Schubert: Death and the Maiden

Ever-imaginative violin virtuoso Patricia Kopatchinskaja and members of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra explore composers’ contrasting reactions to death through the centuries. The selection ranges from the quiet grief of a Dowland Pavan (Lachrimae antiquae nouae) to the rambunctious defiance of Nörminger’s restless Dance of Death (Toden Tanz) and the unsettling, questioning world of Kurtág. A rich arrangement for string orchestra of Schubert’s String Quartet D. 810, “Death and the Maiden” is weaved throughout, providing the tragic, searching heart to this fascinating musical journey. Kopatchinskaja, as always, proves to be an irrepressibly vivacious guide.