Schumann Fantasies
Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 7:30 pm
Alice Tully Hall
2 hours, including intermission
Robert Schumann’s mercurial artistry produced works that stand at the pinnacle of the Romantic tradition.
Given to spontaneous flights of fancy, he composed for whatever combination of instruments moved his spirit. A delightfully eclectic first half precedes one of the classic piano trios of the literature, which shows the versatile Schumann reimagining the Classical style to express unrestrained passion.
Program
Robert Schumann
(1810–1856)Fantasiestücke (Fantasy Pieces) for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73
(1849)Quick Note
Schumann's "Fantasiestücke" is notable for being inspired by Schumann's fascination with literature, particularly the characters and scenes found in Romantic literature, which he sought to capture through music.
Listen for the vivid musical storytelling, as each piece explores different moods and emotions, ranging from tender lyricism to lively energy.
Robert Schumann
(1810–1856)Adagio and Allegro in A-flat major for Horn and Piano, Op. 70
(1849)Robert Schumann
(1810–1856)Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales) for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, Op. 132
(1853)Robert Schumann
(1810–1856)Andante and Variations for Horn, Two Cellos, and Two Pianos, WoO 10
(1843)Robert Schumann
(1810–1856)Trio No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 63
(1847)
Anne-Marie McDermott
Alessio Bax
Daniel Phillips
Estelle Choi
Paul Watkins
David Shifrin
Nathaniel Silberschlag
One of the most dazzling American pianists of her generation, Anne-Marie McDermott has played concertos, recitals, and chamber music throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is an insightful interpreter of Baroque and Classical masterpieces, 20th-century modernism, and music by influential contemporary composers. McDermott has soloed with the New York Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra. She continues her tenure as Music and Artistic Director of the Bravo! Vail Music Festival through 2026. She is the Artistic Director of the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival and Artistic Director of the McKnight Center’s Chamber Music Festival. McDermott is currently recording the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Mexico City’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería under Carlos Miguel Prieto. Her recordings also include the complete piano sonatas of Prokofiev, solo works by Chopin, Bach’s English Suites and Partitas, and Gershwin’s works for piano and orchestra. She received a 2024 honorary doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music.
Alessio Bax catapulted to prominence with First Prize wins at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions. He has appeared with more than 150 orchestras, including the London, Royal, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston, Dallas, and Sydney Symphonies, and the NHK Symphony in Japan, collaborating with such eminent conductors as Marin Alsop, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Yuri Temirkanov, and Jaap van Zweden. He released his 11th Signum Classics album, Italian Inspirations, whose program was also the vehicle for his solo recital debut at New York’s 92nd Street Y as well as on tour. He and his regular piano duo partner, Lucille Chung, have given recitals at Lincoln Center and were featured with the St. Louis Symphony and Stéphane Denève. This season he makes his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony, and will return for the fourth time for two recitals at the historic Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Last summer he made return appearances at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival with the Dallas Symphony and Fabio Luisi conducting. At age 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, his hometown in Italy, and after further studies in Europe, he moved to the United States in 1994. A Steinway artist, he lives in New York City with pianist Lucille Chung and their daughter, Mila. He is a former member of CMS’s Bowers Program and on the faculty at the New England Conservatory.
Violinist Daniel Phillips co-founded the Orion String Quartet, which gave its last concert in April 2024 at CMS after an illustrious 37-year career. A graduate of Juilliard, he counts among his teachers his father Eugene Phillips, Ivan Galamian, Sally Thomas, Nathan Milstein, Sandor Végh, and George Neikrug. Since winning the 1976 Young Concert Artists Competition, he has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Pittsburgh, Houston, New Jersey, Phoenix, and San Antonio symphonies. He appears regularly at festivals including Music from Angel Fire, where he is co-artistic director. He was a member of the renowned Bach Aria Group and has toured and recorded in a string quartet for Sony with Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian, and Yo-Yo Ma. Phillips is a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and on the faculties of Bard College Conservatory and Juilliard. He lives with his wife, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, and their two dachshunds on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Cellist Estelle Choi has been praised by the Los Angeles Times for “giving the impression that music and the room are a single living being.” She is a founding member of the Calidore String Quartet, which made international headlines when they won the Grand Prize of the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition. The Calidore is an Avery Fisher Career Grant winner, BBC 3 New Generation Artist, recipient of the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist award and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, and alums of CMS’s Bowers Program. She serves on the faculty of the University of Delaware School of Music as Associate Professor of Violin and co-directs the UD Graduate Fellowship Quartet Program and Calidore String Quartet Seminar. She studied with John Kadz and went on to work with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music and Ronald Leonard at the Colburn Conservatory.
Paul Watkins enjoys a varied and distinguished career as soloist, chamber musician, and conductor. The cellist of the Emerson String Quartet from 2013 until its disbanding in 2023, he is also the Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and in 2019 he was appointed Professor of Cello at the Yale School of Music. He has performed as concerto soloist with prestigious orchestras throughout the world. A dedicated chamber musician, he was a member of the Nash Ensemble from 1997 until 2013 and is a regular guest artist at CMS. Watkins has held the positions of Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra. His extensive discography as a cellist includes more than 70 recordings, and his first recording as a conductor, of the Britten and Berg violin concertos with Daniel Hope, received a Grammy nomination.
A Yale University faculty member since 1987, clarinetist David Shifrin is artistic director of Yale’s Chamber Music Society and the Yale in New York concert series. He has performed with CMS since 1982 and served as its artistic director from 1992 to 2004, inaugurating CMS’s Bowers Program and the annual Brandenburg Concertos concerts. He was the artistic director of Chamber Music Northwest from 1981 to 2020. Winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1987) and the Avery Fisher Prize (2000), he has held principal clarinet positions in numerous orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra and the American Symphony under Leopold Stokowski. As soloist, Shifrin has performed recitals at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Library of Congress. Notable concerto performances include the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras; the Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee, and Denver symphonies; as well as orchestras in China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. Shifrin performs on clarinets made by Morrie Backun in Vancouver, Canada, and Légère synthetic reeds.
Nathaniel Silberschlag was appointed principal horn of the Cleveland Orchestra in May 2019 and took up the position in August prior to the start of the 2019–20 season. He previously served as assistant principal horn of the Washington National Opera/Kennedy Center Opera House orchestra, where he was the youngest member ever to win a position with the ensemble, at the age of 19. He made his debut in Italy at age 9, with news of the performance appearing on the front page of Italy’s newspaper La Stampa. As soloist, he has performed with the Juilliard Orchestra, Bulgarian Philharmonic, Romania State Symphony, New York’s Little Orchestra Society, and the Chesapeake Orchestra. He has also played concerts with a variety of ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Silberschlag completed his bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School in May 2019, where he was a student of Julie Landsman and recipient of the Kovner Fellowship.