Schubert’s Last Year I
McDermott, Montone, Phillips, and Dalí Quartet musicians Ari Isaacman-Beck and Jesús Morales perform the first Immersive Experiences concert featuring works from Schubert’s final year, including Auf dem Strom for Soprano, Horn, and Piano; Fantasie for Violin and Piano; and Trio No. 2 for Violin, Cello and Piano.
Did you know?
In March 1828, Schubert produced the only public concert of his works in his lifetime (which ended nine months later). From that event we hear his Piano Trio No. 2 and a song intended as a memorial tribute to Beethoven.
Featured Artists
Susanna Phillips
Jennifer Montone
Ari Isaacman-Beck
Jesús Morales
Anne-Marie McDermott
Susanna Phillips
soprano
Soprano Susanna Phillips continues to establish herself as one of today’s most sought-after musicians. Ms. Phillips’ 2023-24 Season includes engagements with Music of the Baroque, Musica Sacra, Oratorio Society of New York, Boston Baroque, and Houston Symphony.
Career highlights include The Metropolitan Opera singing numerous roles with her recent debut at Mimì/La bohème. Ms. Phillips’ is also praised for her portrayal of Musetta/ La bohème, Pamina/The Magic Flute, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira/Don Giovanni, Rosalinde/Die Fledermaus, Antonia and Stella/The Tales of Hoffmann, Micaëla/Carmen, and Countess Almaviva/Le nozze di Figaro – a role very close to her heart. Ms. Phillips received great applause for singing Fiordigili/Così fan tutte, which The New York Times called a “breakthrough night”, and Clémence in The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de Loin. Ms. Phillips has sung two premieres, Rose/Awakenings at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Brahms’ A German Requiem with the Oratorio Society at Carnegie Hall. Previously, she has performed the role of Stella in a concert staging of Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire opposite Renée Fleming and also has sung Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Teddy Abrams. Ms. Phillips has also sung leading roles with Boston Baroque including Cleopatra/Giulio Cesare and the title role in Agrippina. Other opera house appearances include Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cincinnati Opera, Dallas Opera, Minnesota Opera, Fort Worth Opera Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Gran Teatro del Liceu, and Oper Frankfurt.
Dedicated to symphonic works, Ms. Phillips has collaborated with highly esteemed orchestras including The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and her native Huntsville Symphony. Some credits include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s Second and Fourth Symphonies, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Fauré and Mozart Requiem, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. An avid chamber music collaborator, Ms. Phillips has performed a tribute concert to Clara Schumann at the Library of Congress and has sung alongside Eric Owens for Washington Performing Arts in a program co-curated by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Prestigious awards include some of the world’s leading vocal competitions: The Metropolitan’s Beverly Sills Artist Award (2010), Operalia (first place and the audience prize), The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the MacAllister Awards, and the George London Foundation Awards Competition. She has also claimed the top honor at the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition and has won first prizes from the American Opera Society Competition and the Musicians Club of Women in Chicago. Ms. Phillips has received grants from the Santa Fe Opera and the Sullivan Foundation and is a graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. She holds both a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School.
A native of Huntsville, Alabama, more than 400 people traveled from Ms. Phillips’ hometown to New York City in December 2008 for her Met Opera debut in La bohème. She returns frequently to her native state for recitals and orchestral appearances.
Jennifer Montone
horn
GRAMMY Award Winner Jennifer Montone has been hailed by The New York Times for her "flawless horn solos... and warm and noble sound." As principal horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and a world acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, she has been on the faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School since joining the orchestra in 2006.
Previously the principal horn of the Saint Louis Symphony and associate principal horn of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Montone was an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University, performer/faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and coaches on occasion at the New World Symphony. She was third horn of the New Jersey Symphony from 1997-2000 and has performed as a guest artist with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.
Ms. Montone regularly performs as a soloist, with orchestras such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, the National Symphony, the Polish National Radio Symphony, the Warsaw National Philharmonic, among others. Her recording of the Penderecki Horn Concerto, "Winterreise" with the Warsaw National Philharmonic won a 2013 GRAMMY Award in the category of Best Classical Compendium.
Other recordings include: Jennifer Montone Performs, her first solo CD; Still Falls the Rain, works of Benjamin Britten; Gabrieli by the National Brass Ensemble; Philadelphia Orchestra, Tchaikovsky and Ewald, featuring the orchestra's principals brass quintet; and Song of Shinobeu, works of Haruka Watanabe.
