The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The successful centennial celebration of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater continues this Friday night with a concert by the Kalichstein, Laredo and Robinson piano trio
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By Jacob Stockinger
This season marks the centennial of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater (below are photos of the Memorial Union and Shannon Hall).
And so far, so good.
The anniversary features a variety of genres, and both individuals and ensembles, during the season-long event. Plus, many of the performers are returning to what The Ear calls “The Carnegie Hall of Madison.”
The anniversary started with a sold-out performance of the a cappella singing group Chanticleer and continued with a close to sold-out house for pianist Emanuel Ax in an all-Beethoven recital.
The first semester winds up this Friday night, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m. with the acclaimed piano trio of pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson (below).
The trio will be returning to Shannon Hall for the third time, this time as part of the new David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Series.
The program features both the familiar and the unfamiliar.
It starts with the rarely heard Canonic Etudes by Robert Schumann. Then it continues with two of the most popular piano trios in the repertoire: the Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor by Felix Mendelssohn and the “Archduke” Trio in B-Flat Major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven. (You can hear the trio play the slow movement and finale of the “Archduke” Trio in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Tickets are $10 to $50. For more information, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/kalichstein-laredo-robinson-trio/
The trio will also give a FREE and PUBLIC one-hour master class TODAY – Thursday, Dec. 5 — at 1:30 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave.
Such an activity is not unusual. Not only are the members of the trio active performers, they are also devoted to teaching and music education.
For more information about that side of the trio, read: https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/the-green-room/kalichstein-laredo-robinson-trio-shapes-future-performers/
And to learn more about the history of the trio, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, here is a link to its home website: http://www.kalichstein-laredo-robinson-trio.com
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Classical music: Thursday night brings FREE concerts of orchestral, wind and piano music at the UW-Madison – including recognition of construction workers who built the new Hamel Music Center
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By Jacob Stockinger
This is an extraordinarily busy week for classical music, as the past week of postings has demonstrated.
But there is always room for more, especially at the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music as the semester winds down.
Take the concerts on this Thursday, Dec. 5.
UW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and UW WIND ENSEMBLE
At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below top, in Mills Hall) and the UW Wind Ensemble (below bottom) will join forces for a FREE concert.
The concert will be under the two groups’ directors and main conductors — Oriol Sans (below top) and Scott Teeple (below bottom), respectively.
The program features the Symphony “Circus Maximus” – which ends with a blank gunshot — by the contemporary American composer John Corigliano (below top); “Fratres” (Brothers) by the popular 84-year-old Estonian composer Arvo Pärt with UW violin professor Soh-Hyun Park Altino (below bottom, in a photo by Caroline Bittencourt) as soloist; and “The Pines of Rome” by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi.
You can hear “Fratres” in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Billed as a “Builder Appreciation Concert” for those men and women who worked on constructing the new Hamel Music Center, there is also a pre-concert reception starting at 6:30 p.m.
Admission is free and no tickets are required.
PIANO DEPARTMENT RECITAL
Also on this Thursday, the UW-Madison piano department with present a collective recital.
It takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the smaller Collins Recital Hall of the Hamel Music Center.
So far, no performers or pieces on the program have been listed on the School of Music’s website.
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Classical music: This weekend brings annual holiday concerts at the UW-Madison and Edgewood College
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By Jacob Stockinger
As the semester comes to a close and the holidays approach, vocal and choral music is always the order of the day – or week – at both the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music and Edgewood College.
UW-MADISON WINTER CONCERTS
On this coming Sunday afternoon, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., the remaining six choirs from the UW-Madison choral program will present their annual winter concerts at Luther Memorial Church (below), 1021 University Avenue, in Madison.
The one-hour concert features individual pieces from Chorale and the Madrigal Singers (Bruce Gladstone conductor); the University Chorus (Andrew Voth, conductor); Women’s Chorus (below, Michael Johnson, conductor); Masters Singers (Andrew Voth and Michael Johnson co-conductors); and the Concert Choir (Beverly Taylor conductor).
There are two pieces in which all choirs sing.
Plus, the audience is invited to join in some seasonal carols.
The concerts are FREE and no tickets are required.
A free-will offering is accepted at the end of the program with proceeds after expenses donated to “The Road Home,” an organization that provides housing and food to homeless families.
Says Beverly Taylor, the director of choral activities at the UW-Madison who will retire this spring: “The program is designed as a concert and not a service. Seats go fast!”
For more information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/choral-concerts-at-luther-memorial-church/2019-12-08/
EDGEWOOD COLLEGE CHRISTMAS CONCERT
This Saturday night, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m., Edgewood College will present its 92nd annual Christmas Concert.
