The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The Middleton Community Orchestra and solo flutist Iva Ugrcic turn in polished performances of a fun program to kick off the new season
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photo.
By John W. Barker
The opening concert on Wednesday night by the largely amateur Middleton Community Orchestra (below top), under the baton of Steve Kurr (below bottom), was a relatively brief but pithy one, with only three short works on the program.
The opener was Autumn, the most frequently played section of the ballet The Seasons, Op. 67 (1899), by Alexander Glazunov (below) and one of the composer’s most frequently heard pieces. It is a rondo-like sequence of varied dance movements, full of lyricism and bright colors. The Middleton players dug into it with gusto.
Second came the Flute Concerto in D Major, Op. 283, by the prolific 19th-century German composer Carl Reinecke (1824-1910, below). He was conservative as a teacher and as a prolific composer.
Among his concertos, this one was his last, written just two years before his death. It is an engaging work, not notable for great ideas, but amiable, with a good virtuosic workout for the soloist.
The soloist was the Serbian-born flutist Iva Ugrcic, an absolute whiz of a player, and, among other things, a product of the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music doctoral program. She played with super-precision and confidence, giving her instrument great personality.
Without intermission, the concert ended with the Symphony No. 100, known as the “Military,” by Franz Joseph Haydn (below). It was first played in 1794 among the composer’s “London” Symphonies during his second visit to England. But it may well have been begun while he was in Vienna, for it reflects a particular fad popular there.
This was the use in orchestral writing of an adaptation of the sounds of the Turkish Janissary band. In the second movement, whose tune was taken from an earlier chamber work of his, Haydn introduced recurrently the “Turkish” instruments (two clarinets, triangle, cymbals, bass drums) with startling effect.
At the movement’s end, a trumpet call brings these novelties back for a crashing conclusion. And then, in the fourth movement’s ending, the “Janissary” instruments return for another razzle-dazzle finish. (You can hear the fourth movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
It’s all great fun, and the orchestra players seemed to find their own enjoyment in it.
The MCO continues its steady growth as a polished and reliable ensemble — all 98 players!
Tags: #19thCentury, #AlexanderGlazunov, #AmateurMusician, #AmericanRecordGuide, #BalletMusic, #BassDrum, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #BrassSection, #CarlReinecke, #DanceMovement, #EmeritusProfessor, #FacebookPost, #FluteConcerto, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GermanComposers, #GreatIdea, #IsthmusNewspaper, #IvaUgrcic, #JanissaryBand, #JohnW.Barker, #LondonEngland, #LondonSymphonies, #LyricalMusic, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MilitarySymphony, #MusicReview, #OrchestralPlayers, #PercussionSection, #PopularMusic, #RadioHost, #RussianComposer, #SteveKurr, #StringSection, #TheSeasons, #TrumpetMusic, #TurkishMusic, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViennaAustria, #WindSection, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, Alexander Glazunov, amateur, American Record Guide, Arts, Autumn, ballet, bass, bass drum, blog, Carl Reinecke, Cello, clarinet, classicalmusic, color, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, confidence, conservative, cymbal, dance, drum, Early music, emeritus professor, England, Facebook, fad, flute, flutist, Franz Joseph Haydn, German, great, gusto, History, host, idea, instrument, Isthmus, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Janissary, John W. Barker, London, London symphonies, lyricism, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Mead Witter School of Music, Medieval, Middleton Community Orchestra, military, Military Symphony, movement, music review, Orchestra, performance, personality, photo, photography, piece, popular, precision, program, prolific, Radio, razzle-dazzle, review, rondo, Russia, Russian, seasons, Serbia, Serbian, soloist, Steve Kurr, symphony, Teacher, The Seasons, triangle, Trumpet, Turkey, Turkish, Turkish music, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vienna, Viola, Violin, virtuosic, virtuosity, Wisconsin, workout, WORT-FM 89.9, Writer, YouTube
Classical music: The amateur Middleton Community Orchestra opens its new season this Wednesday night with local flutist Iva Urgcic as soloist in a program of Reinecke, Glazunov and Haydn
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By Jacob Stockinger
The mostly amateur, highly acclaimed and very popular Middleton Community Orchestra (below) will open its new season this Wednesday night, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m.
As usual, the concert will take place in the comfortable Middleton Performing Arts Center (below) that is adjacent to Middleton High School at 210 Bristol Street. Parking is plentiful and free.
Tickets are $15 general admission, but students and children are admitted free. The box office opens at 6:30 p.m. and the auditorium opens at 7 p.m. Advance tickets can be purchased at Willy St. Coop West. Student tickets are available only at the door.
