isabelle Faust, Alina Ibragimova, Rachel Podger, Carolyn Sampson, and Anne Sofie von Otter. Kristian’s award-winning discography on Harmonia Mundi includes the complete keyboard music of Mozart (Diapason d’Or de L’année, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, & Caecilia Prize); the complete Piano Concertos of Beethoven as well as concertos of Mendelssohn and Mozart with the Freiburger Barockorchester (ECHO Klassik); and Mozart Violin Sonatas with Petra Müllejans.
ABOUT THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVALRecognized as the preeminent early music presenter and Baroque opera producer in North America, the Boston Early Music Festival has been credited with securing Boston’s reputation as “America’s early music capital” (The Boston Globe). Founded in 1981, BEMF offers diverse programs and activities, including one GRAMMY Award–winning and five GRAMMY Award–nominated opera recordings, an annual concert series that brings early music’s brightest stars to the Boston and New York concert stages, and a biennial weeklong Festival and Exhibition recognized as the “world’s leading festival of early music” (The Times, London). The 22nd Boston Early Music Festival, A Celebration of Women, will take place from June 4-11, 2023, and will feature the North American premiere of Henry Demarest’s Circé. BEMF’s Artistic Leadership includes Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Opera Director Gilbert Blin, Orchestra Director Robert Mealy, and Dance Director Melinda Sullivan.
The Boston Early Music Festival is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Constellation Charitable Foundation, and WCRB Classical Radio Boston, as well as a number of generous foundations and individuals from around the world.
For more information, please contact Kathleen Fay at kathy@bemf.org.
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