Beethoven Festival: A Classical Festival To Call Our Own

By Alexander Hough in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 6, 2012 6:20PM

Chicago’s new-music scene is simmering, and this was seen in microcosm on a recent Saturday night as people filled High Concept Labs, the unmarked building kitty-corner from the Hideout, to hear a performance of local composer Jenna Lyle's frenetic, infectious works. Many of the attendees (myself included) were taking a break from preparing for the eighth blackbird-led Chicago premiere of John Luther Adams's massive Inuksuit that was taking place the following day. Chicago is having it both ways, with the independent avant-garde coexisting with an ambitious staging by a Grammy-winning group of a work by an established composer.

But that cooperation and energy isn't limited to contemporary music, and there’s no better indication of that than pianist George Lepauw’s Beethoven Festival, which begins this Saturday. After a successful five-day inaugural run last fall in Pilsen, the Beethoven Festival has almost doubled in size to become nine days filled with 60+ multidisciplinary events. Drawing on local talent as well as burgeoning national and international acts, Chicago now has a substantial (and hopefully regular) classical music festival that can rival those on the coasts.

There’ll be plenty of music by the man himself - the opening night features Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (James Ehnes, soloist) and Second Symphony and the closing night has Chicago’s first full staging of the ballet Creatures of Prometheus, with lots of chamber and solo music in between - but there will also be music from a range of composers spanning from Beethoven’s contemporaries to those writing today, as well as rock, folk, and pop (singers premiere songs inspired by Beethoven), jazz and blues (Ernest Dawkins and Jimmy Burns), and dance music (an “exploration of dance forms from the middle ages to 2012” scheduled to run from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. late Saturday night). All acts tie into "revolution," the festival’s theme this year.

With so much great stuff to see, it's a bit overwhelming. Tickets are sold as day ($30), multi-day (3-day is $80, 5-day is $120), or festival-long ($200) passes - since you have to go all-in on a day, here are our recommendations:

Tuesday, September 11: Music by composer Mohammed Fairouz, a Rachel Barton Pine recital, and an aggressive late night program by dal niente, who recently returned victorious from Darmstadt, are the highlights, but don't overlook the pair of Beethoven piano sonatas and the program by the Lincoln Trio.

Wednesday, September 12: If only because someone's finally feting Conlon Nancarrow's overlooked centenary. Stéphane Tétreault's performances are also worth checking out.

Thursday, September 13: Debut appearance by pianists HJ Lim and James Rhodes, plus a late night performance of all of Bach's Brandenburg Concerti.

Friday, September 14: We didn't love Jacob TV's foray into opera, but his shorter boombox pieces are wildly entertaining. Fulcrum Point throws in some Stockhausen for good measure. We're also curious by the Rockatelle Project, as well as to hear what Thomas Jefferson's jams were. And local favorites Spektral Quartet and Anaphora are always good bets.

Saturday, September 15: We honestly don't know what that dance party is going to be like, but we might sneak in a good afternoon nap so we can stay up past our bedtimes to find out. Ostertag's Living Cinema and the cross-genre jam session are also good draws.

Sunday, September 16: Finally seeing Creatures of Prometheus will be great, but we're also interested in the deconstruction of Beethoven's Eroica.

It hasn't escaped our attention that we just recommended every day but the first Sunday and Monday, and it's not like those days are uninteresting. Whichever day(s) you choose, you won't go wrong, so grab some passes and check it out.

Full schedule after the jump.

