Chamber Music Series

An Evening with David Finckel and Wu Han

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Performances

Jan 25 Thu

CMS completes its 2023-24 season in Chicago with a look to the future.

In a concert celebrating the range of the cello-piano duo repertoire, Debussy’s groundbreaking late sonata—the first truly modern work on the genre—leads seamlessly to the dreamy opening of Bruce Adolphe’s Couple, composed for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s own David Finckel and Wu Han. Mendelssohn’s Second Sonata, a masterpiece of his extensive instrumental output, is a prime example of everything we associate with Mendelssohn, from racing, virtuosic outer movements to a magical scherzo and a slow movement based on a Christian hymn.

In the second half, the CMS Co-Artistic Directors are joined by two young artists from the Bowers Program, dedicated to nurturing the next generation of great chamber musicians: Taiwanese-American violinist Richard Lin and BBC New Generation Artist Tim Ridout, a violist with “gorgeous tone, a thoughtful approach to phrasing, and an infectious sense of impetuosity” (Grammophone), performing Dvořák’s heartfelt Piano Quartet No. 2.

PROGRAM
Debussy                Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915)
Adolphe                Couple for Cello and Piano (1998)
Shostakovich        Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 40 (1934)
Dvořák                   Quartet in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 87 (1889)

ARTISTS
Wu Han, Piano
Richard Lin, Violin
Timothy Ridout, Viola
David Finckel, Cello

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is one of eleven constituents of the largest performing arts complex in the world, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which includes the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center Theater, and the Metropolitan Opera. Through its many performance, education, recording, and broadcast activities, CMS brings the experience of great chamber music to more people than any other organization of its kind. Under the artistic leadership of David Finckel and Wu Han, it presents a wide variety of concert series and educational events for listeners of all ages, appealing to both connoisseurs and newcomers. The performing artists constitute a revolving multi-generational and international roster of the world’s finest chamber musicians, enabling CMS to present chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period. CMS’s incomparable digital presence, which regularly enables CMS to reach hundreds of thousands of listeners around the globe annually, includes: A growing number of live-streamed programs; more than 1,000 hours of performance and education videos free to the public on its website; a 52-week public radio series across the US; radio programming in Taiwan and mainland China; appearances on American Public Media; the monthly program “In Concert with CMS” on the ALL ARTS broadcast channel; and performances featured on Medici.tv, Tencent, and SiriusXM’s Symphony Hall channel.

Visit the Chamber Music Society online at www.ChamberMusicSociety.org.