KEENE VALLEY/LAKE PLACID — Hungarian composer Jenö Hubay’s “Maggiolata” (Song of May) was the catalyst for “Spring Serenade,” a seasonal program of vocal duets and instrumental solos spanning the Baroque to George Gershwin.
Soprano Amy Nelson and bass Thomas Stork will sing a variety of songs ranging from duets by Brahms, Haydn’s “The Creation,” and Moravian folk songs by Dvorak.
Patti McCarty, former Second chair viola of the Boston Symphony, will play Bach and Hubay’s “Song of May,“ all accompanied by pianist, Timothy Mount, professor emeritus at Stony Brook University.
Performances will be at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 17, at the Keene Valley Congregational Church, at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 18, at the St. Eustace Church in Lake Placid.
“There are four of us, and I play piano for the whole concert,” Mount said.
“We’re doing a great variety of duets. and then also Patricia McCarty, violist, she’s playing a solo piece and we’re also doing a couple of things with piano and viola. It started out as duets. We wanted to do some duets.”
Mount has performed with Nelson a number of times in the past, most memorably for porch concerts during COVID.
“That was a lot of fun. One of those outdoor concerts that people were doing back then,” he said.
Mount met Stork, and they later performed Ralph Vaughan Williams “Songs of Travel,” which is a song cycle with poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson.
“We performed in Saranac Lake, which you know of course, he used to live,” Mount said.
“These are two singers that I have been playing with since I moved up to the North Country, so I thought it would be fun to do some duets. We didn’t have quite enough for a full program, so we asked Patti to join us.”
The program begins with Sonata for Viola da gamba by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
“We performed this once before,” Mount said.
“I played harpsichord. Patti played viola. This time, we’re doing it with piano because of bigger spaces. We’re doing it at Keene Valley Congregational Church. Then, we’re at St. Eustace Church in Lake Placid the next day. Patti uses a baroque bow, but still for those spaces we thought a piano would be better than a harpsichord.”
ORDER
The program’s order is:
– “Sonata for Viola da gamba, BWV 1027” Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
– “Che vai pensando folle pensier (What are You Thinking about, Foolish Thought)” Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759)
– “By Thee with Bliss and Of Stars the Fairest from The Creation” Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
– “Capriccio, Op. 55, ‘Hommage à Paganini’” Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881)
– “4 Duets, Op. 28” Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
– “Die Nonne und der Ritter (The Nun and the Knight)”
– “Vor der Tür (At the Door)”
– “Es rauschet das Wasser (The Water Rushes)”
– “Der Jäger und sein Liebchen (The Hunter and His Love)”
– “2 Moravian Duets, op. 38” by Anton Dvořák (1841-1904)
– “Möglichket (The Possibility)”
– “Der Apfel (The Apple)”
– “Maggiolata (Song of Spring)” Jenö Hubay (1858-1937)
– “S’Wonderful,” “Our Love is here to Stay,” and “I Got Rhythm” George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Mount highlights the “Adam and Eve” duets from “The Creation.”
“Most of my life was spent as a choral conductor,” he said.
“I was at Stony Brook University down on Long Island. I conducted that there, and I would love to do it again. I just adore the whole work, and I thought it would be fun to do these duets. They drive me crazy.”
The other piece that really moves Mount the “4 Duets. Op. 28.”
“Brahms has always been a favorite of mine,” he said.
“My wife and I were swimming in Saranac Lake at the college and on the way home we were listening to the Brahms ‘Requiem,’ which was nice. Probably, my first love. Definitely, my first love. These are great – a lot of variety in these four duets.”
“We wind the program up with three Gershwin songs arranged for soprano, bass, and viola. So, we’re all participating in these Gershwin.”