The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: More chamber music should be performed at the Goodman Community Center on the east side. Are there other underused venues?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Last Saturday morning, The Ear headed off to the Goodman Community Center (below), on the near east side just off Atwood Avenue.
The reason was to hear a noontime concert by one of his favorite chamber music groups: The Willy Street Chamber Players.
The summer concert was part of the new and FREE Community Connect series by The Willys. And the terrific performances of works by Caroline Shaw, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Astor Piazzolla and Johannes Brahms seemed to draw in a good-sized crowd that was younger and even included some children.
Clearly, The Willys have indeed connected to the community in a different part of town than where they usually perform.
But another of the great things about The Willys is that they also explore new venues.
For the past two winters, they have performed a season preview concert in “A Place to Be” on Williamson Street.
What struck The Ear this time, however, was the Evjue Community Room (below) at the Goodman Center.
The handsomely rehabbed room sure seems an ideal venue for chamber music.
Why, The Ear wondered, was it the first time he was there for a concert?
The room seats about 100, making it ideal for intimate music.
It has lots of natural light, which the players (below) said they really like for reading music.
And the acoustics were superb, no doubt the result of the cream-colored brick, the dark wood, the glass windows and the metal ductwork – all hard surfaces that made for clarity and sufficient volume, even in the back rows. It is, as they say in the biz, a “live” space.
Take a look:
The Ear sure hopes the Goodman Center will see the return of The Willys.
More to the point, he also hopes that other chamber music groups will also use the center. It would be a wonderful spot for recitals and small groups of all kinds.
What do you think of the Goodman Center as a venue for classical music and other kinds of music?
Do you know of other underused performance spaces around the Madison area that you would recommend?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: acoustics, Arts, Astor Piazzola, brick, Caroline Shaw, Cello, Chamber music, children, clarity, Classical music, community, crowd, Daniel Bernard Roumain, ductwork, Evjue, Glass, Goodman, Goodman Center, Goodman Community Center, handsome, intimate, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, light, Madison, metal, morning, Music, natural, New Music, performance, Performing arts, player, reading, recital, rehab, room, Saturday, space, String quartet, string quintet, summer, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, venue, Viola, Violin, volume, Willy Street Chamber Players, window, winter, Wisconsin, wood, young
Classical music: The never-fail Willy Street Chamber Players and guest artists will perform works by Elvis Costello, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Dmitri Shostakovich this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Friday night at 6 p.m., the acclaimed and adventurous Willy Street Chamber Players (below) return to their home base at Immanuel Lutheran Church (below middle and bottom), 1021 Spaight Street, on Madison’s near east side.
The 90-minute program, the second of three subscription concerts this summer — the last one is next Friday — is a typically eclectic one that mixes new music with established repertoire.
It features “The Juliet Letters” by rock star Elvis Costello (below top, in a photo by James Omaha) with local tenor Adam Shelton (below middle), who will also sing the song cycle “On Wenlock Edge” by Ralph Vaughan Williams; and pianist Jason Kutz (below bottom) in the Piano Quintet by Dmitri Shostakovich. (You can hear Elvis Costello sing one of the Juliet Letters with the Brodsky String Quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
There will also be a post-concert reception with east-side snacks from Monty’s Blue Plate Diner and Madison Sourdough.
Admission is $15.
In addition, The Willys have inaugurated a Community Connect series to reach new audiences and perform around the city.
The Ear recently went to one of those concerts and came away grateful not only for the superb performances of great old and new music, but also very appreciative of alternative venues in the city.
But more about that tomorrow.
Tags: Adam Shelton, alternative, Brodsky Quartet, Cello, Chamber music, classic, Classical music, community, Concert, diner, Dmitri Shostakovich, Elvis Costello, J. Adam Shelton, Jacob Stockinger, Jason Kutz, Juliet, letter, Madison, Monty's Blue Plate Diner, New Music, old music, On Wedlock Edge, Piano, Piano Quintet, quintet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, reception, repertoire, Rock, Shostakovich, singer, snack, song, sourdough, star, String quartet, tenor, The Juliet Letters, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, venue, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Willy Street Chamber Players, Willys, Wisconsin
Classical music: The 18th annual Madison Early Music Festival concludes its look at the Spanish Renaissance with another outstanding “concept concert” featuring all participants
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By Jacob Stockinger
Nobody here does “concept concerts” better than the Madison Early Music Festival.