The concert will take place in the college’s new McKinley Performing Arts Center (below and at bottom), 2219 Monroe Street., in Madison.
This yearly tradition features the Edgewood College choirs and Concert Band, along with audience sing-alongs, the Guitar Ensemble, and a post-concert reception featuring the Jazz Ensemble.
Tickets are $10, and seating is limited for this very popular annual event. Please purchase tickets online in advance.
All proceeds from this performance benefit students at Edgewood College through the Edward Walters Music Scholarship Fund.
Tickets are available online until noon on Thursday, Dec. 5, or until the performance sells out.
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Classical music: NEWS FLASH — Saturday night’s concert by the UW Choral Union has been CANCELLED and postponed until early next semester
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear just received official confirmation: The performance by the UW Choral Union of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “A Sea Symphony” on this coming Saturday night, Dec. 7, has been CANCELLED. No cause was given. The performance has been postponed and will take place early next semester.
Classical music: The Madison Bach Musicians will perform its ninth annual Baroque Holiday Concert this coming Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this coming Saturday night, Dec. 7, the Madison Bach Musicians will present its ninth annual Baroque Holiday Concert (below, in 2014, in a photo by Kent Sweitzer).
The concert, using period instruments and historically informed performance practices, is again at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Ave., near Camp Randall Stadium. A pre-concert lecture by MBM founder and director Trevor Stephenson is at 7:15 p.m. followed by the concert at 8 p.m.
Advance-sale tickets are $35 at Orange Tree Imports and the Willy St. Co-op (East and West). Online advance-sale tickets are available at https://madisonbachmusicians.org. Tickets at the door at $38 for general admission and $35 for seniors. Student Rush tickets are $10 at the door and go on sale 30 minutes before the lecture.
The program features masterworks by Bach, Handel, Purcell and Torelli which, in their appealing Baroque way, explore the fusion of celebration, reflection and ultimate renewal often felt as the year’s end approaches.
MBM welcomes baroque trumpet virtuoso Kathryn Adduci (below), who will show how wonderfully vintage brass resounds in the magnificent Old World acoustics of the church.
Other performers are: Ariadne Lih, soprano (below); Lindsey Meekhof, alto; Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor; Michael Hawes, bass; Christine Hauptly Annin and Nathan Giglierano, violins; Micah Behr, viola; James Waldo, cello; and Trevor Stephenson, harpsichord.
Here are a couple of fun facts, provided by Stephenson, about each piece on the program.
Sound the Trumpet, by Henry Purcell (1659−1695, below)
1. This piece was composed in 1694, the year before Purcell died at the age of just 36. It is part of a birthday ode — Come Ye Sons of Art, Away! — for Queen Mary II of England, wife of King James II.
2. There is no trumpet in it at all, but the two voices implore the trumpet to play and they emulate trumpet-style writing with long, swelling notes mixed in with brilliant decorative flourishes.
Trumpet Concert in D major by Giuseppe Torelli (1658−1709, below)
1. Torelli was one of the most prolific trumpet composers of all time.
2. The baroque trumpet has no valves and is designed to play in one tonality at a time. Favorite baroque keys were D major and C major.
Comfort Ye and Every Valley from Messiah, by George Frideric Handel (1685−1759, below)
1. After the instrumental Overture to Messiah, this Recitative and Aria are the work’s first sung pieces.
2. Handel was 56 years old when he composed Messiah in 1741 in London; the work was premiered, however, in Dublin in 1742, much to the chagrin of Handel’s librettist Charles Jennens.
Cantata BWV 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (Exult in God in Every Land), by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685−1750, below)
1. Composed around 1730, this is one of the very few Bach cantatas requiring only one singer.
2. In Bach’s Leipzig church, where the work was probably first heard, the soloist would have been either a male falsettist (or castrato) or an exceptionally skilled boy soprano.
Contrapunctus XIX and Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit (Before Thy throne I stand), from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, by J.S. Bach
1. According to Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel (CPE), this fugue is the last piece his father wrote — though scholars hotly contest this claim.
2. In measure 195, Bach’s own name appears suddenly as a musical motive: B (B-flat in the German scale) – A – C – H (B natural) and the fugue has no ending but simply trails off in measure 239.
