The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The UW’s Pro Arte Quartet and Wingra Wind Quintet join forces this Saturday night in a FREE performance of the famous Octet by Franz Schubert. You can also hear a free concert of music by Brouwer, Nazareth and Rodrigo this Friday at noon.
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ALERT: This Friday’s FREE Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, will feature guitarist Christopher Allen, violist Shannon Farley and flutist Iva Ugrcic. The program includes music by Leo Brouwer, Ernesto Nazareth and Joaquin Rodrigo. The concert runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
By Jacob Stockinger
It is one of the towering masterpieces of chamber music composed in the 19th century.
And the lyrical, dance-like and upbeat Octet for strings and winds by Franz Schubert (below top) will be performed in a FREE concert this Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall. (The opening page of the autograph manuscript is below bottom.)
The program also features the “Introduction and Variations for flute and piano,” D. 802, by Schubert, with flutist Timothy Hagen (below top) and pianist Daniel Fung (below bottom).
Then comes the one-hour Octet in F Major, D. 803. (You can hear some of it in the YouTube video at the bottom.) For more about the Octet, which is Schubert’s largest chamber work and uses themes from a song and other vocal music by him, go to the Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octet_(Schubert)
Performers for the entire concert come from the combined UW faculty forces of the Pro Arte String Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) and the Wingra Wind Quintet.
In the Octet, the performers are: David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violin; Sally Chisholm, viola; Parry Karp, cello; Alicia Lee, clarinet (below top); Joanna Schulz, horn (below middle); Marc Vallon, bassoon (below bottom, in a photo by James Gill); and David Scholl, double bass.
For information about the Pro Arte Quartet, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/pro-arte-quartet/
For information about the Wingra Wind Quintet, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/wingra-woodwind-quintet/
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Classical music: How much is an autograph by pianist Vladimir Horowitz worth?
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By Jacob Stockinger
I was going through some old papers and found something I thought that I had somehow lost or that had been stolen: An autographed card from Ukrainian-born superstar pianist Vladimir Horowitz from a concert he gave in Washington, D.C., in 1973.
Here it is:
But I have no idea of the price it would bring on today’s market. Maybe a look on Ebay could tell me.
Not that I want to sell it. Its sentimental value is priceless. A family member gave it to me. He collected it especially for me, and then sent it out of affection for me and for my love of playing the piano.
Still, I wonder: How much is it worth? True, it is not signed on a program or recording. But it does have a date and is an official autograph card with a printed version of his name on it. (Below is Vladimir Horowitz bowing to a packed house in Carnegie Hall.)
I have had it framed. and will keep it in a secure place, and I hope it will inspire me to play better.
I am also sorry I never collected an autograph from Artur Rubinstein (below) during the several times I heard him perform.
In the meantime, I would welcome any educated guess or documented estimate of the value of this Horowitz autograph.
Finding it again, 41 years after it was signed and almost 25 years after the death of Horowitz (below, in his later years and towards the end of his career), is pretty lucky for me, don’t you think?
And here is a popular YouTube video, with more than 4.4 million views, of one of my favorite Horowitz performances: Chopin‘s Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23, during a live TV performance.
Do you have a favorite?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Artur Rubinstein, autograph, Carnegie Hall, Chamber music, Chopin, Classical music, D.C., E-Bay, Ebay, Frédéric Chopin, Horowitz, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Music, Piano, Television, TV, Ukraine, Vladimir Horowitz, Washington, YouTube
Classical music: A gem-like short song by Felix Mendelssohn is rediscovered and recorded for the BBC after 132 years. Here is the story on NPR.
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By Jacob Stockinger
In 1842, five years before his death at 38, the early Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn (below, in an etching from the Hulton Archive/Getty Images), who lived from 1809 to 1847 and is known for his charming and accessible works, wrote a short song of just 29 measures for a friend in Berlin.
Twice the unpublished song manuscript changed hands, being auctioned off in 1862 and 1872.
And then it went missing for a long time.
Until it mysteriously resurfaced in the U.S. this year.
The title is suggestive and intriguing. The song is called “The Heart is Like a Mine” and takes it text from a poem by Friedrich Rückert (below, 1788-1866), a master of 30 languages whose own prolific poetry was used by other major composers including Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Bela Bartok, Paul Hindemith, Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf and Gustav Mahler.
Sounds as if the song could be pretty bleak and dire, if you are thinking coal mine.
Or bright and hopeful, if you are thinking about a diamond or gold mine.
You can decide for yourself.
After the manuscript of the song resurfaced, the BBC had it recorded by a singer and a pianist, who do a fine job with it.
You can use the link below to the feature on NPR and its outstanding classical music blog — “Deceptive Cadence” — to listen to the song, plus get the background about its history and its upcoming auction at Christie’s. And you can find the recording of the lovely 1-1/2 minute song at the bottom in YouTube video.)
The Ear hopes the autographed manuscript ends up in a public museum and not again in a private collection, which is how it went missing for so long. But we will soon see.
Tags: Arts, auction, autograph, Bartok, BBC, Berlin, Brahms, Christie, Christie's, Clara Schumann, Classical music, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Schubert, Friedrich Ruckert, Friedrich Rueckert, German, Germany, Hindemith, Hugo Wolf, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Mahler, manuscript, Music, NPR, Paul Hindemith, Piano, Richard Strauss, Robert Schumann, Schumann, song, Strauss, vocal music, Wolf, YouTube
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