Proof came again last Saturday night in Mills Hall when the large forces of professional faculty members and workshop student participants (both below) joined to present a comprehensive overview of Renaissance music in Spain.
The program featured various combinations, including a quartet (below) as well as choral music and instrumental music. It offered sacred and secular fare, courtly music and folk music, Latin and vernacular Spanish.
Once again, the impressive program was assembled and conducted by Grant Herreid (below top) of the internationally acclaimed Renaissance band Piffaro (below bottom), a popular and regular guest at MEMF. (You can hear Piffaro perform music from the Spanish Renaissance in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
As in past years, history, biography, literature, religion and music get layered on top of each other and interwoven among each other. As a formula, from year to year the concept keeps getting refined and keeps succeeding.
In this case, the narration and story line centered on the surprisingly adventurous life of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (below), who wrote the first important novel, “Don Quixote.”
Last year, the festival celebrated the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare; this year, it was the 400th anniversary of the death of Cervantes.
The Ear really likes the format. The All-Festival concert ran 75 minutes and was done without intermission. Even if you are not a big fan of such early music, the concert was varied enough and short enough to hold your attention.
Unity was provided by excerpts from various texts of Cervantes, including “Don Quixote” as well as less well-known works. Some of his words were even substituted for other texts in songs and choruses.
The chorus and soloists sounded very well rehearsed, and the large instrumental section – with all those unusual-looking early instruments like sackbuts and shawms – was exceptional.
Herreid kept an outstanding sonic balance between the vocal and instrumental forces throughout the event.
There were quite a few narrators (below) who presented the short texts by Cervantes. And they proved the only weak point. Some people just don’t seem as up to the task as others do.
Perhaps in future years, the festival could pick, say, one man and one woman to alternate in the readings. The audience would have a better sense of their identities, and the effect would be better if the narrators were chosen for their ability to project dramatically and enunciate clearly but with expression – something that proved uneven with so many different narrators taking turns.
The Ear didn’t go to a lot of the festival events. He confesses that he is more a Baroque than a Renaissance person who looks forward to next year’s theme of “A Journey to Lübeck,” with German Renaissance and even Baroque music, especially music by Dietrich Buxtehude. (The 19th annual festival will be held July 7-14, 2018.)
But this final wrap-up concert is proof that even if very early music is not your thing, you shouldn’t miss the final event.
The All-Festival concert really is a MUST-HEAR.
You learn a lot.
And you enjoy even more.
Certainly the audience seemed to agree.
Were you there?
What did you think?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: adventure, Arts, audience, balance, band, Baroque, Baroque violin, biography, Cello, Cervantes, Chamber music, choral music, chorus, Classical music, concept, Dietrich Buxtehude, Don Quixote, duo, Early music, enunciate, expression, faculty, formula, German, Germany, Golden Age, Grant Herreid, History, instrument, instrumental, Jacob Stockinger, Latin, literature, Lubeck, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, MEMF, Music, narrator, novel, opera, Orchestra, Piffaro, professional, project, projection, Quartet, reading, Religion, Renaissance, sackbut, sacred, secular, Shakespeare, shawm, solo, solos, song, sonic, Spain, Spanish, Student, symphony, text, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vernacular, Viol, viol da gamba, Viola, Violin, vocal, vocal music, Wisconsin, workshop, Writer, YouTube
Classical music education: Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra performs an “encore” concert of music by Corelli, Mozart and Britten this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post:
“The Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra (MAYCO, below) is a summer training orchestra dedicated to providing an intensive chamber orchestra experience for advanced high school and college musicians, ages 12-35.
“MAYCO was founded in 2011 by music director Mikko Rankin Utevsky (below). The ensemble prepares a full program over the course of each of its one-week summer sessions, culminating in a public concert.
“We had planned for last summer’s “Finale!” concert to be MAYCO’s last, but at the urging of disappointed students, we decided to stage a comeback. Student response has been incredible, and we hope to keep the program alive into the future.