Grosser Herr, o starker König (Great Lord, O Powerful King) from Christmas Oratorio,BWV 248, by J.S. Bach
1. It features dance-like melodic figures in dialogue between trumpet and solo bass voice. (Heard in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
2. Text celebrates the birth of the savior, which makes the powers of the Earth irrelevant.
Cantata BWV 196, Der Herr denket an uns (The Lord thinks of us),by J.S. Bach
1. With its textual focus on blessings (from Psalm 115), the work is likely a wedding cantata.
2. Written probably when Bach was only 22 years old, the work is absolutely perfect in its structure and easy concision; its high-energy but quiet final cadence has a curiously modern, neo-Classical charm that might have made Stravinsky smile.
Chorale: Wohl mir, dass ich Jesum habe (What joy for me that I have Jesus),from Cantata, BWV 147, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life), by J.S. Bach
1. The famous opening figure in the strings is really just Bach’s ingenious obligato lead-in to a chorale tune that parishioners in his church would have instantly recognized.
2. This work has enjoyed tremendous popularity as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” since it was arranged for one and then two pianos in 1926 and 1934 respectively by English pianist Myra Hess. It has since been arranged for myriad combinations of instruments and voices.
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Classical music: Here are the classical music nominees for the 2020 Grammy Awards. They make a useful holiday gift guide and highlight the trend toward more diversity
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Black Friday followed by Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday — all with special deals and sales.
With that in mind, here is a list of the recently announced nominees in classical music for the 2020 Grammy Awards.
Although it is a self-serving list for a competition sponsored by The Industry, it can also be good way to find holiday gifts to give to others or to receive for yourself.
The list can be useful for spotting trends and finding new releases you may not have heard of.
For example, this year seems especially good for new music or recent works and contemporary composers. You won’t find any Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky or Mahler although you will find Berlioz, Schumann, Wagner, Bruckner, Berg, Rachmaninoff and Copland.
Another favorite seems to be the rediscovery of older composers such as Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996, below) whose centennial has become an occasion for bringing his neglected works to the forefront.
You can also see that like the Oscars, the Grammys seem to be paying more attention to women composers and conductors, artists of color and crossovers or mixed and hybrid genres.
For complete lists of all 84 categories, go to this site and click on the categories that interest you: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2020-grammy-awards-complete-nominees-list
The 62nd annual Grammy Awards will be presented on Sunday, Jan. 26, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS television.
- Best Engineered Album, Classical
An Engineer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
- AEQUA – ANNA THORVALDSDÓTTIR
Daniel Shores, engineer; Daniel Shores, mastering engineer (International Contemporary Ensemble) - BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY NO. 9
Mark Donahue, engineer; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) - RACHMANINOFF – HERMITAGE PIANO TRIO
Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers; Keith O. Johnson, mastering engineer (Hermitage Piano Trio) - RILEY: SUN RINGS
Leslie Ann Jones, engineer; Robert C. Ludwig, mastering engineer (Kronos Quartet) - WOLFE: FIRE IN MY MOUTH
Bob Hanlon & Lawrence Rock, engineers; Ian Good & Lawrence Rock, mastering engineers (Jaap Van Zweden, Francisco J. Núñez, Donald Nally, The Crossing, Young People’s Chorus Of NY City & New York Philharmonic)
- Producer Of The Year, Classical
A Producer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
- BLANTON ALSPAUGH
- Artifacts – The Music Of Michael McGlynn (Charles Bruffy & Kansas City Chorale)
• Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Fantaisie Sur La Tempête De Shakespeare (Andrew Davis & Toronto Symphony Orchestra)
• Copland: Billy The Kid; Grohg (Leonard Slatkin & Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
• Duruflé: Complete Choral Works (Robert Simpson & Houston Chamber Choir)
• Glass: Symphony No. 5 (Julian Wachner, The Choir Of Trinity Wall Street, Trinity Youth Chorus, Downtown Voices & Novus NY)
• Sander: The Divine Liturgy Of St. John Chrysostom (Peter Jermihov & PaTRAM Institute Singers)
• Smith, K.: Canticle (Craig Hella Johnson & Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble)
• Visions Take Flight (Mei-Ann Chen & ROCO) - JAMES GINSBURG (below)
- Project W – Works By Diverse Women Composers (Mei-Ann Chen and Chicago Sinfonietta)
• Silenced Voices (Black Oak Ensemble)
• 20th Century Harpsichord Concertos (Jory Vinikour, Scott Speck and Chicago Philharmonic)
• Twentieth Century Oboe Sonatas (Alex Klein and Phillip Bush)
• Winged Creatures & Other Works For Flute, Clarinet, And Orchestra (Anthony McGill, Demarre McGill, Allen Tinkham and Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra) - MARINA A. LEDIN, VICTOR LEDIN
- Bates: Children Of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem (Steven Smith, Erin R. Freeman, Richmond Symphony & Chorus)
• The Orchestral Organ (Jan Kraybill)
• The Poetry Of Places (Nadia Shpachenko)
• Rachmaninoff – Hermitage Piano Trio (Hermitage Piano Trio) - MORTEN LINDBERG
- Himmelborgen (Elisabeth Holte, Kare Nordstoga & Uranienborg Vokalensemble)
• Kleiberg: Do You Believe In Heather? (Various Artists)
• Ljos (Fauna Vokalkvintett)
• LUX (Anita Brevik, Trondheimsolistene & Nidarosdomens Jentekor)
• Trachea (Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl & Schola Cantorum)
