The Well-Tempered Ear
Pianist Yuja Wang’s new ‘Vienna Recital’ is another triumph
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Yuja Wang remains the hottest pianist on the touring concert circuit — and not just for her daring, high fashion clothes and her sensuous legs and arms, and her especially expressive face.
Lang Lang might make more money.
Newcomer Yunchan Lim might inspire more anticipation.
And veterans Martha Argerich and Emanuel Ax might command more authority for their interpretations.
But the supremely talented China-born, U.S.-educated Wang remains in very high critical regard and high popular demand — something that the release just yesterday of her latest album “The Vienna Recital” is sure to sustain and increase.
The recital’s program features an eclectic and somewhat unusual mix of works by Beethoven, Scriabin, Isaac Albéniz, Nikolai Kaspustin and Philip Glass (whose Etude No. 6 you can hear Wang perform in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Ear also likes seeing that Wang uses the music through a printed score on what appears to be an iPad.
Here is a link to a rave review by Tal Agam from the The Classic Review that is based in Tel Aviv, Israel:
What do you think of Yuja Wang?
Have you listened to The Vienna Recital?”
What do you think of it?
Do you intend to listen to it?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, Albeniz, Android, anticipation, Apple, Apple Music, Apple Music Classical, Argerich, arms, Arts, Arturo Márques, Asia, asian, audience, Austria, authority, Autumn, Ax, Beethoven, Bing, blog, born, Brahms, China, Chinese, circuit, Classical music, clothes, composer, Concert, concerto, critic, critical, Curtis Institute of Music, dance, danzón, daring, demand, Deutsche Grammophon, Devil, DG, duckduckgo, eclectic, Education, encore, etude, expressive, face, Facebook, fashion, German, Germany, gifted, Glass, Gluck, Google, Google Alert, Google Alerts, Google Search, hear, high, hot, hottest, Iberia, increase, intermezzo, interpretation, IOS, IPad, Isaac Albéniz, Israel, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Kapustin, Korea, Korean, legs, Ligeti, like, Lim, link, listen, Live Recording, Ludwig van Beethoven, melodie, melody, Mexican, Mexico, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, mix, money, Music, Music education, music review, new, newcomer, Orfeo, Orfeo ed Euridice, OS, People's Republic of Chnia, perform, Philip Glass, Pianist, Piano, popular, PRC, Prelude, prestige, printed, program, rave, recital, recorded music, recording, regard, release, review, Russia, Russian, Safari, Schoenberg, score, Scriabin, sensual, sensuality, sensuous, share, Sonata, South Korea, South Korean, Soviet, Soviet Union, Spain, Spanish, Suite, sustain, tag, talent, talented, technique, Tel Aviv, The Classical Review, The Ear, The Vienna Recital, The Well-Tempered Ear, think, tour, transcription, triumph, Twitter, U.S., United States, unusual, US, use, Veteran, video, Vienna, virtuoso, Wang, Warsaw, Well-Tempered, welltempered, welltemperedear, Wisconsin, Wong, WordPress, Wordpress.com, X, yesterday, you, YouTube, Yuja Wang, Yunchan Lim
Meet and hear piano phenom Yunchan Lim
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
He is looks like a young, mop-topped Beatle, but he plays the piano with the lyricism of Arthur Rubinstein and the technical virtuosity of Vladimir Horowitz or Maurizio Pollini.
He is the South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim (seen below, during his winning performances at the last Van Cliburn Competition two years ago). If you haven’t yet heard of him or listened to him, you really should. Otherwise you are missing out of a phenomenal talent who is just 20 years old and offer sublimely beautiful interpretations.
Just listen to his superb and subtle performance of the “Aeolian Harp” etude, Op. 25, No. 1, by Chopin in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Recently, the British radio classical music radio station Classic FM offered a complete primer on Lim. It includes his personal and professional background and history as well as links to many of his special performances that have been acclaimed by his fellow musicians, the critics and the public.
Here is a link:
Do you know about Yunchan Lim?
Have you heard his playing?