Saturday, September 8
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Grand Piano Haus
Masterclass with pianist Gabriele Baldocci
Featuring select Chicago students

7:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Great Hall
GRAND OPENING CONCERT
Featuring James Ehnes, violin, Daniel Boico, conductor, and the Beethoven Festival Orchestra
David Winkler - Festival Overture (World Premiere)
Beethoven - Violin Concerto in D Major
Beethoven - Coriolan Overture
Beethoven - Second Symphony

Sunday, September 9
1:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Prometheus Ensemble
Featuring Mayuko Kamio, winner of 2007 Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition,
Aurelien Pederzoli, violin, Dave Moss, viola, James Giles, piano, and Gabriel Cabezas, cello
Leclair - Sonata For Two Violins No. 1
Beethoven - String Trio in C Minor Opus 9 No. 3
Leclair - Sonata For Two VIolins No. 5
Shostakovich - Piano Quintet in G Minor Opus 57

3:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Wayward Sisters
"Patronized: Music, Patrons, and Power in Tudor England"

5:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
James Ehnes, violin, and Andrew Armstrong, piano
Beethoven - Violin Sonata No. 8 in G Major Opus 30 Nr. 3
Beethoven - Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major Opus 24 (“Spring”)
Beethoven - Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major Opus 47 (“Kreutzer”)

8:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Gabriele Baldocci, piano
Beethoven/Liszt - Symphony No. 1 in C Major Opus 21
Beethoven/Liszt - Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major (“Eroica”)

10:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Anthony Molinaro, piano
"Beatles & Imagine Project" (World Premiere arrangements by Anthony Molinaro)

Monday, September 10
12:15 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center
SPEAKER SERIES moderated by Elysabeth Alfano of Fear No ART
Featuring raw food revolutionary Karyn Calabrese and Damien Mahiet, French Revolution Scholar

3:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Fine Arts Quartet
Schubert - String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D 810 ("Death and the Maiden")

4:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
New Millennium Orchestra
Featuring Chamber Music of Beethoven’s Contemporaries
Cherubini
Albrechtsburger
Hummel
Haydn

6:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Surprises

8:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Fine Arts Quartet
Haydn - String Quartet in F Major Opus 77 No. 2
Shostakovich - String Quartet No.1 Opus 49
Beethoven - String Quartet in F Major Opus 18 No. 1

11:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Dan Tepfer, piano
Bach/Tepfer - Goldberg Variations / Variations (Original Bach variations followed by Tepfer’s own variations)

Tuesday, September 11
12:15 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, Garland Room
SPEAKER SERIES moderated by Elysabeth Alfano of Fear No ART
Featuring Ted Seymour, Choreographer of the “Creatures of Prometheus”
and Nick Bowling, Director of Timeline Theatre’s “33 Variations”

3:00 p.m.
Pianoforte Recital Hall, Fine Arts Buildling
Masterclass with pianist-scholar Anthony Molinaro and violinist Rachel Kolly d’Alba
Featuring select Chicago students

3:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Prometheus Ensemble
Mohammed Fairouz - Violin Sonata (Chicago Premiere)
Mohammed Fairouz - Furiaa (Chicago Premiere)

4:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Nicholas Roth, piano
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 Opus 13 ("Pathetique")
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 12 Opus 26 ("Funeral March")

6:00pm
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Lincoln Trio
Rose Armbrust Griffin, viola
Prometheus Ensemble
Mischa Zupko - Occupy Piano Quartet
Lera Auerbach - Piano Trio
Shulamit Ran - Mirage
Schoenberg - Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte Opus 41

8:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Bach - Partita No. 2 in D Minor
Fairouz - Sonata for Solo Violin
Locatelli - Caprice from Sonata Op. 6 No. 12 in D
Rudolf Haken - Faust, dedicated to Rachel Barton Pine (World Premiere)
Nathan Scalzone - Mourning Dove, dedicated to Rachel Bbarton Pine (World Premiere)
Paganini - Nel Cor Piu Non Mi Sento

11:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
ensemble dal niente - Winners of the 2012 Kranichsteiner Musikpreis Darmstadt
Evan Johnson - die bewegung der augen (North American Premiere)
Salvatore Sciarrino - Vanitas, still life in one act

Wedneday, September 12
12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, Garland Room
SPEAKER SERIES moderated by Elysabeth Alfano of Fear No ART
Featuring James Rhodes and HJ Lim

3:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Stéphane Tétreault, cello (first U.S. appearance)
Bach - Suite for Solo Violoncello in G Major

Soheil Nasseri
Beethoven - 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119

