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Chamber society plans diverse 2007-08 season By Mark Stryker March 18, 2007 The Chamber Music Society of Detroit, which has been gradually spreading its wings to present a more diverse and relevant field of artists and repertoire, takes a few more steps forward in the 2007-08 season. Next season includes recitals by the uncommonly versatile American soprano Dawn Upshaw and the Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, winner of the $300,000 Gilmore Artist Award in 2006 but still a mystery to most American audiences. The season also includes notable performances of music by living composers Richard Danielpour, Bright Sheng and Elliott Carter. Upshaw opens the main Opus 9 series in September. An inspired choice, she's known for her dramatic intensity, expressive voice and wide repertoire. She was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and she resumed performing in February after her treatment. In her early 30s, Fliter (FLEE-ter), who lives in Italy, was barely known on this side of the Atlantic before being anointed by the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo -- that's the competition with a stealth jury that evaluates pianists anonymously before picking a winner. Fliter performs in April on the society's Opus 3 piano series. Two longtime favorites of Detroit audiences, the Juilliard String Quartet and Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, return promoting contemporary composers with opposite styles. The Juilliard will play the visceral Second String Quartet (1959), a landmark work by the ageless American high modernist Elliott Carter, who turns 99 this year. The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio with violist Kirsten Johnson will perform "Book of Hours" by Richard Danielpour, a co-commission by the society with eight other presenters. Detroit audiences know Danielpour's lush, neo-romantic music through his opera "Margaret Garner," given its world premiere by Michigan Opera Theatre in 2005. Other Opus 9 concerts include the Shanghai Quartet with violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi and cellist Marc Johnson performing both of Brahms' String Sextets and a recital by star violinist Gil Shaham. Newcomer Augustin Hadelich, gold medalist of the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, will also play. The rest of the Opus 3 series includes piano recitals by Russian Vladimir Feltsman, who will play music by Beethoven and Mussorgsky, and Frenchman Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who will play the complete Book 2 Preludes by Debussy. Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc. |
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