Please click on a heading for detailed program and venue information.

• Saturday, June 26, 2010
  An Evening in Vienna: Piano music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven
  (Presented by Sayles Memorial Congregational Church – Lincoln, RI)
   
  Vienna was one of the most musical cities in Europe, which is why composers such as Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven made their home there. Viennese citizens not only attended concerts regularly, but loved playing music themselves at home. The piano reigned supreme at “house concerts,” but the Viennese piano of this time was quite different than the one we know today. This program offers a snapshot of the wide variety of music being published in Vienna, and gives listeners the chance to hear it played on a replica of a Viennese piano from c. 1795. Program includes Mozart’s tragic Fantasia in C minor, Beethoven’s beloved “Tempest” Sonata, Haydn’s virtuosic and playful Fantasia in C major, and Beethoven’s brilliant Marches for piano, four-hands. A reception with Viennese desserts will follow the concert.
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• Friday, June 18, 2010
  Mozart and his musical fathers, J.C. Bach and Haydn
  Presented by Ascension Memorial Church - Ipswich, MA
   
  In honor of Father’s Day, this program features music by Mozart (1756 – 1791) and two of his musical “fathers”, Johann Christian Bach and Franz Joseph Haydn. J. C. Bach (1735 – 1782), the youngest son of Johann Sebastian, wrote music that sounded very different from his father’s! Mozart met him in London when he was a boy, and was profoundly influenced by his music throughout his life. When J. C. Bach died, Mozart stated that that it was “a loss for the world of music.” The mutual respect and friendship that existed between Mozart and Haydn (1732 – 1809) is well known, but before they were colleagues, Mozart studied the elder composer’s work during his formative years. Program includes: Bach’s fiery Sonata in C minor; Mozart’s tragic Fantasia in C minor; and Haydn’s virtuosic Fantasia in C major, which is at once both a good-natured romp and a compositional tour-de-force.
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• June 13, 2010
  Mozart and his musical fathers, J.C. Bach and Haydn
  Presented by Gore Place - Waltham, MA
   
  In honor of Father’s Day, this program features music by Mozart (1756 – 1791) and two of his musical “fathers”, Johann Christian Bach and Franz Joseph Haydn. J. C. Bach (1735 – 1782), the youngest son of Johann Sebastian, wrote music that sounded very different from his father’s! Mozart met him in London when he was a boy, and was profoundly influenced by his music throughout his life. When J. C. Bach died, Mozart stated that that it was “a loss for the world of music.” The mutual respect and friendship that existed between Mozart and Haydn (1732 – 1809) is well known, but before they were colleagues, Mozart studied the elder composer’s work during his formative years. Program includes: Bach’s fiery Sonata in C minor; Mozart’s tragic Fantasia in C minor; and Haydn’s virtuosic Fantasia in C major, which is at once both a good-natured romp and a compositional tour-de-force. This concert offers listeners the special opportunity of hearing this music in the exquisite Great Hall of Gore Place mansion, which, built in 1806, is acoustically very similar to spaces these composers would have known.
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• April 23, 2010
  Sylvia Berry in recital – Music of Mozart and Beethoven
  C.K. Williams – Readings from Wait
  Presented by the Arts Café in Mystic, Connecticut
   
  Join Sylvia Berry and distinguished poet C. K. Williams for an intimate evening of music and verse. For sixteen years the Arts Café in Mystic, CT has presented programs featuring readings by nationally acclaimed poets and writers, complemented by music from New England's best musicians. C. K. Williams is regarded as one of America’s greatest living poets, having won the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, among many others. Wait is his newest collection of poems.
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• October 24, 2009
  Haydn at the Keyboard: Four Sonatas from Four Decades A lecture recital by Sylvia Berry (harpsichord, fortepiano)
  Presented by Clark University
   
  While Haydn is often called the “Father of the Symphony,” and perhaps more rightly so, the “Father of the String Quartet,” his great achievements as a composer of keyboard music remain relatively overlooked. Only a handful of Haydn’s keyboard works are performed regularly, which limits our sense of the vast stylistic terrain that his oeuvre encompasses. Haydn’s works span an approximately forty-year period during which many changes in aesthetics and instruments took place, and his sonatas were always in the vanguard. Published throughout Europe during his lifetime, Haydn’s keyboard works were just as instrumental in securing his fame as his work in other genres.

  In this presentation, Sylvia Berry will discuss and perform sonatas from four successive decades in order to illustrate that no matter the style (Galant, “Sturm und Drang,” Classical, or early Romantic), Haydn’s singular creative stamp is always present. In the process, we will discover that this is spectacular music brimming not only with ingenuity and wit, but with fire and passion as well.

