Lyric Fest throws a super Schubertiad

This seems to be the year to visit Vienna. The 1807 & Friends chamber series is devoting its entire season to concerts that replicate Franz Schubert’s house-concert “Schubertiads” (click here for more information). The Lyric Fest song series is covering the vocal side of Viennese musical life by opening its season with a time-spanning Schubertiad devoted to songs by Schubert and all the other composers who made Vienna a fountainhead of song, from Mozart and Beethoven to Strauss and Mahler.

Lyric Fest’s composer in residence (and regular BSR contributor), Kile Smith, will stand in for Schubert and provide the narrative thread that adds background and extra emotional depth to Lyric Fest happenings. Lyric Fest’s programs always have the feel of a well-planned party; a Lyric Fest Schubertiad should be the kind of event that made Schubert and his friends raise their glasses with their voices.

Lyric Fest will present “Vienna — City of Song” on Sunday, October 5 at 3pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce Street, Philadelphia and Monday, October 6 at 7:30pm at Bryn Mawr College in The Music Room in Goodhard Hall. Tickets are $25 at the door. Subscriptions are available at www.lyricfest.org/tickets or 215-438-1702.