Classical music: Chamber music group Con Vivo! celebrates the anniversaries of maestro John DeMain (20 years) and composer Richard Wagner (200 years) in the opening concert of its 12th season this Friday night. Plus, violinist sisters Alice and Eleanor Bartsch discuss their upcoming concert Thursday morning on WORT FM.

ALERT: Classical radio host and blog friend Rich Samuels writes: This Thursday morning, beginning at 7:08 a.m., I’ll be airing on my WORT 89.9 FM show an interview I recently recorded with sister UW violinists Alice and Eleanor Bartsch (below in a photo by Katrin Talbot) regarding their Friday night concert in Overture Hall with Madison Symphony Orchestra organist Samuel Hutchison. They will talk about the Friday evening program and give us brief samples of the Vivaldi and Bach they’ll be playing. They also tell us about how they are planning for careers in a music business that is evolving in challenging ways seemingly by the day. MSO concertgoers will recognize the Bartsch sisters as members of the MSO’s first violin section. Alice is a UW Madison senior; Eleanor is studying for a master’s degree in performance at the UW School of Music as well as for an MBA at the School of Business.

By Jacob Stockinger

con vivo! … music with life (the core musicians are pictured below)  begins its 12th season of chamber music with a concert entitled “Baker’s Dozen” on this Friday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Ave., across from Camp Randall.

The performance will feature the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) conducting chamber music by Richard Wagner and Mozart.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of opera composer Richard Wagner (below), the chamber music gem “Siegfried Idyll” in its original version will be performed.

That will be followed by the piece that had a starring role in the movie “Amadeus,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s masterpiece the “Gran Partita Serenade for Winds.” (Hear the third movement, the heartbreaking Adagio, in a YouTube video with still photos from the Oscar-winning movie “Amadeus” at the bottom.)

“We are very excited to be a part of Maestro DeMain’s 20th year in Madison as he returns to con vivo! to conduct our biggest production ever!

“Tickets can be purchased at the door for $18 for adults and $15 for seniors and students. Audience members are invited to join con vivo! musicians after the concert for a free reception to discuss this chamber music literature and to hear about their Carnegie Hall debut this past December.

Artistic Director Robert Taylor, in remarking about the concert, said:

“With 20 musicians performing, this concert promises to be a spectacular event in the history of con vivo! We are delighted to have Maestro DeMain return after his rendition of Igor Stravinsky’s “A Soldier’s Tale” with us two seasons ago. We continue the tradition of bringing to our audience works that are familiar and some that are new in perhaps a not so familiar format. So come join us for our post-Carnegie Hall debut season.”

con vivo! is a professional chamber music ensemble comprised of Madison area musicians assembled from the ranks of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and various other performing groups familiar to Madison audiences. 

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Posted in Classical music
Tags: "Amadeus", Academy Awards, Carnegie Hall, Con Vivo, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Oscars, Richard Wagner, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube