The Custom House has so much to offer: a glimpse into Newburyport’s maritime beginnings, beautiful architecture, and amazing acoustics, to name just a few. All of these attributes come together on Friday 11-11-11 for the Custom House Maritime Museum’s unforgettable Black-Tie evening in collaboration with the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival, Masters of Turbulence: A Dark and Stormy Night with Ensemble Epomeo.
The evening promises to be memorable to the last detail and note. David Yang’s String Trio, Ensemble Epomeo, returns to Newburyport with, “A program of intensely emotional works from three composers who endured the most tortured epoch of the modern era; Hans Krasa, Hans Gal and Alfred Schnittke caught in the maelstrom of history.” It will be an intimate evening of Champagne, hors d’oeuvres and breathtaking, stormy music from three composers who saw too much.
The evening begins at 6:30pm with a reception and performance highlights with David Yang. The concert program will start with Hans Krasa’s Tanz “Dance” and Passacaglia and Fuga followed by Hans Gal String Trio, Opus 104: Tranquillo con moto, Presto, and Tema con variazioni. After intermission and refreshments, Alfred Schnittke’s String Trio (1985): Moderato and Adagio. Performers will then join guests for a lavish array of desserts. For more information about the composers, please see their biographies below.
The venue and performance will be complemented with an equally elegant catered reception including Filet Mignon, lemon tarragon asparagus, mushroom tart and caviar dip, shrimp with chile-mayo, sour cream-horseradish and parsley pesto. Also, Cranberry Chevre, Camembert and Cremont cheeses. There will be a full selection of wines, distinctive Harpoon beers and other beverages.
Details:
- This Friday, 11-11-11
- Tickets $50 per person – Black-Tie Suggested
- Limited Seating – For reservations call 978-462-8681 or stop by the Custom House Gift Shop
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Biographies:
Hans Krasa was the pre-eminent Czech composer of the first half of the 20th Century. With his country under occupation, he was arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and, with other Jews, perished in Auschwitz. This is his last work, written in the camps, marked by a fierce driving pulse throughout.
Hans Gal was the leading Viennese composer of his generation. Hitler’s rise saw him flee for his life, eventually winding up in an internment camp in Britain where he was rescued by a colleague in a freak stroke of luck. Gal’s music is passionate and heart-felt and full of long, lovely melodies.
Russian Alfred Schnittke spent his life under the oppressive thumb of the Soviet System. Deeply influenced by the music of Bach and the Middle Ages, his work is characterized by references to the past while punctuated with intensely sonic outbursts – echoes of so talented an artist struggling to find his voice under a deeply oppressive regime.
