By Jackie Lupo
RiverArts will present a two-part concert series next weekend, belatedly honoring the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven. The event, on April 30 and May 1 at the Irvington Presbyterian Church, features cellist Peter Seidenberg and pianist Hui-Mei Lin, who have toured as a duo throughout the U.S., playing at universities and concert halls.
The advent of the pandemic led RiverArts, a Hastings-based cultural nonprofit, to cancel its celebration of Beethoven’s actual 250th, in 2020. While the current easing of some Covid-related restrictions enabled RiverArts to reschedule the event, audience members must provide proof of vaccination upon entry and wear masks indoors.
RiverArts creative director Kate Ashby said on April 15 that the concerts would be “a really wonderful chance to hear the complete works of Beethoven for cello and piano. They span from the earliest period of his compositional works, to his greatest works. You hear the development of how he treats the partnership of the cello and piano. It’s very much a partnership that’s exciting for audiences to hear. The interplay between their instruments is very vibrant.”
Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, on Dec. 17, 1770. His first instrument was the piano, but he later mastered other instruments, including the organ, continuo, and viola. His first composition, “Nine Variations on a March by Dressler,” was published in 1783, when he was 12 years old.
The composer continued to be prolific even after he’d become deaf, by the age of 50. By then, he had stopped performing in public and had become reclusive. He died in 1827, at age 56.
The program spans Beethoven’s cello/piano works from 1795 to 1816, when he composed five sonatas and three sets of variations for cello and piano. According to a RiverArts press release, “Taken as a whole, these pieces create an autobiographical arc exemplifying each one of Beethoven’s compositional periods. The two concerts encompass all these pieces, in chronological order, offering the listener an experience of the biographical span of Beethoven’s life.”
Seidenberg, a Hastings resident, described the program as “a journey through Beethoven’s life and compositional evolution. You will hear not only his maturation as a composer, but also his developing treatment of the partnership between cello and piano.”
The April 30 concert, on the early works, delves into Beethoven’s world as he becomes a star, acclaimed throughout Europe. On the May 1 program, the audience hears Beethoven at the height of his artistic power, and then moves on to hear the personal, almost diary-like compositions of his late period.
Seidenberg, who is artistic director of the RiverArts Chamber Music Series, has performed in major concert halls internationally. He was principal cellist with the Century Orchestra in Osaka, Japan, for four years, and was a founding member of the Elements Quartet, noted for its groundbreaking work commissioning new chamber music projects involving over 30 composers. Seidenberg currently plays as part of the Oracle Trio, the New York-based Queen’s Chamber Band, and the New York Chamber Soloists. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and a master’s from the New England Conservatory in Boston.
Lin is a Taiwan native whose solo debut in New York took place at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, as a winner of the Artists International Competition. She has appeared as a soloist throughout the U.S., Canada, Italy, and Taiwan, including concerts at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and the Caramoor Music Festival in Katonah. She has also performed solo concerts on radio and TV. A graduate of both the Hartt School of Music of Hartford, Conn, and Juilliard, she holds a doctorate in musical arts from the City University of New York. She has taught at Purchase College, The King’s College in New York, and Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. A resident of Westchester, she is also the music director at the Briarcliff Congregational Church.
“Beethoven’s Belated Birthday Bash” Part A is on Saturday, April 30, 7 p.m., and Part B on Sunday, May 1 at 3 p.m. Tickets, $40 for one performance, $70 for both, at riverarts.org/Beethoven/. Refreshments will be available at both concerts. The Irvington Presbyterian Church is at 25 N. Broadway (Route 9).
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