Midsummer’s Music, Wisconsin’s oldest summer chamber music series, continues its 2023 concert season with a sumptuous program featuring electrifying string quintets by Felix Mendelssohn and Michael Haydn – Franz Joseph Haydn’s much-neglected younger brother – along with a beautifully evocative oboe quartet by British composer Ernest John Moeran.
Moeran’s Phantasy Quartet for oboe and string trio stars Lindsay Flowers, the principal oboist of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and English hornist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra. The piece is one longer movement but consists of two larger sections with frequent changes of tempo, harmonic center, and melodic material within each section.
The String Quintet in C Major, P. 108, for two violins, two violas, and cello by Michael Haydn was, at one point, thought to have been written by Joseph Haydn, but Joseph never wrote a string quintet. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, on the other hand, knew of many of Michael’s works and thought very highly of them. It is likely that Michael’s pieces for string quintet spurred the interest that Mozart showed for the form later in life.
Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87, for two violins, two violas, and cello was written in 1845, only two years before the composer’s untimely death. The violin launches the whole enterprise with something resembling a Mannheim rocket—a rapidly rising figure of great energy and trajectory. By the finale, Mendelssohn demonstrates his understanding of string writing and his love of interesting string composition that was with him from the age of 12 until the end of his life.
In addition to Flowers, program musicians are David Perry and Ann Palen, violins, Allyson Fleck and Kyla Patrick, violas, and Mara McClain, cello.
Performances are 7:00pm, July 20, at Old Gibraltar Town Hall in Fish Creek, sponsored by Stefan & Joan Anderson; 7:00pm, July 22, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay; 5:00pm, July 23, at Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor, sponsored by Peter & Beverly Ann Conroy; and 7:00pm, July 26, at Sister Bay Moravian Church in Sister Bay, sponsored in part by Peery & Mary Ann Duderstadt.
A complete 2023 summer brochure can be downloaded at www.midsummersmusic.com.
Tickets are $38 for adults, $17 for students, and children 12 and under are free with an adult. Premium prices apply for 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://www.midsummersmusic.com/photos/.
Lindsay Flowers: https://midsummersmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Lindsay-Flowers-Koh-LargeWeb.jpg
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For Calendar Listings:
Brahms in the Spotlight
Movements for String Quartet Nkeiru Okoye
Quintet in G Major Sir Arthur Somervell
String Quintet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 88, “Spring” Johannes Brahms
July 7, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
July 8, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 9, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
Eric Lewis Meets Will Healy
Door County favorite Eric Lewis joins forces with Midsummer’s own Composer-in-Residence Will Healy to create a truly one-of-a-kind program. Being presented only twice, you do not want to miss a single note of this incredible collaboration, including a world premiere by Will!
July 13, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 14, 7:00 pm: Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church, Ellison Bay
Emperor Concerto & Jeannie Yu
Quartet in D Major, Op. 8 Bernhard Henrik Crusell
Symphony No. 95 in C Minor (Salomon arr.) Joseph Haydn
Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73, “Emperor” (Lachner arr.) Ludwig van Beethoven
July 15, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 16, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
July 19, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 21, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
Haydn (Michael) & Mendelssohn
String Quintet in C Major, P. 108 Michael Haydn
Phantasy Quartet Ernest John Moeran
Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87 Felix Mendelssohn
July 20, 7:00 pm: Old Gibraltar Town Hall, Fish Creek
July 22, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 23, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
July 26, 7:00 pm: Sister Bay Moravian Church, Sister Bay
Schubert Trio
Piano Trio No. 2 Dmytro Klebanov
Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat, D. 898 Franz Schubert
July 27, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
July 28, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
July 29, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
July 30, 5:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
19th Century French Rapture
Quintet in C Minor, Op. 42 Louis Vierne
Quintet No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 7 Charles-Marie Widor
August 23, 7:00 pm: Hope United Church of Christ, Sturgeon Bay
August 24, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
August 25, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
August 26, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
Splendid Stories
Four Two-Bit Contraptions Jan Bach
En Saga, Op. 9 (Gregory Barrett arr.) Jean Sibelius
Quintet in G Major, Op. 77 Antonín Dvořák
August 27, 5:00 pm: Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor
August 29, 7:00 pm: Björklunden, Baileys Harbor
August 30, 7:00 pm: Mutchler Residence Salon Concert, Sturgeon Bay
August 31, 7:00 pm: Donald & Carol Kress Pavilion, Egg Harbor
September 3, 3:00 pm: The Clearing Folk School, Ellison Bay
Celebratory Fireworks!
Piano Quartet in D Minor, Op. 25 Dora Pejacevic
Café Music Paul Schoenfeld
Piano Quartet in C Minor, Op. 13 Richard Strauss
September 1, 7:00 pm: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim
September 2, 7:00 pm: St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Sister Bay
September 4, 3:00 pm: Labor Day Gala, Björklunden, Baileys Harbor