Attend one of the concerts listed below and write a paper of 1000-1200 words about the music and its performance. Concentrate on any aspects of the music that you found interesting, appealing, or striking. It is fine to mention the quality of the performance, but the paper should not be simply a concert review: it should also discuss the music itself at some level. Be broad and imaginative, but at the same time, be coherent, be precise, and use accurate terminology.
This assignment intentionally offers you considerable latitude to organize your thoughts in any way you wish. You may choose to have an overarching theme or thesis, but you don't need to if the paper is well organized and well written. And, of course, you may choose to employ the ideas, terms, and approaches introduced in class and in the text. You may also choose to concentrate on a single work, or even a single movement. Most of the concerts listed below have been chosen to include a work by a composer we are studying in class. Be aware, however, that the music goes by fast, and you only get to hear it once! You might find it helpful to find and listen to a recording before you go.
You will be asked to choose a concert and confirm that you have bought a ticket early in March. Don't be cheap: a good seat is well worth the extra money. It is your responsibility to locate the venue and arrive on time! Please observe concert etiquette: turn off electronic devices, listen silently, and take notes discreetly.
If you don't like any of these concerts, you are welcome to propose another one in March or April. The list below is chosen to cover composers we have already done, so it skews toward earlier music. There are some terrific jazz concerts in Carnegie Hall in April (Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock...), but it would be tough to write about them before we cover jazz. A welcome alternative would be to write a brief piece about them on the course blog for extra credit. If you pick a concert with new music, that's great, but it should include at least one or two works from the historical canon.
The paper is due on the course blog at 11:59 pm one week after the concert date.
Mozart's
Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera:
Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30
Friday, February 27 at 7:30
Monday, March 2 at 7:30
Friday, March 6 at 7:30
Sunday, March 1 at 1 and 3, The Cloisters
The Boston Camerata performs Portes du Ciel, a program of
medieval French vocal music, sacred and secular
Wednesday, March 4 at noon, Morgan Library
Andrew Tyson plays piano music of Handel, Mozart, Scriabin, and Chopin
Wednesday, March 4 at 7:30, Alice Tully Hall
Joshua Bell plays violin works of Beethoven, Grieg, Brahms, and Bartók
Thursday, March 12 at 8, Carnegie Hall
András Schiff plays piano works of Haydn, Mozart,
Beethoven, and Schubert
Sunday, March 15 at 4, Bargemusic (during spring break)
The Alaria Trio plays works for piano trio of Mozart,
Fauré and Brahms
Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30, Morgan Library (during spring break)
The Aizuri Quartet and Peter Wiley play chamber works of Haydn,
Schubert, and Janáček
Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 7:30 pm, Alice Tully Hall (during spring break)
Joyce Yang and the Takács Quartet play works for piano
and strings of Haydn, Debussy, and Dvorák
Friday, March 20 at 7:30, Alice Tully Hall (during spring break)
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center plays Schubert & Schnittke
Friday, March 20 at 8, Bargemusic (during spring break)
Inna Faliks plays piano works of Assad, Brahms, and Clara Schumann
Saturday, March 21 at 8, Bargemusic (during spring break)
Steven Beck plays piano works of Mozart, Schumann, Schubert,
and Stravinsky
Sunday, March 22 at 4, Bargemusic (at the end of spring break)
Jesse Mills, Jim Wilson, and Reiko Aizawa play works for piano
trio of Schubert, Martinu, and Mendelssohn
Tuesday, March 24 at 7:30, 92nd Street Y
Nikolai Lugansky plays piano works of Schubert & Tschaikovsky
Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30, Morgan Library
