New York, NY — October 6, 2023 — The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Brooklyn Rider with Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano: Songs of Love and Death on Friday, November 10, 2023 at 7:30 pm at the Kaufmann Concert Hall. Tickets start at $30 and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/brooklyn-rider-with-anne-sofie-von-otter.
In a rare NYC appearance and first-ever on our stage, the radiant world-renowned mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter joins cutting-edge string quartet Brooklyn Rider to perform their Songs of Love and Death.
Longtime collaborators, each is acclaimed for the fearlessness of their artistry, exploring music from Monteverdi to Björk, and Beethoven to Elvis Costello. Their program intersperses movements from Schubert’s iconic Death and the Maiden string quartet with arrangements of Schubert lieder by Osvaldo Golijov and modern torch songs by Rufus Wainwright. An exquisite and illuminating meditation on themes of love and death, inspired by one of the most enduring composers in history.
SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH
Rufus Wainwright, Trois Valses Anglaises (arr. Colin Jacobsen) (New York premiere)
Schubert, String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden”
Schubert, Selections from Winterreise (arr. Osvaldo Golijov) (New York premiere of these arrangements)
Rufus Wainwright, Three Songs for Lulu (arr. Colin Jacobsen) (New York premiere)
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
With their gripping performance style and unquenchable appetite for musical adventure, Brooklyn Rider has carved a singular space in the world of string quartets over their fifteen-year history. Defining the string quartet as a medium with deep historic roots and endless possibility for invention, they find equal inspiration in musical languages ranging from late Beethoven to Persian classical music to American roots music to the endlessly varied voices of living composers. Claiming no allegiance to either end of the historical spectrum, Brooklyn Rider most comfortably operates within the long arc of the tradition, seeking to illuminate works of the past with fresh insight while coaxing the malleable genre into the future through an inclusive programming vision, deep-rooted collaborations with a wide range of global tradition bearers, and the creation of thoughtful and relevant frames for commissioning projects.
The 2023-24 concert season is strongly illustrative of the intrepid musical appetite of Brooklyn Rider. In the fall, a project with Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh is celebrated with the launch of a new album, Starlighter, which has garnered critical acclaim in both online and print media. Another collaborative project, with Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, explores themes of love and death through the music of Franz Schubert and Rufus Wainwright and tours around the United States. Looking further into the future, they will embark on several projects intended to mark the upcoming 20th anniversary celebration of Brooklyn Rider, including large projects featuring the music of Philip Glass, an homage to their name namesake group The Blue Rider entitled the Brooklyn Rider Almanac, and several major commissions.
Brooklyn Rider has remained steadfast in their commitment to generate new music for string quartet at nearly every phase of their history. Shared during the global pandemic at the height of the US lockdown, the Grammy®-nominated recording Healing Modes (In A Circle Records) presented Beethoven’s towering Opus 132 — the composer’s late testament on healing and the restorative power of new creation — interwoven with five new commissions powerfully exploring topics as wide-ranging as the US-Mexico border conflict, the Syrian refugee crisis, the mental health epidemic, and physical wellbeing. This record, along with the rest of Brooklyn Rider’s 20-album discography have helped give rise to NPR Music’s observation that Brooklyn Rider is “recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble.”
Boasting an unrivaled and multi award-winning discography, mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter’s versatility has seen her work with legendary artists ranging from the late greats of Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado and Giuseppe Sinopoli to Elvis Costello, Brad Mehldau and Rufus Wainwright.
Von Otter’s 2023/24 season includes a programme of song and spoken word in collaboration with pianist Bendix Dethleffsen, actor Graham F. Valentine and guitarist Fabian Fredriksson at the Elbphilharmonie as part of the Nordlied Festival. She creates the roles of Gaby in the world premiere of Mikael Karlsson’s Melancholia at Royal Swedish Opera and returns to the role of Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at Theater Basel. In concert she joins forces with Brooklyn Rider on tour in North America for further performances of their programme juxtaposing the music of Schubert and Wainwright entitled Songs of Love and Death.