The season includes the “Autumn” section from “The Seasons: by the Russian composer Alexander Glazunov; the Symphony No. 100 by Franz Joseph Haydn; and the rarely heard Flute Concerto in D Major, Op. 283, by Carl Reinecke (1824-1910). (You can hear James Galway playing the first movement of the Reinecke Concerto in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is the Wikipedia entry for Reinecke (below, in a photograph from 1890): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Reinecke
The conductor of this concert is Steve Kurr (below), the MCO’s resident conductor:
The flute soloist is the distinguished and very busy Iva Urgcic (below), who this past year also co-founded the award-winning LunART Festival, a series of new music from all-women composers with all-women performers and poets; and who took over this year as director of the Rural Musicians Forum in Spring Green. She did her graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music where she was a winner in the annual concerto competition.
Also as usual, there will be am informal meet-and-greet reception after the concert.
For more information about how to join or support the Middleton Community Orchestra or to see the concerts and programs for the rest of the 2018-19 season, go to: http://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
Tags: #AlexanderGlazunov, #AmateurMusician, #AmateurMusicians, #AudienceMembers, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #BrassSection, #CarlReinecke, #ConcertoCompetition, #FacebookPost, #FluteConcerto, #FluteMusic, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FreeParking, #GraduateStudent, #IvaUrgcic, #JamesGalway, #LunARTFestival, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Meet-and-Greet, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonHighSchool, #MiddletonPerformingArtsCenter, #MiddletonWisconsin, #NewSeason, #PercusssionSection, #RuralMusiciansForum, #RussianComposer, #SpringGreen, #SteveKurr, #StringSection, #TheSeasons, #TheSoloist, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WillySt.Coop, #WillySt.CoopWest, #WindSection, #YouTubevideo, admission, advance, all-women, amateur, annual, Arts, audience, Autumn, box office, Cello, Chamber music, children, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, concerto competition, conductor, director, Facebook, flute, free, graduate student, Haydn, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, join, LunART Festival, Madison, Mead Witter School of Music, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton High School, Middleton Performing Arts Center, parking, performer, photograph, poet, program, reception, Rural Musicians Forum, Russia, Russian, Season, soloist, Steve Kurr, Student, support, symphony, ticket, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, web site, Wednesday, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, women, work, year, YouTube
Classical music: Autumn arrives today. What composers, works and instruments do you like to listen to in fall? The Ear favors late Brahms – specially the strings, the piano and the clarinet
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By Jacob Stockinger
Fall arrives today.
The autumn equinox will occur at 8:54 p.m. Central Daylight Time.
As the days get markedly shorter and the night longer, one’s mood often changes as do one’s listening preferences.
Many composers have written pieces about autumn, and you are sure to hear many of them on Wisconsin Public Radio or other media outlets.
But The Ear has his favorites.
Not for nothing is the late music of Johannes Brahms described as autumnal, both because it happens late in the composer’s life and because of its bittersweet sounds, its poignant harmonies and its melancholy melodies.
For The Ear, you will find it in most of late Brahms, especially in the slow movements. He loves the string music – the violin, the cello and especially the viola sonatas – as well as the clarinet sonatas and piano intermezzi.
Below are three samples.
Here is the slow movement from the Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, played by violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Daniel Barenboim:
Here is the slow movement of the Sonata in F Minor, Op. 120, No. 1, for, in this case, clarinet or viola:
And here is a particularly moving piano intermezzo, Op. 117, No. 2, in B-flat minor, played by Arthur Rubinstein:
And should you still be unsure what music you like for the fall, here is a link to two hours of music for fall — vocal and instrumental music by Antonio Vivaldi, Franz Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn Alexander Glazunov, Peter Tchaikovsky, Giuseppe Verdi, Edvard Grieg, Gustav Mahler and others — put together by Minnesota Public Radio:
Is there a special composer who evokes autumn for you?
What instruments most speak to you of fall?
Are there special works you like to listen to in autumn?
Leave your thoughts in the COMMENT section, along with a link to a YouTube performance if possible.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AlexanderGlazunov, #AntonioVivaldi, #ArthurRubinstein, #AutumnalEquinox, #AutumnEquinox, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChoralMusic, #ClarinetMusic, #ClarinetSonata, #DanielBarenboim, #EdvardGrieg, #FacebookPost, #FelixMendelssohn, #FourSeasons, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GustavMahler, #JohannesBrahms, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MediaOutlet, #MInnesotaPublicRadio, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PianoIntermezzi, #PianoMusic, #PublicRadio, #SlowMovement, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #ViolaMusic, #ViolaSonata, #ViolinMusic, #ViolinSonata, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublicRadio, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, audience, Autumn, autumnal equinox, Baroque, Beethoven, bittersweet, blog, Brahms, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, composer, Daniel Barenboim, day, Early music, Facebook, fall, favorite, Four Seasons, Franz Schubert, Glazunov, Grieg, intermezzi, intermezzo, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, late, life, link, listening, longer, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mahler, media, melancholy, Mendelssohn, Minnesota, Minnesota Public Radio, mood, Music, night, opera, Orchestra, performance, Pianist, Piano, playlist, poignant, post, posting, preference, public radio, Schubert, shoter, Singing, Slow movement, Sonata, song, songs, Sound, symphony, Tchaikovsky, The Ear, time, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Verdi, Viola, Violin, violinist, Vivaldi, vocal music, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, YouTube
Classical music: Are we hearing more Brahms? If so, why?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear got to thinking about concerts, recordings and Wisconsin Public Radio programs over the past year and the ones coming up this season.