What do you think of him?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ClassicFM, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, Aeolian Harp, ago, Akerican, alert, American, Android, Apple, Apple Music, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Artur Rubinstein, Asia, asian, audience, Autumn, Études, Bach, Baroque, beautiful, Beethoven, Bing, blog, Boston, British, Chamber music, Chopin, Classic FM, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, critics, Decca Records, duckduckgo, Early music, Europe, European, Facebook, fall, fame, famous, Google, Google Alert, Google Alerts, Google Search, harp, harp etude, hear, Horowitz, interpretations, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Dowland, K pop, Korea, Korean, Lim, link, listen, Liszt, London, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, lyricism, Madison, Marin Alsop, Maurizio Pollini, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, Minsoo Sohn, Mozart, Music, New England Conservatory, Orchestra, OS, performances, performer, personal, phenom, phenomenon, Pianist, Piano, Pollini, popular, primer, professional, public, Rachmaninoff, Radio, recital, Rubinstein, Safari, share, solo, Sonata, South Korea, South Korean, star, study, sublime, superb, symphony, tag, talent, techical, The Beatles, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Ear, Transcendental Etudes, Twitter, UK, United States, Universal Music Group, Universal Records, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn competition, virtuosity, virtuoso, Vladimir Horowitz, Well-Tempered, Wigmore Hall, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WordPress, Wordpress.com, X, year, you, young, youthful, YouTube, Yunchan Lim
Classical music: Is this summer’s Token Creek Festival on or off? And if it is on, what form will it take? We will know the delayed decision by July 15
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
For 30 years, the Token Creek Festival (below), which takes place in a refurbished barn, has been a welcome and distinguished bridge from the summer concert season to the autumn season.
It usually takes place from late August through early September.
And by this time we usually know the theme, the performers and the ever-inventive programs that co-directors John and Rose Mary Harbison (below), along with managing director Sarah Schaffer, have put together. (Editor’s note: You can hear festival participants rehearsing the beautiful opening of the slow movement to the Piano Quartet by Robert Schumann in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
But not this year.
Thanks to challenges and complications from the coronavirus and the public health crisis posed by COVID-19, a stop-or-go decision has been postponed until July 15.
Will there be one or more live events? Will the festival be virtual and online? Will guest artists and even the Harbisons risk traveling by plane? Will the mainly older public attend? There are many variables to take into account.
Here is an official announcement from the festival:
Dear Friends,
The middle of June is when we usually announce our concerts for the season, scheduled every year to begin in late August and run through Labor Day.
As we continue to endure the many shifts of the crises of health, politics and civil rights, we find ourselves struggling to understand all the contradictions.
In spite of it all, we have some hopes for a concert emblematic of the festival — perhaps a single event taking advantage of the small venue (below top and bottom), with the audience socially distanced or virtually engaged, or perhaps new dates later in the season — having a chance to recall what we have enjoyed together.
So we are delaying our announcement of what the Token Creek Festival might present, with a final decision by July 15. (Editor’s note: You can check at: http://tokencreekfestival.org.)
It is hard to give up something that has been evolving for 30 years and counting. It is a luxury and a lifeline for both the performers and the listeners, something that holds us fast in spite of the present challenges.
We are not yet advertising or taking ticket orders or building new facilities. But we, and the artists who are holding dates for us, are doing something else: We are practicing, imagining, thinking in real terms about presenting concerts again.
If for no other than those reasons, we beg the indulgence of our friends as we become perhaps the last to depart the season, or among the few to be able to propose some radical, slim, socially distanced, barn-size festival.
We hope you will stay tuned, as we are staying tuned.
And we’ll let you know what’s possible by mid-July.
With warm wishes,
John and Rose Mary and Sarah, TCF Directors
Tags: #AlphabeticalOrder, #ArtSongs, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CivilRights, #ConcertSeason, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GuestArtist, #HarvardUniversity, #JacobStockinger, #JohnHarbsion, #LaborDay, #LiveConcert, #LiveMusic, #LivingComposer, #ManagingDirector, #NewMusic, #OnlineConcert, #PianoQuartet, #PublicHealth, #RobertLevin, #RobertSchumann, #RoseMaryHarbison, #SarahSchaffer, #SlowMovement, #SocialDistance, #TheEar, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, account, advertise, announce, announcement, artist, Arts, attend, audience, August, Autumn, Bach, barn, beg, blog, bridge, challenge, Chamber music, chance, civil rights, Classical music, complication, composer, Concert, concerto, contemporary, continue, contradiction, coronavirus, date, decision, delay, demonstration, depart, distinguished, Early music, emblematic, endure, enjoy, event, evolution, evolve, Facebook, facilities, facility, festival, form, forward, friends, guest, guest artist, Harvard, Harvard University, Holiday, hope, imagine, imagining, indulgence, inventive, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Harbison, July, know, Labor Day, later, lifeline, like, link, listener, listeners, live, live concert, live music, Living composer, luxury, Madison, managing director, New Music, official, older, online, order, pandemic, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano Quartet, plane, Politics, post, posting, postpone, practicing, presenting, program, programming, protest, public, Public health, racism, radical, real, recall, refurbish, rehearse, Robert Levin, Rose Mary Harbison, Sarah Schaffer, scholar, Schumann, Season, September, shape, share, shift, single, slim, Slow movement, small, social distance, song, struggle, summer, tag, terms, The Ear, think, thinking, ticket, time, together, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, travel, understand, United States, unrest, variables, venue, Viola, Violin, violinist, virtual, vocal music, welcome, word, years, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra opens its 94th season this weekend with the sonic sensuality of music by Wagner, Dvorak, Debussy and Barber
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
It has been warmer than the usual fall weather, so why not go sultry?
