Als voorproefje op het Pianoforte Festival in Zaandijk, dat op 6 maart begint, treedt Sylvia Berry (VS) op 1 maart al op in de Geelvinck Salon. Het repertoire omvat Haydn’s Sonate in Es en Sonate nr. 17 ‘Der Sturm” van Beethoven, (volgens diens biograaf Schindler geïnspireerd op The Tempest van William Skespeare). Samen met initiatiefneemster van het Zaandijkse festival, Shuann Chai, speelt Sylvia als slot Clementi’s Sonate voor vier handen.

Gespeeld wordt op een historische pianoforte-vleugel gebouwd door Joseph Böhm in Wenen, ca, 1820.
Dit interessante instrument is volledig gerestaureerd door Gijs Wilderom te Amsterdam, die het welwillend in bruikleen heeft gegeven aan ons museum.

Programma:

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Pianosonate in Es groot, Hob. XVI:52 (1794)
– Allegro
– Adagio
– Finale, Presto

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Pianosonate no. 17 in d klein, “Der Sturm”, Op. 31 no. 2 (1801-1802)
– Largo – Allegro
– Adagio
– Allegretto

Pauze

Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
Pianosonate voor vier handen in C groot
– Allegro assai
– Larghetto con moto
– Presto

Sylvia Berry – fortepiano

Fortepianist Sylvia Berry, a native of Philadelphia, has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the US, Canada, The Netherlands, the UK, and Italy. Her debut CD, a recording of Haydn’s “London Sonatas” (Acis) recorded on an 1806 Broadwood, was hailed by Early Music America as “A wonderful debut that augurs more wonders to a come.” She was also described in this review as “a complete master of the rhetoric throughout, whether in the driving passagework of the allegros or the cantabile adagios.” Jerry Dubins of Fanfare wrote of the CD, “To say that Berry plays these works with vim, vigor, verve, and vitality, is actually a bit of an understatement, for she also understands the innovative aspect of this music and conveys it through her playing with keen attentiveness to the scores’ dynamic markings…” Her continuo work in an Opera Boston production led Lloyd Schwartz of The Boston Phoenix to write, “Special applause for continuo fortepianist Sylvia Berry, [who played] as if she were one of the actors.”

While known primarily as a fortepianist and specialist in late 18th- and early 19th-century Viennese music, Berry has also concertized at the harpsichord, clavichord, and organ, playing repertoire spanning from Sweelinck to Schubert. With her new ensemble The Berry Collective, she is presenting a wide array of programs featuring numerous keyboard instruments and some of the best players on today’s early music scene. Highlights of past performances include this the Berry Collective debut in the Monadnock Music Festival; a duo recital at the Benton Fletcher Collection at Fenton House (London); and appearances on “Drive Time Live” on WGBH Radio; the Cambridge Society for Early Music Series; the Connecticut Early Music Festival; the Portland (ME) Early Music Festival. She has also performed and lectured at Oberlin Conservatory; Swarthmore College; Bates College; Simmons College, and the Longy School of Music where she presented a lecture recital for the Haydn Society of North America. Ms. Berry studied at the New England Conservatory, the Oberlin Conservatory (where she received an MM in historical keyboard instruments and performance practice), and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Her website is www.sylviaberry.org