In conjunction with the exhibition Margarethe Geibel: The Goethe House Series, travel back in time to 1830s Weimar and the eclectic home of German literary giant Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832).
Andrew Weislogel, Seymour R. Askin, Jr. ’47 Curator, Earlier European
and American Art, introduces the program, which combines a visual
exploration of Goethe’s residence and collections, as seen through
Geibel’s unique print series. Patricia Garcia Gil, Roger Moseley, and Jean Bernard Cerin perform selections of German Romantic music from the era, including songs set to Goethe’s poetry and piano works by Clara Wieck,
who, as a young prodigy, performed for Goethe on the very type of piano
depicted in Geibel’s prints. An instrument of this same kind, provided
by the Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards, is featured in the performance—evoking the soundscape that once filled Goethe’s Weimar home.