That’s what the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) will do when it opens its 94th season this coming weekend.
The program “Love, Lust and Redemption” will combine the power of the Klais organ (below top) with MSO principal organist and curator of the Overture Concert Organ Greg Zelek who opens the season with Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva.
The all-orchestral program also features the Madison Symphony Orchestra exploring the sonic sensuality of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser”Overture, Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7.
Performances will are in Overture Hall, 201 State Street, on Friday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 28, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 29, at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $19 to $95. For more information, see below.
MSO music director and conductor John DeMain (below) says of the program:
“Our opening concert is both festive and gorgeously romantic as we present our star organist Greg Zelek (below) in his MSO concerto debut.
“We open with one of the most beautiful overtures ever written, Wagner’s Overture to the opera Tannhäuser and then, after intermission, the great Symphony No. 7 in D Minor by Dvorak.
In between is the little jewel by Debussy, his quintessential impressionistic masterpiece, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. All are favorites of mine, and I look forward to making them favorites of yours, if they aren’t already.”
“Tannhäuser: Overture and Venusberg Music” by Richard Wagner (below) is frequently performed as a separate work in orchestral concerts, the first such performance having been given by Felix Mendelssohn conducting the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in February 1846.
Wagner began revisions to the opera immediately, which resulted in two more versions: the Paris version in 1861 and the Vienna version in 1875. Members of the Madison Symphony Orchestra Chorus also perform in this piece.
TheToccata Festiva was written by the American composer Samuel Barber (below) as an occasional work for the Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy. It pairs organ and orchestra, and celebrated the inauguration of a new organ for the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, a gift from longtime patron Mary Curtis Zimbalist who had also commissioned the new piece.
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faunby French composer Claude Debussy (below) is a musical evocation of Stephane Mallarmé’s poem “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” in which a faun — a half-man, half-goat creature of ancient Greek legend — awakes to revel in sensuous memories of forest nymphs. Debussy begins the piece with a sinuous and well-known flute melody evocative of a graceful female form.
Symphony No. 7 by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak was greatly influenced by Johannes Brahms. Dvorak decided to compose this symphony after hearing Brahms’s new Symphony No. 3.
The piece is distinguished for its somber and dramatic atmosphere and its lack of Slavic-inspired melodies, a characteristic with which the composer’s style is usually associated. (You can hear the vivacious Scherzo in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
TICKETS AND EVENT DETAILS
The lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert. One hour before each performance, Randal Swiggum (below) will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience. It is free to ticket holders.
The MSO recommends that concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations, and so they can experience the Prelude Discussion.
Program notes for the concerts are available online: http://bit.ly/msosept19programnotes.
- Single Tickets are $19-$95 each and are on sale now at: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/love-lust-redemptionthrough the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141. Fees apply to online/phone sales.
- Groups of 10 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information, visit, https://www.madisonsymphony.org/groups.
- Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $15 or $20 tickets. More information is at: https://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush
- Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
- Flex-ticket booklets of 8-10 vouchers for 19-20 symphony subscription concerts are available. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/flex
- Subscriptionsfor the 2019–2020 season are available now. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/19-20
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Tags: #AcademyofMusic, #AfternoonofaFaun, #AmericanComposer, #AntoninDvorak, #ArtsPatron, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #ChoralMusic, #ClaudeDebussy, #CollegeStudent, #CommissionedMusic, #Czechcomposer, #EugeneOrmandy, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FluteMusic, #Frenchcomposer, #FrenchMusic, #GewandhausOrchestra, #GregZelek, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnDeMain, #KlaisOrgan, #LeipzigGermany, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MaryCurtisZimbalist, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicDirector, #OperaOverture, #OrchestralMusic, #OrganConcerto, #OrganMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #ParisFrance, #PhiladelphiaAcademyofMusic, #PhiladelphiaOrchestra, #PreludetotheAfternoonofaFaun, #ProgramNotes, #RandalSwiggum, #RichardWagner, #SamuelBarber, #SeniorCitizen, #SlavicCulture, #St.Edward, #StephaneMallarmé, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViennaAustria, #YouTubevideo, academy, afternoon, American, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, associate, atmosphere, audience, Autumn, awake, blog, box office, Brahms, characteristic, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claude Debussy, commission, composer, Concert, concert program, concerto, conductor, curator, Czech, discount, discussion, dramatic, Dvorak, Eugene Ormandy, event, evocative, experience, explore, Facebook, fall, faun, favorite, Felix Mendelssohn, female, festive, flute, forest, form, forward, France, free, French, Friday, Germany, gift, goat, gorgeous, graceful, Greg Zelek, group, Impressionism, impressionistic, inaugural, information, inspired, Jacob Stockinger, jewel, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, Klais organ, legend, Leipzig, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, like, link, listen, listening, lobby, Love, lust, Madison, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, Mallarme, man, Mary Curtis Zimbalist, masterpiece, Mead Witter School of Music, melodies, melody, memories, memory, Music, Music director, myth, new, night, nymph, occasion, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, organ, organist, Overture, Overture Center, Overture Hall, Paris, patron, performer, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Orchestra, piece, poem, Poetry, post, posting, Prelude, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, premiere, present, principal, program, program notes, quintessential, Randal Swiggum, redemption, revel, revision, Richard Wagner, Romantic, Samuel Barber, Saturday, Scherzo, Season, season open, security, senior, sensual, sensuality, sensuous, sex, sexual, sexy, share, sinuous, Slavic, somber, sonic, Sound, star, Stephane Mallarme, Student, style, subscription, sultry, Sunday, symphony, tag, Tannhauser, ticket, toccata, understanding, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Venus, version, Vienna, vivacious, warm, weather, weekend, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Autumn arrives today. The Ear thinks Richard Strauss’ poignant orchestral song “September” is perfect for greeting Fall. What music would you choose?
