As the calendar turns toward July, we’re treated once again to the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, which is celebrating its 20th edition this month. The TCU-centered event has become one of the highlights of Fort Worth’s year in classical music, and this year it’s touting more music than ever.
This year’s festival is rather heavy on German entries by Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms, though even here you can find items you haven’t heard before such as Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio, a work considered to be among the best compositional efforts by Robert Schumann’s wife, and Hugo Wolf’s Italian Serenade, a string piece by a composer better known for his songs. However, there’s plenty of music from other parts of the world as well. Joaquín Turina’s String Quartet and José Bragato’s arrangemente of Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires bring a Latin flavor to the proceedings, while Samuel Barber’s Souvenirs is a delightful American duet for pianists and Witold Lutoslawski’s Bucolics is a Polish pastoral suite informed by the 20th century’s prickly, textured modernism. All these trios and quartets are always good for livening up our summer’s dog days.
The Mimir Chamber Music Festival runs Jun 29-Jul 7 at TCU, PepsiCo Recital Hall, 2800 S University Dr, FW and Kimbell Art Museum, 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd, FW. Tickets are $10-35. Call 817-257-7602.