And it seems like there was a lot of music by Johannes Brahms (below), often given multiple performances – the “German” Requiem, the symphonies and concertos, the solo piano music, the string quintets and sextets, and the piano trios and other chamber music with piano.
This season alone, in Madison we will hear three performances of the famous Piano Quintet. Two of them will be in the usual version at the Wisconsin Union Theater (the Takacs Quartet with pianist Garrick Ohlsson) and at Farley’s House of Pianos (the Pro Arte Quartet with pianist Alon Goldstein), and, recently, the earlier two-piano version at Farley’s by Robert Plano and Paola Del Negro. (You can hear the gorgeous slow movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Now it is true that Brahms is one of the standard composers who never really go out of fashion, especially for the way he combined the craft and polyphony of Classicism with a Romantic sensibility. Not for nothing was he lumped in with Bach and Beethoven.
Also true is that Brahms is often described as “autumnal” and fits the concert season.
But not everyone loves Brahms. The British composer Benjamin Britten hated his music and the American crime writer James Ellroy also can’t stand Brahms.
Still, it seems to The Ear that we are hearing more than the usual amount of Brahms.
And if that is true, he wonders, why is it the case? Why does Brahms appeal so?
Is there something in Brahms that matches the times we live in?
Or perhaps something that reassures and consoles us about the times we live in?
Anyway, do you think we are hearing more Brahms?
And if you do, what do you think explains it?
Finally, if you like Brahms what is your favorite piece by Brahms?
Tell us in COMMENTS and provide a link to an audio or video clip is possible
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Alon Goldstein, Arts, Audio, Autumn, Bach, Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, British, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Classicism, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, console, Craft, English, Farley's House of Pianos, Garrick Ohlsson, German Requiem, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, Orchestra, Piano, polyphony, Pro Arte Quartet, program, Quartet, quintet, Radio, reassure, Romanticism, sensibility, sextet, solo, strings, symphony, Takacs Quartet, trio, UK, United Kingdom, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, visual, vocal music, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube
Classical music: Today is the start of Fall. Here is autumnal music by Richard Strauss. Plus, UW-Madison soprano Jeanette Thompson makes her FREE debut tonight at 7 p.m. in Mills Hall.
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ALERT: UW-Madison faculty soprano Jeanette Thompson gives her FREE debut recital tonight at 7 p.m. in Mills Hall. Guest performers are pianist Thomas Kasdorf and faculty colleague baritone Paul Rowe.
Thompson has put together a concert of some of her favorite love songs, though not always typical of love songs: some of them are about a love that is lost, some of them are about a love desired, and some of them are about a love for God.
These songs include excerpts from Gustav Mahler’s Rückert Lieder and Johannes Brahms’ Volksbuchlieder. In addition to Rückert, they include some of her favorite poets like Charles Baudelaire and Eduard Möricke. She will perform songs by Cole Porter and George Gershwin, and will be joined by baritone Paul Rowe to sing two of the most beautiful “Porgy and Bess” love duets ever written.
Thompson (below) will conclude the concert with some of her favorite spirituals, including her mother’s favorite song, “His Eye is on the Sparrow.“
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is the autumnal equinox, which arrives at 3:02 p.m. CDT. It marks when the day has an equal amount of daylight and night.
It also means that today is the first official day of Fall.
And despite the hot weather right now, Fall is often a great time to start returning to indoor activities.
That makes it a good time for listening to classical music.
There are the usual candidates such as Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and its modern counterpart “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” by tango master Astor Piazzolla.
If you want to hear other season-appropriate music, YouTube, Spotify, Classical-music.com and other websites have generous compilations. Just Google “classical music for autumn.”
But today The Ear want to feature just one selection to celebrate the season. It is soprano Jessye Norman singing “September” from “Four Last Songs” by Richard Strauss.
What is you favorite music to greet autumn with?
Use the COMMENT section to let us know, along with a link to a video performance if possible.
