NEWS FROM THE WAGNER SOCIETY
For more information
Aurelius Fernandez, 301.907.2600
WASHINGTON, D.C., AUGUST 1, 2007 ––– The
Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. announces a lecture-recital by the renowned
concert pianist
Jeffrey Swann
The Art of Piano Transcription:
Intimate Expressions of the Grand
The
event will be at the Takoma Park Studio of the Washington National Opera, 6925 Willow Street, N.W.,
on Thursday, September 20th at 7:30 P.M.
It will be followed by a reception with the artist. The program is free to current Wagner Society
members and $20 to non-members.
Attendance is limited to two hundred people. Reservations must be made by September 17th
on a form available on the Society’s website at www.wagner-dc.org or by
calling the Society at 301.907.2600.
The Lecture-Recital will include piano transcriptions by Liszt, Ignaz
Friedman, and others of orchestral and operatic works of Mahler, Verdi, Liszt,
and Richard Wagner. Mr. Swann will play
and discuss the ravishing Brangäne’s Watch from the second act of Tristan
und Isolde, the second movement of Mahler’s Third Symphony, and
transcriptions from Verdi’s Rigoletto,
Il
Trovatore, and Aïda.
Jeffrey Swann has an international concert career performing with
many of the world’s foremost conductors and orchestras. He has won competitions, taking top honors at
the Warsaw Chopin Contest and the Van Cliburn contest. His repertoire includes more than fifty piano
concertos, solo works ranging from Bach to Boulez, and the sonatas of
Beethoven, all thirty-two of which he has performed to critical acclaim at New York’s Bargemusic
Festival. Anthony Tommasini of The
New York Times said Mr. Swann’s Beethoven performance “had the sense of
total involvement, a willingness to immerse oneself whole in the music.” He is much admired for his interpretations of
Wagner and other music for the Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. On June sixth, at the Society’s banquet at
the Washington Arts Club, Mr. Swan joined the list of celebrated people who
have received The Wagner Society Award.
In the Washington area, he has performed
well-received recitals presented by the Wagner Society, participated in a
seminar on Wagner’s Ring that was jointly sponsored by the Smithsonian
Institution and the Society, and has appeared at seven of the Society’s popular
weekend retreats, Wagner in der Wildnis.
Mr. Swann will be a lecturer, for the fifth time, at the
Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth,
Germany later
this month. He is a native of Arizona, studied at Southern Methodist University and at
the Julliard School where he received B.M., M.M. and
D.M.A. degrees.
The
Wagner Society of Washington, D.C. is a non-profit organization dedicated to
the enjoyment of Richard Wagner’s art.
More information about the Society and its activities can be found at
its web site at www.wagner-dc.org.
THE WAGNER SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON,
D.C.
P.O. Box 58213
Washington, D.C.
20037
Telephone 301.907.2600 ■ Facsimile 301.907.8671