MARLBORO — Marlboro Music's 75 resident artists celebrate their summer's exploration of more than 200 works with three remarkable concerts at Persons Auditorium on the season's final weekend, Aug. 15-17.
The Friday, Aug. 15, at 8:30 p.m. concert is extra, and offers one of the best and least-often-heard works for woodwinds: Mozart's Serenade in B flat, K. 361 for 13 winds, “Gran Partita.”
Notably, this will be Marlboro's second performance of the revered work since 1981.
The program includes the Brahms String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2. Three exceptional young string players join cellist Paul Katz of the Cleveland Quartet, a leading ensemble among several with Marlboro roots.
A third of this summer's exploration was of the works of 20th and 21st century composers, including three by 2014 Resident Composer Kaija Saariaho.
The concerts are the culmination of Marlboro Music's 64th season.
Internationally renowned wind players, including principals from the Cleveland Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony, will join with some of the country's top young professionals to share the musicians' explorations.
On Saturday, Aug. 16, at 8:30 p.m., legendary pianist and conductor Leon Fleisher leads a performance of the Bartok Divertimento for Strings. It is only the second time that the Bartok will be performed at Marlboro. The first was in 1974 with Sándor Végh.
The program includes another great Mozart work for winds: the Quintet in E flat for Piano and Winds, K.452 and Vaughan Williams' “On Wenlock Edge” for tenor, string quartet, and piano.
Artistic Director Mitsuko Uchida is soloist, with Fleisher conducting the Marlboro Orchestra and Chorus in the traditional closing performance of the Beethoven “Choral Fantasy” Op. 80 on Sunday, Aug. 17, at 2:30 p.m.
This exultation brings together the whole Marlboro community with musicians, staff, and family members playing in the orchestra or singing in the chorus - which includes innkeepers, ushers, and members of the audience celebrating the seven weeks of this unique musical retreat.
The program includes one of chamber music's most beloved works: the Schubert String Quintet in C Major, D. 956, a piece that Soovin Kim, first violinist of the Johannes Quartet and founder of the Lake Champlain Music Festival, and his colleagues have been working on for the full seven weeks: 45 hours of rehearsal.