CONCERTS IN THE VILLAGE: IT’S GRAND WITH WINDS! – Mozart, Farrenc and Poulenc conclude the Season on May 21st

On May 21st in Van Buren Hall, CITV’s Broad Street Chamber Players are joined by pianist Bethany Pietroniro in major works by Mozart, Louise Farrenc and Poulenc. Having celebrated the exciting arrival of its Steinway grand piano with the 2nd Concerto of Beethoven in February, with voices and strings in March, and with chamber music by Bridge, Debussy and Fauré in April, CITV continues its celebration in May with three sparkling works for piano and winds. This will be CITV’s 53rd concert and concludes its 2022-2023 13th Season. Mozart held his Quintet for Piano and Winds, K. 452 in very high regard, writing to his father "I myself consider it to be the best thing I have written in my life." Since its premiere in 1784, a mere two days following the work’s completion, both listeners and performers have enthusiastically agreed with Mozart’s assessment. By way of further important compliment, this quintet is also believed to be the model for Beethoven’s own wind quintet, written only 12 years later and sharing the same key and instrumentation. CITV’s performance of Louise Farrenc’s Sextet, op. 42, will be a long over-due regional first performance of this exceptional work. Farrenc was a very highly regarded pianist whose talents as a composer have only recently been widely recognized. As in the case of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Clara Schumann, her pianistic brilliance was remarkable and her fame extended throughout Europe. As a result, Farrenc was the first woman appointed to a professorship at the Paris Conservatory. Exceptionally for a woman composing in the nineteenth century, Farrenc’s large-scale works include three symphonies, of which the third was performed by CITV’s Broad Street Orchestra in 2021, and subsequently by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Springfield Symphony Orchestra. The Sextet for Piano and Winds was written in 1852, and is a work whose melodic warmth, structural brilliance and instrumental writing guarantee listener appeal. Francis Poulenc’s often spiky, even occasionally circus music-like, Sextet for the same instrumental combination was written in the early 1930’s, with revisions in 1939. It is an unquestioned favorite of audiences world-wide, and provides the perfect vigorous conclusion to “It’s Grand with Winds!” – as well as CITV’s 13th Season. Pianist Bethany Pietroniro holds degrees in piano and computer science from Peabody Conservatory and Indiana University, and has been a Collaborative Pianist at Bard. Performing extensively through the northeast, in 2022 she was a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center. Suggested contribution $ 20, with students and children free. Van Buren Hall: 6 Chatham Street (US Route 9), Kinderhook, NY 12106. Lift available. For further information visit www.concertsinthevillage.org Follow CITV on Facebook.