MARLBORO — In a tradition that dates back to 1957, the final work in the last concert of Marlboro Music's 66th season on Sunday, Aug. 14, at 2:30 p.m., will be the Beethoven Choral Fantasy, which brings together the resident artists and staff and their families playing in the orchestra or singing in the chorus, according to a news release.
It's the culmination of the seven-week retreat, where 181 works were explored in depth with the freedom of unlimited rehearsal time, but less than 25 percent were performed at the weekend concerts.
Mitsuko Uchida, Marlboro's Artistic Director, who gives up other summer opportunities, as do the other eminent senior members of the community, will be piano soloist, with Leon Fleisher conducting the Marlboro Orchestra and Chorus.
Vocal soloists will be Lucy Fitz Gibbon and Faylotte Crayton, sopranos; Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano; Spencer Lang, tenor; and Theo Hoffman and John Moore, baritones.
The Sunday program will also include the Kodály Serenade, Op. 12 with Alexi Kenney and Soovin Kim, violins and Hwayoon Lee, viola, and the Bartók String Quartet No. 5 with Yoojin Jang and Joseph Lin, violins; Kei Tojo, viola; and Sarah Rommel, cello.
The weekend will open on Friday, Aug. 12, at 8 p.m., with Ms. Uchida and baritone John Moore performing Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98, followed by the Bartók String Quartet No. 4, rehearsed for most of the summer, with Johannes Quartet first violinist Soovin Kim being joined by three younger colleagues, two of whom are participating for their first season: violinist Robyn Bollinger, violist Hwayoon Lee, and cellist Tony Rymer.
The program will conclude with the Schubert Piano Trio in E flat, D. 929, with pianist Luca Buratto, violinist Tessa Lark, and Mendelssohn Quartet founding cellist Marcy Rosen.
In addition to the Hindemith Kammermusik No. 1, Op. 24, No. 1, conducted by Leon Fleisher with 12 musicians and Moore playing the fire siren, the Saturday, Aug. 13, concert at 8 p.m. will include the Bartók Contrasts with Kobi Malkin, violin; Gabriel Campos Zamora, clarinet; and Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano.
The program will conclude with the Fauré Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 45 with Shai Wosner, piano; Yoojin Jang, violin; Rosalind Ventris, viola; and Paul Katz, cello. Wosner is participating at Marlboro for the first time, while Katz initially participated in 1968, before forming the Cleveland String Quartet with other Marlboro colleagues.