Music@Menlo: Beethoven's legacy spotlighted Music@Menlo: Beethoven's legacy spotlighted (June 29, 2005)

Chamber music festival returns to Atherton

By Katie Bearman

Special to the Almanac

The music of Beethoven, along with a few of the composers he left his mighty imprint on, will be the focus of this summer's Music@Menlo chamber music festival, which opens July 27.

Now in its third season, the festival runs through August 12, with concerts performed at Stent Family Hall at Menlo School in Atherton and at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto.

Initiated by pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel in 2003, Music@Menlo brings world-renowned chamber music ensembles and soloists to the Peninsula to perform, as well as to educate and interact with young music students and other festival attendees.

Guest ensembles include the Emerson, the Miami, the Miro, and the St. Lawrence string quartets.

Soloists will include Cynthia Phelps, principal violist of the New York Philharmonic; Jorja Fleezanis, violinist and concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra; baritone Christopheren Nomura; and pianists Gilbert Kalish, Claude Frank, Derek Han and Jeffrey Kahane.

The program, "Beethoven: Center of Gravity," will explore the composer's musical genius, paying tribute to his powerful contributions to late Classical-era composition and that of the dawning Romantic era of the early 19th century.

Beethoven's cycle of 16 string quartets, which Wu Han and Mr. Finckel point to as an illuminating guide to the composer's evolving style, will be spotlighted at a number of the concerts.

In addition to Beethoven's quartets and other chamber works, the concerts will feature music by composers ranging from Haydn to Ives -- the former, a strong influence on his student, the young Ludwig van Beethoven; and the latter, an innovative 20th century composer who acknowledged the profundity of Beethoven's musical expression.

The festival will continue to offer a variety of events and programs to foster a deeper understanding of chamber music.

One such program is the Chamber Music Institute, which provide training and performance opportunities for selected students from local, national and international music programs. Preceding each concert by the professional guest musicians will be a free Prelude Performance, featuring students of the Institute's International Program.

The Chamber Music Institute also runs a Young Performers Program and an Explorers Program for younger musicians, and selected ensembles from these programs will be featured in three Young Performers Concerts, which cost $6 to attend.

Music@Menlo will also offer two Carte Blanche Concerts, which place professional artists in the spotlight to convey their individual talents and interests; five "Encounters," which use multimedia symposia to teach audiences about Beethoven's personal and musical progression; and 14 informal events called Cafe Conversations, in which audience members can discuss music and the arts with the festival's guest performers.

A day-long Chamber Music Open House will take place on Saturday, July 30, at Menlo School, beginning at 8:30 a.m. with a "Q&A breakfast," where visitors talk casually with Mr. Finckel and Wu Han about the festival. Later, ensemble rehearsals, workshops, and master classes will be open to the public.
Tickets

Ticket prices range from $75 for Carte Blanche Concerts at Stent Family Hall at Menlo School, $65 for concert programs at Stent Family Hall and St. Mark's Episcopal Church in midtown Palo Alto, and $28 for Encounters at Menlo School's Martin Lecture Hall. Children and students receive discounts, as do festival subscribers.

Tickets can be purchased at the Stanford ticket office at 725-2787.

For more information, call the festival office at 330-2030 or visit musicatmenlo.org.

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