CONCERT | WINTER JOURNEY MEETS DESERT SCREAM
Towards the end of his life, composer Franz Schubert wrote a cycle of 24 songs (Lieder) based on poems by the German Romanticist poet Johann Wilhelm Müller that he named Winterreise (Winter journey). Originally composed for tenor voice, mezzo-soprano Isabel Pfefferkorn, accompanied by pianist Hanna Bachmann, will present the full cycle which will be juxtaposed by Pfefferkorn’s own contemporary composition entitled Wüstenschrei (Desert Scream).
PROGRAM
Wüstenschrei/Desert Scream – Isabel Pfefferkorn (*1991) – 4 min
Winterreise/Winter Journey – Franz Schubert (1797-1828) – 1 h 15 min
Isabel Pfefferkorn, mezzo-soprano
Hanna Bachmann, piano
ABOUT
Born in Austria in 1991, Isabel Pfefferkorn started violin lessons at the age of 4 before going on to study cello, piano and singing. In 2013, she received the Wagner scholarship and she was recently the youngest finalist in the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau, Germany. Isabel studied at the University of Arts in Zurich with Lina Maria Åkerlund. In 2016, she was a member of the “School of Excellence” with Margreet Honig at the Basel Music Academy. She attended masterclasses with Thomas Hampson, Angelika Kirchschlager and Christa Ludwig. As a soloist and chamber musician Isabel has appeared with several orchestras and at several festivals including the Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Vaduz Classic and Schubertiade Schwarzenberg. In addition to her classical repertoire, Isabel’s spectrum includes pop, jazz and contemporary music. In 2017, she made her debut at the Konzerthaus Wien performing Pierre Boulez’s “Le marteau sans maître“.
Being called ‘a mature personality at the piano’ by Kirill Petrenko, 1993-born Hanna Bachmann has established herself as an internationally recognized recitalist. Notably, the proud recipient of the Vorarlberg’s ‛Richard-Wagner Scholarship’ has performed numerous times at the Beethoven House Bonn, at Bonn’s ‘Beethovenfest’, at the Vienna Musikverein, at the ‘Blüthner Concert Series Vienna’ and at the well-established festival ‘Kultursommer. Semmering’. Furthermore, a graduate of the University Mozarteum Salzburg Hanna Bachmann gave her successful Americas-debut in Mexico in 2018, which included performances with the Orquesta Sinfónica de San Luis Potosí and giving a masterclass at the music faculty of the renowned UNAM. Selected highlights of the current season include a concert appearance with the orchestra Sinfonietta Vorarlberg, her debut in the Berlin Philharmonie as well as concert tours to the UK and the US. Hanna Bachmann’s second album ‘Plaisanteries’ is dedicated to the topic “humor” and was published in November 2018 by Gramola.
On May 11 at 8 pm at St John’s in the Village, 218 W 11th St, New York, Hanna Bachmann will present an additional solo piano recital featuring Beethoven’s Sonata in c minor op. 10/1, Schumann’s Sonata in g minor op. 22, and Schubert’s 4 Impromptus D899. Admission is free.
Image Credit: Nancy Horowitz (Hanna Bachmann)/Leo Stopfer (Isabel Pfefferkorn)