We welcome the award-winning Aeolus Quartet with the extraordinary pianist Anna Petrova! They will join forces to bring forth an exquisite performance of Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet, a deep, late Romantic work of mastery, paired with Mendelssohn’s fiery and passionate String Quartet in F minor which he wrote after his dear sister Fanny Mendelssohn’s death.
Much like Clara Schumann, Amy Beach could not have a performance career due to the fact that she was a female. Although she made her concert debut at age 16 as a gifted pianist, her career did not flourish as deserved. She got married at a very young age and started to write music as an outlet for her artistry; the music was published under her husband’s name, as “Mrs.M.M.A. Beach.” Her music is highly romantic, reminding us of middle period Brahms. Her piano quintet, which she wrote to display her piano skills (the piano part is known to be extremely challenging), is an outstanding piece of work that has been a staple of the piano quintet repertoire along with those by Brahms, Schumann, and Dvorak.
This program explores music written from the depths of the composers’ souls, ready to enrich, captivate, and move us beyond words.
Artists:
Anna Petrova, piano
Program to include:
Mendelssohn String Quartet Op. 80
I. Allegro vivace assai (323 bars)
II. Allegro assai (301 bars)
III. Adagio (120 bars)
IV. Finale: Allegro molto
Amy Beach Piano Quintet
I. Adagio - Allegro moderato
II. Adagio espressivo
III.Allegro agitato - Adagio come prima - Presto
The program can be found here.
We are grateful to our individual contributors who share our passion for music and the arts. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Central's program operating fund which makes programming such as this possible.