• Veneliti (Hakon Daniel Nystedt & Oslo Kammerkor) - DIRK SOBOTKA
- Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
75. Best Orchestral Performance Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.
- BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY NO. 9
Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) - COPLAND: BILLY THE KID; GROHG
Leonard Slatkin, conductor (Detroit Symphony Orchestra) - NORMAN: SUSTAIN
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic) - TRANSATLANTIC
Louis Langrée, conductor (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) - WEINBERG: SYMPHONIES NOS. 2 and 21
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, conductor (City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Kremerata Baltica)
- Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.
- BENJAMIN: LESSONS IN LOVE & VIOLENCE
George Benjamin, conductor; Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare & Gyula Orendt; James Whitbourn, producer (Orchestra Of The Royal Opera House) - BERG: WOZZECK
Marc Albrecht, conductor; Christopher Maltman & Eva-Maria Westbroek; François Roussillon, producer (Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra; Chorus Of Dutch National Opera) - CHARPENTIER: LES ARTS FLORISSANTS; LES PLAISIRS DE VERSAILLES
Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors; Jesse Blumberg, Teresa Wakim & Virginia Warnken; Renate Wolter-Seevers, producer (Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble; Boston Early Music Festival Vocal Ensemble) - PICKER: FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Gil Rose, conductor; John Brancy, Andrew Craig Brown, Gabriel Preisser, Krista River & Edwin Vega; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Boston Children’s Chorus) - WAGNER: LOHENGRIN
Christian Thielemann, conductor; Piotr Beczała, Anja Harteros, Tomasz Konieczny, Waltraud Meier & Georg Zeppenfeld; Eckhard Glauche, producer (Festspielorchester Bayreuth; Festspielchor Bayreuth)
- Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
- BOYLE: VOYAGES
Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing) - DURUFLÉ: COMPLETE CHORAL WORKS
Robert Simpson, conductor (Ken Cowan; Houston Chamber Choir) - THE HOPE OF LOVING
Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Conspirare) - SANDER: THE DIVINE LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
Peter Jermihov, conductor (Evan Bravos, Vadim Gan, Kevin Keys, Glenn Miller & Daniel Shirley; PaTRAM Institute Singers) - SMITH, K.: THE ARC IN THE SKY
Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
- Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.
- CERRONE: THE PIECES THAT FALL TO EARTH
Christopher Rountree and Wild Up - FREEDOM & FAITH
PUBLIQuartet - PERPETULUM
Third Coast Percussion - RACHMANINOFF – HERMITAGE PIANO TRIO
Hermitage Piano Trio - SHAW: ORANGE
Attacca Quartet
79. Best Classical Instrumental Solo Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.
- THE BERLIN RECITAL
Yuja Wang - HIGDON: HARP CONCERTO
Yolanda Kondonassis; Ward Stare, conductor (The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) - MARSALIS: VIOLIN CONCERTO; FIDDLE DANCE SUITE
Nicola Benedetti; Cristian Măcelaru, conductor (Philadelphia Orchestra) - THE ORCHESTRAL ORGAN
Jan Kraybill - TORKE: SKY, CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN
Tessa Lark; David Alan Miller, conductor (Albany Symphony)
80. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with 51% or more playing time of new material.
- THE EDGE OF SILENCE – WORKS FOR VOICE BY GYÖRGY KURTÁG
Susan Narucki (Donald Berman, Curtis Macomber, Kathryn Schulmeister & Nicholas Tolle) - HIMMELSMUSIK
Philippe Jaroussky & Céline Scheen; Christina Pluhar, conductor; L’Arpeggiata, ensemble (Jesús Rodil & Dingle Yandell) - SCHUMANN: LIEDERKREIS OP. 24, KERNER-LIEDER OP. 35
Matthias Goerne; Leif Ove Andsnes, accompanist - SONGPLAY
Joyce DiDonato; Chuck Israels, Jimmy Madison, Charlie Porter and Craig Terry, accompanists (Steve Barnett and Lautaro Greco) - A TE, O CARA
Stephen Costello; Constantine Orbelian, conductor (Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra)
- Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 51% playing time of the album, if other than the artist.
