Sometimes, classical music is sexy.
A group of performers from Tucson and beyond will be performing famous pieces from composer Franz Joseph Haydn, along with an impromptu theatrical performance to enhance the story of Haydn, his friends and his lovers.
The performance, titled “”A Musical Evening at the Home of Eminent Surgeon Mr. John Hunter, and Mrs. Anne Hunter,”” will provide listeners with a unique experience of both performance art and traditional classical music.
“”It’s going to be the equivalent of stopping in and being a guest at a party in 1792,”” said Paula Fan, a professor of piano at the UA School of Music. Fan will be playing Ann Home Hunter, the wife of a doctor and friend Haydn frequented in London, where the performance will take place.
Fan’s character is a musician and poet whose work was put to music by Haydn, which will be performed at the event.
Additionally, pieces will be played on a replica of a Shantz fortepiano, a smaller different style of the piano we know today and one of Haydn’s favorite instruments.
There are multiple dramatic threads in the performance, with another notable character being pianist Dian Baker as Rebecca Shroeter who, through letters written by Haydn, is thought to have been a student and lover of the famous composer. “”This is sort of like ‘Masterpiece Theatre’-meets-a-piano-recital,”” Fan said.
The performers also include Eckart Sellheim, who performs often as a duo with Baker and is a classically trained pianist originally from what is now Gda?_sk, Poland and received her training in Germany and Switzerland.
He currently serves as director and professor of classic piano at Arizona State University, in addition to many master classes and guest lectures both in the U.S. and abroad.
UA Professor Susan Hardy Aiken will also comment on women poets during the 18th century, like Fan’s character, Ann Home Hunter.
The performance will be on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Holsclaw Hall in the UA School of Music building. For $5, it’s sure to be a dramatic thrill.
“”They were real people,”” Fan said. “”They were three-dimensional — this (performance) is a function of the way people felt. That makes music more interesting, I think.””
