Also on the Program: American Popular Songs Accompanied by Mr. Mehldau and Works by Sibelius, Hahn, and Schumann Performed with Pianist Bengt Forsberg
Carnegie Hall presents mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter in a program featuring the world premiere of jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldaus Love Songs on Wednesday, February 11 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage.
Mr. Mehldau's Love Songs draws its libretto from poems by Philip Larkin, Sara Teasdale, and e.e. cummings. Love Songs, a commission of Carnegie Hall, was written for Ms. von Otter who will be accompanied by the composer; the two will also perform American popular songs to be announced from the stage. On the programs first half, Ms. von Otter will be accompanied by her longtime collaborator Bengt Forsberg in works by Sibelius, Hahn, and Schumann. Complete program information is listed below.
Mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter was born in Stockholm and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Vera Rosza. She also attended classes in lied interpretation with Geoffrey Parsons in London and Erik Werba in Vienna.
In 1980 she began her collaboration with the pianist Bengt Forsberg. Two years later she joined the ensemble of the Basle Opera, where she made her mark as an interpreter of the operas of Mozart and Richard Strauss.
One of the finest singers of her generation, Ms. von Otter works with the preeminent conductors of the day, has triumphed at the worlds major opera houses and is a regular guest at leading festivals. She has also achieved great success as a lieder interpreter, mostly in collaboration with Bengt Forsberg.
Pianist Bengt Forsberg was born in 1952 in Edsleskog, Sweden. He has given concerts and made recordings with cellist Mats Lidstrm, violinist Nils-Erik Sparf, and mezzo soprano Anne Sofie von Otter with whom he has made several recordings on DG, one of which, Grieg Songs, won a Gramophone Award as the best song record of 1995 and was voted Record of the Year.
As a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist, Mr. Forsberg promotes music by lesser-known composers such as Korngold, Medtner, Suk, Karg-Elert, and others, as well as rarely-heard music by more well-known composers such as Faur, Sibelius, Franck, Messiaen, Janacek, and Ireland. He has a strong interest in French music of the 1800s, and in 1999 began a Camille Saint-Sans series for Hyperion. Also an organist, Mr. Forsberg continues a relationship with church music as director of a chamber music series at All Saints Church in Stockholm.
Jazz pianist and composer Brad Mehldau has recorded and performed extensively since the early 1990s. Mr. Mehldau, known primarily as an improviser, also has a deep fascination for the formal architecture of music, and it informs everything he plays.
In his most inspired playing, the actual structure of his musical thought serves as an expressive device. As he plays, he listens to how ideas unwind, and the order in which they reveal themselves. Each tune has a strongly felt narrative arch, whether it expresses itself in a beginning, an end, or something left intentionally open-ended. The two sides of Mr. Mehldau's personality the improviser and the formalist play off each other, and the effect is often something like controlled chaos.
Mr. Mehldau composed two other works commissioned by Carnegie Hall for voice and piano, The Blue Estuaries and The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, which were premiered in the spring of 2005 by the acclaimed soprano Renee Fleming. These songs were recorded with Ms. Fleming and Mr. Mehldau and released in 2006 on Nonesuch's Love Sublime record. In early 2008 London's Wigmore Hall announced that Mr. Mehldau will curate an annual four-concert jazz series at the prestigious hall during its 200910 and 201011 seasons, with Mr. Mehldau appearing in at least two of the four annual concerts.
Program Information
Wednesday, February 11 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
ANNE SOFIE VON OTTER, Mezzo-Soprano
BENGT FORSBERG, Piano
BRAD MEHLDAU, Piano
Ticket Information
Tickets, priced at $29, $35, $45, $62, $80, $88, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212 247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, www.carnegiehall.org.
In addition, for all Carnegie Hall Corporation presentations taking place in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, a limited number of partial-view seats, priced at $10, will be available day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance. The exceptions are Carnegie Hall Family Concerts and gala events. These $10 tickets are available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis at the Carnegie Hall Box Office only. There is a two-ticket limit per customer.
A limited number of student/senior citizen discount tickets, priced at $10, may also be available for some Carnegie Hall events. They are on sale at the Box Office day-of-concert beginning at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday until one hour before the performance. Student/senior discount tickets for some Weill Recital Hall events are available at the Box Office one hour before the performance. Please call CarnegieCharge for ticket availability.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
