Cultural icon Alma Mahler-Werfel's life intersected with some of the greatest artists of the late-19th and 20th centuries. A fascinating character, her intelligence, taste, and power (not to mention her romantic appeal) make her the subject of continuing intrigue. While her own composition career was reportedly stifled by her first husband, Gustav, Alma was entrenched in multiple artistic communities as life took her from Vienna to New York and Los Angeles. Soprano Jardena Gertler-Jaffe and pianist Erika Switzer explore her life and impact in this recital featuring works by Gustav Mahler, Berg, Schoenberg, Korngold, Britten, and Alma Mahler, herself.
Jardena Gertler-Jaffe has been praised for her genuine and intelligent performances, as well as her creativity on and off the stage. She is a Britten-Pears Young Artist, and has been awarded fellowships/apprenticeships from the Association of Opera in Canada, Sarasota Opera, and Bard Summerscape. Pianist Erika Switzer performs regularly in major concert settings around the world, including at New York’s Weill Hall (Carnegie), Geffen Hall, Frick Collection, Bargemusic, and at the Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston. Renaud Machart of Le Monde described her as “one of the best collaborative pianists I have ever heard; her sound is deep, her interpretation intelligent, refined, and captivating.”
This concert is made possible, in part, with a gift in memory of Adrianne Reilly.