How does one get from Telemann to water sprites? By way of Hans Werner Henze, of course! Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve got rusalkas and mermaids on the brain anyway. Join me this afternoon on The Classical Network for a complete performance of Henze’s ballet “Undine” (more about that below).
First, on today’s Noontime Concert, we’ll have a lovely and engaging program of Telemann duos, courtesy of Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS). Telemann was as energetic as he was long-lived, learning instruments, radiating music, and even publishing a magazine, “Der getreue Music-Meister” (“The Faithful Music-Master”), in which he would introduce new instrumental pieces. The magazine appeared every two weeks. Deborah Booth and Louise Schulman will present some of these works on a concert of sonatas for recorder or traverso (Booth) and viola (Schulman).
The program was given at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 50th Street and Park Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, where free concerts are held every Thursday at 1:15 p.m. This Thursday, Bourbon Baroque will perform Luigi Boccherini’s “Stabat Mater.” To find a complete schedule of lunchtime performances, look online at midtownconcerts.org.
GEMS also presents evening concerts. The Clarion Choir and period brass players will perform Palestrina’s “Missa Papae Marcelli” at the Metropolitan Music of Art on Friday at 7 p.m. Also on Friday, Empire Viols will present “Strictly Continental,” with music by Sainte-Colombe, Marais, Vivaldi, Schenck, and Krebs, at 7:30 p.m., at the Church of the Transfiguration, One East 29th Street, in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan. On Satuday, Collectio Musicorum will perform a program of music from the Renaissance and beyond, at 7 p.m., at Eltingville Lutheran Church, 300 Genesee Avenue, in Staten Island.
Gotham Early Music Scene is a non-profit corporation that supports and promotes artists and organizations in New York City devoted to early music – music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical periods. For more information and GEMS’ events calendar, look online at gemsny.org.
To fill out the noon hour, we’ll hear Henze’s “Telemanniana.” That should provide a nice segue to the aforementioned ballet. Henze wrote the score for “Undine” on a commission from Frederick Ashton in 1958. (Ashton originally presented the ballet under the title “Ondine.”) The subject is the Romantic and influential novella by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. The tale is remarkably similar to the one told by Hans Christian Andersen, in “The Little Mermaid,” and Dvořák, in the opera “Rusalka.” All three deal with the ill-fated love between a water sprite and a mortal.
Because of a scheduling conflict, Ashton’s first choice of composer, Sir William Walton, turned down the offered commission. Walton recommended Henze in his place. Ondine became one of the signature roles of the Royal Ballet’s prima ballerina, Margot Fonteyn.
I hope you’re a strong swimmer. It will be water sprites and spritely Telemann, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
