After the renunciation of his “immortal beloved,” in social withdrawal and complete deafness, Beethoven forged a final style.
Join Susan Waterfall and an array of exceptional Festival musicians for five days of lectures and narrated concerts exploring the life and music of Beethoven, the most influential and consistently popular composer in Western music. For this concert she is joined by Brian Thorsett, Miles Graber, Tammie Dyar, Tingting Gu, Alexander Volonts, and Burke Schuchmann.
Featuring the Festival Chamber Players Many of Mozart’s chamber works were composed for aristocratic salons or outdoor entertainment. The Festival Chamber Players will perform two of Mozart’s most serious and introspective masterpieces for these settings. Wind octets usually were light outdoor music for royal parties, but in K. 388 Mozart used the instrumental combination to …
Some of Mozart’s most charming and self-revelatory works were written for intimate gatherings with friends and family. Learn about the four fascinating musical families who inspired him: the Mozarts, the Cannabiches, the Webers, and the Jacquins. This concert features the poetic and luminous “Kegelstatt” Trio (K. 498), written for clarinet, viola, and piano, while Mozart …
Two multi-media lectures, a Punch tasting, and music, both ribald and ravishing.
An elegant preview of the Mendocino Music Festival’s July Bachfest will be presented at the historic Berkeley City Club, an architectural masterpiece by Julia Morgan. Susan Waterfall, Jeremy Cohen, Mindy Rosenfeld, and Burke Schuchmann will perform highlights including the Musical Offering, D Minor Violin Chaconne, the Italian Concerto, and selections from suites and sonatas. No …
Susan Waterfall will describe the history and significance of Bach’s Musical Offering. Fascinating canons and the Trio Sonata from that work will be performed by Waterfall, with Jeremy Cohen, violin; Mindy Rosenfeld, flute; Burke Schuchmann, cello. On the second half of the program, the brilliant Bach interpreter Stephen Prutsman will play and conduct the Festival Chamber …
Bach’s keyboard works are often played, but there are not so many opportunities to hear the wonderful suites for other instruments, and even more rare, to hear them in the lovely setting and gorgeous acoustics of the sanctuary of the Mendocino Presbyterian Church. Jeremy Cohen will perform the much-beloved Partita for Violin in D minor, …
Pianists Susan Waterfall and Carolyn Steinbuck will consider Bach’s role as father and teacher, and will explore the international influences on his music. The concert consists of the Two-Part Inventions, the Italian Concerto, the C minor Partita, and the 6-Voiced Ricercare from the “Musical Offering.”
J. S. Bach enjoyed life enormously, and this certainly included beer drinking. He was often paid in beer. Find out more interesting and seldom considered facts in a multi-media lecture with historian Bob Winn, noted beer authority Jay R. Brooks, and scholar/pianist Susan Waterfall, covering life in early 18th century Germany, an overview of Bach’s life, …