Beethoven: His Women & His Music Returns for Charleston Library Society Concert Series
October 27, 2011
CHARLESTON, SC – November 3, 2011 – Beethoven: His Women and His Music, produced by Actors’ Theatre of South Carolina and Chamber Music Charleston, will be presented at the Charleston Library Society (164 King Street) on Thursday, November 3 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $25 for general admission and are available online at http://www.showclix.com/event/57716 or by calling 1.888.718.4253. The hit show is produced by Actors’ Theatre of South Carolina and Chamber Music Charleston.
The production has just returned from a performance in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands to encore the event in Charleston at the Charleston Library Society. Last week, members of Chamber Music Charleston and Actors’ Theatre of South Carolina traveled to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands to perform their highly acclaimed music and theater collaboration Beethoven: His Women & His Music as well as lead educational workshops.
“Beethoven: His Women & His Music combines the performance of Beethoven’s Archduke Piano Trio with the private musings of Ludwig van Beethoven. The ‘concert play’ by Clarence Felder takes the audience into a musical salon in Vienna in 1820 where the composer decides to attend and talk about his life in between performances by the visiting musicians from America. As the maestro expresses his inspirations for the music his emotions ambush him, offering rare illumination of both the music and the man.
“Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the first composers to reveal his passion freely in his works,” says Sandra Nikolajevs, director of Chamber Music Charleston. “This unique collaboration between Actors’ Theatre of South Carolina and Chamber Music Charleston also explores secrets from his journals and letters.”
Nationally acclaimed actor Clarence Felder portrays Ludwig Beethoven, entertaining the audience with stories about the various women in his life, from his mother to the women he loved and longed to marry but ultimately lost. Mr. Felder has co-starred in ten Broadway shows including Henry V with Meryl Streep, Love For Love with Glenn Close and Macbeth with Christopher Walken.
“…Clarence Felder reveals a concise portrait of the great composer through convincingly genuine musings on music, women and deafness,” said William Furtwangler of the Post and Courier when the show opened at Piccolo Spoleto.
…a memorable show…my personal image of Beethoven is forever altered…Thanks to Chamber Music Charleston, our outstanding year-round source of local chamber music, we heard some of Beethoven’s finest creations… said Lindsay Koob said in the Charleston CityPaper.
Mr. Felder is joined on stage by the musicians of Chamber Music Charleston in the production co-directed by Chris Weatherhead and Sandra Nikolajevs, with period costumes and set designed by Ms. Weatherhead.
Cellist Timothy O’Malley has performed across the United States and in Europe, studying at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Manhattan School of Music and has performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Musikverein in Vienna.
Violinist Alan Molina, began his musical career performing in recording studios for rock bands and films and has worked under such notable conductors as Michael Tilson Thomas, Robert Spano and Sir Roger Norrington. Pianist Irina Pevzner was born in the Ukraine and raised in Latvia with degrees in piano performance from the Riga National Music Conservatory and Carnegie Mellon University.
Tickets for the Library Society production are $25 for general admission and are available online or by calling 1.888.718.4253.