“This summer, we will present a single concert, “Encore!”, featuring works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Benjamin Britten and Arcangelo Corelli.
“The program of bewitching atmosphere and stark contrasts will be performed this Friday night, July 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the Atrium Auditorium (below in a photo by Zane Williams) of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
“The program opens with Corelli’s vivacious Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 4 in D major. Corelli’s Baroque concerti grossi all feature a solo group (“concertino”) of two violins and cello opposed by the full string band (the “ripieno”).
“Our performance will feature MAYCO concertmaster Thalia Coombs (below), principal cellist (and former conducting apprentice) Majestica Lor, and violinist Glen Kuenzi (a returning high school player now entering the UW School of Music, selected by audition).
“Benjamin Britten’s nocturnal Serenade, written for his partner, tenor Peter Pears, and virtuoso hornist Dennis Brain, sets an enchanting array of English poetry, including texts by William Blake, John Keats and Ben Jonson.
“Set in seven movements bookended by a Prologue and Epilogue for unaccompanied horn, the work traverses a wide range of emotions and orchestral colors. Joining the orchestra will be tenor Dennis Gotkowski, a recent doctoral graduate of the UW) and hornist Joanna Schulz (below, a current DMA candidate), who plays with the Wingra Wind Quintet.
“The concert will conclude with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, the so-called “Great” G minor. Long beloved for its tempestuous character and affective power, it captivates players and audiences alike with its intense chromaticism and unrelenting darkness. It is a tremendously compelling piece, and we are excited to perform it this week. (You can hear the famous opening depicted with an unusual bar graph in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“Tickets are $10 cash at the door; by donation for students.
“More information about the MAYCO and its programming can be found on our website, http://mayco.org
Tags: apprentice, Arts, audition, band, bar, Baroque, Ben Jonson, British, Britten, Cello, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, chromaticism, Classical music, college, color, Concert, concertmaster, Concerto Grosso, conductor, Corelli, Dennis Brain, English, epilogue, famous, graduate student, graph, high school, Horn, Jacob Stockinger, John Keats, Madison, Madison Area Youth Chamber Orchestra, MAYCO, Mikko Rankin Utevsky, Mozart, Music, Music education, night, nocturnal, Orchestra, Peter Pears, piece, poem, Poetry, power, principal, prologue, public, quintet, Serenade, solo, strings, Student, summer, symphony, Symphony No. 40 (Mozart), tempestuous, tenor, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, virtuoso, vocal music, William Blake, Wind quintet, winds, wingra, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Youth, YouTube, YUK
Classical music: Madison Opera’s festive and fun 16th annual Opera in the Park is this Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
It serves as a preview of the indoor winter opera season.
But one of the summer’s major events in Madison is primarily a fun time unto itself — with outdoors picnicking and socializing, and lots of outdoor music making, some of it with the audience helping to “conduct” with glow-in-the-dark light sticks.
The Madison Opera’s annual FREE Opera in the Park concert will take place this coming Saturday night starting at 8 p.m. in Garner Park, on Madison’s west side near the junction of Mineral Point Road and Rosa Road. (You can get a taste of the event in the YouTube video from 2010 at the bottom.)
The park opens at 7 a.m. Blankets, chairs, food and beverages are allowed. The rain date is the next day — Sunday, July 23.
Here is what Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill), the general director of Madison Opera, has to say about the event:
“Opera in the Park has become a Madison summer tradition since the first concert in 2002. When the weather is good, we have over 15,000 people in the audience, which is the highest per-capita attendance of any such opera event in the U.S.
“I think there are many reasons for its success, from the beautiful music to the beautiful park, and the fact that our community enjoys spending time together outside in the summer.
“We don’t make massive changes each year, but it is of course a new set of singers and a new program, so it’s a fresh musical experience.
“This year, for example, we have two arias from zarzuelas or traditional Spanish musical comedies,, including the zarzuela version of “The Barber of Seville” – which will be complemented by an aria from Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” naturally.
“Audience members might also choose to vary the contents of their picnic basket each year – perhaps with Bizet’s “Carmen” and “The Barber of Seville” on the concert, they might want to include Spanish foods.
“I try to invite principal artists from our upcoming season when possible, so that audiences can get to know singers they can then hear in full roles later in the year.
