Going Through the Schubert Wash and Spin Cycle
In honor of Schubert’s 213th birthday, and because I’m friends
with Thomas Zoells and know some of the musicians, and
I’m an open minded music lover, I decided to attend this
year’s Schubertiade. It was held Saturday 1/30 on the
8th floor of the Fine Arts Building in Studio 801 (Liz Stein Co.),
Studio 825 (Fazioli Salon) and Studio 833 (Chicago Youth
Symphony Rehearsal Hall).
It was seven hours long with no major breaks, only passing
periods between studios. The statistic were:
60 Musicians
31 Ensembles
92 Deutsch catalogue works played (minus 3 or 4 duplicates)
4 Arrangements of Schubert works by Franz Liszt
I was able to hear 6 ensembles allowing for a snack break at
5pm in the “Schubert Cafe”, where coffee, sweets, crackers,
cheese and Austrian wine were served. It was no Sacher Cafe,
but it was always crowded nonetheless.
The three performances I enjoyed the most were:
Ryan de Ryke (baritone) & Daniel Schlossberg (piano)
performed Lieder based on themes of Nature. Ryan’s
voice was positively great and his total involvement
in the emotion of the songs was impressive. I had this
bug in my mind the whole time: who was the pianist
that accompanied Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau?
Duo pianists Alexander Djordjevic and Brenda Huang
performed Schubert’s Hungarian Divertimento for Four
Hands. I’ve never heard this before, so it was a pleasant
surprise and I’ll seek it out again.
One of the best was saved for last at 8pm – Schubert’s
Guitar Quartet. He arranged it to include a cello part for
his father from a flute, viola and guitar trio composed by
Wenzel Thomas Matiegka. The quartet playing it this time
was Yoo-Jin Hong (flute), Maria Ritzenhaler (viola),
Karen Schulz-Harmon (cello) and Casey Nielsen (guitar).
PianoForte estimates 500 people attended at one point or
other. I’d say the two elevator operators had their hands full.
–
Bruce
