Richard Goode, piano
Of Richard Goode's career and excellence, little need be said. Suffice it to note that he is one of the elite players of our time. His performances and recordings possess dignity, nobility, and a sincerity that honors the composers whose music he plays. His Middlebury program features works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven (Sonatas 26 and 27), and Debussy (the first book of the preludes) on Tuesday, January 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Tickets are $12/10/5 and are available through the Box Office.
Vienna Piano Trio
Wolfgang Redik, violin, Matthias Gredler, cello, and Stefan Mendl, piano, formed the Vienna Piano Trio in 1988, and have studied with the Guarneri Quartet, Isaac Stern, and the Beaux Arts Trio. The trio has performed in Europe and North America, presenting concerts at Lincoln Center, the National Gallery in Washington, the Schubertiade Schwarzenburg, the Kuhmo Festival in Finland, and the Musikverein in Vienna. They have recorded Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Dvořák. Their Middlebury program will consist of two of the towering masterpieces of piano trio literature, Schubert's trio in B-flat Major, D. 898, and Beethoven's Archduke, also in B-flat Major.
The Vienna Piano Trio performs in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall on Friday, February 11, at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $12/10/5 and are on sale at the Box Office.
Paul Lewis, piano
Performing Arts Series Director Paul Nelson and his wife, Jennifer, first heard Paul Lewis a number of years ago. Their colleagues had praised Lewis profusely; so when the Nelsons had the chance to hear him at Wigmore Hall in London, they went with high expectations. They were not disappointed. Says Paul, "The prospect of hearing him play all of Beethoven's sonatas at Middlebury was irresistible: an admirable young pianist, surveying all the sonatas of the composer who first moved us to love piano music."
In this, the first of his eight programs of Beethoven sonatas at Middlebury, Lewis plays Sonatas nos. 16, 17, 18, and 24. This concert takes place on Friday, February 18, at 8:00 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Tickets are $12/10/5 and are available through the Center for the Arts Box Office. A pre-performance dinner is held at Rehearsals Cafe at 6:30 p.m. that evening; reservations are required.
Steven Osborne, piano
The recital by pianist Steven Osborne in March holds special promise for two reasons: because of the pianist and because of the music.
Hearing Olivier Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jésus is a rare event in concertgoing: only a few pianists of our time ever program this work. Two hours long, it is an outpouring of rhapsodic, mystical, obsessive, melodic genius. Osborne's recording of this work has won high praise. A Japanese record magazine wrote, "What distinguishes Osborne's new recording from the numerous previous recordings is its spirituality . . . the stillness and glory of its pianissimos are awe inspiring." Osborne is a star in the European piano world.
Osborne's Middlebury concert takes place on Friday, March 11, at 8:00 p.m. in the Concert Hall. A pre-performance dinner at Rehearsals Cafe begins at 6:30 p.m. For tickets ($12/10/5) or reservations, please contact the Center for the Arts Box Office.