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• October 18, 2009
  Master and Heir Apparent: Music of Haydn and Beethoven
  Presented by the First Parish Cohasset Concert Series
   
  In celebration of “Haydn Year 2009”, Sylvia Berry performs a program of works by Haydn and Beethoven that reveals the connection between these musical titans. Beethoven was only briefly Haydn’s pupil, and in some ways their relationship was a troubled one; however, it is quite clear that the works of the elder master were an important source of inspiration for the young genius. Soon after moving to Vienna Beethoven was seen as Haydn’s heir apparent, and this program shows why.
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• October 11, 2009
  Master and Heir Apparent: Music of Haydn and Beethoven
  Presented by the “Music and Art” series at Taylor House
   
  In celebration of “Haydn Year 2009”, Sylvia Berry performs a program of works by Haydn and Beethoven that reveals the connection between these musical titans. Beethoven was only briefly Haydn’s pupil, and in some ways their relationship was a troubled one; however, it is quite clear that the works of the elder master were an important source of inspiration for the young genius. Soon after moving to Vienna Beethoven was seen as Haydn’s heir apparent, and this program shows why.
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• October 1, 2009
  Music for keyboard, four-hands
  Presented by The Boston Athenæum
  Sylvia Berry and Shuann Chai, harpsichord
   
  Sylvia Berry joins keyboardist Shuann Chai for a lunchtime concert at the beautiful Boston Athenæum, a National Historic Landmark. Program features keyboard duets by J.C. Bach, Mozart, and Clementi.
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• August 5, 2009
  Friends and Colleagues: Music of Mozart and Haydn
  Presented by the Trinity College Summer Chamber Music Series
  Abigail Karr, violin
  Sylvia Berry, fortepiano
   
  The friendship of Mozart and Haydn is one of the most famous in music history. These two geniuses had a great deal of respect and affection for each other, and it is wonderful to hear their works side by side. In this program we’ll hear Mozart’s heartbreaking Violin Sonata in E minor; Haydn’s whimsical Piano Sonata in B-flat from 1784, written for Princess Marie Esterházy; and also from 1784, Mozart’s grand Violin Sonata in B-flat, written for the Italian violinist Regina Strinassachi. Mozart and Strinassachi performed the work together in Vienna, with the Emperor Joseph II in attendance. Mozart’s father Leopold, who had heard this traveling virtuoso in Salzburg, praised her highly in a letter to his daughter, adding: “In general, I think that a woman who has talent plays with more expression than a man.” Indeed, both Mozart and Haydn wrote countless gems for their female students and friends.
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• June 25, 2009
  An Evening in England: Duos and solos for harpsichord and fortepiano by J.C. Bach, Mozart, C.P.E. Bach, Haydn, and Clementi
  Presented by Fenton House, Hampstead Grove (UK)
  Sylvia Berry and Shuann Chai (harpsichord and square piano)
   
  Enjoy an evening of 18th century music played on English instruments from the period. The Benton Fletcher Collection at Fenton House includes countless gems from the English keyboard school: This program features a lovely square piano by Broadwood from 1774, and a magnificent harpsichord by Shudi and Broadwood from 1770, complete with Venetian swell. Sylvia Berry and Shuann Chai will play duets for four-hands as well as solo works, giving us a pleasurable and invigorating insight into the amazing variety of keyboard moods and timbres available in the late 18th century.
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• June 13, 2009
  Mini-recital by Sylvia Berry on an antique fortepiano made in Italy by Carlo Arnoldi, circa 1785.
  Presented by the Harpsichord Clearing House at their “Works in Progress” series at the Boston Early Music Festival Exhibition
   
  Enjoy a rare opportunity to hear an original five-octave fortepiano from the eighteenth century. Restored by Tim Hamilton in 2008, this is a fascinating example of the many kinds of instruments that were available during the time of Haydn and Mozart. Join Sylvia Berry in a program of two Haydn sonatas as we celebrate “Haydn Year 2009,” as well as the 40th anniversary of the Harpsichord Clearing House.
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• May 29, 2009
  Haydn at the Keyboard: Four Sonatas from Four Decades
  A lecture recital by Sylvia Berry (harpsichord, fortepiano)
  Presented by the Haydn Society of North America
  “Haydn Year 2009” Conference — Longy School of Music, May 28-31
   
  While Haydn is often called the “Father of the Symphony,” and perhaps more rightly so, the “Father of the String Quartet,” his great achievements as a composer of keyboard music remain relatively overlooked. Indeed, only a handful of Haydn’s keyboard works are performed regularly, limiting our sense of the vast stylistic terrain that his oeuvre encompasses. Haydn’s works span an approximately forty-year period during which many changes in aesthetics and instruments took place, but his sonatas were always in the vanguard due to his openness to experimentation with different instruments; sensitivity to the public’s ever-shifting tastes, and innovative spirit. Published throughout Europe during his lifetime, Haydn’s keyboard works were just as instrumental in securing his fame as his work in other genres.

