The final 2022 summer season program features French composers Louise Farrenc and Edouard Destenay, along with Belgian composer César Franck, concluding with a Labor Day fundraising gala.
Midsummer’s Music’s 2022 summer concert series concludes with a celebration of César Franck’s 200th birthday and a Labor Day Gala dedicated to supporting music that brightens the future for Door County. Featured musicians in this program – entitled A Date with Destenay – are Oboist Lindsay Flowers, Clarinetist JJ Koh, Violinists David Perry and Eleanor Bartsch, Violist Sally Chisholm, Cellist James Waldo, and Pianist Jeannie Yu. The legendary Steve Robinson, whose 50-year career in public radio started at Boston University and eventually brought him to the general manager position at WFMT in Chicago, will be the Labor Day Gala’s special guest emcee.
The concerts begin with the Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 44, by French composer Louise Farrenc. She was born into an artistic Parisian family, and many of her ancestors were painters, sculptors, and engravers. By the age of 15, the young pianist was studying composition with Anton Reicha and later Johann Nepomuk Hummel, two of the most prominent music names in early 19th century Paris. The trio consists of four movements, ending with an energetic finale that illuminates the virtuosity of Clarinetist JJ Koh.
Edouard Destenay is one of the more enigmatic figures in music history. His contribution to the chamber music repertoire was extensive, and he was a military officer who received the highest French order of merit as a Knight of the Légion d’Honneur. Prior to serving in World War I, he had an important music career in Paris, where he could have encountered some major music figures of the period. The Trio in B Minor, Op. 27, for oboe, clarinet, and piano dates from 1906 and is among numerous chamber music works written by the composer. Its three movements combine elements of German romanticism with the musical language of Camille Saint-Saëns and Charles Gounod, both of whom he may have known in Paris.
César Franck was born in Liege, Belgium, at the time when Belgium was under French control before gaining independence in 1830. He entered the Paris Conservatory as a child prodigy at age 12. His Quintet in F Minor (1880) for piano, two violins, viola, and cello was written late in his life and trumpets his incredible musical growth, which has been described as a phenomenon almost without parallel in the history of music. When the piece was premiered, it stunned the audience with its passion and sensuality. The first and third movements can be described as stormy, while the central second movement is comparatively calm. It is a rousing piece that will be a truly exciting, breathtaking finale to Midsummer’s 32nd season.
Performances begin at 7:00pm, September 1, at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor; 3:00pm, September 3, at The Clearing Folk School in Ellison Bay; 3:00pm, September 4, at the Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay; and 3:00pm, September 5, with Midsummer’s Labor Day Gala at Björklunden in Baileys Harbor.
A complete 2022 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com. Programs are subject to change.
Tickets are $35 for adults, $15 for students, and children 12 and under are free. Premium prices apply for salon/home concerts, dinner concerts and other special events. Flex-packs of six tickets for the price of five tickets are also available. Tickets can be ordered at www.midsummersmusic.com or by phone at 920-854-7088.
Midsummer’s Music was co-founded in 1990 by Jim and Jean Berkenstock, long-time Door County summer residents and principal orchestral players with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. What began as two concerts among friends has become one of the Midwest’s most anticipated chamber music series, bringing thousands of chamber music enthusiasts from around the globe to the magical Door County Peninsula.
For more information visit www.midsummersmusic.com.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
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For Calendar Listings:
Quintet Elegance
Quintet in E Major, Op. 1 Dame Ethel Smyth
Quintet in D Major, D. 956 Franz Schubert
Saturday, August 27, 7:00 pm • Salon Concert, Courtney Residence, Sister Bay
Sunday, August 28, 5:00 pm, Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Wednesday, August 31, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Friday, September 2, 7:00 pm, Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
A Date with Destenay (and Franck at 200)
Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 44 Louise Ferranc
Trio in E Minor, Op. 27 Edouard Destenay
Quintet in F Minor (1880) César Franck
Thursday, September 1, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Saturday, September 3, 3:00 pm, The Clearing Folk School, Ellison Bay
Sunday, September 4, 3:00 pm, Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Monday, September 5, 3:00 pm, Labor Day Gala, Björklunden, Baileys Harbor