Two stellar quintets feature two violins, a viola, and two cellos.
Midsummer’s Music continues its ambitious 2022 summer concert series with a program entitled “Quintet Elegance,” featuring works by Dame Ethel Smyth and Franz Schubert, starting with an exclusive Salon Concert sponsored by Nicolet National Bank at the Courtney/Reschka residence in Sister Bay on the evening of August 27. Musicians are David Perry and Eleanor Bartsch, Violins, Sally Chisholm, Viola, and James Waldo and Cole Randolph, Cellos.
Dame Ethel Smyth was born in England, the fourth of eight children. Her grit and determination led her to succeed as a female in the world of composition and conducting and as an author, as well as being an active member of the suffragette movement. In 1922, she was the first woman to be named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the field of music. She wrote six operas, a variety of orchestral works, and a number of chamber works including five string quartets and two quintets. Her Quintet in E Major consists of five movements and is lighthearted, ranging from sprightly to vivacious to charming. This is the first piece by Dame Ethel Smyth that Midsummer’s Music has performed.
This year marks Franz Schubert’s 225th birthday, and the Quintet in C Major is the third piece of his that Midsummer’s Music has performed this season to commemorate the date. Considered his last great work, which he completed two months before his death in 1828, it is filled with magnificent movements, including a cello duet, intriguing instrumentation, a haunting trio, and rhythmic variants. Schubert seems to have pioneered the idea of a quintet with two cellos, while Mozart and Beethoven used two violas in their quintets.
In addition to the August 27 Salon Concert, the Quintet Elegance program is performed August 28 at 5:00pm at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor; August 31 at 7:00pm at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor; and September 2 at 7:00pm at Sister Bay Moravian Church.
The final program of the season, A Date with Destenay (and Franck at 200), features Louise Farrenc’s Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 44, Edouard Destenay’s Trio in B Minor, Op. 27, and César Franck’s Quintet in F Minor (1880). Performances begin at 7:00pm, September 1, at the Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor; 3:00pm, September 3, at The Clearing Folk School in Ellison Bay; 3:00pm, September 4, at the Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay; and 3:00pm, September 5, with Midsummer’s Labor Day Gala at Björklunden in Baileys Harbor. Featured musicians in this program are Oboist Lindsay Flowers, Clarinetist JJ Koh, Violinists David Perry and Eleanor Bartsch, Violist Sally Chisholm, Cellist James Waldo, and Pianist Jeannie Yu. The legendary Steve Robinson, whose 50-year career in public radio started at Boston University and eventually brought him to the general manager position at WFMT in Chicago, will be the Labor Day Gala’s special guest emcee.
A complete 2022 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com. Programs are subject to change.
Tickets are $35 for adults, $15 for students, and children 12 and under are free. Premium prices apply for salon/home concerts, dinner concerts and other special events. Flex-packs of six tickets for the price of five tickets are also available. Tickets can be ordered at www.midsummersmusic.com or by phone at 920-854-7088.
Midsummer’s Music was co-founded in 1990 by Jim and Jean Berkenstock, long-time Door County summer residents and principal orchestral players with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. What began as two concerts among friends has become one of the Midwest’s most anticipated chamber music series, bringing thousands of chamber music enthusiasts from around the globe to the magical Door County Peninsula.
For more information visit www.midsummersmusic.com.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
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For Calendar Listings:
Coffee Talks
Coffee Talk programs are free, informal presentations on music topics by ensemble members. staff, and friends.
Tuesday, August 23, 2:00pm, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay: Composer and Midsummer’s Music board member David Utzinger.
Down Home & Heavenly
Divertimento No. 10 in F Major, K. 247 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Rodeo Reina de Cielo (Rodeo Queen of Heaven) Libby Larsen
Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 25 Ferdinand Ries
Sunday, August 21, 3:00 pm, Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Wednesday, August 24, 7:00 pm, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
Thursday, August 25, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Friday, August 26, 7:00 pm, Birch Creek: Juniper Hall, Egg Harbor
Quintet Elegance
Quintet in E Major, Op. 1 Dame Ethel Smyth
Quintet in D Major, D. 956 Franz Schubert
Saturday, August 27, 7:00 pm • Salon Concert, Courtney Residence, Sister Bay
Sunday, August 28, 5:00 pm, Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Wednesday, August 31, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Friday, September 2, 7:00 pm, Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
A Date with Destenay (and Franck at 200)
Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 44 Louise Ferranc
Trio in E Minor, Op. 27 Edouard Destenay
Quintet in F Minor (1880) César Franck
Thursday, September 1, 7:00 pm, Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
Saturday, September 3, 3:00 pm, The Clearing Folk School, Ellison Bay
Sunday, September 4, 3:00 pm, Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Monday, September 5, 3:00 pm, Labor Day Gala, Björklunden, Baileys Harbor