Three Pianos
Media Coverage
Three Pianos, a theater work inspired by Franz Schubert's song cycleWinterreise, brings together three friends for song, contemplation, and wine. Lots of wine.
“Three Pianos” is an awesome party for music nerds.
In a season that’s notably short on Christmas shows compared to recent years, it’s actually pretty incredible how the three polymath players behind Three Pianos have turned Schubert’s melancholy and heartbroken song cycle Winterreise into a warm and jocular testament to music, music making, and friendship.
Three Pianos at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge is a loving tribute to Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and his romantic song cycle Winterreise
At a Valentine’s Day party several years ago, three friends — Rick Burkhardt, Alec Duff, and Dave Malloy — discovered a shared love for Austrian composer Franz Schubert’s song cycle “Winterreise.”
As they played the music, drank and debated, an idea was born: to create a theater piece that incorporates Schubert’s music.
The result is “Three Pianos,” and it takes place both in Schubert’s time and today, at an all-night party where pianos are not only played but used as props– they’re sat on, spun in circles, used as a bar and a bed. Even the audience gets to drink wine and take part.
The Village Voice describes the show as “like being cozily tucked away with a clutch of nerdy music-loving friends.”
“Three Pianos” won an Obie in New York and is currently playing at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge Massachusetts. Here & Now‘s Robin Young met with all three performers there. They told her that the show is a recreation of something called a “Schubertiad,” a type of party that Schubert held with poets and composers where they would make art.
Not knowing all that much about Schubert I came away informed and curious, which may be what his emphatic cheerleaders want us to be. And, hey, if they want to turn Schubert into a household name, perhaps they should convince Lady Gaga to do a few dance remixes.
In the beguiling production that is now at American Repertory Theater under the direction of Rachel Chavkin, a spirit of whimsy prevails for much of the evening, with plenty of wisecracks and slapstick elements.
But when the mood turns stormy or elegiac, and when “Three Pianos’’ touches deep chords of longing or solitude, it is with the understanding that nothing can pull you through a dark night of the soul like music.
Three guys. Not singers, but they sing. Not pianists, but they play the piano. Three pianos. Actors whose love of music doesn't seem like acting. They're in Three Pianos, a theater piece — hard to call it a play — that's just begun a run at the A.R.T. (through January 8). In New York, it won an Obie. Here, it won my heart.
This evening makes no claims to be anything other than what it is: a great party by and with three actor/musicians united in their love—or should I say passion—for the music of Franz Schubert.
The Boston Globe: ‘Three Pianos’ adds up to a twist on Schubert
‘Three Pianos’ is a love song to ‘Winterreise’
By Jeffrey Gantz
"It's as improbable as it is delightful, a loose-jointed, totally off-the-cuff, booze-and-music party—the audience gets to share the booze—in which every casual moment seems both astutely chosen and precisely executed." - Village Voice
"Mr. Burkhardt, Mr. Duffy and Mr. Malloy, all fine pianists, are determined to put the fun back into melancholy. They do to “Winterreise” roughly what the fractured-Shakespeare troupes do to “Hamlet” and “Macbeth,” enlivening through deconstruction." - New York Times
"When the rambunctious Three Pianos barreled its way onto the Incubator stage this past February, nothing could have been more effective in fighting off winter’s chill. Warmhearted and expansive..." - Time Out New York
"THE origins of “Three Pianos,” a rowdy mash note to ...go back either 2 or 185 years, depending on how you’re counting." -The New York Times
"At minimum, the recipe for a good party includes a hearty stock of friends and acquaintances, stirred with liquor and topped with tunes. But what if your hosts’ idea of a party playlist is two-dozen somber, chilly songs by Franz Schubert? That’s the unlikely starting point for Three Pianos..." - Time Out New York
"Full-blooded and full-bodied, Three Pianos lifts its glass to music, to Schubert and to the type of friendship that can make you laugh off heartbreak. It’s also a superb evening. Cheers." - Time Out New York
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Check out a sneak peak of Three Pianos! Co-writer and performer, Rick Burkhardt, comments on the production.
Press Contact:
Katalin Mitchell
Director of Press and Public Relations
kati_mitchell@harvard.edu
617.495.2668
