The Gardner has commissioned a second piece for the Claremont to celebrate its new venue, this one by the Scottish composer Helen Grime. That piece will also be sandwiched between works by Mozart and Mendelssohn - though this time the Mendelssohn is Felix’s sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, whose own D-minor trio closes the April 22 concert. (A third commission for the new hall will follow next fall.)
“I keep using the word ‘fun’ because it’s going to be fun - especially in our new hall,’’ wrote music director Scott Nickrenz in an e-mail. “This will be the only time that we’ll inaugurate Calderwood Hall, so the Claremont Trio world premieres are especially appropriate - the premiere of the hall and these new compositions.’’
Among the many other highlights of the season is a visit by the early music ensemble Anonymous 4, whose four singers will be marking 25 years together (Jan. 29). The Filipina pianist Cecile Licad returns to the Gardner for two concerts mixing works by Chopin and Liszt (Feb. 19 and May 20). Visiting ensembles include the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (March 11 and May 13), Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Institute (March 18), and Musicians From Marlboro (March 25 and April 29).
The Gardner has often given performers the chance to explore a large chunk of a composer’s repertoire over multiple concerts and seasons. This season, examples of that kind of programming are all Beethoven. Cellist Wendy Warner and pianist Irina Nuzova play the composer’s five cello sonatas over the course of two concerts (Feb. 26 and March 4). And the Borromeo String Quartet gives the fifth installment of its sequence of the Beethoven string quartets on April 15, including the A-minor Quartet, Op. 132.
