Serenade

October 5, 2024
Numerica Performing Arts Center

Join us for an evening of beautiful serenades. This program includes Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s only orchestral work, Stravinsky’s complete ballet based on the 18th century seducer, Pulcinella; and Richard Wagner’s orchestral settings of Mathilde Wesendonck’s love poetry. 

Nik’s Notes

For me, love is one of the most important themes in classical music. Serenade consists of contrasting depictions of love. For Richard Wagner, he wrote five songs after he found “the perfect love” in Mathilde Wesendonck and in her five poems. Alternatively, Igor Stravinsky created a playful love ballet based on the character Pulcinella who is simultaneously aloof and cunning. The women swoon to him, and their jealous husbands seek to kill him. 

Program

  • Fanny Mendelssohn • Overture in C

  • Richard Wagner (orchestrated by Felix Mottl) • Wesendonck Lieder WWV 91 (Melissa Schiel, mezzo-soprano) 

  • Igor Stravinsky • Pulcinella, complete ballet (Chloe Sundet, soprano; Eli Traverse, tenor; Jeremy Irland, baritone)

Pulcinella Ballet - ft. São Paulo Companhia de Dança, Direção artística de Inês Bogéa, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo

Wesendonck Lieder, Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano

Guest Artists

  • Melissa Schiel

    mezzo-soprano

  • Chloe Sundet

    soprano

  • Jeremy Irland

    bass

  • Matthew Lodge

    tenor