Ensemble for the Romantic Century
2010-2011 Season

REPERTORY PRODUCTION
TCHAIKOVSKY
“None but the Lonely Heart”: The Strange Love of Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda von Meck
If the story of Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky's relationship with his patroness Nadezhda von Meck had not existed it would have to be invented. In a relationship that lasted fourteen years and that was conducted entirely through letters, Tchaikovsky and von Meck were united through the invincible power of a love that could never be consummated. Plagued with doubts about the greatness of his music, tormented by the fear of discovery of his homosexuality, and trapped in a marriage to a woman who was eventually committed to an insane asylum, Tchaikovsky repeatedly tried to express in music the full spectrum of love; In doing so, he created some of the most beloved and inspired music of the nineteenth century. In the beautifully woven discourse of music and letters that ERC has prepared to honor their unique relationship, Tchaikovsky and Madame von Meck emerge as two highly fascinating human beings. Music became a vehicle for the expression of their private feelings and their unspoken emotions, and so did the remarkably nuanced language of their correspondence. The concert will feature Tchaikovsky's intensely expressive Piano Trio in a minor, opus 50, and a selection of some of his most moving songs.

Wed & Thur  October 13 & 14, 2010  8:00 pm   7:00 pm pre-concert lecture

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NEW PRODUCTION!
PROUST
Proust's Court of Love
In voluntary exile for the last decade of his life, immersed in a tangled knot of neuroses, eccentricities, anxieties, and doubts, Marcel Proust recaptured his experiences and immortalized the loves of his real and fictional lives in his sweeping novel À la recherche du temps perdu, a breathtaking voyage through the unconscious. ERC's theatrical concert features a script that draws upon Proust's novel, his letters, and the reminiscences of his faithful housekeeper, Céleste Albaret, the only person who witnessed the creation of his masterpiece. Focusing on the perpetual conflict between love and jealousy, the script dramatizes these emotions in tandem with a selection of musical works that emulate the modernity of Proust's superbly calibrated language. The author's stream-of-consciousness technique and his detailed depiction of the fluctuations of human behavior will be mirrored in music of comparable complexity, richness of texture, and sensorial beauty. Works include Ravel's String Quartet, Piano Trio in A minor, and the unusual and groundbreaking Sonata for Violin and Cello; Jean Cras's mysterious Cinq Robaïyats for voice and piano; and a selection of songs by Reynaldo Hahn, Proust's lifelong lover.

Thursday  March 24, 2011  8:00 pm   7:00 pm pre-concert lecture

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NEW PRODUCTION
BEETHOVEN
Love Elegies
The life of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a progressive descent into the confines of his own mind and spirit, as he was forced into profound isolation by his social maladjustment and the misfortune of increasing deafness. Alone with himself, misunderstood by most of his peers, Beethoven was also deprived of any lasting love relationship, although he longed throughout his life for a fulfilling love. The objects of his affection remained tragically inaccessible. Unrequited love, the defining condition of Beethoven's emotional life, emerges transformed and transfigured in the sublimity and transcendent power of his music, through which he seemed to fulfill all the promises of human affection. The plight of Beethoven's absent loves is poignantly depicted in a script based on his vast and variegated correspondence and other writings, creating a dramatic counterpoint to some of his most deeply personal works.

Thursday  May 26, 2011  8:00 pm   7:00 pm pre-concert lecture

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