The Helicon Ensemble performs a chamber version of Handel's
oratorio The Resurrection
Friday, March 27 at 8 pm, Bargemusic
Soyeon Kate Lee plays piano works of Debussy, Ravel, and Schumann
Saturday, March 28 at 8 pm, Bargemusic
Mark Peskanov and Soyeon Kate Lee play works for violin and
piano of Mozart and Schubert
Sunday, March 29 at 4 pm, Bargemusic
Same program as March 28
Monday, March 30 at 7:30 pm, Alice Tully Hall
Lisa Batiashvili and Paul Lewis play works for violin and piano
of Schubert, Bach/Busoni, Telemann, and Beethoven
Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30, Alice Tully Hall
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center plays Mozart,
Mendelssohn, & Brahms
Saturday, April 4 at 1, The Cloisters
Pomerium performs vocal music for Easter by Dufay, Monteverdi,
Byrd, and others
Saturday, April 4 at 8, Bargemusic
Mark Peskanov, Thomas Landschoot, and Doris Stevenson play
works for piano trio of Haydn, Bach, Schubert, and Dvorák
Sunday, April 5 at 4, Bargemusic
Same program as April 4
Tuesday, April 7 at 7:30, Merkin Concert Hall
Raphaël Sévère plays clarinet works of
Brahms, Boulez, Picart, Stravinsky, and Poulenc
Thursday, April 9 at 7:30, Morgan Library
Musicians of the Boston Early Music Festival perform chamber
vocal works of Handel, Monteverdi, and others
Saturday, April 11 at 7, Carnegie Hall
Orpheus (a conductorless orchestra) plays works of Mozart, Haydn, Wagner, Fazil Say
Saturday, April 11 at 7, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O'Riley play the complete
Beethoven cello sonatas
Saturday, April 11 at 8, Bargemusic
The Martinu Quartet plays string quartets of Beethoven,
Dvorák, and Taneyev
Sunday, April 12 at 4, Bargemusic
Same program as April 11
Sunday, April 12 at 5, Alice Tully Hall
Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano, sings works of Schubert, Mahler,
Copland, and Elgar
Tuesday, April 14 at 8, Carnegie Hall
The Mutter-Bronfman-Harrell Trio plays Beethoven and Tschaikovsky
Friday, April 17 at 8, Bargemusic
Ran Dank plays piano works of Beethoven and Bolcom
Friday, April 17 at 8, Church of St. Ignatius Loyola
The Tallis Scholars sing Brumel and Tallis
Saturday, April 18 at 7:30, Weill Recital Hall
The Tallis Scholars sing Josquin and Byrd xxx Already sold out!
Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 7:30, Alice Tully Hall
Le Jardin des Voix and Les Arts Florissants conducted by
William Christie perform vocal works of Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn,
Mozart, and others
Thursday, April 23 at 8, Carnegie Hall
The Orchestra of St. Luke's plays Beethoven's 5th and works of
Stravinsky & Shostakovich
Friday, April 24 at 7:30, Alice Tully Hall
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center plays three works of Brahms
Friday, April 24 at 8, Carnegie Hall
Richard Goode plays piano works of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms,
Debussy, Schumann
Saturday, April 25 at 8, Bargemusic
The Shanghai Quartet and Cecile Licad play string quartets by
Beethoven and Ravel and a piano quintet by Schumann
Sunday, April 26 at 4, Bargemusic
Same program as April 25
Sunday, April 26 at 3, Zankel Hall
The Australian Chamber Orchestra plays Mozart, Haydn,
Prokofiev, and Greenwood
Thursday, April 30 at 8, Carnegie Hall
The English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir perform
Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610
Friday, May 1 at 8, Carnegie Hall
The English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir perform
Monteverdi's Orfeo
Friday, May 1 at 8, Bargemusic
Michael Mizrahi plays piano works of Beethoven, Chopin,
Bartók, and several contemporary composers
Saturday, May 2 at 8, Bargemusic
Rita Sloan and Jonathan Feldman play works for piano four-hands
of Mozart, Schumann, Dvorák, Ewazen, and Corigliano
Sunday, May 3 at 4, Bargemusic
Helena Baillie and Cynthia Tobey play works for violin/viola
and piano of Bach, Geminiani, and Schnittke
Friday, May 1 and Monday, May 4 at 7:30, Metropolitan Opera
Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress