Cambini and Bilson
December 6, 2015
@ 4 pm ET
Classic repertoire! Quintets of Mozart and Beethoven on period instruments with an international roster of artists.
Malcolm Bilson began his pioneering activity in the early 1970s as a performer of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert on late 18th- and early 19th-century pianos. Since then he has proven to be a key contributor to the restoration of the fortepiano to the concert stage and to fresh recordings of the “mainstream” repertory.
Bilson has recorded the three most important complete cycles of works for piano by Mozart: the piano concertos with John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists for Deutsche Grammophon Archiv, the piano-violin Sonatas with Sergiu Luca for Nonesuch records, and the solo piano sonatas for Hungaroton. His traversal on period pianos of the Schubert piano sonatas (including the so-called incomplete sonatas), likewise on Hungaroton, was completed in 2003. In 2005 a single CD of Haydn sonatas appeared on the Claves label, and in 2008 his first recording on an English pianoforte of Haydn, Dussek and Cramer was released on Bridge Records.
Bilson, a member of the Cornell Music Faculty since 1968, is also Adjunct Professor at both the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary. He gives fortepiano workshops at various locations in the United States and Europe, as well as master classes and lectures (generally in conjunction with solo performances) around the world.
An educational video entitled “Knowing the Score” was released in 2005, in which Bilson discusses the question: Do we really know how to read the notation of the so-called ‘classical’ masters? (www.knowingthescore.com). A second DVD titled “Performing the Score”, was released in September, 2011. If we now know how to read notation, how can it be realized in sound? (www.performingthescore.com)
Malcolm Bilson is a member of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, has an honorary doctorate from Bard College and is the recipient of the 2006 James Smithson Bicentennial Medal.
Formed in 2009, Cambini Winds offers programs of the rich and entertaining repertoire for winds that formed a vital part of the musical landscape of the Classical and early Romantic eras. Taking its name from one of the earliest composers to write for the wind quintet, the Cambini Quintet is dedicated to reviving the remarkably varied tonal colors that Mozart, Beethoven and their contemporaries had available to them with the use of period flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn. With all of its members recognized internationally for their contribution to the field of early-instrument performance, the ensemble has been praised for its masterful balance and stylish interpretations.
Since making its inaugural appearance at the BEMF Fringe, the Quintet has appeared in concert tours in the North East, Mid West, and Texas. In 2011-12 season the group was invited for a residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and later that season it formed the basis of an orchestra for the Mozart Festival in Houston. The group’s recording of the quintets for piano and winds by Mozart and Beethoven with American fortepianist Penelope Crawford was made in 2011 is available from Musica Omnia.
Cambini Winds is a unique ensemble in the United States specialized in performing eighteenth- and nineteenth-century woodwind quintet repertoire on period instruments. Each member of the ensemble has devoted time in their careers to performance practice on classical instruments like the natural horn, and woodwind instruments with minimal key work.
The woodwind quintet repertoire is very familiar to modern players but when it comes to the music of the first half of the 18th century, a great deal can be learned from playing it on replicas of period instruments. For instance, the balance problems that arise from playing this music on “modern” winds virtually disappear when early winds are used. The charm of this early woodwind quintet music is enhanced by the natural blend and balance of the classical instruments, and makes for an interesting and enlightening listening experience for the audience. This is particularly inspiring for music performance students who have experience playing this music on modern instruments
Geoffrey Burgess studied in Sydney and later in The Netherlands and at Cornell University. He has appeared as oboe soloist in Australia, America, and Europe. For twenty years he was associated with Les Arts Florissants (Paris), and has also recorded solo music of the Bach Family, and contemporary programs with Duo d’amore. With Joel Robinson he makes copies of 18th-century oboes. The Oboe, co-authored with Bruce Haynes (Yale University Press, 2004) is the standard reference work on the subject. Dr. Burgess has taught at Stony Brook, Columbia and Duke Universities, and currently at the Eastman School of Music.
For the past thirty-five years Eric Hoeprich has specialized in performing on historical clarinets, in music from the Baroque to the late Romantic. Educated at Harvard University and the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, he is currently on the faculties of the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Indiana University (Bloomington) & the Royal Academy in London. A founding member of Frans Brüggen’s Orchestra of the 18th Century (1982), Hoeprich has performed frequently as a soloist with this orchestra, as well as many of the major early music ensembles and several modern orchestras. In the 1980s, he founded two wind ensembles,NACHTMUSIQUE and the Stadler Trio (three basset horns), which have toured around the world. His dozens of recordings have appeared on labels such as Deutsche Grammaphon, Philips, EMI, SONY, Harmonia Mundi, Glossa and Decca. Collaboration with string quartets, chamber ensembles and vocal soloists also feature regularly on his calendar. Recent recordings include clarinet quintets (Mozart and Brahms) with the London Haydn Quartet (Glossa), the three clarinet concertos by Bernhard Crusell withKölner Akademie (ARS Production) and “Sei Sinfonia” by J.C. Bach with Nachtmusique (Glossa).
An interest in historical clarinets has led to the publication of a general text on the clarinet published by Yale University Press (The Clarinet, 2008), as well as numerous articles and contributions to the NewGrove Dictionary. Hoeprich has amassed a collection of more than a hundred antique clarinets, which has also led to restoration as well as construction of replicas of period originals; he maintains a workshop for instrument making at his home near London.
Marc Vallon is Associate Professor of bassoon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music since 2004. A native of France, he received his musical education at the Paris Conservatoire. “Enfant prodige”, he began playing professionally at the age of 17, and had the privilege of performing with the Parisian orchestras under legendary conductors such as Sergiu Celibidache, Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Karl Boehm. His interests later lead him to work with contemporary music groups culminating in the 1980s in a fascinating period of collaboration with Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain.
Marc’s early music career began in 1982 when he joined the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, where he was principal bassoon for 20 years. Marc was also principal bassoon of Philippe Herrewheghe’s “Orchestre des Champs Elysées” for 12 years and has participated in concerts worldwide with early music leading ensembles like Tafelmusik, La Petite Bande, Les Musiciens du Louvre and Concerto Köln. His experience on period instruments ranges from Monteverdi’s “Vespers” (1610) to Debussy’s “Afternoon of a Fawn” (1894). He has been the first early bassoon teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, the Lyon Conservatoire and has given master classes worldwide.
Versatile as an interpreter of the modern and natural horn, Todd Williams is an active performer and educator based in Philadelphia. He regularly performs with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Opera Philadelphia, the Academy of Vocal Arts, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and the Philly Pops. Since 2003, he has served as solo horn of the opera festival Lyrique-en-Mer, France. Natural horn engagements have seen him as solo/principal horn of numerous ensembles across the country including the Cambini Quintet, Tempesta di Mare, Washington Bach Consort, Bach Collegium San Diego, Mercury, Four Nations Ensemble, Trinity Wall Street Baroque, Clarion Music Society, Apollo’s Fire, and Opera Lafayette. In 2014, he was appointed principal horn of the Handel & Haydn Society.
On the subject of the natural horn, Mr. Williams has appeared as a guest artist/lecturer at the Curtis Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, University of Wisconsin (Madison), and the University of Texas (Austin). He has recorded for Musica Omnia, Naxos, Chandos/Chaconne, New World Records, and Warner Brothers. Radio broadcasts including live performances and recordings have aired on Radio France (france musique), WQXR (New York), WETA (Washington, D.C.), WWFM (New Jersey), and WRTI and WHYY (Philadelphia). Todd is a graduate of Indiana University