Music by Beethoven, Schubert, and Puccini

Don’t miss the final performance of the 2010 Festival! Featuring the music of Puccini and Schubert, plus the Beethoven Septet in E-flat for Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, French Horn, Bassoon, and Clarinet. Quartetsatz: yet another “Unfinished” work by Schubert... What was his deal? Well, he died at 31, and his unfinished pieces tend to be better than most composers’ finished ones. So, you’re in for a treat!

And Puccini’s “Crisantemi”? Yes, Chamber Music goes to the Opera... In fact, Puccini felt so strongly about this youthful attempt at Chamber Music Verismo that melodies from this single movement quartet made it into his later opera, “Manon Lescaut.”

And Beethoven’s Op. 20... Beethoven was used to shaking things up. When the nobility were shocked and outraged by his politics and his nerve, the young Beethoven knew he was headed in the right direction. The Septet, however, was so popular in its day that Beethoven was worried that it was eroding his street cred. Happily for us, Beethoven the innovator is still audible in this delightful work. The 2010 Walla Walla Chamber Music closes amid the champagne sparkle of Beethoven’s lighter side.