  In this presentation, Sylvia Berry will discuss and perform sonatas from four successive decades in order to illustrate that no matter the style (Galant, “Sturm und Drang,” Classical, or early Romantic), Haydn’s singular creative stamp is always present. Throughout, we will discover that this spectacular music is filled not only with ingenuity and wit, but with fire and passion as well.

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• March 17, 2009
  Passion in Song: Lieder and Canzonettas by Haydn, Mozart, Reichardt, and Zelter
  Presented by the Tuesday Mid-Day Concert Series at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia
  Clara Rottsolk, soprano
  Sylvia Berry, fortepiano
   
  Enjoy a colorful program of songs exploring the many facets of love: from the exquisite anticipation of a first kiss to the enraged woman who burns the letters of her unfaithful lover, from coy flirtation to the utter exhilaration of boldly declaring oneself true to another.
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• March 13, 2009
  Haydn in Philadelphia: Two keyboard sonatas Philadelphians may have heard at Alexander Reinagle's “City Concerts”
  Presented by the Annual Conclave of the Southeastern and Midwestern Historical Keyboard Societies: Keyboard Music and Colonial Philadelphia, March 12-14
   
  As part of a joint conference being held in Philadelphia by the Southeastern and Midwestern Historical Keyboard Societies, Sylvia Berry will present a mini-recital of two Haydn sonatas that may have been heard at Alexander Reinagle’s “City Concerts”, a series which took place at the famous City Tavern. Following the American War of Independence, many European musicians came to the bustling city of Philadelphia to find their fortune. Chief among them was the keyboardist and composer Alexander Reinagle (1756 – 1809), an English native of German descent who arrived in 1786 and helped invigorate the city’s music scene by programming the latest works from Europe. Haydn’s symphonies were prominently featured in these programs, but Reinagle programmed sonatas by Haydn as well, designating them for the “Piano Forte”. While there is no way to know which sonatas Reinagle performed, it is fairly safe to assume that he would have had access to sonatas from the 1770’s which began circulating in England roughly a decade later. In 2009, as we commemorate the bicentennial of Haydn’s death, it is wonderful to contemplate the fact that Philadelphia was one of the first cities in the United States where Haydn’s music was heard.
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• March 11, 2009
  Passion in Song: Lieder, Ballades, and Canzonettas by Haydn, Reichardt, Mozart, Zelter, and Zumsteeg
  Clara Rottsolk, soprano
  Sylvia Berry, fortepiano
   
  Enjoy an enchanting evening of song exploring the many facets of love: from the exquisite anticipation of a first kiss to the enraged woman who burns the letters of her unfaithful lover, from coy flirtation to the utter exhilaration of boldly declaring oneself true to another.
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• January 30, 2009
  February 1, 2009
  J.S. Bach – Concertos for two, three, and four harpsichords
   
  Sylvia Berry joins harpsichordists Ursula Dütschler, Leon Schelhase, and Michael Sponseller for two performances with Ensemble Florilège of these magnificent yet rarely performed concertos. The program will also include works of Louis Couperin, Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, Dieterich Buxtehude, and Gaspard Le Roux, one of the first composers known to have written works for two harpsichords.
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• November 16, 2008
  Music of J.S. and C.P.E. Bach
   
  Sylvia Berry joins harpsichordist Leon Schelhase and Cambridge Concentus, Ensemble-in-Residence at First Church, Cambridge, for a performance of C.P.E. Bach's Double Concerto in E-flat for harpsichord and fortepiano.
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• July 23, 2008
  O Tuneful Voice: Songs of Love and Loss from the Age of Enlightenment
  Presented by the Trinity College Summer Chamber Music Series
  Sudie Marcuse, soprano
  Sylvia Berry, fortepiano
   
