Dear Concert-goers:
Many of you know that my esteemed colleague Lucy Bardo is one of the first and best American viola da gamba players through her work with such prestigious and pioneering ensembles as the NY Consort of Viols and Calliope and her concertizing here and abroad. Her long career has paralleled the growing awareness of and love for the instrument among the public in the United States over the past half-century or so. I have enjoyed the privilege of performing with her on many occasions—she is a total musician whose playing blends subtlety and nuance with power and authority. What I (and I presume you also) did not know is that she loves and performs Romantic music for the cello as well. This has been a well-kept secret, but no longer! Lucy is unveiling her engagement with composers such as Schumann, Mendelssohn, Fauré and Chausson, hard-core Romantics one and all, at her concert less than two weeks from now: on Sunday October 5 at 3 pm in Kellogg Music Center on the Simon’s Rock campus; and as is the case with all our Faculty Concerts, admission is free.
But that is not all; her accompanist will be Hilda Banks Shapiro, one of the last students of Artur Schnabel and musical doyenne of the Berkshires. It is certainly no surprise to find Hilda performing Romantic music–it is the air she breathes! (Her engagement with Baroque music is another story…) But what is so intriguing is to find her in partnership with Lucy. I can’t wait to see how these two veteran musicians from seemingly opposite ends of the musical spectrum come together and share their musical impulses. I do know their collaboration will generate both light and heat, because they are both superb musicians, and that means being superb colleagues.
One of the reasons most of us prefer listening to music over, say, studying military history, is that it constantly shows us how the most diverse forms of music and music-makers can engage with each other in creative combinations. I will be there to celebrate this manifestation of creative collaboration, and hope you will be there with me.
See the poster attached for details.
Yours
Larry
