Gabriela Martinez and Festival Musicians play Brahms

Sun Valley Pavilion 300 Dollar Rd, Sun Valley, Idaho, United States

Pianist Gabriela Martinez joins with several Festival Orchestra musicians to perform Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G Minor. Clara Schumann played the piano part at this piece’s premiere in 1861, which was fortunate since it’s often described as “stupendously virtuosic.” The piece met with instant acclaim, lauded for both its innovative structure—which launches straight into a number of variations on the first theme—and its incredible finale, which was written “in the gypsy style,” according to Brahms’s own description. Ms. Martinez will open this concert with some solo works for piano.

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Gautier Capuçon and Festival Musicians play Schubert

Sun Valley Pavilion 300 Dollar Rd, Sun Valley, Idaho, United States

Written in the last year of his life, Schubert’s String Quintet is often considered his greatest (and was his last) chamber work. He chose to add a cello, rather than a viola, to the traditional string quartet, and the result is a wonderful exploration of the instrument’s capabilities. At times the second cello reinforces the bass line, at other times it soars into its highest range, and at one point the two cellos play a lovely duet. The great cellist Gautier Capuçon joins with several Festival Orchestra musicians to bring this magnificent piece to life.

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Olga Kern and Festival Musicians play Beethoven

Sun Valley Pavilion 300 Dollar Rd, Sun Valley, Idaho, United States

Beethoven's Piano Trio in D Major got the nickname "Ghost" because of its ominous and spooky slow movement. It's eerie, mournful, and almost painfully slow. In contrast, the two movements that surround it are short, cheerful and light-hearted, making for an interesting spooky sandwich. George Bernard Shaw wrote of Beethoven that "he could write music whose beauty will last you all your life; he could take the driest sticks of themes and work them up so interestingly that you will find something new in them at the hundredth hearing." Listen and enjoy the simple "sticks" of themes in the very beginning of both outer movements.

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