- AMERICAN ORIGINALS 1918
John Morris Russell, conductor; Elaine Martone, producer - LESHNOFF: SYMPHONY NO. 4 ‘HEICHALOS’; GUITAR CONCERTO; STARBURST
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer - MELTZER: SONGS AND STRUCTURES
Paul Appleby & Natalia Katyukova; Silas Brown & Harold Meltzer, producers - THE POETRY OF PLACES
Nadia Shpachenko; Marina A. Ledin & Victor Ledin, producers - SAARIAHO: TRUE FIRE; TRANS; CIEL D’HIVER
Hannu Lintu, conductor; Laura Heikinheimo, producer
- Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
- BERMEL: MIGRATION SERIES FOR JAZZ ENSEMBLE & ORCHESTRA
Derek Bermel, composer (Derek Bermel, Ted Nash, David Alan Miller, Juilliard Jazz Orchestra & Albany Symphony Orchestra) - HIGDON: HARP CONCERTO
Jennifer Higdon, composer (Yolanda Kondonassis, Ward Stare & The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) - MARSALIS: VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D MAJOR
Wynton Marsalis, composer (Nicola Benedetti, Cristian Măcelaru & Philadelphia Orchestra) - NORMAN: SUSTAIN
Andrew Norman, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic) - SHAW: ORANGE
Caroline Shaw, composer (Attacca Quartet) - WOLFE: FIRE IN MY MOUTH
Julia Wolfe, composer (Jaap Van Zweden, Francisco J. Núñez, Donald Nally, The Crossing, Young People’s Chorus Of NY City & New York Philharmonic)
Tags: #20thCentury, #AaronCopland, #AlbanBerg, #AlbanySymphony, #AmericanJazz, #AndrewDavis, #AnnaThorvaldsdottir, #AntonBruckner, #AntoninDvorak, #ArtistsofColor, #AttaccaQuartet, #BaroqueMusic, #BerlinGermany, #BillytheKid, #BlackFriday, #BlackOakEnsemble, #BlantonAlspaugh, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonEarlyMusicFestival, #CarolineShaw, #ChamberMusic, #ChicagoPhilharmonic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianThielemann, #CincinnatiPops, #CincinnatiSymphonyOrchetsra, #CityofBirminghamOrchestra, #ClarinetConcerto, #ClassicalGuitar, #ContemporaryComposers, #CyberMonday, #DerekBermel, #DetroitSymphony, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FluteConcerto, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #GidonKremer, #GrammyAwards, #GuitarConcerto, #GustavMahler, #GustavoDudamel, #HectorBerlioz, #HolidayGiftGuide, #HybridGenre, #InstrumentalMusic, #JamesGinsburg, #JappVanSweden, #JenniferHigdon, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JoyceDiDonato, #JulianWachner, #JuliaWolfe, #KaijaSaariaho, #KremerataBaltica, #KronosQuartet, #LeifOveAndsnes, #LeonardSlatkin, #LesArtsFlorissants, #LivingComposers, #LosAngeles, #LouisLangree, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #ManfredHoneck, #Marc-AntoineCharpentier, #MatthiasGoerner, #MauriceDuruflé, #MichaelTorke, #MieczyslawWeinberg, #MirgaGražinytė-Tyla, #MixedGenre, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #NicolaBenedetti, #OboeConcerto, #OboeSonata, #OrchestralMusic, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PhilipGlass, #PianoTrio, #PittsburghSymphony, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #RichardWagner, #RobertSchumann, #RochesterPhilharmonic, #RoyalOperaHouse, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SmallBusinessSaturday, #SoundEngineer, #StaplesCenter, #StephenCostello, #StringQuartet, #SymphonicMusic, #TerryRiley, #TobiasPicker, #TorontoSymphonyOrchestra, #ViolinConcerto, #VocalMusic, #WilliamShakespeare, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WyntonMarsalis, #YolandaKondonassis, #YujaWang, 20th-century, Aaron Copland, Alban Berg, Albany Symphony, American, Andrew Davis, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, annual, Anton Bruckner, Antonín Dvořák, artists of color, Attacca Quartet, award, Bach, Baroque music, Beethoven, Berg, Berlin, Berlioz, best, Billy the Kid, black, Black Friday, Black Oak Ensemble, Blanton Alspaugh, blog, Boston Early Music Festival, Brahms, Broadcast, Bruckner, Business, buying, California, canticle, Caroline Shaw, category, CBS, CBS-TV, Chamber music, Chicago, Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, choral music, chorus, Christian Thielemann, Cincinnati Pops, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, clarinet, Classical music, classicalmusic, Competition, composer, concerto, contemporary composers, Copland, crossover, cyber, Cyber-Monday, dance, deal, Derek Bermel, Detroit, Detroit Symphony, divine, Dvorak, Early music, Earth, edge, engineer, ensemble, Facebook, faith, fiddle, fire, flute, forefront, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, freedom, genre, Germany, Gidon Kremer, give, good, Grammy Awards, Grammys, guide, guitar, Gustav Mahler, Gustavo Dudamel, harp, harpsichord, Haydn, Hector Berlioz, Higdon, Holiday, holiday gift guide, hope, hybrid genre, industry, instrumental, James Ginsburg, Japp Van Sweden, Jazz, Jennifer Higdon, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Joyce DiDonato, Julia Wolfe, Julian