Piano recitals, eclectic artists fill Chamber Music Society season

By Lawrence B. Johnson
SPECIAL TO THE DETROIT NEWS

Thursday, March 22, 2007

The new season announced earlier this week by the Chamber Music Society of Detroit is typical -- that is, typical of an organization that's anything but.

Promising newcomers join some familiar faces in a 2007-08 artist lineup that spans two series, one of which largely sells out by subscription while the other renews the rare modern-day notion of a season of solo piano recitals.

Piano devotees must have been struck by the irony last Saturday when they found themselves faced with choosing between recitals by Murray Perahia in Ann Arbor and Emanuel Ax (for the Chamber Music Society) at Seligman Performing Arts Center in Beverly Hills. Outside New York, piano recitals just don't happen that often any more.

Yet the Chamber Music Society has nurtured its successful Opus 3 series of piano evenings through two seasons and in 2007-08 brings in three more notable artists. The season opens and closes with veterans: Vladimir Feltsman plays two Beethoven sonatas and Mussorgsky's original setting of "Pictures at an Exhibition" March 22, 2008, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs Debussy's "Preludes, Book 2" and Brahms' Sonata No. 3 in F minor April 12, 2008.

In between, on April 5, 2008, appears Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, winner of the 2006 Gilmore Artist Award, a high-profile international competition based in Kalamazoo. Fliter, 34, who made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York Wednesday night, will bring music by Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann.

Headliners for the Opus 9 series include soprano Dawn Upshaw Sept. 15, the Berlin Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet Oct. 6, the Juilliard String Quartet Nov. 17 and violinist Gil Shaham with pianist Akira Eguchi March 29, 2008.

The Romeros guitar quintet appears Jan. 19, the Shanghai String Quartet plays Jan. 26, and Augustin Hadelich, gold medalist of the 2006 Indianapolis International Violin Competition, performs Feb. 9.

© Copyright 2007 The Detroit News. All rights reserved.

Return to Recent Press