3 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Fall officially arrives today.
The autumnal equinox takes place at 2:50 a.m. CST.
If you listen to Wisconsin Public Radio, it’s a certainty that you will hear music appropriate to the season. WPR does these tie-ins very well and very reliably — even during a pledge drive.
At the top of the list will probably be the “Autumn” section of three violin concertos from the ever popular “The Four Seasons” by the Italian baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi.
But there are lots of others, including late songs, piano sonatas and chamber music by Franz Schubert; slow movements from symphonies by Gustav Mahler; and many of the “autumnal” late works by Johannes Brahms, especially the short piano pieces and chamber music such as the Clarinet Trio, Clarinet Quintet and the two sonatas for clarinet or viola and piano.
Here is a link to a YouTube video with more than two hours of autumn music. You can check out the composers and the pieces, some of which might be new to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fddGrDV2gw
And if you want less music with some unusual choices, complete with individual performances, try this much shorter compilation:
http://www.classical-music.com/article/best-classical-music-inspired-autumn
Yet this time of year, when the days end earlier and the mornings dawn later, one work in particular gets to The Ear: It is “Four Last Songs” by Richard Strauss (below), one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century.
The second of the four songs is “September” and fits the bill very nicely.
In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear it sung by Renée Fleming, who will perform a recital next spring in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater. She is accompanied by the Houston Symphony Orchestra under conductor Christoph Eschenbach.
Here are the lyrics of the poem, in which summertime is the protagonist, by Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse:
The garden is in mourning
Cool rain seeps into the flowers.
Summertime shudders,
quietly awaiting his end.
Golden leaf after leaf falls
from the tall acacia tree.
Summer smiles, astonished and feeble,
at his dying dream of a garden.
For just a while he tarries
beside the roses, yearning for repose.
Slowly he closes
his weary eyes.
Is the Ear the only person who wishes that the Madison Symphony Orchestra and maestro John DeMain, who has a gift for finding great young voices, would perform Strauss’ “Four Last Songs” some autumn?
With the right vocal soloist it could make for a memorable season-opening concert.
What music do you identity with the fall season?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #20thCentury, #AmericanMusician, #AutumnalEquinox, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChristophEschenbach, #ClarinetMusic, #ClarinetQuintet, #ClarinetSonata, #ClarinetTrio, #CompactDisc, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FourLastSongs, #GermanComposer, #GermanLanguage, #GermanWriter, #GustavMahler, #HermannHesse, #HoustonSymphony, #HoustonTexas, #ItalianBaroque, #italianComposer, #ItalianMusic, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnDeMain, #KurtMasur, #LeipzigGermany, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MusicalInterpretation, #NobelPrize, #OrchestralAccompaniment, #PianoMusic, #PianoPieces, #PianoSonata, #PledgeDrive, #RenéeFleming, #RichardStrauss, #SlowMovement, #SopranoSinger, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheFourSeasons, #ViolaSonata, #ViolinConcerto, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, accompaniment, American, appropriate, Arts, astonished, Autumn, autumnal, Baroque, beautiful, blog, Brahms, CD, Cello, Chamber music, choice, Christoph Eschenbach, clarinet, classic, Classical music, classicalmusic, close, Compact Disc, compilation, composer, concerto, conductor, dawn, day, diva, dream, drive, dying, Early music, equinox, eyes, Facebook, fall, feeble, forward, Four Last Songs, Franz Schubert, Garden, German, Germany, Gewandhaus, gift, golden, great, Gustav Mahler, hear, Hermann Hesse, Houston, Im Abendrot, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Jessye Norman, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, Kurt Masur, late, leaf, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, like, link, list, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, Mahler, masterpiece, mourning, Music, Nobel Prize, Orchestra, perfect, performer, Piano, piano music, pieces, pledge, pledge drive, poem, Poetry, popular, post, posting, protagonist, recital, recording, Renée Fleming, repose, Richard Strauss, rose, roses, Season, September, share, sing, singer, Slow movement, smiles, Sonata, song, soprano, Strauss, string music, sublime, summertime, sunset, symphony, tag, tears, Texas, The Ear, The Four Seasons, tie-in, tree, United States, unusual, Viola, Violin, Violin concerto, Vivaldi, vocal music, voice, weary, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, WPR, Writer, young, YouTube
Classical music: As we say goodbye to summer, YOU MUST HEAR THIS: Irish composer Joan Trimble’s “Pastorale” homage to the summery French composer Francis Poulenc
5 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
One week from today is Labor Day.
