This year marks the 100th anniversary of Arnold Schoenberg’s Society for Private Musical Performances (Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen). Between 1919-21, under the leadership of Schoenberg, the Verein, as it is commonly called, presented 117 concerts which featured 154 contemporary works from “Mahler to the present” especially arranged for chamber ensemble by Schoenberg and other Society members. The project, which powerfully recreated some of the most beautiful and powerful European art music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, came to an end during the economic crisis in early 1920s Vienna. But the arranging and performance vision of Schoenberg, which emphasized clarity and precision through well-arranged, well prepared music performed by excellent musicians, has influenced classical music aficionados and practitioners ever since, and is an important inspiration for the microphilharmonic.
This evening, in honor of that centennial, Michael Anderson and microphilharmonic present 4 works by Johann Strauss II, Claude Debussy and Gustav Mahler arranged for chamber ensemble by Schoenberg and colleagues for performance by the Society, and an additional chamber ensemble Strauss arrangement by Michael for the occasion: Strauss’ Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437 (Emperor Waltz, 1889) and Rosen aus dem Süden-Walzer, Op. 388 [Roses From The South, 1880]; Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, L. 86 [Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, 1894]; Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen [Songs of a Wayfarer, 1884-85] featuring baritone Harry Baechtel, and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus Overture, 1872 (premiere performance of Michael Anderson's arrangement for chamber ensemble).