Chamber Music at the Pavilion: Love, Murder, and the Violin

Love, Murder, and the Violin
Sunday, July 30, 2023
7:00 PM | Classical Tahoe Ricardi Pavilion

Max Bruch: String Quintet in E-Flat Major (1918)
I. Andante con moto
II. Allegro
III. Andante con moto
IV. Andante con moto––Allegro ma non troppo vivace
Daniel Khalikov and Sarah Vonsattel, violin
Désirée Elsevier and Katarzyna Bryla-Weiss, viola
Winona Zelenka, cello

Claude Debussy: Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp (1915)
I. Pastorale: Lento, dolce rubato
II. Interlude: Tempo di minuetto
III. Final: Allegro moderato ma risoluto
Érik Gratton, flute
Milan Milisavljević, viola
Emmanuel Ceysson, harp

-Intermission-

Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47, “Kreutzer” (1803)
I. Adagio sostenuto—Presto
II. Andante con variazioni
III. Finale: Presto
Tessa Lark, violin
Gilles Vonsattel, piano

This Chamber performance is sponsored by Carolyn Tolf
Emmanuel Ceysson is generously sponsored by Jerome Guillen and Jeremy Gallaher
Gilles Vonsattel is generously sponsored by Madylon and Dean Meiling
Tessa Lark  is generously sponsored by Cindy Carano

What You’ll Hear

Float away into the magical dreamscape Debussy creates in his Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp. Attempting to describe the piece in a letter, Debussy wrote, “I can’t say whether one should laugh or cry. Perhaps both at the same time?”

Music undoubtedly has a strong effect on our emotions. Inspired by a performance of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, Tolstoy wrote a novella with the same name. Tolstoy’s novella is a story of a music-fueled jealous rage ending in murder. Although Beethoven’s work and Tolstoy’s story have little in common other than the name, the name has become synonymous to the power of music to effect emotions.