So it is time to start saying goodbye to summer and hello to fall — even though the autumnal equinox won’t arrive until Monday, Sept. 23, at 2:50 a.m. CDT.
The Ear’s favorite summertime composer is the French master Francis Poulenc (below), whose accessible and tuneful music possesses in abundance that Gallic sense of lightness and lyricism, of wit and charm, of modern Mozartean classicism and clarity — complete with trills and ornaments — that seems so appropriate to the summer season.
But then recently on Wisconsin Public Radio, The Ear heard for the first time something inspired by Poulenc that he thinks many of you will appreciate, especially during the transition between the seasons.
It is, appropriately, a 2-1/2 minute “Pastorale” for two pianos – a form Poulenc himself used in his most famous piano concerto — by the underplayed and little known Irish 20th-century composer and pianist Joan Trimble (below). And it has many of the same qualities that distinguish Poulenc.
Here is a link to a Wikipedia entry with more about Trimble: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Trimble
You can hear her homage to Poulenc in the YouTube video, from a Marco Polo CD distributed by Naxos Records, that is below.
Here’s hoping you enjoy it.
If you have a reaction, positive or negative, please share it.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AutumnalEquinox, #AutumnEquinox, #BaroqueOrnamentation, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrancisPoulenc, #Frenchcomposer, #JoanTrimble, #LaborDay, #LyricalMusic, #MarcoPoloRecords, #ModernMusic, #NaxosRecords, #PianoConcerto, #TheEar, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, abundance, accessible, appreciate, Arts, audience, Autumn, blog, Chamber music, charm, clarity, Classical music, classicalmusic, Classicism, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, counterpoint, distinguish, easy-listening, eit, enjoy, entry, equinox, Facebook, fall, famous, favorite, forward, France, Francis Poulenc, French, Gallic, Goodbye, hear, hello, Holiday, homage, hommage, inspiration, inspire, inspired, Ireland, Irish, Jacob Stockinger, Joan Trimble, Joy, Labor Day, lightness, like, link, lyrical, lyricism, Madison, Marco Polo Records, melodic, melody, modern, modern music, Mozart, Mozartean, Mozartian, Music, Naxos Records, neo-Classicism, new, ornament, ornamentation, pastoral, Pastorale, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, post, posting, reader, recording, Season, share, spread, start, subscriber, summer, summertime, summery, tag, The Ear, trill, tune, tuneful, two-piano, welcome, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, YouTube
Classical music: This Saturday and Sunday, the Token Creek Festival explores how an unrequited love for Clara Schumann helped make Brahms and his music autumnal
6 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Johannes Brahms (below) remains the only composer whose complete catalogue of chamber music is still in constant use. This is due to his fastidiously high standards, and to his ideal temperament for music played by smaller groups of players.
His music is universally admired for its combination of sheer craft and deep emotional impact, ranging from the most muted private conversation to the most passionate and revealing passages he ever composed.
But putting aside his own personal temperament as well as his melancholy melodies, his bittersweet harmonies, and his masterful use of strings and woodwinds, what gives Brahms’ music that quality of sadness that so many listeners and critics describe as “autumnal”?
No discussion of Brahms can take place without engaging with the most important person in his life — Clara Schumann (below, in a Getty photo), who was born Clara Wieck and became a virtuoso pianist and a composer whose 200th birth anniversary is being celebrated this year.
Brahms was deeply in love with Clara. But unfortunately she was married to Robert Schumann (below right with Clara), one of Brahms’ closest friends and most loyal promoters. Even after a mentally ill Robert Schumann died of suicide at 46, Clara remained loyal to his memory. For the rest of her long life, she performed, edited and promoted his music and rejected Brahms as a lover or second husband.
Almost overnight, Clara’s rejection seemed to cause Brahms to turn from a handsome young man (below top) to the more familiar figure of an overweight, cigar-smoking, bearded and prematurely old curmudgeon (below bottom).
Clara Schumann’s hidden presence is involved with all of the pieces on the Token Creek Festival program, which will be performed at 4 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24 and 25, in the festival’s refurbished barn (below) at 4037 Highway 19 in DeForest.
