Farcical and Funereal Papa Haydn
POSTPONED until FALL 2018
Symphony No. 60 in C "Il distratto"
Music for the play "The Distracted One" is some
of Haydn's most comical.
Cello Concerto in C
Beiliang Zhu, cello. This vibrant concerto is
a crowd pleaser.
Symphony No. 44 in E minor "Trauer"
The composer desired that the slow movement
of this symphony be played at his funeral.
Music director Michael Ruhling will give a pre-concert presentation on Joseph Haydn and his music, beginning at 7:00.
Tickets: $25/$40 advance purchase
$30/$50 beginning week of the concert
$10 Student tickets at the door, with ID (General admission).
$20 Senior tickets at the door (General admission).
Joseph Haydn was a master at creating vivid dramatic imagery and humor in his instrumental music, particularly in the symphonies he composed in the 1760s and '70s for his patron Prince Nicholas I Esterházy. For its spring concert Farcical and Funereal Papa Haydn, Ensemble Perihipsous, Rochester's period orchestra, presents two such symphonies reflecting the dual theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy. Symphony No. 44 "Trauer" (Funeral) is an exciting and stormy work, the second movement of which Haydn desired be part of his own funeral. Symphony No. 60 "Il distratto" (The Distracted One) is filled with comedic twists and turns, conveying the forgetfulness of the absent-minded character of the play for which the music was composed. Cellist Beiliang Zhu has been setting the world on fire with her fine playing of 18th-century repertoire. She will be the featured soloist in Haydn's vibrant Cello Concerto in C Major, which was discovered only in the last 60 years but has become a favorite of cellists and audiences.
Cello Soloist
Beiliang Zhu won the 1st prize and the Audience Award at the XVIII International Bach Competition in Leipzig 2012 (Violoncello/Baroque Violoncello) as the first string player to have received this honor on a baroque instrument. Hailed by the New York Times as “particularly exciting,” and by the New Yorker as bringing “telling nuances” and being “elegant and sensual, stylishly wild,” Beiliang seeks artistry in a wide range of repertoire and different roles as a modern cellist, baroque cellist, and violist da gamba. She has given solo recitals at the Bach Festival Leipzig, Boston Early Music Festival, the Seoul Bach Festival, the Helicon Foundation, among others, as well as performing with internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles. Beiliang received her Master of Music from the Juilliard School in Historical Performance, studying with Phoebe Carrai (Baroque Violoncello) and Sarah Cunningham (Viola da Gamba), and her Bachelor of Music Degree and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Beiliang is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Violoncello, under the guidance of Steven Doane, and a Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology at the Eastman School of Music. Fascinated by studies of cultures, Beiliang believes firmly in the communicative qualities of musical performances therefore invites the listeners to converse with her through various means. More information can be found at www.beiliangzhu.com.
Conductor
Michael E. Ruhling is Professor of Performing Arts in the College of Liberal Arts at the Rochester (NY) Institute of Technology, and a Senior Affiliate Faculty in Musicology at the Eastman School of Music. From 2004 to 2009 Michael served on the conducting and lecture faculty of the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, and sang bass in the Festival Chorus for concerts at the Esterházy palace and Masses at the Eisenstadt Bergkirche and Stephansdom in Vienna. He has appeared as guest conductor of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra, Prince George’s Philharmonic, Finger Lakes Symphony, UNLV Symphony and Opera, Rochester’s Air de Cour, and several other orchestras and choirs throughout the United States. He is the author of Johann Peter Salomon’s Scores of Four Haydn Symphonies: Edition with Commentary, published by the Edwin Mellen Press, and his essay on the symphonies of Michael Haydn is included in The Symphonic Repertoire, Vol. 1: The Eighteenth Century Symphony published by the Indiana University Press. Dr. Ruhling was named the 2008-2009 Christopher Hogwood Historically Informed Performance Fellow by the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest performing ensemble in the U.S. He is the first president of the Haydn Society of North America and editorial director of HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America (haydnjournal.org). In 2011 he was elected to the Haydn Society of Great Britain’s Committee of Honour, and he recently served as secretary-treasurer of the Society for Eighteenth Century Music. Dr. Ruhling holds a PhD in historical musicology from The Catholic University of America, and graduate degrees in orchestral conducting ((U. of Missouri) and music history (U. of Notre Dame).
