University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 24, 2002

By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor

Pianist Richard Goode, acknowledged worldwide as one of the leading interpreters of the music of Beethoven, will lead off the Slee Hall concert schedule for November with a performance scheduled for 8 p.m. on Nov. 1.

The busy November concert schedule also will feature the first of two appearances at UB during the academic year by the Muir String Quartet, a return engagement by organ prodigy Felix Hell, recitals by faculty members John Fullam and Stephen Manes, and a concert featuring the baryton performed by the Hauschka Ensemble, the leading exponent of this rare instrument.

Seventeen-year-old organ prodigy Felix Hell will perform on the Fisk organ during a return engagement to the UB North Campus. The concert will be held at 8 p.m. Nov. 15 in Slee Concert Hall.

In regular performances with major orchestras, recitals in the world's music capitals and acclaimed Nonesuch recordings, Goode has won a large and devoted following. His remarkable interpretations of Beethoven came to national attention when he played all five concerti with the Baltimore Symphony under David Zinman, and when he performed the complete cycle of sonatas at New York's 92nd Street Y and Kansas City's Folly Theater. Goode is the first American-born pianist to have recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas, which were nominated for a 1994 Grammy Award.

Beginning its 24th anniversary this season, the Muir String Quartet has long been acknowledged as one of the world's most powerful and insightful ensembles. The group will visit UB to perform the third and fourth concerts of the 47th Annual Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle. The first appearance will be at 8 p.m. Nov. 9 in Slee; the Muir will return on Jan. 24.

Winner of the 1981 Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the 1980 Evian International String Quartet Competition, the Muir has distinguished itself among audiences and critics with its "exhilarating involvement" (Boston Globe), "impeccable voicing and intonation" (San Francisco Examiner) and "unbridled musicality" (American Record Guide).

Following his stunning, well-attended performance last spring—music-lovers from as far away as Syracuse came to the concert—17-year-old organ prodigy Felix Hell will return by popular demand to the Fisk organ in Slee Hall for a concert at 8 p.m. Nov. 15.

Born in 1985 in Frankenthal/Pfalz, Germany, Hell took his first piano lesson at the age of seven. He played the "Prelude in C Major" from J.S. Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" (BWV 846) by heart after a few days of listening to it and observing the piano player. Less than a year later, he took his first organ lesson and was able to play J. S. Bach's "little" "Prelude & Fugue in F Major" just two months after that.

The Department of Music's concert schedule this month also will feature three recitals by notable UB faculty.

John Fullam, a lecturer in the department who also is principal clarinetist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, will be joined by two BPO colleagues, violist Valerie Heywood and pianist Claudia Hoca, at 8 p.m. Nov. 5 in Slee in a program that will include new arrangements of Brahms trios. At 3 p.m. Nov. 10 in Baird Recital Hall, the Amherst Saxophone Quartet will present its final concert as UB Artists-in-Residence—with special guest Stephen Manes on piano—in a program whose grand finale features a unique performance of Mozart's "Quintet for Piano and Winds."

Finally, Manes, professor and chair of the Department of Music, will make an appearance with his own resident ensemble, the Baird Trio, at 8 p.m., Nov. 20 in Slee. That program will features works by Haydn and Beethoven, as well as one by Charles-Valentin Alkan, a contemporary and friend of Chopin's who produced complex, exciting and challenging music for both the performer and—to a lesser degree—the listener.

Often referred to as "The Prince of Instruments and Instrument of Princes," the baryton has a rich and varied repertoire, spanning four centuries from its early development in the Jacobean courts of James I to the present day.

A bowed string instrument, the baryton is resembles a cello or viola da gamba, but features an additional set of wire strings—a "hidden harp"—that run behind the fingerboard and can be played only with the thumb of the left hand.

Until recently, the extensive repertoire of the baryton has remained largely unknown because of the rarity of the instrument and the complexity of its playing technique. But music lovers will have the chance to hear this unique instrument performed by its leading exponent, the Hauschka Ensemble, in a free concert at 8 p.m., Nov. 12 in Baird Recital Hall. Preceding the Hauschka at 8 p.m. on Nov. 11, Danish composer and flautist Lars Graugaard will perform in another free concert, sponsored by the Birge-Cary Chair in the Department of Music.

The November concert schedule also will feature free performances by the UB Choir and Chorus at 8 p.m. Nov. 21, the UB Percussion ensemble at 8 p.m. Nov. 22, and the UB Jazz Ensemble and Combo at 5 p.m. Nov. 24, all in Slee.

Tickets for Goode, the Muir String Quartet and Felix Hell are $12 for the public; $9 for UB faculty, staff and alumni, WNED members with card and senior citizens, and $5 for students. There is no admission charge for the ASQ concert; tickets for John Fullam and the Baird Trio are priced at $5 each; UB students showing a valid ID are admitted free of charge.

Tickets to all music department concerts can be obtained at the Slee and the Center for the Arts box offices, and at all Ticketmaster outlets.