This summer, the sounds of chamber music will fill barrel rooms and wine caves up and down the Napa Valley as Music in the Vineyards (MITV) presents its 25th Anniversary festival, running July 31 – August 25. Known for its twilight concerts in atmospheric venues with wine tasting at intermission, the festival is now harvesting the fruits of its labor and has become renowned not just for its beautiful wine country setting, but also for the caliber of its performers, the quality of music it produces, and the relationships it fosters between artists and audience.
At Merryvale Vineyards, Haydn’s Piano Trio makes our 25 for 25 list because the affable ‘Papa’ Haydn first elevated this genre into an intelligent conversation for three players. Felix Mendelssohn’s credentials are renowned, precisely because of works such as this string quintet, the last work of chamber music he wrote before he died.
Program
Haydn: Piano Trio in C Major ㉕
Lowell Liebermann: Quartet for Piano and Strings
Mendelssohn: Quintet for Strings no. 2 ㉕
Musicians
Violin: Ara Gregorian, Hye-Jin Kim, Bryan Lee, Daria Adams
Viola: Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Rebecca Young
Cello: Camden Shaw
Piano: Wei-Yi Yang