The program includes the Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, illustrated with a performance of Brahms’ “Regenlied” (the “Rain Song” that precedes it and introduces the theme of the sonata); the Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano in E minor; and the Piano Quartet No 3 in C minor, a piece that retains its distinctive charge of unresolvable emotion. (You can hear that unresolved emotion in the beautiful slow movement of the Piano Quartet No. 3 in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Performers are violinist Rose Mary Harbison, co-artistic director of the Token Creek Festival; violist Lila Brown; cellist Rhonda Rider; pianist Janice Weber; and Edgewood College mezzo-soprano Kathleen Otterson.
THE REST OF THE FEST
Upcoming programs include “Words & Music,” a belated 80th birthday tribute to artistic co-director John Harbison, on Wednesday night, Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m. The intimate program will include readings by poet Lloyd Schwartz, the premiere of new Harbison songs, plus works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Arnold Schoenberg.
The festival closes with “The Piano” program on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, both at 4 p.m. The festival welcomes back pianists Robert Levin and Ya-Fei Chuang, playing together and as soloists.
Their program explores the question of the composer-performer, here composers who were also formidable pianists: Mozart, Maurice Ravel and Franz Liszt. Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, arranged by the composer for chamber ensemble, and excerpts of John Harbison’s Sonata No. 2, written for Levin, complete the program.
For tickets ($32) and more information, go to www.tokencreekfestival.org or call (608) 241-2525.
Tags: #ArnoldSchoenberg, #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #ChristmasSong, #ClaraSchumann, #ClaraWieck, #ClassicaMusic, #ConcertProgram, #EdgewoodCollege, #EmotionalImpact, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzLiszt, #husband-and-wife, #JaniceWeber, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #KathleenOtterson, #LilaBrown, #LloydSchwartz, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MauriceRavel, #MentalIllness, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #NewMusic, #PianoConcerto, #PianoQuartet, #RhondaRider, #RobertLevin, #RobertSchumann, #RoseMaryHarbison, #StringMusic, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #UnrequitedLove, #ViolaMusic, #ViolinMusic, #ViolinSonata, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Ya-FeiChuang, #YoungMan, #YouTubevideo, anniversary, Arnold Schoenberg, Artistic director, Arts, Autumn, autumnal, Bach, barn, Baroque, beard, bearded, became, Beethoven, bittersweet, blog, born, Brahms, catalogue, celebrate, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, cigar, Clara Schumann, Clara Wieck, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, conversation, craft\emotion, curmudgeon, death, DeForest, died, Early music, Edgewood College, emotional impact, Facebook, farm, fastidious, festival, figure, forward, Franz Liszt, friend, groups, handsome, harmonies, harmony, hidden, highway, husband, ideal, impact, introduce, Jacob Stockinger, Janice Weber, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Harbison, Kathleen Otterson, life, like, Lila Brown, link, Lloyd Schwartz, Love, lover, loyal, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, married, Maurice Ravel, melodies, melody, memory, mental illness, mentally ill, mezzo-sorprano, Mozart, Music, muted, New Music, overweight, passages, Passion, passionate, performer, person, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano Quartet, player, playing, poem, poet, Poetry, post, posting, presence, private, program, promote, promoter, question, Ravel, reader, reading, refurbished, rejection, Rhonda Rider, Robert Levin, Robert Schumann, Rose Mary Harbison, sad, sadness, Saturday, Schoenberg, Schumann, share, solo, soloist, Sonata, song, spread, standards, strings, subscriber, suicide, Sunday, tag, temperament, theme, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, United States, unrequited, unrequited love, unresolved, use, Viola, Violin, Violin Sonata, violinist, violist, virtuoso, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woodwinds, Ya-Fei Chuang, year, young man, YouTube
Classical music: YOU MUST HEAR THIS – Ernest Bloch’s Nocturne No. 2 for piano trio
2 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Suddenly, in August, you sense fall coming.
The Ear has noticed how the sun is setting sooner and rising later.
And it brought to mind a wonderful performance of a memorable and moving work he heard a couple of weeks ago at the last concert by The Willy Street Chamber Players with University of Wisconsin-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor (below).
In fact, the group says the program – which also included Jessie Montgomery’s “Voodoo Dolls” and the Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major by Antonin Dvorak – drew a record-setting audience for the group that marked its fifth anniversary this July.
The piece of music in question is the Nocturne No. 2 – the slow and most quiet one — from Three Nocturnes for Piano Trio by Ernest Bloch (below).
It sounds right and feels right with the right touch of autumnal bittersweetness to the evocation of darkness.
