Monadnock Music is coming to Hancock and Dublin for a pair of free summer concerts on June 28 and July 2.
On June 28, Monadnock Music presents a solo piano recital by pianist Yelena Beriyeva at 3 p.m. in the First Congregational Church of Hancock.
“Yelena is an extraordinary artist, and we are thrilled to have her be performing for Monadnock Music. It’s going to be a very special event in Hancock, ” said Rafael Popper-Keizer, Artistic Director of Monadnock Music. “Like all of our summer concerts, this one is free to the community thanks to the generous support of our donors.”
Beriyeva’s solo recital will last about 80 minutes, including intermission. Beriyeva will be playing Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Claude Debussy’s Estampes, and Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky.
A native of the nation of Georgia, Beriyeva debuted with the Tbilisi State Symphony at the age of five. She studied at the Tbilisi Conservatory, the University of Arizona, and received a Master’s from the New England Conservatory of Music, and has performed around the globe.
On Thursday, July 2, at 7 p.m. at Emmanuel Church in Dublin, cellist Popper-Keizer, along with violinists Jesse Irons and Gabriela Díaz and harpsichordist John McKean, will perform “Elegance and Folly,” a selection of Baroque music including pieces by Antonio Vivaldi, Arcangelo Corelli, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Willem de Fesch, and Isabella Leonarda.
Popper says the concert’s title, “Elegance and Folly,” comes from the dual nature of Baroque music.
“The popular conception of baroque music is that it’s very elegant and graceful. It reserves intense focus on balance and clarity in form and structure, and in the precision of workmanship,” Popper-Keizer said. “But the other element of baroque music is its emotionality. There can be both deep melancholy and a manic energy, with rapid alteration between the two elements, especially with Italian composers.”
Popper-Keizer said the selected pieces showcase the two aspects that exist in Baroque music.
“The pieces show that intense contrast we have with music of both categories, both the elegant and the manic. Bach and de Boismortier are both very elegant and very structured, and it’s a kind of conversation between two different instruments. The Vivaldi shows the emotional side; it’s a variation on a popular tune of the time called ‘The Madness,'” Popper-Keizer said. “The instruments can be both flamboyant and melancholy. Both pieces are fun and emotional, with those manic episodes that defy the way we think of regular baroque music.”
The performance will include a sonata by Isabella Leonarda, one the earliest female Italian composers.
“Leonarda was the first Italian composer to write sonatas of this type. Like many young women in the arts at that time, she went into a convent very early, and she was a very prolific composer,” Popper-Keizer.
According to Popper-Keizer, Monadnock Music has performed at Emmanuel Church “almost every year.” The church, located next to the campus of Dublin School, was originally built in 1888 as a chapel for summer residents.
“It’s such a perfect space for chamber music — it has a warm bloom,” Popper-Keizer said. “It really epitomizes what we are all about, bringing this beautiful music to these incredible community spaces. This year, we’re bringing the harpsichord back. We’ve had a string quartet in there, so we know we can make it fit.”
On Saturday, July 11, Monadnock Music will present Langston Hughes’ “Weary Blues” and other pieces at Cheney Hall at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge.
For more information about Monadnock Music and a complete summer schedule go to https://www.monadnockmusic.org/classical-music-concert-event-schedule.