“This summer our singers include soprano Cecilia Violetta López (below), who will be in “Carmen” in November;
tenor David Walton (below), who will be in Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio” in February;
and mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala (below), who will be in Daniel Catan‘s “Florencia en el Amazonas” in April.
“Baritone Will Liverman (below) is not in the upcoming season, but he has had major success here as “The Barber of Seville” and in last season’s “Charlie Parker’s Yardbird,” so I’m delighted he is able to join us this summer in the park.
“Putting on Opera in the Park is a complex production, from renting the generators and the stage to coordinating with the City Parks Department and the Madison Police.
“Full Compass Systems and Bag End donate the sound system and their services to run it every year, and there are hundreds of people involved, from our production team to our volunteers, from the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) stage crew to the Madison Opera Chorus and Madison Symphony Orchestra.
“I often say that Opera in the Park is the most important thing Madison Opera does, and I think everyone involved believes that as well.
Now if only the weather will cooperate …”
For more information about Opera in the Park, including the times; the complete concert program that includes selections from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” on the occasion of the composer’s centennial; detailed biographies of the soloists and the guest conductor Joseph Mechavich (below); reservations for the supporters’ Prelude Dinner at 6:30 p.m.; rules about reserving seating in the park; and how to become a volunteer, go to:
http://www.madisonopera.org/performances-2016-2017/park/
Tags: Abduction From the Seraglio, Adriana Zabala, aria, artist, Arts, audience, Barber of Seville, baritone, beverage, biography, Bizet, blanket, Carmen, Cecilia Violetta Lopez, Cello, centennial, chair, Charlie Parker's Yardbird, choral music, chorus, city, Classical music, comic opera, community, conductor, Daniel Catan, David Walton, dinner, Florencia en el Amazonas, food, Garner Park, Gioachino Rossini, guest, IATSE, indoor, Jacob Stockinger, Joseph Mechavich, Kathryn Smith, Leonard Bernstein, light stick, logistics, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mezzo-soprano, Mozart, Music, musical comedy, opera, Opera in the Park, Orchestra, outdoor, outdoors, parks, police, Prelude, rain, role, Rossini, Season, singers, soloist, song, soprano, sound system, Spain, Spanish, stage crew, summer, symphony, tenor, The Barber of Seville, tradition, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, volunteer, weather, West Side Story, Will Liverman, winter, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube, zarzuela
Classical music: See and hear what happens at the Metropolitan Opera just before show time. You will be amazed and entertained
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By Jacob Stockinger
One of the most illuminating and entertaining stories The Ear has seen recently came in The New York Times.
It does exactly what great journalism does: Take you to a place where you cannot go yourself.
The Times went behind the scenes at the famed Metropolitan Opera House in New York City (below) – the Met, for short – to see what was going on before show time.
And it was a lot more than opera.
There is so much to see and listen to, as suggested below in the 1966 drawing of the Metropolitan Opera House by David A. Mackay.
From the sets, props, wig and costume shops to rehearsals by the Met and the American Ballet Theatre and the Metropolitan Orchestra and even to the kitchen and dining room, to say nothing of the classes, hallways and stage.
What emerged was an enthralling story – full of impromptu serendipity — that made good reading in the newspaper and humanized the arts. Here is the text index version (click on the picture and then on the triangle you will see):
But then The Times took advantage of the Internet to create an interactive look at the same material that features only audiovisual clips and runs 7 minutes and 21 seconds.
The final result is impressive, both for the great videography of the shoulder-held cameras and for the succinct labeling and explaining that doesn’t interrupt the flow.
What resulted should win some kind of prize or award. It should also serve as a model for what many other media – especially television – can do with various media tools at hand.
One last observation: Is The Ear the only person who thinks the driving drum soundtrack sounds suspiciously similar to the soundtrack of the 2014 Oscar-winning film “Birdman”?
What do you think about the video?
Did you like it?