Listen for yourself on YouTube (below) and let The Ear know if you like it and agree:
Tags: #AntoninDvorak, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChristopherTaylor, #ErnestBloch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #JessieMontgomery, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #PianoQuintet, #PianoTrio, #SlowMovement, #TheEar, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VoodooDolls, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubevideo, agree, anniversary, Anton Dvorak, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, attendance, audience, Autumn, autumnal, bittersweetness, blog, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, darkness, dolls, Ernest Bloch, evocation, Facebook, fall, feel, forward, group, Jacob Stockinger, Jessie Montgomery, July, last, link, Madison, Mead Witter School of Music, memorable, moving, Music, nocturne, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano Quintet, Piano Trio, piece, post, posting, question, quiet, quintet, record, record-setting, right, rising, setting, share, slow, Sound, sun, tag, The Ear, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, violinist, Voodoo, Voodoo Dolls, week, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, wonderful, work, yourself, YouTube
Classical music: TONIGHT at 7:30 p.m., guest artist Clive Greensmith of the Tokyo String Quartet and USC will give a FREE cello recital at the UW-Madison
2 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure
By Jacob Stockinger
If you like cello music – which to some ears sounds especially appropriate in autumn – you might be interested in an event tonight.
One of the most distinguished chamber music cellists in the world has been at the University of Wisconsin’s Mead Witter School of Music over the weekend for a three-day residency involving UW string and piano students and members of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO).
He is Clive Greensmith (below) who played with the acclaimed Tokyo String Quartet from 1999 until it disbanded in 2013 and who now teaches at the Colburn School of Music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Greensmith’s residency of lectures, demonstrations and master classes culminates TONIGHT at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall with a FREE recital that also features UW piano professor Christopher Taylor, UW cello professor Uri Vardi and the UW Cello Choir.
The appealing program includes the Sonata for Two Cellos by Luigi Boccherini; “Silent Woods” by Antonin Dvorak and the Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99, by Johannes Brahms. (You can hear the slow movement of the Brahms sonata, played by the late cellist Jacqueline du Pré and pianist Daniel Barenboim, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information about Greensmith, his UW residency, his teaching and the concert tonight, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/guest-artist-recital-clive-greensmith-cello/
To to learn much more about Greensmith, including his recordings and latest projects, go to his homepage web site at: http://www.clivegreensmith.com
Tags: #AntoninDvorak, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloChoir, #CelloMusic, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicians, #ChristopherTaylor, #CliveGreensmith, #ColburnSchoolofMusic, #FacebookPost, #HomePage, #JacquelineduPré, #JohannesBrahms, #LosAngeles, #LuigiBoccherini, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoMusic, #SilentWoods, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TokyoStringQuartet, #UniversityofSouthernCalifornia, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UriVardi, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, Arts, Autumn, Beethoven, Boccherini, Cello, cello choir, Chamber music, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, Clive Greensmith, Coburn School of Music, Colburn School of Music, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, demonstration, distinguished, Dvorak, ear, event, Facebook, fall, free, information, Jacob Stockinger, Jacqueline du Pré, Johannes Brahms, lecture, Los Angeles, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, master class, masterclass, Mead Witter School of Music, Music, performer, Piano, play, player, professor, program, project, recital, recording, residency, Silent Woods, Sonata, String quartet, strings, Tokyo, Tokyo String Quartet, tonight, UCLA, United States, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Uri Vardi, USC, Viola, Violin, web site, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, WYSO, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass… |
 | welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and… |
 | rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and… |
| welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
 | Robert Graebner on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: What will the fall concert season will look like? And what will the post-pandemic concert world be like?
3 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
This past week, The Ear listened to and read a lot of news about COVID-19 and the arts.
And it got him thinking: What will happen this fall with the new concert season? And even later, what will a post-pandemic concert world look like? (Below is the Madison Symphony Orchestra in a photo by Peter Rodgers.)
As you may have heard, the Tanglewood Festival, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has been canceled this year. So too has the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Locally, American Players Theatre in Spring Green also just canceled its summer season.
So far, the summer season seems to be one big cancellation for the performing arts.
True, there are some exceptions.
The Token Creek Chamber Music Festival has yet to announce its plans for August.
One also has to wonder if crowds of up to 20,000 will feel safe enough to attend the Concerts on the Square (below), now postponed until late July and August, by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra?
Will people still want to attend the postponed Handel Aria Competition on Aug. 21 in Collins Recital Hall at the UW-Madison’s new Hamel Music Center, assuming the hall is open?
Fall events seem increasingly in question.
Last night on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that sports events and concerts will be among the last mass gatherings to take place safely, probably not until next spring or summer or even later, depending on when a vaccine becomes available.
Some public health experts also offer dire predictions about how easing up lockdown restrictions too soon might lead to an even worse second wave of the coronavirus virus pandemic this autumn and winter, despite all the happy talk and blame-shifting by Team Trump.
So, what do you think will happen beyond summer?
The Ear wonders what the fallout will be from so many music groups and opera companies turning to free online performances by solo artists, symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles.
