Little is known about the private life of Franz Schubert, although information about his public persona is abundant. He was born in Austria on Jan. 31, 1797 and studied composition with imperial kapellmeister (conductor) and composer Antonio Salieri. When Schubert died in 1828 at the tender age of 31, he left behind a treasure trove: nearly 1,500 works spanning multiple genres. Beethoven, who wasn’t easily impressed, thought Schubert had the divine spark.
Nearly 200 years later, the best way to know Schubert is through his music. Around the world, audiences still celebrate the composer with Schubertiades, named after the events in Viennese homes where Schubert and his friends gathered to perform and hear his latest compositions.
In Madison, the tradition has been taken up by pianists Martha Fischer, a professor at the UW School of Music, and her husband, Bill Lutes, the school’s emeritus artist-in-residence. Fischer and Lutes will host the city’s third annual Schubertiade on Saturday, Jan. 30, at UW-Madison’s Mills Concert Hall at 8 p.m. The concert, underwritten by donor Ann Boyer, will feature Schubertian naturescapes on the themes of water, winds and woodlands.
Katrin Talbot
Pianists Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes performed one of Schubert’s final duets.
“Schubert grew up in an age of burgeoning Romanticism, with its worship of nature,” says Lutes. “He has a remarkable way of evoking our rich emotional and spiritual responses to those phenomena, through an enormous range of textures, harmonies and glorious melodies.”
The program will include several lieder (German art songs), like “Auf dem Strom” (On the River) and “Shepherd on the Rock.” Both are mercurial mixtures of angst, hope, love and loneliness. “Die Forelle” tells of the demise of a happy trout.
Another concert highlight will be Fischer and Lutes performing the towering “Allegro in A minor,” a piano duet Schubert wrote during his last year of life. Lutes says “Allegro,” like other Schubert duets, requires elaborate choreography and gentle forbearance.
Other performers include opera diva and alumna Jamie-Rose Guarrine, UW voice professors Mimmi Fulmer and Paul Rowe, faculty violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino (and cellist husband Leo Altino) and faculty violist Sally Chisholm. Horn professor Daniel Grabois, adjunct clarinet professor Wesley Warnhoff and current University Opera director David Ronis will also participate.
In the spirit of the original 19th-century events, the hosts hope to create an occasion less formal than traditional concerts.“We try to re-create that atmosphere of friendliness (gemütlichkeit) and spontaneity and to involve many performers in the process,” says Fischer. “We have seating on stage for those who want to be close up, adding to the feeling that this might be occurring in someone’s living room.”
Schubertiade Mills Concert Hall, Saturday, Jan. 30, 8 pm
