Trio 1816

TRIO 1816 brings to life the period two hundred years ago when music’s urbane classicism gave way to the grand passions of the romantic period. No two composers dramatize this shift more than Franz Schubert the songwriter and Ludwig van Beethoven the innovator. Trio members Jesse Blumberg, baritone, David Breitman, fortepiano, and Johanna Novom, violin—each one a masterful artist—come together as a powerhouse trio in an evening that tells the story of this moment in western music. Included in the program will be three of Schubert’s most famous songs, Beethoven’s song cycle “An die ferne Geliebte,” two violin sonatas, one by Beethoven and one by Schubert, and three songs by Spohr that were composed for this combination.

Program:

Franz Schubert: Sonatina in D major, D. 384
Ludwig van Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte
Schubert: Der Wanderer, D. 493; Am Bach im Frühling, D. 361; An Schwager Kronos, D. 369
Beethoven: Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 96
Spohr: 3 Gesänge, Op. 154

Baritone Jesse Blumberg enjoys a busy schedule of opera, concerts, and recitals, performing repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque to the 20^th and 21^st centuries. His performances have included the world premiere of The Grapes of Wrath at Minnesota Opera, Bernstein’s MASS at London’s Royal Festival Hall, various productions with Boston Early Music Festival, and featured roles with Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Utah Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera. Recital highlights include appearances with the Marilyn Horne Foundation, New York Festival of Song, and Mirror Visions Ensemble. He has performed major concert works with American Bach Soloists, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Boston Baroque, Oratorio Society of New York, Apollo’s Fire, and on Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series.

David Breitman is equally at home with the fortepiano and the modern piano, and enjoys both solo and ensemble playing.  His collaboration with baritone Sanford Sylvan spanned more than thirty years, with several hundred recitals and four CD’s, ranging from Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin, to the premiere recording of The Glass Hammer, a major song cycle by the Cuban-American composer Jorge Martin. He has recorded the Mozart piano-violin sonatas on historical instruments with Jean-François Rivest for Analekta, and, in a collaboration of a different sort, he is one of seven fortepianists on the 10-CD recording of the complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle on CLAVES.  Beethoven has continued to be a major preoccupation, with recent recordings of the complete violin sonatas with Elizabeth Wallfisch (for the Nimbus label) and the cello sonatas and variations with Jaap ter Linden (not yet released).

Violinist Johanna Novom appears as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician with period ensembles across the US, and tours internationally. Johanna has been Associate Concertmaster of Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, since completion of her Master’s degree at Oberlin Conservatory, and she performs with Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Concert Royal, American Bach Soloists, Clarion Music Society, TENET, Sebastian Chamber Players, Washington National Cathedral Orchestra, and ACRONYM, among others. Festival engagements include the Tanglewood Festival, Boston Early Music Festival and the Carmel Bach Festival. Performing takes Johanna to magnificent concert halls and churches worldwide, recent highlights include the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, London’s Wigmore Hall, Rome’s Santa Maria Basilica, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Washington National Cathedral, and the Teatro Real in Madrid.