Ms. Montone made her Carnegie Weil Hall solo recital debut on October 22, 2008. She has enjoyed appearing as a featured artist at many International Horn Society workshops, and as a soloist and collaborator with artists such as Emmanuel Ax, Eric Owens, Christoph Eschenbach, Shmeul Ashkenazi, and Joseph Silverstein, and David Soyer, among many others.
As a chamber musician Ms. Montone performs with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, National Brass Ensemble, Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, Spoleto Italy Chamber Music Festival, and the Marlboro Music Festival.
Ms. Montone is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with Julie Landsman, legendary pedagogue and former principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera. In May 2006, Ms. Montone was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. She is also the winner of the 1996 Paxman Young Horn Player of the Year Award in London, England. A native of northern Virginia, Ms. Montone studied with Edwin Thayer, principal horn of the National Symphony, in the National Symphony Orchestra Youth Fellowship Program. She is married to double bass player, Timothy Ressler, and immensely enjoys spending time with her two young sons, Max and Felix.
Anne-Marie McDermott
piano
Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott is a consummate artist who balances a versatile career as a soloist and collaborator. She performs over 100 concerts a year in a combination of solo recitals, concerti and chamber music. Her repertoire choices are eclectic, spanning from Bach and Haydn to Prokofiev and Scriabin to Kernis, Hartke, Tower and Wuorinen.
With over 50 concerti in her repertoire, Ms. McDermott has performed with many leading orchestra including the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Seattle Symphony, National Symphony, Houston Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi, Hong Kong Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and Baltimore Symphony among others. Ms, McDermott has toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Virtuosi.
In the recent seasons, Ms. McDermott performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Alabama Symphony, San Diego Symphony, the Oregon Mozart Players, and the New Century Chamber Orchestra.
Recital engagements have included the 92nd Street Y, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, The Schubert Club, Kennedy Center, as well as universities across the country. Anne-Marie McDermott has curated and performed in a number of intense projects including: the Complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas and Chamber Music, a Three Concert Series of Shostakovich Chamber Music, as well as a recital series of Haydn and Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Most recently, she commissioned works of Charles Wuorinen and Clarice Assad which were premiered in May 2009 at Town Hall, in conjunction with Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
As a soloist, Ms. McDermott has recorded the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas, Bach English Suites and Partitas (which was named Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice), and most recently, Gershwin Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra with the Dallas Symphony and Justin Brown.
In addition to her many achievements, Anne-Marie McDermott has been named the Artistic Director of the famed Bravo! Vail Music Festival in Colorado, which hosts the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony in addition to presenting over 40 chamber music concerts throughout the summer. She is also Artistic Director of Santa Fe Pro Musica, The Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival, McKnight Chamber Music Festival, and The Avila Chamber Music Celebration in Curacao.
As a chamber music performer, Anne-Marie McDermott was named an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 1995 and performs and tours extensively with CMS each season. She continues a long standing collaboration with the highly acclaimed violinist, Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg. As a duo, they have released a CD titled “Live” on the NSS label and plan to release the Complete Brahms Violin and Piano Sonatas in the future. Ms. McDermott is also a member of the renowned piano quartet, Opus One, with colleagues Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom and Peter Wiley.
She continues to perform each season with her sisters, Maureen McDermott and Kerry McDermott in the McDermott Trio. Ms, McDermott has also released an all Schumann CD with violist, Paul Neubauer, as well as the Complete Chamber Music of Debussy with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Ms. McDermott studied at the Manhattan School of Music with Dalmo Carra, Constance Keene and John Browning. She was a winner of the Young Concert Artists auditions and was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Ms. McDermott regularly performs at Festivals across the United States including, Spoleto, Mainly Mozart, Sante Fe, La Jolla Summerfest, Mostly Mozart, Newport, Caramoor, Bravo, Chamber Music Northwest, Aspen, Music from Angelfire, and the Festival Casals in Puerto Rico, among others.