  The "Age of Enlightenment” refers to an eighteenth century intellectual movement that celebrated scientific research and individual freedom. This new thinking allowed the rising middle class to enjoy cultural activities that previously were available only to the aristocracy. A boom in music publishing and instrument building enabled middle class families to bring music into their homes, and eventually most well-to-do young ladies were expected to be able to sing and play a keyboard instrument. In addition, a slowly emerging equality between the sexes allowed female performers and composers to concertize and publish their works. This program features songs by female composers such as von Paradis and Brillon de Jouy, alongside those of their male contemporaries Haydn and Mozart, whose works were often inspired by their female friends, students, and colleagues.
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• June 21, 2008
  The Roman Connection: Italian Influence on Classical Style
  Presented by the Connecticut Early Music Festival
  Boston Hausmusik
   
  
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• June 20, 2008
  The Roman Connection: Italian Influence on Classical Style
  Presented by the Danforth Museum of Art
  Boston Hausmusik
   
  Though we usually associate classical style with music composed in 18th-century Vienna, many aspects of it have their roots in Italy. Boston Hausmusik (Sylvia Berry, fortepiano; Abigail Karr, violin; Kate Bennett Haynes, cello) explore these aspects in works by Lodovico Giustini (1685 - 1743), the first composer to publish sonatas specifically for the piano, and their manifestations in “Hausmusik” by J. C. Bach, Boccherini, Clementi, and Beethoven.
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• April 6 and 7, 2008
  A Journey through the Beginnings of German Art Song
  Clara Rottsolk, soprano
  Sylvia Berry, fortepiano
   
  
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• March 13, 2008
  The Many Faces of Mozart
  Presented by The Oberlin College Alumni Association
  Sylvia Berry, fortepiano
   
  
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• October 20, 21, 22, 25, and 26, 2007
  The Many Faces of Mozart
  Presented by the Cambridge Society for Early Music
  Sylvia Berry, fortepiano
   
  The music of Mozart is embedded within our consciousness: play the themes from Eine kleine Nachtmusik or the “Rondo alla Turca” and most people will know them. But how well do we really know Mozart? This program seeks to give a more rounded picture by juxtaposing works which aren’t often heard with favorites such as the Sonata in F major (K. 332) and the Sonata in A major (K. 331), which concludes with the famous “Rondo all Turca.” Lesser-known works include the tempestuous Modulating Prelude, which gives us a fascinating glimpse of Mozart as an improviser, the astounding Eine kleine Gigue in G major, and the utterly heartbreaking Rondo in A minor. Mozart was above all a consummate dramatist, and this program shows him at his theatrical best in works suffused with passion and joy, tragedy and comedy.
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• September 23, 2007
  A Journey through the Beginnings of German Art Song
  Presented by the Goethe Institut, Boston
  Clara Rottsolk, soprano
  Sylvia Berry, fortepiano
   
  This program offers a fascinating look at the evolution of German Lieder, from C.P.E. Bach’s Gellert Lieder of 1757 to Schubert’s early masterworks of 1814-16, when he composed some of the most definitive settings of Goethe’s poems. Along the way we’ll encounter the exquisite jewels that are Mozart’s contribution to the genre, as well as the practically unknown yet seminal Lieder of Reichardt, Zelter, and Zumsteeg. Goethe regarded Reichardt as “the first to make my lyrical works known to the general public through music, in a serious and steady manner.” Zelter, a pivotal figure in Germany’s musical life, was a close friend of Goethe and set many of his poems. In this program we well hear his “Margarethe,” which uses the same text from Goethe’s Faust as Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade.” The lieder and ballades of Zumsteeg were a direct influence on Schubert, who reportedly “could revel in these songs for hours on end.”
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• June 16, 2007
  The Height of Expression: Keyboard Music of Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, and Mozart
   
  Join Sylvia Berry at the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Series for a program featuring works full of wit, joy, romance, and tragedy.

  “A musician cannot move others unless he too is moved. He must of necessity feel all of the affects that he hopes to arouse in his audience, for the revealing of his own humor will stimulate a like humor in the listener.”

  —Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, from Part 1 of Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments (1753)

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• June 12, 2007
  Chamber Music of Mozart
   
  Join Boston Hausmusik at the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Series and hear some of Mozart's most beloved chamber music. Presented in conjunction with The Rosetta String Trio, who will play a program of brilliant yet rarely heard Beethoven trios. Refreshments will be served between the two concerts.
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• January 13, 2007
  Rare Beauty: Chamber Music by Mozart, Wanhal, and Beethoven
  With special guest Eric Hoeprich, historical clarinet
   
