United States R. Schumann, Saint-Saëns, Goldberg – ‘The Wadsworth Legacy’: Soloists. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, New York, 2.5.2025. (RP)
On 11 September 1969, the strains of a Baroque trio sonata was the first music heard in Alice Tully Hall. It was also the first concert by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, founded by Charles Wadsworth. On 2 May 2025, CMS celebrated ‘The Wadsworth Legacy’ with a concert that opened with the same music in the same hall. In 1969, the audience enjoyed a work by Bach; however, in the intervening years, it has been attributed to Johann Gottlieb Goldberg as his Trio Sonata in C major.
Now 95, Wadsworth founded CMS, which he directed for 20 years, with the support of Alice Tully, a former singer and philanthropist, for whom the hall is named. Wadsworth was also affiliated with the Spoleto Festival in Italy and Charleston, SC, for 50 years. He collaborated with artists such as Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano, Emanuel Ax, Richard Goode, Pinchas Zukerman and Yo-Yo Ma. Wadsworth also performed as a pianist with singers Jessye Norman, Beverly Sills, Kathleen Battle, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Frederica von Stade (who sang in this concert).
Goldberg is known for lending his name to Bach’s Goldberg Variations. The composer, harpsichordist and organist was a student of ‘a Bach’ – but whether of Johann Sebastian, his son Wilhelm Friedemann or both is uncertain. The music performed by violinists Chad Hoopes and Francisco Fullana, cellist Sterling Elliott and harpsichordist Wu Han certainly sounded as elegant and pure as anything Bach composed. Goldberg, who died at 29, had learned his lessons well.
One of Wadsworth’s enduring legacies is the expansion of the chamber music repertoire beyond string quartets and piano trios to other forms, including vocal music. The concert was originally intended to feature Kathleen Battle, Thomas Hampson and von Stade, all of whom performed with Wadsworth during their illustrious careers. Amanda Batista, now in her third year in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, was billed as the soprano for the concert almost from the start, as was tenor Ben Bliss. Baritone Joshua Hopkins was a last-minute replacement for Hampson. Von Stade, now 79 and as glamorous as ever, appeared as scheduled.
The singers, accompanied by Wu Han and Ken Noda, performed vocal ensemble works by Robert Schumann. In the first half, they did Schumann’s Spanisches Liederspiel, composed in 1849. Its combination of solo songs, duets, quartets and four-hand piano pieces has a dramatic arc that hinges on a romance. The artists performed with charm and grace, and even a passable blend in the ensemble singing. The latter was beside the point, as their wonderful voices and high spirits helped make this concert a true celebration.
There were von Stade’s fans in the audience, and her performance of ‘Hoch, hoch sind die Berge’ was their reward. The legendary mezzo-soprano’s voice has darkened, but her tone is still lovely and her phrasing impressive. She took great joy in the performances of her younger colleagues. The other three singers returned the compliment by singing superbly. Batista’s dark, throbbing soprano caught a young girl’s silent suffering in ‘Tief im Herzen trag’ ich Pein’. Bliss’s tenor shone in ‘O wie lieblich ist das Mådchen’. In ‘Flutenreicher Ebro’, Hopkins’s robust baritone and sense of line captured the beauties of nature and a young man’s yearnings with equal ease.
The highlight of the three vocal ensemble pieces in the second half was von Stade and Hopkins performing ‘Ich bin dein Baum’. She sang tenderly of a tree whose fruit was intended only for the gardener who, in kind, treats it with affection and tenderness. Hopkins’s voice expressed the man’s appreciation of the tree’s loyalty and the happiness it brought him with warmth and sincerity. Hopkins and von Stade held hands as the final chord sounded. Noda, von Stade’s colleague at the Metropolitan Opera, got a hug.
After years of refusals, Saint-Saëns acceded to composing a chamber music piece with a trumpet for La Trompette, a Parisian amateur chamber music society. He had declared to its founder Émile Lemoine, ‘I could compose a concerto for you for 25 guitars, but for trumpet – impossible!’ The result was one of Saint-Saëns’s most popular works, the Septet in E-flat major. It was a Wadsworth favorite because it cut against the grain of what constitutes proper chamber music, and he was a devotee of French music.
Wu Han was joined by trumpeter David Washburn, violinists Francisco Fullana and Chad Hoopes, violist Paul Neubauer, cellist Sterling Elliott and double bassist Nina Bernat in a colorful, fun-filled performance of the Septet. The Préambule was enlivened by brisk, perfectly articulated counterpoint, cascades of piano arpeggios and trumpet fanfares. The Menuet was a stately march with a sweeping melody in the trumpet’s lower range. In the third movement, tumultuous surges from the piano were pierced by a somber melody on the cello. The concluding Gavotte was high-spirited and jaunty, ending with bravura trumpet playing by Washburn.
Rick Perdian
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg – Trio Sonata in C major for Two Violins and Continuo, DürG13
Robert Schumann – Spanisches Liederspiel for Vocal Quartet and Piano, Op.74; ‘Liebhabers Ständchen’ for Soprano, Tenor and Piano, Op.34 No.2; ‘Ich bin dein Baum’ from Minnespiel for Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone and Piano, Op.101 No.2; ‘Tanzlied’ for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone and Piano, Op.78 No.1
Saint-Saëns – Septet in E-flat major for Trumpet, Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Double Bass and Piano, Op.65
Performers:
Amanda Batista (soprano), Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano), Ben Bliss (tenor), Joshua Hopkins (baritone)
Francisco Fullana, Chad Hoopes (violin), Paul Neubauer (viola), Sterling Elliott (cello), Nina Bernat (double bass), David Washburn (trumpet), Wu Han, Ken Noda (piano)