Classical music: This afternoon is your last chance to hear twin-sister pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton play Mozart with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Here are three reviews. There will also be poetry inspired by the Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich, which is also on the program. Plus, a FREE concert of choral music takes place tonight at the UW-Madison

ALERT: Tonight at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall is a FREE concert of choral music by the UW-Madison group Chorale under its director Bruce Gladstone. Sorry, no word on the program.

By Jacob Stockinger

This afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall is your last chance to hear twin-sister, Madison-born pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton (below top) perform a Mozart concerto with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below bottom). Works by Claude Debussy and Dmitri Shostakovich are also on the program conducted by MSO music director John DeMain.

The program has received fine reviews from the critics:

Here is a review written by John W. Barker for Isthmus:

http://isthmus.com/music/familial-spirit/

Here is the review by Greg Hettmansberger for his blog “What Greg Says”:

https://whatgregsays.wordpress.com/2016/11/12/a-perfectly-timed-homecoming/

And here is a review written by Jessica Courtier for The Capital Times:

http://host.madison.com/ct/entertainment/music/concert-review-mso-delivers-heart-wrenching-performance-of-shostakovich-s/article_e3fc410e-3e15-543b-b323-fee9ac6ec552.html

For more information about the concert and program, go to:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/classical-music-twin-sister-pianists-the-naughtons-return-to-their-hometown-this-weekend-to-perform-a-mozart-concerto-with-the-madison-symphony-orchestra-the-famous-symphony-no-5-by-shostakovich-i/

NEW MSO POETRY PROGRAM “COUNTERRPOINTS” DEBUTS TODAY

In addition, as a part of its 2016-17 season offerings, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) will today launch The Counterpoint Readings, a special event series where poets will respond to a selected symphonic piece, culminating in a reading in Overture Center’s Promenade Lounge the weekend the piece is performed. It is scheduled to start after the performance, at around 4:30 p.m. today.

NOTE: There is a $10 admission charge to the poetry reading, which includes a wine and cheese reception. But because notice was given late, the original deadline of Nov. 10 for reservations will be overlooked.

The first reading focuses on Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 by Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich (below), performed by the MSO as part of its “Paired to Perfection” concerts this weekend. (You can hear the famous finale of the Shostakovich symphony performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The Counterpoint Readings debut will happen following today’s performance, beginning at approximately 4:30 p.m. Eight poets will perform original works— world premieres for each artist.

Coordinated by MSO violist and poet Katrin Talbot (below, writing poetry in a photo by Isabel Karp), the series seeks to expand the audience’s musical experience and bring Madison’s poetry into a new light. Another such music-based poetry reading, to take place in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, is scheduled for March, according to Talbot.

Katrin Talbot shares her vision of the how the power of words can respond to this significant historical composition, “Stalin is trumpeting out Soviet dominance. Yet somehow, he (Shostakovich) overcame it to generate art. Deception to get his voice heard.”

Among the poets slated to appear include MSO bassist August Jirovec, former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Marilyn Taylor, former Madison Poet Laureate Sarah Busse, Richard Merelman, Eve Robillard, Timothy Walsh, Marilyn Annucci and Rita Mae Reese.

Here is a preview: August Jirovec’s inspiration leading up to the reading:

“If there be meaning in this world askew,

let toils and rhyming gripes slide—disappear

your cross of blood drawn in the dirt austere

and lavish canvases of nascent hue

with brilliant visions! Let your whimsy brew

brash, crazen potions inspired by this tier

of music hefted from chests, as time’s spear

pierces the heart that must love art—through you.”

And here is a link to a long interview with Talbot by Lindsay Christians for The Capital Times:

http://host.madison.com/ct/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/people-turn-to-the-poets-writers-respond-to-a-symphony/article_d6010935-abc3-556c-96db-3a9eea4619d9.html

For more information go to:

The Counterpoint Readings, direct link: http://www.madisonsymphony.org/counterpointreadings

Paired to Perfection concerts: http://www.madisonsymphony.org/naughtons

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