February Concert 

MUSIC FROM THE TIME OF THE 1918 PANDEMIC

Concert 1

MUSIC IN THE TIME OF THE 1918 PANDEMIC

POSTPONED - NEW DATE Sunday February 28, 2021 5pm CST   

Join us for our upcoming virtual concert featuring Anton Nel and Sandy Yamamoto!

Concerts will be available to view till May 30th. Tickets to the Pandemic Series are “Pay what you like” donation basis. Your support helps artists and teachers during this time. Thank you in advance!

Please join us for a Zoom reception with the artists immediately after the streamed concert on Sunday at 6:15pm CST.

Keeping with the Salon Concert tradition of sharing good things to drink after each concert, enhance your own experience by joining other audience members (and artists!) in our signature cocktail especially designed for the event by @cheersiloveyou. Scroll down to view the signature cocktail!

Program

Star Spangled Banner - John Stafford Smith, arr. Rachmaninoff

Piano Trio - Germaine Tailleferre

Vocalise - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Three Studies, Op.28 - Bela Bartók

Violin Sonata in b minor - Ottorino Respighi

Dear Music Lovers,

Our next two concerts will be filled with wonderful pieces composed during the years immediately before, during, or after the 1918 pandemic known as the Spanish Flu. 

As a composer, last year when Covid 19 descended around the world and my own plans for composing were in a state of suspension, I wondered what other composers throughout history did in such a situation. The result of my research surprised and delighted me. I discovered such a rich trove of chamber music that I wanted to share it with Salon audiences. I planned two concerts of this music, and have ideas for two more.

On February 21st we will play music of Rachmaninoff, Tailleferre, Bartók and Resphigi.  Our March 28th concert will have compositions of Prokofieff, Stravinsky, Griffes, Szymanowski, and Milhaud.

Upon arriving in America, Rachmaninoff wrote his Star Spangled Banner arrangement in 1918 right after recovering from the flu. After I play that arrangement for you, Douglas Harvey will join me in playing Rachmaninoff’s beloved Vocalise.

The brilliant young piano trio called Trio En will play a work of Germaine Tailleferre, who lived from 1892-1983. She began composing as a very young girl. With her mother’s tutoring and support and against her father’s wishes, she entered the Paris Conservatory when she was only 12 years old, studied composition and orchestration with Maurice Ravel, and proceeded to win several prizes there. Eventually she became the only woman in the famous composers’ group known as “Les Six.”which formed in 1920. She composed a great deal of music for piano, orchestra, voice, and chamber groups. She also wrote many film scores. One of her ballets was danced 94 times from 1923 to 1925!

Rick Rowley will treat us to a brilliant rendition of Bartók’s virtuosic piano Three Studies, Op.18. 

Sandy Yamamato and Anton Nel will end the program with the gorgeous Violin Sonata in b minor, composed in 1917. It is a piece full of big, Romantic writing and tender expression as well. It offers these two great artists an opportunity to delve into their very souls and to revel in their legendary musical and technical powers. And we get to listen and watch!

Please join us!

Kathryn Mishell

Artistic Director

Featuring:

Anton Nel, piano

Sandy Yamamoto, violin

Rick Rowley, piano

Trio En -  Nick Hammel: violin, Chan Song “Christina” An: cello, Sohee Kwon: piano

Douglas Harvey, cello

Kathryn Mishell, piano

 Great music is not the only thing of which there was a treasure trove created during this period of time. It was also a boon for the world of cocktails. 

This is the almighty prohibition era and the genesis of the contemporary cocktail renaissance for which we are all surely grateful.

And so we join together in a toast with the classic, beloved Negroni—one if Italy’s most famous exports. It was said to have been born in 1919 by a bibulous Florentine count who wanted his Americano a little stiffer. As one of my favorite cocktail writers, Robert O. Simonson, says, “If a cocktail had an IQ, the Negroni would be at the top of the class … It’s a botanist’s dream, this cocktail.” And that because of all the botanicals inherently in each of its three ingredients.

It’s a simple recipe with equal parts of Gin, Campari, and Sweet Vermouth. 

The drink in the photo actually uses John Perry ratios of 1.75 gin, 1 Campari, .75 vermouth, if you’re interested in experimenting with proportions. 

You can also experiment by substituting the Campari with any amaro in the world. For instance, if you made the last Salon cocktail, the Salon de Mishell, you could try it with your bottle of Cynar that you wonder what to do with. You can substitute the vermouth as well with a fortified wine like Dubonnet, Lillet, or Cap Corse. It’s truly infinitely variable. 

Here is the classic recipe: 

1 oz Gin

1 oz Campari

1 oz Sweet Vermouth, such as Dolin 

Garnish with a twist of orange

Place ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled, 1918 times or less. Strain into a double-old-fashioned with an ice chunk, or with several ice cubes if that’s what you have. 

You may also strain into a chilled coupe and drink it “up” if that’s your preference.

Either way, garnish and enjoy!