Brahms's unrequited love immortalized in song 

The Chamber Music Socety of Lincoln Center
Arias and Barcarolles
Tuesday, October 24 / 7:30PM

Join us for the series opening of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center featuring Brahms's declaration of love for Julie Schumann, the Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52; coupled with Leonard Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles – a work composed to be a companion piece to Brahms' famous love songs. Two consummate pianist-collaborators Anne-Marie McDermott and Sebastian Knauer are paired with stars of the opera world – Susanna Phillips (featured in HTP Beyond the Aria and Music of the Baroque's Elijah), Tamara Mumford, Nicholas Phan, and Nathan Gunn – in this program of vocal chamber music which will also include Samuel Barber's Souvenirs for piano, four hands, and lieder by Robert Schumann. This will be a crowd-pleasing program for lovers of both art song and virtuoso piano. Scroll down to learn more about Brahms's Liebeslider and Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles.

 Great seats are still available for this performance!  

ARIAS25 $25 offer available on B and C price zones. Cannot be combined with other offers. Not valid on previous purchases. Available online only. Offer ends Friday, September 29, 2017.

The stories behind the works

Much ink has been spilled about Johannes Brahms’s enduring friendship with Robert Schumann and complicated relationship with his wife Clara Schumann, but less is known about his affection for their daughter Julie. The third daughter of the Schumanns was considered to be the most beautiful Schumann girl, and Brahms's infatuation with her began when she was only 16.

In 1868, he penned what would become one of his biggest hits, the Opus 52 Liebeslieder Walzer, a collection of 18 songs for four singers and two pianists, likely to have been once performed in salon by Clara, Julie, Robert, and Johannes themsleves. The texts for these songs contain not-so-subtle amorous suggestions towards the 23-year-old Schumann maiden. Because of her delicate constitution, Julie lived in the south where she made acquaintance of the count Vittorio Amadeo Radicati di Marmorito. In 1869, Brahms was devastated when Clara announced that Julie was to marry him. Three years after the marriage, Julie died while she was pregnant with her third child.

LISTEN to a performance of Liebeslider Walzer, No.18, Op.52. 

After a 1960 White House performance by Bernstein, President Eisenhower declared, "I like music with a theme, not all those arias and barcarolles." Naming a 1988 work from Eisenhower's remark, Bernstein's witty eight-part song cycle reflects many musical styles from torch song to klezmer. The romantic texts for Arias and Barcarolles, mostly written by Bernstein, are thematically linked to Brahms's Liebeslieder Walzer – a work that originally used the exact same instrumentation of voices and pianists. Bernstein referred to the Brahms waltzes frequently in discussing the piece. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will perform Bernstein's second version of Arias and Barcarolles for mezzo-soprano, baritone, and piano, four hands on October 24 at the Harris Theater. 

LISTEN to a performance of  "Love Duet" from Arias and Barcarolles. 

Reserve your tickets online

ARIAS25 $25 offer available on B and C price zones. Cannot be combined with other offers. Not valid on previous purchases. Available online only. Offer ends Friday, September 29, 2017.