Did you learn anything?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Academy Award, American Ballet Theatre, Arts, audiovisual, award, ballet, Birdman, camera, Chamber music, Classical music, costume, dance, dining room, drum, film, head, index, Internet, Jacob Stockinger, journalism, kitchen, Madison, Mahler, media, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Misty Copeland, movie, Music, New York City, New York Times, opera, Orchestra, Oscar, Piano, prize, props, rehearsal, set, shop, soundtrack, symphony, tage, text, The New York Times, Toscanini, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Viola, Violin, vocal music, wigs
Classical music: Today brings the release of an impressive CD of clarinet duos and trios with UW-Madison cellist Uri Vardi and his clarinetist son Amitai Vardi
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is when another outstanding recording by UW-Madison cellist Uri Vardi gets released by Delos Records.
The recording, which features clarinet trios by Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms and clarinet-cello duos by contemporary composer Jan Radzynski, has all the makings of another winner.
For one, the repertoire is a fine mix of the late Classical style (Beethoven), the late Romantic style (Brahms) and modernistic nationalism (Radzynski).
It is, of course, a family affair, as you can read about here in a story about the premiere of the Concerto Duos by Radzynski:
http://news.wisc.edu/music-deepens-connection-for-father-son-performers/
The Ear also finds the playing first-rate and the sound engineering exemplary.
None of that should come as a surprise. You may recall that last year Vardi (below) and his colleague UW-Madison violin professor David Perry, along with pianist Paulina Zamora, released a recording of the three piano trios by Brahms. It was acclaimed by no less than Gramophone magazine. Here is a link to that review:
https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/49269/page/3
The title of the new CD is Soulmates, and it seems fitting in so many ways that crisscross in many directions.
Here are notes from the educator and performer Uri Vardi:
“The title refers to friendship between composer and performer, as Jenny Kallick highlights in her liner notes.
“For his clarinet trio, Beethoven put to work the manners of a musical style that embraced the outward charm and lively sociability associated with the music of friends, interjecting his soon-to-be famous dramatic flashes only occasionally.
“Jan Radzynski (below) began his association with me in Israel, where the Vardi family from Hungary and Radzynski family from Poland first overlapped.
“Meeting once again during graduate studies at Yale School of Music, our friendship has been enriched by Jan’s project as an esteemed composer with multiple cultural ties to Poland, Israel, the US and Jewish tradition, and by my commitment as celebrated teacher and performer to collaborations across musical boundaries. Jointly, we have found ways to embrace the complexities of their origins and diaspora.
“The duo’s dedication to the entire Vardi family signals this deep connection.
“Nearly a century had passed before Brahms (below top) wrote for this same combination. Had it not been for his newly-blossomed musical friendship with clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld (below bottom, 1856-1907), a star performer in the Hofkapelle Orchestra at Saxe-Meiningen, the composer might have held to his recently announced plans to retire.
“On a more personal level, I admire composer Jan Radzynski’s music. I was moved by his gift to my son Amitai (below) — who teaches clarinet at Kent State University in Ohio — and me, and the rest of our family, of the Concert Duos. He presented the work to us in 2004, and we premiered it that same year.
“Brahms is the composer who influences me on the deepest level. Following the release of my previous CD by Delos, I was eager to record the fourth Brahms trio involving the cello, and was looking for an opportunity to add it to the other three trios.
“It is the greatest joy for me to play chamber music with my son. I was happy that both he, and my colleague and friend, pianist Arnon Erez (below), were ready to embark with me on the journey of performing and recording the three compositions on this CD.
“The UW Arts Institute awarded me the Emily Mead Baldwin Award, which helped me financially in releasing this CD. The recordings were done at the Jerusalem Music Center in Israel (which gave us their wonderful facilities free of charge).
“Sound engineer Victor Fonarov, who recorded this CD and started editing it, passed away before the completion of the work. So we decided to dedicate the album to his memory.
“Here is a promotional video, with a SoundCloud clip of the Beethoven work, for the recording:
https://delosmusic.com/recording/soulmates-cello-clarinet-piano/
“And you can hear an excerpt from Radzynski’s Duos in the YouTube video at the bottom.
