LIED: THE ART OF SONG | CONCERT | WOLFGANG HOLZMAIR & SONIA WIEDER-ATHERTON
The Austrian Cultural Forum is very pleased to be able to present a concert featuring the inimitable Austrian baritone Wolfgang Holzmair and renowned French-American cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton. This concert is part of the ACFNY;s ongoing series, Lied: The Art of Song.
Wolfgang Holzmair, who is a longtime collaborator of the ACFNY – one of last year’s highlights was his master class with NYC-area vocal students -, has had a distinuished career as a Lieder soloist and Opera engagements around the world. Sonia Wieder-Atherton has performed with the world’s most renowned orchestras, with a long list of compositions having been dedicated to her. Together, these two extraordinary artists will perform works by Bach and Schubert, as well as two world premieres of contemporary compositions by Lori Laitman and David Leisner – both of whom will be personally present for this special concert.
This is the second performance of tonight’s concert. Another concert is scheduled for 6:30 PM, due to high demand. Tickets are available >> here.
PROGRAM
Lori Laitman (2010) – Todesfuge (Paul Celan; sung in English; world premiere)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1720) – Suite no.2 in d minor BWV 1008 for cello solo: Prelude, Allemande, Courante
Franz Schubert (1816) (arranged by Franck Krawczyk) – Gesänge des Harfners op.12 (Goethe: Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt, An die Türen will ich schleichen, Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1720) – Suite no.2: Sarabande, Menuet 1&2, Gigue
David Leisner (2011) – Das wunderbare Wesen (The Miraculous Essence; from Tao te Ching by Lao Tzu; German translation by Richard Wilhelm; world premiere)
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Acclaimed Austrian baritone Wolfgang Holzmair was born in Vöcklabruck/Austria and studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Particularly noted for his intelligent and committed performances of Lieder, Wolfgang Holzmair has sung recitals throughout the world. His operatic repertoire includes Papageno (Magic Flute), Eisenstein (Fledermaus), Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier, Don Alfonso (Cosi), the Music Master in Ariadne in Madrid, Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Eduard (Neues vom Tage by Hindemith), Demetrius (A Midsummernight’s Dream, Britten), and the Father (Hansel and Gretel), as performed on a recent Japan tour with Seiji Ozawa. In 2010/11 he is singing Masino in Haydn’s La vera costanza in concert performances in Cologne. Future plans include Agamemnon (Iphigenie in Aulis by Gluck/Wagner) in Bayreuth.
In addition to his operatic work, Holzmair is also in high demand on the concert platform; he has sung with leading European and American orchestras, such as the Israel Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Cleveland, Concertgebouw Orchestras, etc., under eminent conductors, including Blomstedt, Boulez, Chailly, von Dohnany, Harnoncourt, Norrington, and Ozawa. Since 1998 he has taught lied and oratorio at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and has given master classes in Europe and North America.
He has long been committed to bringing attention to the “Entartete” composers who suffered under the Nazi regime and has recorded lieder by Hanns Eisler, Franz Mittler, Erich Zeisl, Ernst Krenek, Franz Schreker and composers from Theresienstadt. In January 2012 he appeared in several concerts at New York’s 92Y, which celebrated the music of Theresienstadt.
For more information please visit: http://wolfgangholzmair.com/
As an interpreter of a very broad repertoire reflecting her imaginative world, a designer of projects, and a musician sought after by many contemporary composers, French-American cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton occupies a special place on today’s musical scene. She has played as a soloist with the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre National de France, the Belgian Orchestre National, the Liège Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the NDR Hanover Orchestra, the REMIX Ensemble, Les Siècles, Asko/Schönberg, and many others. Wieder-Atherton has performed under the baton of conductors such as Louis Langrée, Marc Minkowski, Lawrence Foster, Alain Altinoglu, Janos Furst, Pascal Rophé, Matthias Pinscher, Günter Neuhold, François-Xavier Roth, Hervé Niquet, Nathalie Stutzmann, Reinbert de Leeuw, among others.
Recognizing in Sonia Wieder-Atherton one of the most dynamic musical personalities of our time, the Académie des Beaux-Arts bestowed on her the “Grand Prix Del Duca” in 1999. In May of 2011, Sonia Wieder-Atherton received the Art prize of the Bernheim Foundation, an award that every year recognizes – in each of the three domains: the arts, the humanities and science – a recipient whose work is exceptionally innovative. Today her concerts and stagings are increasingly in demand throughout the world.
For more information please visit: http://soniawiederatherton.com/
ABOUT THE COMPOSERS
Lori Laitman is one of America’s most prolific and widely performed composers of vocal music. She has composed two operas, an oratorio, choral works, and over 200 songs, setting to music the words of classical and contemporary poets, among them the lost voices of poets who perished in the Holocaust. Laitman’s music continues to gain recognition worldwide. In July 2012 her Todesfuge will be performed at Wigmore Hall in London by baritone Wolfgang Holzmair (who commissioned this setting of Paul Celan’s words in 2009) and cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton. The Grove Dictionary of American Music will include an entry on Laitman in their 2012 edition. Lori Laitman graduated magna cum laude from Yale College and received her Master of Music degree from The Yale School of Music.
For more information, please visit artsongs.com or scarletletteropera.com.
Fanfare magazine described the music of David Leisner as “rich in invention and melody, emotionally direct, and beautiful”. His music has been performed worldwide by such eminent artists as Sanford Sylvan, Paul Sperry, Juliana Gondek, Susan Narucki, D’Anna Fortunato, Patrick Mason, Eugenia Zukerman, David Starobin, Benjamin Verdery, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Cavatina Duo, Arc Duo, as well as orchestras around the US. An extensive discography includes the much-praised Cedille CD, Acrobats, performed by the Cavatina Duo; his compositions are published mostly by Theodore Presser Co. Recent works and commissions include Das wunderbare Wesen for baritone Wolfgang Holzmair and solo cello, A Timeless Procession for Holzmair and string quartet, Vision of Orpheus for the St. Lawrence Quartet and Leisner, Embrace of Peace for the Fairfield Orchestra, and Battlefield Requiem for cellist Laurence Lesser and the New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble. Leisner also maintains a busy career as a concert guitarist, and is currently the co-chair of the guitar department at the Manhattan School of Music.
For more information, please visit: http://www.davidleisner.com/
VENUE
ACFNY