SummerFest: The Wagner Effect

The complex textures and rich harmonies characteristic of Richard Wagner’s compositions had a magnetic force on the composers featured on this evening’s program. From Strauss’ lusciously scored and radiantly colorful String Sextet from his opera Capriccio and a string version of Berg’s intense Piano Sonata, to arrangements and works in honor of Wagner by his own father-in-law, Franz Liszt, this program is a testament to the dominant force of this Romantic master. The program ends with the rarely heard, lushly exuberant sextet by Hungarian composer Ernst Von Dohnányi for strings, clarinet, and horn.