“Interested readers can also purchase the album directly from Uri Vardi at: uvardi@wisc.edu”
Tags: Amitai Vardi, Arnon Erez, Arts, Beethoven, Cello, Chamber music, clarinet, clarinet trio, Classical, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, Composition, David Perry, Delos records, diaspora, duos, Education, educator, friend, friendship, Gramophone, Hungary, Israel, Jacob Stockinger, Jan Radzynski, Jenny Kallick, Jerusalem, Jewish, Johannes Brahms, Kent State University, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, modern, modernistic, nationalism, nationalist, notes, Ohio, Paulina Zamora, performer, Piano, Poland, repertoire, Richard Mühlfeld, Romantic, SoundCloud, Teacher, tradition, trio, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Uri Vardi, US, Violin, Wisconsin, Yale School of Music, Yale University, YouTube
Classical music: Can playing classical music quiet rowdy or drunken customers? Some McDonald’s restaurants say it works
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is some short good news on the classic music front.
Some McDonald’s restaurants are using classical music to calm late-night customers who are rowdy or drunk and prone to fighting as they wait for their fast food.
The international phenomenon started in Glasgow, Scotland. Then it apparently spread to Stockport, Liverpool and Gloucester in the United Kingdom. Finally, it ended up at several restaurants in Australia.
Several news stories specifically mention the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (portrayed below as Ronald McDonald Mozart).
Here is a link to one of the stories, published in The New York Post:
http://nypost.com/2017/07/05/mcdonalds-is-fighting-drunk-customers-with-mozart-and-bach/
The Ear wonders if any McDonald’s restaurants in Madison or the surrounding area, or in the state of Wisconsin or even anywhere in the U.S. have tried the same strategy and had the same experience, which seems grounded in neuroscience and the effect of classical music on releasing dopamine and other stress-lessening hormones.
If you hear of any or know of any, let The Ear now.
But maybe there is also a downside. The news reminds The Ear of Muzak, the motto of which used to be, “Not just a melody but a management tool.”
Oh well. If it fosters peace, who cares what came first – the chicken or the Egg McMuffin?
What do you think about all this?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Australia, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Chamber music, chicken, chien, Classical music, Compact Disc, customer, dopamine, drunk, drunken, Egg McMuffin, England, experience, fast food, fight, Glasgow, global, Gloucester, hormone, international, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Liverpool, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, management, McDonald's, melody, Music, Muzak, neuroscience, New York City, New York Post, news, Orchestra, peace, Piano, Ronald McDonald, rowdy, Scotland, Stockport, strategy, stress, symphony, tool, UK, United Kingdom, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Classical music: Listening etiquette should be the same outdoors as in concert halls
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By Jacob Stockinger
This posting is a favor to a loyal friend of The Ear.
And just maybe to many others too.
This friend, who sponsors local classical music and attends many indoor concerts, likes to go to the FREE Concerts on the Square (below) given by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
The third one of this summer is tonight at 7 p.m. on the King Street corner of the Capitol Square.
The guest artist is classically trained Robert Bonfiglio (below), the “Paganini of the harmonica,” who will perform several serious works including two by George Gershwin and one by Russian composer Alexander Tcherepnin. (You can hear Bonfiglio perform the second movement of Tcherepnin’s Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information about the concert and what happens at it, including food and other activities as well as a biography of the soloist, go to:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/concerts-on-the-square-3-2/
However, what disturbs The Ear’s friend, who will be there tonight, is the rudeness or thoughtlessness that often interferes with appreciating the music.
“Maybe,” the Friend said, “you can post something about it and that might help.”
True, the summer event is designed for socializing and eating and drinking and having fun. And there is plenty of time for all those things.
But when the music starts, it is only fair to pay respect to the musicians who work so hard to perform it and to other listeners who want to hear it.
That means silence.
People should stop chatting, talking or laughing during the music.
They should avoid making unnecessary noise and movements and help allow other audience members to concentrate and focus on the music.
In short, the rules or etiquette for listening to music should be the same outdoors as they are indoors in the concert hall.
And that goes not only for Concerts on the Square, but also for the Concert on the Green by the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the upcoming Opera in the Park (below) by the Madison Opera on July 22 and the outdoor Concert in the Park performance on Aug. 9 by the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras.
Anyway that is what The Ear and his Friend think.
What do you think?