An ever-evolving opera repertoire has played a key role in sustaining von Otter’s international profile, from an early position as the superlative Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) of her generation, to her acclaimed creation of Leonora in the world premiere of Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel at Salzburger Festspiele and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Recent highlights include Madame de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmélites) at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) at Bayerische Staatsoper and the leading role of Charlotte Andergast in the world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s Höstsonaten for Finnish National Opera.
Equally recognized as a concert and recital singer of exceptional gifts, von Otter’s career has taken her around the globe as a regular presence on the world’s most important stages excelling in a diverse repertoire including works by Berlioz, Bach and Kurt Weill, and her expansive Lieder recordings range from classics by Schubert, Schumann and Mahler, through lesser-known compilations from Cécile Chaminade and Stenhammar.
Von Otter is one of today’s most recorded artists with an incomparable catalogue built across a career now spanning more than four decades. A lengthy and exclusive relationship with Deutsche Grammophon produced acclaimed recordings including the Grammy-winning Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Claudio Abbado, Handel’s Ariodante, Giulio Cesare and Hercules with Marc Minkowski and a collaboration with pop legend Elvis Costello on For the Stars. On Naïve Classique, her double CD of Mélodies and Chansons, Douce France, received the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.
2023/24 Tisch Music Season
Working within 92NY’s 150th Anniversary theme, Inspired by the Past, Transforming for the Future, 92NY’s Vice President, Tisch Music’s Amy Lam has curated a season featuring newly commissioned works and premieres and artist-driven programs that reference the history of 92NY, the artists themselves, and music more broadly. Some of the featured works at 92NY include the world premiere of a new, interdisciplinary project by Cécile McLorin Salvant, in which Salvant mines her classical music training to transform Baroque songs through a jazz-focused lens, the New York premiere of Damien Geter’s COTTON, which explores an African American narrative of past and present performed by Denyce Graves and Justin Austin, and a new program from Broadway legend Audra McDonald, who takes the stage with a program inspired by her Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award-winning 30-year career.
Building on the theme of transformation, 11 of this season’s 42 concerts will be presented in 92NY’s newly renovated and creatively flexible Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center. In its Buttenwieser Hall programs, Tisch Music will continue to expand on-site audience engagement in new and exciting ways. As it continues to build its global audience (having secured approximately 5 million views from 200 countries and all 50 states for its original programming across the institution last year), 92NY will maintain its commitment to making its offerings available globally, with more than 20 events available for streaming and on-demand viewing.
The 2023/24 Tisch Music Season builds on the recent success of its Midsummer MusicFest, launched this year in celebration of 92NY’s 150th Anniversary. Consistent with 92NY’s anniversary theme, the annual Festival will look back on 92NY’s musical history, with 2023’s festival inspired by 92NY’s role in bringing jazz from small clubs to a concert hall setting. The Season also continues the evolution of Tisch Music’s flagship Lyrics & Lyricists series, doubling the American Songbook offerings and focusing on the genre as defined, not only by Broadway, but in the many genres of American music found across the country.
Highlights of the 2023/24 Tisch Music Season include:
- Joshua Redman Group release concert of where are we featuring Gabrielle Cavassa
- NY premieres of new work by Tyshawn Sorey and COTTON by composer Damien Geter
- New York concert debuts of the Isidore String Quartet and pianist Tony Siqi Yun
- Pianist Conrad Tao returns to 92NY as part of the global celebration of Rachmaninoff at 150
- Ongoing partnerships continue with concerts from the Curtis Institute of Music, the New York Philharmonic, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with special guest artists
- Art of the Guitar Series with Beijing Guitar Duo, David Russell and Manuel Barrueco
- 2023/24 Lyrics & Lyricists series celebrating Howard Ashman, Laura Nyro, Stevie Wonder, and Sheldon Harnick in a special event led by Ted Sperling honoring the legacy of three-time Tony Award winner and Broadway legend, Jason Robert Brown, featuring a one-night-only appearance.
- Expanded American Songbook offerings including exclusive concerts by Audra McDonald, Joshua Henry and Stephanie J. Block
For more information, please visit 92NY.org/Concerts.
