Leon Fleisher


Ralph Kirshbaum


Susanne Mentzer


Craig Rutenberg


Michael Tree


Pinchas Zukerman

Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival

The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival

2008 — Week 12

Clara SCHUMANN
Warum willst du and're fragen, op. 12 no. 3; Sie liebten sich beide, op. 13 no. 2a; Ihr Bildnis, op. 13 no. 1

Susanne Mentzer, Mezzo-Soprano, Craig Rutenberg, Piano

Introduced to opera as a teenage usher at the Santa Fe Opera, Susanne Mentzer has become one of today's foremost mezzo-sopranos. The summer of 2007 found Susanne, a graduate of St. Michael's High School, back in Santa Fe for the first time in many, many years; only this time, instead of helping people to their seats, she was performing on stage as Despina in Mozart's Cosė fan tutte. She also sang at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. In this clip, Susanne tells producer Louise Frank how her family first ended up in Santa Fe when she was young, and the enduring and profound impact those four years have had on her life.

Susanne Mentzer

 

Susanne's homecoming to Santa Fe yielded a reunion of an unexpected kind! One of her friends from high school attended the concert in the company of one of Clara and Robert Schumann's descendants.

Susanne Mentzer

 

Susanne's recital took place at the St. Francis Auditorium which is located within the New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts, just of the Plaza in Santa Fe. Built in 1917 and inspired by ancient Spanish Colonial adobe churches, the 430-seat hall is regarded as an icon of Pueblo Revival style. Here's what Susanne had to say about what it's like to perform there.

Susanne Mentzer

 

Susanne Mentzer is currently a Professor of Voice at Sheperd School of Music at Rice University in Texas.

BRAHMS
Piano Quartet no.1, g minor, op 25

Pinchas Zukerman, violin; Michael Tree, viola; Ralph Kirshbaum, cello; Leon Fleisher, piano

Violist Michael Tree has performed with the Guarneri String Quartet since he helped to establish the celebrated ensemble in 1964. From the beginning, the Quartet has followed the advice of their mentors by taking the summers off to "continue to play with others."

Michael Tree