Wachner, Kaija Saariaho, Kremerata Baltica, Kronos Quartet, Kurtag, Leif Ove Andsnes, Leonard Slatkin, Les Arts Florissants, lessons, like, link, living, living composers, Lohengrin, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louis Langrée, Love, loving, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mahler, Manfred Honeck, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Matthias Goerner, Maurice Durufle, Michael Torke, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, mixed, mixed genre, mouth, Mozart, neglected, new, New Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, Nicola Benedetti, nomination, nominee, Oboe, oboe sonata, occasion, opera, orange, Orchestra, orchestral, organ, original, Oscars, percussion, performance, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Philip Glass, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, places, Poetry, pops, post, posting, producer, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Ralph Vaughan Williams, receive, recital, rediscovery, release, Retail, Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Opera House, sale, Schubert, Schumann, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, Shakespeare, share, Shopping, silence, singer, site, sky, small, solo, Sonata, song, special, Staples Center, Stephen Costello, String quartet, Suite, sun, symphonic music, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, Tchakovsky, Television, Terry Riley, Tobias Picker, Torke, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, trend, Trinity, TV, Versailles, violence, Violin concerto, violinist, vision, vocal music, voices, voyage, Wagner, Wang, Weinberg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, Wozzeck, Wynton Marsalis, year, Yolanda Kondonassis, young people, Yuja Wang
Classical music: Saturday night the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble will perform rarely heard works. Plus, tickets are still available for the Dec. 6 “Messiah” by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Festival Choir of Madison
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ALERT 1: Tickets are still available for the 11th annual performance of Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Festival Choir of Madison with guest soloists (below). The performance, under the baton of Andrew Sewell, takes place on Friday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. at the Blackhawk Church in Middleton. The critically acclaimed performance usually sells out. Tickets are $30. For more information about the performers and tickets, go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/messiah-2/
By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble (below) will perform a concert of varied and rarely performed baroque chamber music on this coming Saturday night, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1833 Regent Street, in Madison.
Performers are: Eric Miller, viola da gamba, baroque cello; Sigrun Paust, recorder; Chelsie Propst, soprano, Charlie Rasmussen, viola da gamba and baroque cello; Monica Steger, traverse flute and recorder; and Max Yount, harpsichord.
Tickets at the door only are $20, $10 for students.
The program is:
Marin Marais– Pieces for Viol, selections from Book 1
Tomaso Albinoni– Sonata for recorder and basso continuo, Op. 6, No. 5
Louis-Nicolas Clérambault– “Orphée” (Orpehus) a cantata
INTERMISSION
Antoine Forqueray – Pieces for Viol, selections from Suite No. 2
Anna Bon– Sonata No. 5 for traverso flute and basso continuo
Nicolas Métru– Duos for viols
Georg Philipp Telemann– Trio sonata in C major for two recorders and basso continuo, TWV 42:C1 (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom)
For more information, go to www.wisconsinbaroque.org
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Classical music: A FREE concert of stripped down Opera Scenes takes place this Tuesday night at UW-Madison
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By Jacob Stockinger
It has been a busy week for students and staff in the opera program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
Last week saw three sold-out and critically acclaimed performances of Benjamin Britten’s opera “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Here is a review: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/11/23/classical-music-university-opera-succeeded-brilliantly-by-staging-brittens-a-midsummer-nights-dream-as-a-pop-project-of-andy-warhol-and-the-factory-in-the-1960s/
This week – on Tuesday night, Nov. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Music Hall (below) at the foot of Bascom Hill – the UW-Madison Opera Workshop will present a concert that presents a series of stripped down, quasi-staged opera scenes. There is piano accompaniment instead of an orchestra, and sometimes a prop with the suggestion of a costume instead of full costumes and full sets.
