Caution! Musicians at play!

The Marlboro Music Festival will present this summer’s opening concerts this weekend, in Marlboro, VT. Extraordinarily talented young performers will share the stage with seasoned veterans when presenting music by Mozart, Copland and Schumann (Saturday) and Beethoven, Schubert, Nielsen and Schumann (Sunday). For the complete schedule and to plan your visit, look online at marlboromusic.org.

Then join me this Wednesday evening on The Classical Network, for performances by Marlboro musicians of works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Ludwig “Louis” Spohr.

In his day, Spohr was as highly regarded as Beethoven. A triple threat – a violinist, a conductor, and a composer – he churned out music in all genres. He wrote nine symphonies, ten operas, fifteen violin concertos, four clarinet concertos, and 36 string quartets. Add to that, innumerable chamber works for all sorts of instrumental combinations – with a special emphasis on the harp, since it was the instrument of his wife, with whom he often appeared in concert.

Following his death, in 1859, his reputation plummeted. It wasn’t until the late 20th century that his music underwent a significant revival.

We’ll hear Spohr’s Sextet in C major, Op. 140, a comparatively late work, but one infused with a remarkably youthful spirit. A supporter of German unification, republicanism, and democratic causes, Spohr was inspired by the revolutions that swept across Europe in 1848.

From the 1980 Marlboro Music Festival, we’ll enjoy a performance by violinists Pina Carmirelli and Veronica Knittel, violists Philipp Naegele and Karen Dreyfus, and cellists Peter Wiley and Georg Faust.

Spohr was a friend and colleague of Beethoven. He participated in a memorable run-through of Beethoven’s “Ghost” Trio, with the composer banging away at an out-of-tune piano. He also played in the premiere of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

With their association in mind, we’ll also hear Beethoven’s Wind Octet in E-flat major, Op. 103, from 1792. The 1957 recording will feature Marlboro cofounder Marcel Moyse as director of an ensemble made up of oboists Alfred Genovese and Earl Schuster, clarinetists Harold Wright and Richard Lesser, bassoonists Anthony Checchia and Roland Small, and hornists Myron Bloom and Richard Mackey.

I hope you’ll join me for music by the two Ludwigs, this Wednesday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page