Musical Club of Hartford concert

Musical Club of Hartford

WEST HARTFORD — Music lovers are invited to the second concert of the Musical Club of Hartford 2018-2019 season on Thursday at 10 a.m., at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2080 Boulevard, West Hartford. The concert is free for members of the musical club; admission for the general public is $5.

The program on Oct. 18 will feature composers from two distinct musical periods, the 17th-18th c. Baroque period (Marais, Telemann) and the 19th-20th c. Early Contemporary period (SaintSaens, Prokofiev, Finzi, Muczynski) performed by Musical Club members on an array of instruments, including:

⏩ “Early music ” instruments — viola da gamba, recorder, and harpsichord — performed by Laura MazzaDixon (Granby), Zarina Irkaeva (Massachusetts), Deborah Robin (West Hartford) and Anne Mayo (Middletown) ⏩ “Modern” instruments — piano, flute, and clarinet — performed by Linda MacGougan (West Hartford), Bridget de Moura Castro), flute (Michelle Davis), and clarinet (Rob Breen, Caroyn Bernstein) in the early modern selections.

This program is a wonderful and contrasting display of styles and moods that reflect life from its lightest to its most painful moments. The Telemann sonata in f minor for recorder, harpsichord and viola da gamba, for example, features unusually chromatic themes of melancholy and uncertainty. Performing Prokovief’s “Romeo and Juliet Before Parting,” Linda MacGougan will pianistically express the very painful parting of the two famous young lovers. Other works will bring in lighter and brighter moods, including Duos for Flute and Clarinet by Muczynski, a rollicking dance, and the Presto movement from Tarantella, Op. 6 by Saint-Saens.