Sanford Sylvan And David Breitman To Perform At Institute For Advanced Study

Baritone Sanford Sylvan and pianist David Breitman will perform at the Institute for Advanced Study on February 6 and 8 at 8:00 p.m. and February 10 at 4:00 p.m. The concerts will take place in Wolfensohn Hall on the Institute campus.

"Sanford Sylvan's art seems to refine itself with every passing year," according to The New York Times. "The American baritone, known widely for his intelligence and character, has made himself into an art-song singer of unusual versatility." The San Francisco Chronicle notes that "Sylvan's warm, resonant baritone is one of the glories of the recital world."

The program will include works by Maurice Ravel (Histoires Naturelles, 1906); Institute Artist-in-Residence Jon Magnussen (the world premiere performance of Psalm 21, 2001); and Jorge Mart�n (The Glass Hammer, 1997).

An opera singer as well as recitalist, Sylvan's portrayals of Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte have been seen internationally, including on the PBS "Great Performances"; he has also sung Leporello in Don Giovanni at the New York City Opera.

Festival appearances have included the Edinburgh, Tanglewood, Vienna, Holland, Schleswig-Holstein, and Ojai festivals. As chamber musician, he has performed, toured, and recorded with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music from Marlboro, Ensemble Sequentia, Emmanuel Music, and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. Composers John Adams and John Harbison have written for him.

Sylvan's recordings appear on the Nonesuch, Decca, Virgin Classics, Koch, New World, and Harmonia Mundi labels, among others.

Breitman, Sylvan's collaborator since 1979, performs on the modern piano as well as the fortepiano. Recent concerts include appearances with the St. Petersburg String Quartet, Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra New England, and annual solo recitals for CBC Radio in Montreal.

In addition to his discography with Sylvan and other musicians, Breitman, as part of a seven-fortepiano team, participated in the first complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle on original instruments--an event presented by Merkin Hall in New York City, and recorded for Claves in 1997.

The New York Times cites Breitman for "variety of touch, a rich range of colorings, honest supple pianism, and intellectual clarity."

The concerts are sponsored by the Institute's Artist-in-Residence program. For more information on the Institute for Advanced Study's 2001-02 concert series, or to inquire about tickets, call 734-8228, or see www.ias.edu/artist-in-residence.