Rachel Kolly d’Alba, violin (first Chicago appearance)
Featuring Winston Choi, piano
Lekeu - Violin Sonata in G Major

4:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Cage & Nancarrow Centenary Homages
Featuring Kuang-Hao Huang, piano, Julia Bentley, voice, Winston Choi, piano
Conlon Nancarrow - Two Canons for Ursula
John Cage - Aria, Five Songs for Contralto on ee cummings
John Cage - Excerpts from Four Dances (1943) for voice, piano and percussion

6:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Prometheus Ensemble
Works of Beethoven

8:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Rachel Kolly d’Alba, violin
Ysaye - Six Solo Violin Sonatas

10:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Stéphane Tétreault, cello, and George Lepauw, piano
Shostakovich - Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op. 40
Prokofiev - Adagio for cello & piano (from the Ballet "Cinderella"), Op. 97 bis

Thursday, September 13
12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, Garland Room
SPEAKER SERIES moderated by Elysabeth Alfano of Fear No ART
Featuring Social and Cultural Activist Josephine Lee and George Lepauw, Artistic Director of Beethoven Festival

3:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Inna Faliks, piano
Beethoven - Fantasy in G Minor Op. 77
Beethoven - Variations and Fugue for Piano in E Flat Major, Op. 35 “Eroica Variations”
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111

4:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Soheil Nasseri, piano
Michael Hersch - The Vanishing Pavilions (Chicago premiere)
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101
Beethoven - Polonaise in C Major, Op. 89
Brahms - Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24

5:00 p.m.
Pianoforte Recital Hall, Fine Arts Building
Masterclass with clarinetist Julian Bliss
Featuring select Chicago students

6:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
HJ Lim, piano (first Chicago appearance)
Featuring Spektral Quartet
Mozart - Concerto No. 12 A Major K414

Rachel Kolly d’Alba, violin, and Gabriele Baldocci, piano
Busoni - Violin Sonata No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 36a

8:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
James Rhodes, piano (first U.S. appearance)
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90
Schubert - Sonata for Piano No. 13 in A Major, D664
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”

11:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Prometheus Ensemble
Bach - All Six Brandenburg Concerti

Friday, September 14
12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center, Garland Room
SPEAKER SERIES moderated by Elysabeth Alfano of Fear No ART
Featuring Beethoven Festival Art and Music Curators Catinca Tabacaru, Mischa Zupko, and Joe Darnaby

3:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Julian Bliss, clarinet (first Chicago Appearance)
Featuring Bradley Moore, piano
Schumann - Fantasiestuck Op. 73

Callipygian Players
A Revolutionary’s Music: Sonatas from the collection of Thomas Jefferson
Vivaldi, Corelli, Geminiani, Tessarini, Thumoth

4:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Amit Peled, cello, and Anthony Molinaro, piano
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102 No. 2
Beethoven - Seven Variations on “Bei Mannern, welche Liebe fuhlen” for Cello and Piano, WoO 46
Brahms - Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99

6:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Julian Bliss, clarinet, and Bradley Moore, piano
Milhaud - Sonatine for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 100
Penderecki - Three Miniatures for Clarinet and Piano
Brahms - Sonata for Piano and Clarinet No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 120 No. 1
Baermann - Adagio, Op. 23
Debussy - Premiere Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Piano
Prokofiev - Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in D Major, Op. 94

8 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Spektral Quartet and Anaphora Ensemble
Featuring HJ Lim, Rachel Kolly d'Alba, and George Lepauw
Beethoven - String Quartet in C Major Op. 59 No. 3
Hans Thomalla - Albumblatt (2010)
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 23
Mozart - Concerto in F for Three Pianos and Orchestra, No. 7 K242

11:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Fulcrum Point New Music Project
Jacob TV - The Body of Your Dreams
Jacob TV - The Garden of Love
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Aries
Jacob TV - Pimpin’
Jacob TV - I Was Like Wow!
Jacob TV - Grab it!