Program Details
- Susanna Phillips, soprano
- Jennifer Montone, horn
- Anne-Marie McDermott, piano
- Ari Isaacman-Beck, violin
- Jesús Morales, cello
SCHUBERT Auf dem Strom (On the River) for Soprano, Horn and Piano
SCHUBERT Fantasie for Violin and Piano
SCHUBERT Trio No. 2 for Violin, Cello and Piano
Program Notes
Auf dem Strom (On the River), for Soprano, Horn, and Piano, D. 943 (1828)
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Auf dem Strom (On the River), for Soprano, Horn, and Piano, D. 943
Fantaisie in C major, D. 934
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Fantaisie in C major, D. 934
INTERMISSION
Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, D. 929 (1828)
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, D. 929
Allegro moderato
Andante un poco mosso
Scherzo: Allegro
Rondo: Allegro vivace
Franz Schubert was one of ten friends who gathered in a Vienna apartment on New Year’s Eve to bring in the new year of 1828 with a toast of Malaga wine. He did not know that 1828 would be his last year, of course; but neither would he have been completely surprised. It appears that in 1822 he had contracted syphilis, an incurable disease at the time, and he knew that the span between diagnosis and death rarely exceeded ten years and often fell short of that. In 1824 he wrote despairingly to a friend: “Imagine a man whose health will never be right again and ... whose most brilliant hopes have been perished.” In the end, that was not what killed him; his death was probably the immediate result of typhus or typhoid fever. In any case, he persevered under the shadow of compromised health, challenging himself to grow as an artist.
Although he met with scant commercial success as a composer, Schubert was blessed with a wonderful circle of friends who delighted in his music at private gatherings. These “Schubertiads” naturally focused on intimately scaled works—songs, piano pieces, chamber music—that fit comfortably in domestic surroundings. His more imposing compositions went largely unheard. Of the ten operas he completed, only two made it to the stage during his lifetime, one for seven performances, the other for eight. His symphonies were played only by amateur or semi-pro assemblages in middle-class parlors; not until a month after his death was one heard in a concert hall.
A few of his more famous admirers included his music in their more formal recitals. That happened with his C-major Fantaisie for Violin and Piano. Schubert wrote it in December 1828 for his violinist friend Josef Slavyk, who introduced it on a mid-day recital with pianist Karl Maria von Bocklet on January 20, 1828, at Vienna’s Landhaussaal, which could hold up to 800 listeners. Listeners found the piece intimidating; one critic reported that “the hall emptied gradually, and the writer confesses that he too is unable to say anything about the conclusion of this piece of music.” Probably the most memorable expanse of this full-scale piece is the set of variations at its center, its theme being an alteration of the lied “Sei mir gegrüsst,” which Schubert probably composed in 1822 to a poem by Friedrich Rückert (it was published the ensuing April). After working through sections of escalating bravura, the music resolves into a more lyrical variation and then a swaggering finale, into which “Sei mir gegrüsst” raises its voice one last time near the end.
So, too, did his Piano Trio in E-flat major receive its first airing thanks to fellow musicians—the string quartet headed by violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh. Two members of his foursome (which had midwifed Beethoven’s quartets as well as one of Schubert’s) introduced this trio, with Bocklet again as pianist, in a recital on December 26, 1827, at Zum Roten Igel (At the Red Hedgehog), a café and performance hall overseen by the Society of the Friends of Music. Schubert lived next door, sharing an apartment at Zum Blauen Igel (At the Blue Hedgehog).
Like the Fantaisie, this trio unrolls over a very generous span of time, usually running more than forty minutes. The composer himself sensed that it could use some editing, and he effected a lengthy cut in the finale, the longest of the four movements. Though this material was restored by the editors of the complete edition of Schubert’s works, it is rarely played today. The slow movement is magical, sounding from the outset quite like a Schubert song in which the cello sings the minor-key melody against the grim staccato of the piano’s accompaniment. In fact, the melody is adapted from a song, though not one by Schubert—a Swedish song named “Se solen sjunker” (See the Sun Setting), which Schubert heard performed in Vienna in 1827. This memorable tune returns for two further appearances in the finale.
In the winter of 1828, Schubert was persuaded to present a public concert consisting entirely of his own music. It took place (again at Zum Roten Igel) at 7 p.m. on March 26, 1828, the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death, and offered six solo songs, the first movement from an unidentified “new string quartet,” a repeat of the Piano Trio in E-flat major, the “Ständchen” for solo contralto and girls’ choir, a choral piece for double men’s choir, and the premiere of “Auf dem Strom,” a solo song with obbligato horn composed expressly for the event to a text by Ludwig Rellstab. “Auf dem Strom” is a masterpiece of nocturnal moodpainting, with the horn and voice meandering over relaxed musical terrain, the piano’s relentless triplets suggesting the flowing river. A quarter the way through, the tonality shifts into the minor, and, at the words “‘Und so trägt mich denn die Welle” (And so the waves bear me off), Schubert quotes the Funeral March from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony—a tribute to the departed predecessor he so admired and probably never met, though he had been a torch-bearer in Beethoven’s funeral procession.
The packed concert brought in a handsome profit but had no other effect on Schubert’s career. Any enduring influence it might have generated became moot when Schubert died less than eight months later, at the age of only 31.