  This program largely features works that have unusual instrumentation, such as Beethoven’s whimsical Duet for viola and cello "With obbligato eyeglasses" (WoO 32) and Mozart’s delightful Trio for piano, clarinet, and viola ("Kegelstatt", K. 498) Beethoven’s Trio for piano, clarinet, and cello (Op. 11) breaks the piano trio mold by substituting the violin with clarinet, creating altogether new textures, while Vanhal’s light-footed Sonata for piano and clarinet is one of the earliest models of this instrument combination. Mozart’s Sonata for piano and violin in G major (K. 379) is a mercurial work which is unusual within its genre.
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• September 15.16, 2006
  Boston Hausmusik’s Mozart 250
  Program IV - Music for Two and Three: Violin Sonatas and Piano Trios
   
  On February 1, 1764, Leopold Mozart wrote to his wife from Paris, "Four sonatas by Mr. Wolfgang Mozart are now being engraved. Imagine the sensation that they will cause, with a title-page saying that they are the work of a seven-year-old child." This program opens with the sparkling Sonata in C major, K. 6, the work that effectively launched Mozart’s career as a composer of chamber music.

  In 1778 Mozart again published violin sonatas in Paris. Significantly, he issued this grand set of six sonatas (K. 301-306) as his Opus I. These works, while still "accompanied keyboard sonatas," forged new paths in the genre, elevating the violin above its often subservient role to create true chamber music. Tonight we’ll hear the beloved Sonata in e minor, K. 304, and the ebullient Sonata in A major, K.305.

  The two piano trios on the program were written after Mozart settled in Vienna, one of the greatest musical capitals in the world at this time. He was profoundly inspired by this city’s musical environment; he was surrounded by first-class musicians and avid music-lovers, and these mature masterworks bear testimony to that inspiration.

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• Wednesday, June 21, 2006
  Midsummer's Eve Concert
   
  Enjoy a wonderful concert in the 1806 mansion at Gore Place. Fortepianist Sylvia Berry returns with a wonderful program featuring the 1821 Broadwood & Sons pianoforte. Don't miss this great opportunity to enjoy classical music performed on a period instrument in an historical setting. Seating is limited: reservations required.
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• April 7, 2006
  Mozart at the Keyboard
   
  "I am a Composer, and I was born a Kapellmeister... I would rather, as it were, neglect the Clavier than Composition. For the Clavier is essentially a sideline for me, but, thank God, a very strong sideline." Thus wrote Mozart to his father on February 7, 1778. Yet, despite his occasional ambivalence towards his life as a virtuoso keyboardist, he left a wealth of music for the piano that has been richly treasured. This recital highlights the incredible diversity of Mozart’s works for the piano, featuring three sonatas, the Fantasy in d minor, and a beloved set of Variations.
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• February 24.25, 2006
  March 5, 2006
  Boston Hausmusik’s Mozart 250
  Concert III - Mozart the Innovator
   
  While there is some debate as to whether Mozart was the first to compose works for two players at one keyboard instrument, it is certain that he and his sister popularized the genre during their European travels. The piano quartet does seem to have been virtually invented by Mozart, and his two masterful works in the genre went on to serve as models for composers such as Schumann and Brahms.
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• January 27.28, 2006
  February 5, 2006
  Boston Hausmusik’s Mozart 250
  Happy Birthday to Mozart!
   
  A delightfully varied program of chamber music, lieder, and the chamber version of the Piano Concerto in C major, K. 415. Will also feature readings from Mozart’s letters, illuminating his incredible candidness and lively sense of humor.
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• Wednesday, December 14, 2005
  In Celebration of the English Piano!
  A Holiday Concert played on the 1821 Broadwood at Gore Place in Waltham, MA.
   
  Enjoy a wonderful concert in the 1806 mansion at Gore Place as fortepianist Sylvia Berry performs works inspired by the English piano.
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• November 18.19.20, 2005
  Boston Hausmusik’s Mozart 250
  Mozart at the Keyboard
   
  "I am a Composer, and I was born a Kapellmeister... I would rather, as it were, neglect the Clavier than Composition. For the Clavier is essentially a sideline for me, but, thank God, a very strong sideline." Thus wrote Mozart to his father on February 7, 1778. Yet, despite his occasional ambivalence towards his life as a virtuoso keyboardist, he left a wealth of music for the piano that has been richly treasured. This recital highlights the incredible diversity of Mozart’s works for the piano, featuring three sonatas, the Fantasy in d minor, and a beloved set of Variations.
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• Saturday, June 18, 2005
  Lachen und Weinen: The Laughter and Tears of Three Viennese Masters
   
  A program of solo piano music by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven which explores the comic and tragic elements found in these works.
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• Friday, April 15, 2005
  Haydn and the Ladies of London: An Evening of Chamber Music Inspired by English Women
   
  Songs, Folksongs with Piano Trio, Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI: 50, and Piano Trio in G major ("Gypsy"), Hob. XV: 25