Minnesota Valley Sommarfest’s 17th and final season continues this Thursday, July 13, with a performance at 7:30 p.m. by the Minnesota Valley Sommarfest Trio in Jussi Björling Recital Hall on the Gustavus campus. The Trio, which has performed in every one of the 17 seasons of Minnesota Valley Sommarfest, will welcome violinist Nancy Oliveros of the Artaria String Quartet to this week’s performance, replacing long-time violinst Mary Horozaniecki.
To continue the series with the celebration of the music of Robert Schmann and his circle of composer friends, the Trio opens Thursday’s concert with Three Romances by Clara Schumann, wife of Robert. The Trio the follows with another work by Clara which is generally considered one of her most brilliant chamber compositions, the Trio in G major, op. 17.
Following intermission, the Trio returns to present Robert Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin and Piano, mimicking the opening work by his wife Clara which opened the program. The concert ends with one of chamber music’s most popular trios, Trio No. 1 in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn. This trio, loved by both performers and audiences, brought tremendous praise and respect for the young Mendelssohn. Schumann reviewed the trio and called it the “greatest in its form since the Trios of Beethoven” and helped bring Mendelssohn the honor of being referred to as the “Mozart of the nineteenth century.”
Tickets for Thursday’s performance by the Minnesota Valley Sommarfest Trio may be reserved by calling (507) 933-7013 and will also be available at the door. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens and will also be available for the Sommarfest performances on July 20 by the Artaria String Quartet and July 27, featuring Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.