12:30 a.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Rockatelle Project
Curated by Joe Darnaby and Mischa Zupko
Over a half dozen rock bands, folk, and pop singers perform world premiere songs inspired by Beethoven and the myth of Prometheus

Saturday, September 15
12:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Unofficial Freedom
“The Russian Bard Movement” - A Poetic, Visual, and Sound Experience
Curated by Anya Yermakova
Various Guest Artists
An exploration of the world of Russian Author Songs. Born in the post-Stalin years of “Thaw”, this narrative tradition seeks to this day, in the Russian diaspora as well as in Russia itself, to color a world of perpetual grey with defense of lost virtues. Holding nature as the focus for human reference, at times expressing political satire, at others highlighting the simple beauty of sincerity, this beatnik-like tradition mirrors Prometheus’s own search for spiritual freedom and universal truths.

1:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
PUBLIC READING: Percy Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound
Various guest readers

3:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
George Lepauw, piano, David Taylor, violin, and Katinka Kleijn, cello
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 1 in D Major, Op. 12 No. 1
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 1 in F Major, Op. 5 No. 1
Beethoven - Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30 No. 2

4:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Avalon Quartet
Beethoven - String Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 18 No. 6
Beethoven - String Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 130 (With Grosse Fuge)

6:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Mikolaj Gorecki Project
Featuring Prometheus Ensemble and Kaia Quartet
Composer Mikolaj Gorecki, son of HeNoyk Gorecki, will curate his best works for the very first time in Chicago, with introduction by the talented and multidimensional composer
Six Bagatelles for Violin, Cello and Piano
Overture for String Quartet
Gościu, siądź pod mum liściem for a capella chorus
Concerto-Notturno for Violin and String Orchestra

8:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Great Hall
#NoyJustBeethoven
Featuring HJ Lim, Ernest Dawkins Band, and Jimmy Burns Band
Beethoven - Hammerklavier Sonata
Ernest Dawkins Band
Jimmy Burns Band - Delta Blues
Closing Jam

11:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Living Cinema
Featuring Bob Ostertag and Pierre Hebert
Living Cinema is a live show that combines sounds and image made on site and addressing current social-political issues.

12:00 a.m. - 4:00 a.m.
Dance Revolution
Curated by Dominic Johnson
Featuring MC Zulu, DJ Searchl1te, Tom LaPorte, Gordon Kimmel, Old Town School of Folk Music, Joey Stone, and members of Prometheus Ensemble
An interactive performance/lecture/dance party exploring the social dance continuum from 1066 to 2012. Featuring guest artists from the CSO, Old Town School of Folk Music, Prometheus Ensemble and the Chicago underground electronic music world. Hear Beethoven, dance a contradanse, and revel in bass-driven electronic glitch, techno, and dubstep with live visuals and instrumentation.

Sunday, September 16
12:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
STUDENT SHOWCASE
Featuring the talented student participants from the Beethoven Festival: REVOLUTION 2012 Masterclass series

1:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Bagatelle Project - Deconstructing Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony
Featuring 19 World Premieres
Curated by Mischa Zupko
Featuring Pianists George Lepauw, James Giles, Mischa Zupko, Daniel Schlosberg, Anthony Molinaro, Matthew Hagle
19 eminent composers from around the world will present their brand new 3-minute bagatelles for solo piano exploring the themes of Beethoven Eroica Symphony

3:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
Pre-Show Conversation: The Creatures of Prometheus
Featuring pre-eminent scholars Dr. William Kinderman and Jennifer Homans

4:30 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Great Hall
GRAND FINALE CLOSING CONCERT
Featuring Matthias Pintscher, conductor; Josephine Lee, conductor; George Lepauw, piano; Ted Seymour, choreographer; Joffrey Ballet’s Abigail Simon and Ogulcan Borova; Ballet Chicago; Chicago Children’s Choir; Beethoven Festival Orchestra
Beethoven - The Creatures of Prometheus (Chicago Premiere)
Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)
Beethoven - Choral Fantasy

8:00 p.m.
National Pastime Theater, Mason Hall
CLOSING PARTY & CELEBRATION