Concert Will Be Schubert From Start To Finish
The Spokane String Quartet and the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus will present a Schubertiad on Sunday. This all-Schubert program features his Mass in G, the last two movements of the “Trout” Quintet and a smattering of songs.
Franz Schubert passed his short life dashing off stacks of symphonies, chamber pieces, choral works and zillions of songs, and then dashing off to parties. He was such a fixture in the parlors of the elite that they named these evenings of musical entertainment after him, calling them “Schubertiads.”
Children’s Chorus director Tamara Schupman will conduct the Ensemble, the cream of the chorus, and the Spokane String Quartet for the Mass in G, Schubert’s second Mass setting. Soloists will be soprano Darnelle Preston, tenor Paul Mueller and baritone Robert Newman. The beautiful Agnus Dei from the Mass combines the soprano and baritone against the children’s voices to a spine-tingling effect.
The Mass soloists will be joined by soprano Susan Windham and pianist James Edmonds to present a handful of those zillion songs. Windham will sing Schubert’s early gem, “Gretchen am spinnrade.” In the text by Goethe, Gretchen recalls her love in a multifaceted emotional state, allowing it to affect her work at the spinning wheel.
Newman will give a reading of “Im Fruhling,” and Preston and Windham will team for the “Lied du Mignon.” Preston also will sing the famous and fun song “Die Forelle,” rendering the vocal trout against the bubbling waters of the piano.
This song was so liked by Sylvester Paumgartner, a cellist and patron of Schubert’s, that the composer incorporated the melody in a string quintet for him.
Kelly Farris, violin; Tracy Dunlop, viola; and John Marshall, cello, of the Spokane String Quartet will be joined by Edmonds and double bassist Roma Vayspapir for a performance of the last two movements of this quintet.
The “Trout” is served up as a set of variations in the third movement.
The chorus is also releasing a Christmas recording, “Angels and Candlelight.” Cassettes will be available at Sunday’s concert, and orders will be taken for compact discs, which will be available in October.
Money raised from this concert and album sales will help the Ensemble defray the costs of its trip to Austria in June. The 40-member group will sing in performances all over the country, including Salzburg and Schubert’s hometown, Vienna.
The children, auditioned and drawn from the entire Spokane region, are committed to paying out of their own pockets any expenses for the trip that cannot otherwise be raised.
The Children’s Chorus as a whole includes more than 200 girls and boys who have sung with Uptown Opera, Connoisseur Concerts, the Northwest Bach Festival and the Spokane Symphony Orchestra.
xxxx THE SPOKANE AREA CHILDREN’S CHORUS/SPOKANE STRING QUARTET Location and time: The Met, Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25 (Admission includes a complimentary glass of wine before the concert and coffee at intermission)