ASHBURNHAM — A four-hand performance on a nearly 200-year-old Viennese grand piano will launch the 41st fall season of Historical Piano Concerts from The Frederick Collection at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30, at the New Dawn Arts Center/Ashburnham Community Church, 84 Main St.
The opening concert will feature Duo Fuerza, pianists James D’León and Alwen Yeung.
The program is designed to showcase both the artistry of the performers and the distinctive sound of an early 19th-century piano. The duo will open with Franz Schubert’s Fantasia in F minor, followed by his Allegro in A minor, known as “Lebensstürme.” The program will continue with Robert Schumann’s “Kinderszenen,” or “Scenes from Childhood,” a collection of short pieces inspired by familiar activities and events in children’s lives.
The concert will conclude with Felix Mendelssohn’s Andante and Allegro brillant.
For the performance, Duo Fuerza has selected a piano made by Ignaz Bösendorfer of Vienna sometime around 1830-32.
“The instrument represents an important moment in the history of one of Vienna’s most celebrated piano makers,” said Patricia Frederick, co-owner of The Frederick Collection, along with her husband Edmund. “When the piano was made, Bösendorfer was just beginning to establish himself independently. Its nameplate identifies him as ‘Brodmanns Schüler’ or pupil of the distinguished Viennese piano maker Joseph Brodmann.”
Bösendorfer eventually took over Brodmann’s shop when his teacher retired in 1832.
“That kind of historical connection is at the heart of The Frederick Collection’s concert series, which gives audiences the opportunity not only to hear music by some of history’s greatest composers, but to hear it performed on instruments similar to those the composers themselves knew,” she added.
The Frederick Collection of Historical Grand Pianos is housed in the former Stevens Library building at 30 Main St. The unique collection includes approximately two dozen restored grand pianos, all in playing condition.
The instruments represent the kinds of pianos owned and played in concert by major composers from the late 18th century through the early 20th century, including Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt and Brahms.
The collection will once again provide the centerpiece for the six-concert fall season, which continues on Sundays at 3 p.m. through Oct. 11. There will be no concert on Sept. 20.
Following the Aug. 30 opening, audiences can return to the New Dawn Arts Center/Ashburnham Community Church for the remaining performances and experience a different chapter in piano history with each program.
Admission is $20 per adult for individual concerts, with payment by cash or check only. Students and children are admitted free. Season passes are available for $100 and include admission to all six concerts as well as one free guest pass.
There are no advance reservations, and seating is open. The hall is wheelchair accessible, and concerts are presented without an intermission.
For those interested in experiencing the collection beyond the concert series, tours of The Frederick Collection are available by appointment.
Additional information is available at www.FrederickCollection.org, by email at [email protected], or by calling the Fredericks at 978-827-6232. Concert videos from the upcoming season, along with performances from previous seasons, will also be available on YouTube through “Music from the Frederick Collection.”
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