Admission is FREE to the public and no tickets are required.
David Ronis (below top, in a photo by Luke Delalio) and Mimmi Fulmer (below bottom) are the directors, and Ben Hopkins is the Teaching Assistant
No specific roles, arias or works are listed.
But the program features scenes from: “Werther” by the French composer Jules Massenet; “Fidelio” by Ludwig van Beethoven; “Little Women” by American composer Mark Adamo (below top); “Eugene Onegin” by Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky; “A Little Night Music” by American Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim; “Dead Man Walking” by American composer Jake Heggie (below bottom); and “Hansel and Gretel” by German composer Engelbert Humperdinck.
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Classical music: University Opera succeeded brilliantly by setting Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the 1960s at Andy Warhol’s The Factory
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By Jacob Stockinger
Larry Wells — the Opera Guy for this blog – took in two performances last weekend of the University Opera’s production of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which played to three sold-out houses at Music Hall. He filed this review. Performance photos are by Benjamin Hopkins and Michael Anderson.
By Larry Wells
The University Opera’s production of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was set in Andy Warhol’s Factory of the 1960s with countertenor Thomas Alaan (below) as a Warhol-like Oberon presiding over the antics.
The opera by Britten (below) follows Shakespeare’s play fairly closely. The magical transformations and herbs of the original were translated to a hallucinogen-filled milieu of go-go dancing fairies, master-slave relationships and same-sex liaisons.
And for me it worked. That is to say, this production contained the same strangeness and wonder as the traditional productions I have seen. The play itself is very strange and wonderful.
Alaan is a fine singer and played a manipulative and somewhat slimy Warhol/Oberon whose flat affect seemed to be reflected in the relative lack of expressivity in the voice. Pitted against Oberon were Amanda Lauricella and Kelsey Wang alternating as Tytania.
Although the program stated that the portrayal of Tytania was loosely based on Edie Sedgwick in this production, without the platinum hair I missed the references. Both portrayals were much more assertive than Edie ever was, and both singers’ ardent coloratura voices tended to overshadow Oberon’s, which may have been intentional. Wang (below, far right) was an intense actress who put sparks into her portrayal, while Lauricella really has a superb voice.
(Below, from left, are Michael Kelley as Puck; Thomas Alaan as Oberon; Tanner Zocher as a young man; and Kelsey Wang as Tytania.)
The four lovers (below left) seemed to be employees at The Factory. Tenor Benjamin Liupaogo portrayed Lysander. The vocal part has an uncomfortable upper range, but Liupaogo’s singing in the second act particularly was up to the challenge.
His rival Demetrius was portrayed by baritone Kevin Green. Their contending affections for Hermia and Demetrius’ initial scorn for Helena were oddly lacking in ardor.
Hermia was double cast with Julia Urbank, a promising soprano, and Chloe Agostino, who was also a very good singer. Poor Helena, first ignored and then pursued by both men, was also double cast with a terrific Rachel Love and an equally gifted Jing Liu.
(The four lovers, below from left, were: Benjamin Liupaogo as Lysander; Chloe Agostino as Hermia; Jing Liu as Helena;, Kevin Green as Demetrius; and Paul Rowe as Theseus with Lindsey Meekhof as Hippolyte.)
As I have noted before, the female singers in the opera program often seem to be very solid performers. (You can hear the lovers’ quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
And then there were the “Rustics” (below), the workers who have come together to put on the play “Pyramus and Thisbe” for the upcoming wedding of the local duke, or in this case a rich art patron.
(The six rustics, below from left, were: James Harrington as Bottom; Jacob Elfner as Quince; Benjamin Galvin as Snug; Jack Innes as Starveling; Thore Dosdall as Flute; Jeffrey Larson as Snout; with Kevin Green as Demetrius, seated.)
The six men were each talented comic actors and provided many of the performance’s laughs. Foremost was James Harrington’s Bottom. Not only a very funny actor, he produced in my opinion the finest singing among the many talented students.
Mention must be made of the very amusing Flute, hysterically portrayed by Thore Dosdall, and the promising bass Benjamin Galvin as the slow learner Snug.
These men not only sang well together and separately, but also provided many guffaws whenever they appeared. (Below are: Jacob Elfner as Quince; Jeffrey Larson as Snout; James Harrington as Bottom; Jack Innes – back row up on box – as Starveling; Benjamin Galvin as Snug; and Thore Dosdall as Flute.)
