“As a young man I participated in an ensemble called the Gramercy Chamber Ensemble. It was a rather unwieldy group that had a full complement of strings, winds, brass, percussion, singers, and a pianist. We chose repertoire by consensus. When one of the members mentioned a work called Pierrot lunaire there were puzzled faces all around. When he described an orchestration consisting of flute-piccolo, violin-viola, clarinet-bass clarinet (each pair of these instruments played by one person), cello, piano, and a singer who did not really sing but performed a hybrid of singing and speaking on pitch, we were really perplexed.
After 50 rehearsals we were transfixed and mesmerized. It turns out that Pierrot lunaire—a work consisting of 21 short, grotesque, dreamlike poems set to witty and fiendishly difficult music—became one of the most influential works of the twentieth century. Plunge yourself into this world of fantasy and marvel at how original and enchanting it remains to this day.”
—Gilbert Kalish
Tickets: $90 full-price | $25 under age thirty
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