Will season-opening concerts be canceled or postponed? What should they be? Will you go if they are held?
Will at-home listening and viewing become more popular than before?
Will the advances that were made in using streaming and online technology (below) during the lockdown be incorporated by local groups — the UW-Madison especially comes to mind — or expected by audiences?
In short, what will concert life be like post-pandemic and especially until a vaccine is widely available and a large part of the population feels safe, especially the older at-risk audiences that attend classical music events?
Will larger groups such as symphony orchestras follow the example of the downsized Berlin Philharmonic (below, in a photo from a review by The New York Times) and play to an empty hall with a much smaller group of players, and then stream it?
Will some free streaming sites move to requiring payment as they become more popular?
Live concerts will always remain special. But will subscriptions sales decline because audiences have become more used to free online performances at home?
Will most fall concerts be canceled? Both on stage and in the audience, it seems pretty hard to maintain social distancing (below is a full concert by the Madison Symphony Orchestra). Does that mean the health of both performers – especially orchestras and choral groups – and audiences will be put in jeopardy? Will the threat of illness keep audiences away?
Even when it becomes safe to attend mass gatherings, will ticket prices fall to lure back listeners?
Will programs feature more familiar and reassuring repertoire to potential audiences who have gone for months without attending live concerts?
Will expenses be kept down and budgets cut so that less money is lost in case of cancellation? Will chamber music be more popular? (Below is the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet during its suspended Beethoven cycle.)
Will fewer players be used to hold down labor costs?
Will imported and expensive guest artists be booked less frequently so that cancellations are less complicated to do?
Will many guest artists, like much of the public, refrain from flying until it is safer and more flights are available? Will they back out of concerts?
Will all these changes leave more concert programs to be canceled or at least changed?
There are so many possibilities.
Maybe you can think of more.
And maybe you have answers, preferences or at least intuitions about some the questions asked above?
What do you think will happen during the fall and after the pandemic?
What do you intend to do?
Please leave word, with any pertinent music or news link, in the comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Tags: #60Minutes, #AirTravel, #AmericanPlayersTheatre, #BeethovenStringQuartets, #BerlinPhilharmonic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #BudgetCuts, #ChamberMusic, #ChicagoSymphonyOrchestra, #ChoralMusic, #CollinsRecitalHall, #ConcertHall, #ConcertSeason, #ConcertsontheSquare, #COVID-19, #DonaldJ.Trump, #DonaldTrump, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalReserve, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GuestArtist, #HamelMusicCenter, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HappyTalk, #HighTechnology, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JeromePowell, #LaborCosts, #LastNight, #LiveMusic, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MassGathering, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicReview, #NewYorkTimes, #PerformingArts, #PresidentDonaldTrump, #PresidentTrump, #ProArteQuartet, #PublicHealth, #RaviniaFestival, #SecondWave, #shelter-at-home, #SixtyMinutes, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #SpringGreen, #Stayathome, #StringQuartet, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TanglewoodFestival, #TheEar, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, 60 Minutes, air travel, American Players Theatre, answer, aria, artists, Arts, at home, at-risk, attend, audience, August, Autumn, Beethoven, Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, blame, blog, Book, Boston Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, budget, budget cuts, cancel, cancellation, CBS, CBS-TV, chairman, Chamber music, Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, choral music, Classical music, Collins Recital Hall, comment, Competition, complicated, composer, Concert, concert hall, concert season, Concerts on the Square, coronavirus, cost, costs, do, Donald J. Trump, downsize, empty, ensemble, event, expense, expensive, Facebook, fall, fallout, familiar, Federal Reserve, flight, fly, forward, free, George Frideric Handel, guest artist, Hamel Music Center, Handel, Handel Aria Competition, happy talk, happy', Health, Home, illness, imported, intend, intuition, Jacob Stockinger, jeopardy, Jerome Powell, July, labor, labor costs, large, last night, like, link, listener, live music, lockdown, Ludwig van Beethoven, lure, Madison, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mass, mass gathering, Mead Witter School of Music, MSO, Music, music review, new, New York Times, news, older, online, opera, Orchestra, pandemic, PAQ, part, past, payment, performer, Performing arts, pertinent, photo, Piano, players, popular, population, post, posting, postpone, postponement, preference, President Trump, price, pro arte hamel, Pro Arte Quartet, Public health, question, Ravinia Festival, read, reassuring, relevant, repertoire, repertory, require, restrictions, safe, safely, Season, second wave, section, share, shift, site, Sixty Minutes, social distance, social distancing, solo, Sports, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, stage, sting quartet, stream, streaming, subscriber, subscription, summer, suspend, symphony, tag, talk, Tanglewood Festival, team, technology, Television, The Ear, think, threat, ticket, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Trump, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, Violin, vocal music, Website, week, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wonder, world, YouTube