Midsummer’s Music, Wisconsin’s oldest summer chamber music series, continues its 2024 concert season with a program featuring two string quintet masterpieces by composers Johannes Brahms and Max Bruch, alongside a string quartet by lesser-known composer Adalbert Gyrowetz, who was a highly regarded master of the Viennese style of the classical period. One of the four concerts is the only remaining Salon Concert of the season, hosted by Gretchen Courtney and Ed Reschka at their home in Sister Bay, while the other three concerts will be at venues in Egg Harbor, Sturgeon Bay, and Sister Bay.
When Brahms wrote his second string quintet, he thought it was a perfect way to end his career, though he later was coaxed into creating a few more by a wonderful clarinetist. It is powerful, charming, intense, light-hearted, and – especially in its Hungarian flavored finale – exuberant. When someone suggested that the famous Prater in Vienna, a favorite amusement park of Brahms, might have inspired the effervescent nature of this work, Brahms replied, “Yes, and the delightful girls there, too.” Bruch’s masterpiece is also a late work not published until after his death. This composer of the famous Scottish Fantasy and Violin Concerto excels once again in this deeply felt companion piece to the Brahms. These concerts present a rare opportunity to hear both of these sumptuous romantic string masterpieces together. The program begins with Gyrowetz’s Flute Quartet in D Major, Op. 11, No. 1, the first of a set of three quartets dating from 1795 that were quite popular in his day.
The final Salon Concert of the season is August 2 at the home of Gretchen Courtney and Ed Reschka. Their custom home, which boasts an ample concert space, is tucked cozily into the woods. A porch leads to a large deck, where concertgoers can enjoy nature in a beautiful setting. Consummate hosts, the couple promises a grand gourmet reception where concertgoers can mix and mingle with the musicians. Seating is limited. Ticket buyers will be given the exact address.
Bruch and Brahms program musicians are flutist Heather Zinninger, violinists David Perry, Suzanne Beia, and Ann Palen, violists Catherine Lynn and Allyson Fleck, and cellist Paula Kosower.
Concerts are 5:00pm, July 28, at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor, sponsored by the Jean Berkenstock Family Fund; 7:00pm, August 2, at the Courtney/Reschka residence in Sister Bay, sponsored by Gretchen Courtney & Ed Reschka, with supporting sponsor Nicolet Bank; 7:00pm, August 3, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay, Sponsored by George & Julie Fiedler; and 5:00pm, August 4, at Hope United Church of Christ in Sturgeon Bay, sponsored by Sandy Zingler and featuring Door County poet Stephanie Trenchard. The 2024 concert series is sponsored by the Jean Berkenstock Family Fund and the Susan DeWitt Davie Legacy Fund, and the season is dedicated to the memory of Jean Berkenstock.
A complete 2024 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com.
Tickets are $39 for adults, $19 for students, and children 12 and under are free with an adult. Premium prices apply for the Salon Concert and other special events. Flex Packs of six tickets for the price of five tickets are also available. Order tickets 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.
Heather Zinninger (credit Margaret Butler): https://midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/h-yarmel-7.jpg
Other high-resolution photos can be downloaded at https://www.midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
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For Calendar Listings:
Bach to the Future
Selections from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 Johann Sebastian Bach
Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 [Will Healy, arr.] Johann Sebastian Bach
Root Position (MM Commission, 2023/2024) Will Healy
Selections Featuring Will Healy and George Meyer
July 18, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 19, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
July 21, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Grieg Piano Concerto and Jeannie Yu
Crisantemi Giacomo Puccini
Quartet in G Minor, Op. 14 (1860) Emilie Mayer
Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 [Per Tengstrand, arr.] Edvard Grieg
July 20, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 25, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 26, 5:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
July 27, 7:00 pm: Muse, Sturgeon Bay
Bruch and Brahms
Quartet in D Major, Op. 11, No. 1 (1795) Adalbert Gyrowetz
Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. Posthumous (1918) Max Bruch
Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 Johannes Brahms
July 28, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
August 2, 7:00 pm: Courtney/Reschka Salon Concert with Grand Reception, Sister Bay
August 3, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
August 4, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
Romance and Rapture
Obsidian, rippled, moonlight, gleams (2019) Sakari Dixon Vanderveer
Quintet No. 2 in C Major, Op. 124 Mélanie Bonis
Sextet in C Major, Op. 37 (1935) Ernst von Dohnányi
August 27, 7:00 pm: Birch Creek Music Performance Center, Egg Harbor
August 28, 7:00 pm: Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
August 31, 3:00 pm: The Clearing Folk School, Ellison Bay
Beethoven Septet
Sextet (1898) John Ireland
Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 Ludwig van Beethoven
August 29, 5:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
August 30, 7:00 pm: Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
September 1, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
David Perry, Jeannie Yu: Chausson Concerto!
Quintet in F Major (1905) Théodore Dubois
Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21 Ernest Chausson
August 25, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
September 2, 3:00 pm: Labor Day Gala, Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
“Under the Harvest Moon” with Eric Lewis and the Griffon String Quartet
Song selections will be autumn-themed, along with pieces from the Beneath the Waves CD by Eric Lewis and the Griffon String Quartet
September 13, 7:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
September 14, 3:00 pm: Trueblood Performing Arts Center, Washington Island
September 15, 7:00 pm: Tarleton Threatre, Green Bay