concert program vi:
French Connections Friday, August 2, 8:00 p.m., Stent Family Hall, Menlo School Saturday, August 3, 8:00 p.m., The Center for Performing Arts at Menlo-Atherton
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Bach is often considered the patriarch of a Germanic tradition, a lineage fulfilled by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms. Echoes of his music’s structural rigor are encountered in the thematic complexity and formal perfection of these later Classical and Romantic era composers. But equally vibrant in Bach’s language are the elegance, color, and romance that characterize the music of France more than a century later. The bewitching spirit of Bach’s French Suites surfaces in Saint-Saëns’s seductive Fantaisie and Debussy’s ethereal Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp. César Franck’s powerful Piano Quintet presents a climactic synthesis of French color and German Romanticism. Mingle with the Musicians Saturday, August 3, 10:30 p.m., Stanford Park Hotel’s Menlo Grill (Dutch treat) Visit with the Concert Program VI musicians for dinner or a drink or just to say hello. Please RSVP to 650-330-2141 or elizabeth@musicatmenlo.org.
SPECIAL THANKS Music@Menlo dedicates these performances to the following organizations and individuals with gratitude for their generous support:
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750) French Suite no. 5 for Solo Piano, BWV 816 (1722)
CONCERT PROGRAMS
August 2 and 3
Allemande Courante Sarabande Gavotte Bourrée Loure Gigue
Wu Han, piano
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835–1921) Fantaisie in A Major for Violin and Harp, op. 124 (1907) Kristin Lee, violin; Bridget Kibbey, harp
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862–1918) Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp (1915) Pastorale: Lento, dolce rubato Interlude: Tempo di minuetto Finale: Allegro moderato ma risoluto
Tara Helen O’Connor, flute; Paul Neubauer, viola; Bridget Kibbey, harp
MARCEL TOURNIER (1879–1951) Suite for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Harp, op. 34 (1928) Soir Danse Lied Fête
Tara Helen O’Connor, flute; Kristin Lee, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Dmitri Atapine, cello; Bridget Kibbey, harp
INTERMISSION
CÉSAR FRANCK (1822–1890) Piano Quintet (1879)
Molto moderato quasi lento Lento, con molto sentimento Allegro non troppo, ma con fuoco
Gilles Vonsattel, piano; Arnaud Sussmann, Ian Swensen, violins; Richard O’Neill, viola; David Finckel, cello
August 2: The David B. and Edward C. Goodstein Foundation August 3: Vivian Sweeney Jean Béraud (1849–1935). Dinner at les Ambassadeurs, Hôtel de Crillon, Paris, 1880. Alfredo Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY
www.musicatmenlo.org
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