And how do you generally find listening to music at Concerts on the Square and other outdoor performances?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, biography, Capitol Square, Cello, Classical music, Compact Disc, concert hall, concerto, Concerts on the Square, etiquette, Gershwin, harmonica, indoors, Jacob Stockinger, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, movement, Mozart, Music, Musician, noise, opera, Orchestra, outdoors, Paganini, respect, Robert Bonfiglio, soloist, symphony, Tcherepnin, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players open a new season with an impressive program impressively played
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Willys never disappoint.
Last Friday night, the six Willy Street Chamber Players (below) opened their third summer season at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight Street.
And once again, even though The Willys are relative newcomers, it is hard for The Ear to imagine a more perfect or more enjoyable concert.
The large and enthusiastic audience (below), which has grown considerably over the past two years, seemed to agree, judging by the standing ovations, loud applause and overheard comments.
So what made The Willys’ concert so great and so enjoyable?
Start with the basics
It was summery and informal. Shorts, T-shirts and sandals felt entirely appropriate.
It wasn’t expensive. A $15 ticket seems very affordable compared to what so many other local groups charge.
It wasn’t too long. They played just three pieces – two short and one long — that lasted under 80 minutes. That way you can enter the zone; concentrate hard and focus while you stay in the zone; and then leave the zone for good with time to do other things, including attend the post-performance reception with cookies, ice cream and coffee.
Spoken informal introductions to the pieces – each given by a different player – served as program notes, and they were kept short and to the point. (Below is cellist Mark Bridges humorously explaining the complicated love life of Brahms and how it affected his composing the string sextet.)
The playing itself was exemplary. (It featured the six core members plus guest violinist Suzanne Beia, below front left, of the Pro Arte Quartet, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.)
The Ear detected no sour notes, no false starts or stops, no uncertain passages or interpretation. The well-rehearsed Willys played with precision as well as heart.
The program was typical Willy fare. It mixed short and long, old and new.
The old classics were two: Hugo Wolf’s charming “Italian Serenade” for string quartet (below) and with the String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36, by Johannes Brahms, a long piece that received an energetic and thoroughly compelling reading.
But the star of the evening for The Ear came first: Jennifer Higdon‘s string quartet setting and contemporary take on the classic hymn “Amazing Grace.”
The riffs on the familiar tune by the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer (below) was new to The Ear and proved completely engaging, unmistakably modern-sounding yet accessible. (You can hear the Higdon work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Higdon string quartet (below) recalled an American tradition of using religious music for non-religious purposes. Think of how Charles Ives and Aaron Copland used old hymns and camp meeting songs, the most famous being Copland’s use of the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts” in “Appalachian Spring.”
To be honest, a lot of new music just doesn’t speak to The Ear or reach him emotionally. It often makes him feel superfluous.
But The Willys have a knack for picking the right kind of new music that captures and holds The Ear’s attention, including the String Quartet No. 2 by Philip Glass, the String Quartet No. 5 “Rosa Parks” by Daniel Bernard Roumain and “Entr’acte” for string quartet by Caroline Shaw.
It is a gift The Ear hopes they keep as they choose other contemporary composers and new music to perform with tried-and-true classics.
And if you want to hear more, you can go to The Willys’ website for details about the two remaining concerts this summer plus a FREE family-friendly Community Connect appearance at the east side Goodman Center from noon to 1 p.m. this Saturday. There they will play the works by Caroline Shaw and Daniel Bernard Roumain as well as “Tango for Four” by Astor Piazzolla and the Viola Quintet No. 1 in G major, Op. 111, by Brahms. (NOTE: An earlier mistake here and on the Willys’ website listed the String Sextet by Brahms rather than the Viola Quintet.)
The Willys complete the regular subscription season with performances at Immanuel Lutheran on two Fridays, July 21 (with music by Elvis Costello, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Dmitri Shostakovich) and July 28 (with music by Franz Schubert, Osvaldo Golijov and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). Both performances are at at 6 p.m.
For more details about the performers and the programs, here is a link:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/calendar.html
You shouldn’t miss The Willys in concert.
But if you do, you should know that Madison’s classical music documentarian and chronicler, Rich Samuels (below), is recording all the concerts to play this fall on his Thursday morning radio program “Anything Goes” on WORT-FM 89.9. Stay tuned for more information about air times.
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