Additionally we had the fairies — all female voices in this production — who sounded wonderful together and got to demonstrate their incongruous ‘60s dance moves to Britten’s score.
Professor Paul Rowe (below left, with Lindsey Meekhof as Hippolyta) made an appearance as Theseus, the duke. His singing was that of a mature artist, a quality to which the students are clearly aspiring.
As the opera drew to a close with a beautifully harmonious chorus, one felt the transformation from dissonance to harmony in the opera and conflict to resolution embodied in the original play.
Many mentions of woods and forest are made in the libretto. Director David Ronis had the walls of the factory cleverly hung with changing arrays of Warhol-like multiple images of flowers and animals. With the amount of weed being smoked and who knows what being ingested onstage, it was easy to believe that the characters might think they were in a forest despite being in a Manhattan warehouse (below).
(The cast, below from left, included Amanda Lauricella and Thomas Alaan in the foreground as Tytania and Oberon. Others were: Julia Urbank on the floor; Benjamin Liupaogo, on the floor; Chloe Flesch; Maria Steigerwald; Amanda Lauricella; Maria Marsland; Angela Fraioli; Thomas Aláan; and James Harrington lying on the couch.)
Presiding over all of this were members of the UW Symphony Orchestra led by new conductor Oriol Sans (below). I have heard maestro Sans conduct the students several times this fall, and I feel he is an outstanding addition to the music school. His control over the forces was amazing, and the subtlety he drew from the players was remarkable.
Ronis (below, in a photo by Luke Delalio) has tried original twists in several of his previous productions, but I think this has been the most outlandish. And I have to say that I really loved it. So carry on, please.
He has a penchant for Britten, one of my favorite composers. His previous productions included “Albert Herring” and “Turn of the Screw.” I wonder if readers have suggestions for another Britten opera he could conceivably produce here. I have my own wish list.
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Classical music: Happy Thanksgiving! What composer, music or performer are you grateful for? Plus, the Pro Arte Quartet repeats the FREE but fantastic opening concert of its complete Beethoven cycle this Sunday afternoon
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ALERT: One of the Thanksgiving traditions for music fans is that from 10 a.m. to noon today, Wisconsin Public Radio will again broadcast highlights from this year’s honors concerts by choirs, bands and orchestras from the Wisconsin School Music Association. Music education is something to give thanks for. You can hear middle school and high school student performers from around the state as well as WPR’s usual Thanksgiving offerings of American composers and music, and then special Thanksgiving programs about gratitude.
By Jacob Stockinger
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today – Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019 – is Thanksgiving Day.
It was Sergei Rachmaninoff (below) who once remarked, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.”
How true, how true.
There is such a wealth of composers, works and performers — going back many centuries — that we can be grateful for. In the Comment section, The Ear wants to hear from you about what one you would name — with a YouTube link, if possible.
But this year he has his own choice: the “Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving” – by Beethoven (below), who used it as a movement in his late String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132.
You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom, where the playing of the four string instruments also gets an interesting and fascinating graphic depiction of its structure.
The composer wrote this sublime and other-worldy music when he recovered from what he thought was a life-threating illness.
But with the Beethoven Year of 2020 fast approaching – along with celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth – The Ear has another reason for his choice.
If you missed last Friday’s superb FREE opening concert of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet (below, in the new Collins Recital Hall of the Hamel Music Center), you have a chance to catch a second performance this coming Sunday afternoon, Dec. 1. (Members, below left are David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violins; Sally Chisholm, viola; and Parry Karp, cello.)
From 12:30 to 2 p.m. the Pro Arte will performance the same program – and ultimately the complete cycle of six concerts — for Sunday Afternoon Live at the Chazen. You can attend it in person for FREE in Brittingham Gallery 3 (below) of the museum or you can stream it live.
Here are links to the program and to the streaming portal and the program: https://www.chazen.wisc.edu/index.php?/events-calendar-demo/event/sunday-afternoon-live-at-the-chazen11/
https://c.streamhoster.com/embed/media/O7sBNG/OS1C0ihJsYK/iqf1vBMs3qg_5
And here is a link to the complete schedule of the Beethoven string quartet cycle, done over the next 14 months, by the Pro Arte Quartet, which includes background on the Pro Arte. You’ll notice, by the way, that the Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving will be performed on the program for next Oct. 2:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/11/19/classical-music-this-friday-night-nov-22-the-uw-madisons-pro-arte-quartet-starts-its-beethoven-cycle-of-the-complete-16-string-quartets-here-are-the-dates-times-venues-and-programs-for/
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