The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: UW-Madison cellist Parry Karp performs a FREE recital of music by Beethoven, Ravel, Frank Bridge and Dmitri Kabalevsky this Friday night. On Friday at noon, pianist Jess Salek plays a FREE recital of music by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy.

ALERT: The week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, from 12:15 to 1 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features pianist Jess Salek (below).

The program includes: the “Italian” Concerto, BWV 971, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750); the Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827); the Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 39, by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849); and “Reflets dans l’eau” (Reflections in Water) by Claude Debussy (1862-1918).

By Jacob Stockinger

At 8 p.m. this coming Friday in Mills Hall, cello professor Parry Karp (below), who has performed for more than four decades with the Pro Arte Quartet, will play an ambitious recital, featuring one of his own many transcriptions.

He will be joined by two pianists: his mother Frances Karp and his faculty colleague Martha Fischer, who teaches collaborative piano.

Here is the decidedly varied and international program:

Sonata in A Major for Piano and Violin, Op. 12, No. 2 (1797-8) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) as transcribed for Piano and Cello by Parry Karp. With Frances Karp.                                             

Sonata in D Minor for Cello and Piano (1913-7) by English composer Frank Bridge (below, 1879-1941), the teacher of Benjamin Britten. With Martha Fischer. (In the YouTube video at the bottom you can hear the first movement of the Bridge sonata performed by cello Mstislav Rostropovich and pianistBenjamin Britten.)

Sonata No. 1 in A Minor for Violin and Piano (1897) by French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), as transcribed for Cello and Piano by Christian Proske (1875-1937). With Martha Fischer.

Sonata in B-Flat Major, Op. 71 (1961) by Russian composer Dmitri Kabalevsky (below, 1904-1987). With Frances Karp.