The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, one of America’s finest classical music institutions, has made a series of “Front Row” streaming concerts available free to patrons of concert presenters. Valley Classical Concerts along with Greenfield/Northampton Cooperative Bank, Greenfield Savings Bank, The Lathrop Communities, People’s Bank, Richard Teller, William & Marsha Harbison, Peter Gerard, Jeff Saltzman & Laurel Rogers, and Marvin Kelley have sponsored eight of their best programs, each of which will be available for viewing over a seven-day period: one per month from February through May. Check these out:
February 22-28: Tchaikovsky’s lavish “Souvenir de Florence” String Sextet, plus works by Lucas Foss and Antonín Dvořák.
- Foss: “Composer’s Holiday” from Three American Pieces for Violin and Piano
Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Jon Kimura Parker, piano - Dvořák: “Larghetto” from Sonatina in G major for Violin and Piano, Op. 100
Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Jon Kimura Parker, piano - Tchaikovsky: Sextet for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Two Cellos, Op. 70, “Souvenir de Florence”
Cho-Liang Lin, Erin Keefe, violin; Paul Neubauer, Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; Dmitri Atapine, Colin Carr, cello
March 22-28: David Shifrin, one of the world’s great clarinetist, featured in Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and works by Luigi Bassi and Duke Ellington.
- Mozart: Quintet in A major for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, K. 581
David Shifrin, clarinet; Danbi Um, Bella Hristova, violin; Mark Holloway, viola; Dmitri Atapine, cello - Bassi: Concert Fantasia on Themes from Verdi’s Rigoletto for Clarinet and Piano
David Shifrin, clarinet; Gloria Chien, piano - Ellington: Clarinet Lament for Clarinet and Piano
David Shifrin, clarinet; Gloria Chien, piano
April 19-25: An all-star cast of musicians performing the complete Six Brandenburg Concertos of J.S. Bach.
- Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046 (1720)
- Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 (1720)
- Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048 (1720)
- Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 (1720)
- Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 (1720)
- Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051 (1720)
Learn more about Bach and Imitation Harpsichords.
May 10-16: Tchaikovsky’s haunting Piano Trio, with UMass faculty member Gilles Vonsattel on piano, along with the Escher Quartet performing Schubert’s “Quartettsatz.”
- Schubert: Quartettsatz in C minor for Strings, D. 703 (1820)
Escher String Quartet (Adam Barnett-Hart, Aaron Boyd, violin; Pierre Lapointe, viola; Brook Speltz, cello)
INTERMISSION (discussion with the artists)
- Tchaikovsky: Trio in A minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 50 (1881-82)
Gilles Vonsattel, piano; Chad Hoopes, violin; Clive Greensmith, cello
Link for performance available here May 10, 2021 ** Extended from May 20-May 23, 2021 **
June 7-13 Virtuoso Violins
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) Concerto in D major for Four Violins, TWV 40:202 (c. 1720)
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) Sonata in E-flat major for Violin and Piano, Op. 18 (1887-88)
—INTERMISSION (Q&A with the artists)—
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Quartet No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 15 (1876-79)
July 12-18 – Artist Series, Ani Kavafian
Brahms: Scherzo, WoO 2, from “F-A-E” Sonata for Violin & Piano
Dvorák: Trio in F minor, Op. 65
September 13-19 – Artist Series: Calidore Quartet
Mendelssohn: Quartet for Strings in F minor, Op. 80
Dvořák: Quintet in G major for Two Violins, Viola, Cello, and Bass, Op. 77
October 11-17 BARTÓK AND BEETHOVEN
PROGRAM
BÉLA BARTÓK (1881-1945) Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano (1938)
Alexi Kenney, violin; Sebastian Manz, clarinet; Alessio Bax, piano
BARTÓK Román népi táncok (Romanian Folk Dances) for Strings, BB 76 (1915, arr. 1917)
Daniel Hope, Jessica Lee, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Benny Kim, Danbi Um, Bella Hristova, violin; Hsin-Yun Huang, Mark Holloway, viola; Daniel McDonough, Keith Robinson, cello; Anthony Manzo, bass
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Quintet in C major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 29 (1801)
Cho-Liang Lin, Kristin Lee, violin; Mark Holloway, John Largess, viola; Gary Hoffman, cello
November 15-21 Carnival of Concertos
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) Concerto No. 12 in A major for Piano and String Quintet, K. 414 (1782)
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) Double Concerto in D minor for Violin, Piano, and Strings (1823)
Click here for program notes.
Helpful tips to enjoy the show:
1. You can stream the concert from any device with a strong internet connection. Sound quality will vary depending on the speakers and device you are using. Some of the ways to get optimal sound quality include:
• Connect to Bluetooth speakers from your mobile phone or tablet
• Connect high quality speakers to a desktop or laptop computer
• Listen with headphones
(Hint: if you are viewing on a device which can receive messages/calls, we recommend you switch on “do not disturb” so you can enjoy the program without interruptions.)
2. If your program doesn’t begin playing automatically, click the “play” icon located in the lower left corner of the video. (Another good troubleshooting idea is to hit the “refresh” button on your web browser.)
3. Click the full screen icon to the left of the CMS logo to get the best viewing experience:
4. Can’t hear anything? Don’t forget to unmute/turn up the volume on your device!
5. To stream the video to your home TV: If you are an Apple user, you can use AirPlay or screen mirroring to display the video from your iPhone, iPad, or iMac to your Apple TV (or other smart TV with AirPlay capability). You can also achieve this using an HDMI cable to send the signal from your laptop to your TV.
6. Need a break? You can pause the performance, but if you close out of the browser window, you will lose your place in the video, so make sure to note the time you are stopping if you are not returning right away and want to resume from where you left off.