GMALL – Leo Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata (1889)

MANCHESTER, VT>> Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning (GMALL) is excited to collaborate with Manchester Music Festival (MMF) in presenting this talk about Leo Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata with Middlebury College Professor Emeritus Michael R. Katz. The program will take place on Tuesday, July 15 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at Southern Vermont Arts Center’s Yester House. Tolstoy’s controversial novella takes the form of a heartrending confession by a conscience-stricken Russian aristocrat, who murders his wife in a fit of intense jealousy. Publication of this scandalous work was initially prohibited by the Russian censors, but the Tsar himself gave permission for it to appear in Tolstoy’s collected works. As we would say now, it went viral! This talk will summarize and analyze the original story, and then briefly describe Tolstoy’s thoughts about classical music, particularly Beethoven’s Sonata (Kreutzer) for Violin and Piano (1803) ahead of MMF’s performance of the piece on July 17. Registration is $20 per person. For more information or to register, please call our office at 802-867-0111 or visit greenmtnacademy.org.