Tags: activity, art song, Arts, Autumn, autumnal equinox, baritone, Baudelaire, beautiful, beauty, Buenos Aires, Chamber music, choral music, Classic-music.com, Classical music, Cole Porter, Concert, day, daylight, debut, desire, duet, eye, faculty, fall, folk song, Four Last Songs, Four Seasons, Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, free, George Gershwin, God, Google, indoor, Internet, Jacob Stockinger, Jeanette Thompson, Jessye Norman, Johannes Brahms, John Paulson, lieder, light, Love, love duet, love song, Madison, Mahler, Master, Mörike, Mother, Music, New York Times, night, opera, Orchestra, Paul Rowe, Pianist, Piano, Piazzolla, poem, poet, Poetry, Porgy and Bess, recital, Richer Lieder, September, singer, Sonata, song, soprano, sparrow, spiritual, Spotify, symphony, tango, Thomas Kasdorf, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, vocal music, Website, YouTube
Classical music: Con Vivo turns in a polished performance of mixed and unusual repertoire, and allows a comparison of acoustics and seating distance to be made
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who for 12 years hosted an early music show every other Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos, some at the First Congregational United Church of Christ and some at the Capitol Lakes Retirement Center.
By John W. Barker
Last Friday night, the chamber music ensemble Con Vivo (Music With Life) gave its winter concert at the First Congregational United Church of Christ.
It was a large program of nine relatively short pieces, designed to allow eight members of the group to show off their skills in solos, in duets and in trio pairings.
Participants were: Robert Taylor, clarinet; Cynthia Cameron-Fix, bassoon; Olga Pomolova and Kathryn Taylor, violins; Janse Vincent, viola; Derek Handley, cello; Dan Lyons, piano; and Don DeBruin, organ.
The opening and closing items—Mikhail Glinka’s Trio pathétique and Felix Mendelssohn’s Konzertstück No. 2, combined clarinet and bassoon with piano (below).
A corresponding combination of clarinet, viola and piano (below) was mustered for two of Max Bruch’s Eight Pieces, Op. 83.
In string groupings, two violins (below) played one of Georg Philipp Telemann’s Canonic Sonatas (you can hear an example in a YouTube video at the bottom), and, with piano added, Three Duets by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Violin and viola rendered the Little Suite for Autumn by Peter Schickele (the real person behind “P.D.Q. Bach”).
Franz Danzi’s Duet, Op. 9., No. 1, called for viola and cello (below), while George Crumb’s Sonata was for solo cello.
And, for good measure, there was a duet by Clifford Demarest for piano and organ.
The program was certainly varied. It ranged from deeply diluted pseudo-Copland (Schickele) and unabashedly entertaining trivia (Shostakovich) through Telemann’s contrapuntal wit and Danzi’s artful string contrasts (though too deeply caught up in the viola’s upper register), to the varied colors of winds and piano.
Surely the most striking piece was Crumb’s sonata, a tough work that is not easy listening but provocatively interesting, and was dazzlingly played by Handley.
Rather a throwaway, though, was the Demarest duet, in which the powerful organ sound all but totally overwhelmed the piano.
As it happened, this group gave the same program (less the Demarest) at the Grand Hall of the Capitol Lakes Retirement Center the evening before.
I found it a good opportunity to compare the contributions of differing acoustics to chamber music listening. For such experience, I like to sit very close to the players, and I could do this at the Thursday performance, and in a modestly sized hall with fine acoustics for music.
But the First Congregational Church is a long, deep hall, and I sat about halfway back in it. Its reverberations can add a nice bloom to projected sound, but also some blur.
This was certainly the case where the two wind instruments tended to meld. And when the viola was at the piano, at the back of the chancel, it almost disappeared at times, while other two-string combinations were not always crystal clear.
I have had growing concerns about First Congo as a venue for chamber music, and I should think the Con Vivo folks must think about this. And listeners should, also. Clearly, where you sit for intimate music-making has its effects.
For all that, I enjoyed the group’s program in each setting, and renewed my admiration for their artistry and enterprise.
Tags: Aaron Copland, acoustics, American Record Guide, Arts, Autumn, Baroque, Bassoon, Canon, Cello, Chamber music, clarinet, Classical music, counterpoint, duet, duo, Early music, Franz Danzi, George Crumb, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, John W. Barker, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Medieval history, Music, organ, PDQ Bach, Peter Schickele, Piano, Shostakovich, Sonata, Telemann, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, winter, wit, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: Don’t overlook the many FREE and varied student recitals at the UW-Madison School of Music as the semester comes to an end. Plus, this week’s concert of new music is POSTPONED and the Fall Opera Scenes Workshop takes place on Thursday night.
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ALERTS: The concert by the UW-Madison Contemporary Chamber Ensemble that was scheduled for this Wednesday night has been POSTPONED. No word yet about the new date.
The fall edition of University Opera’s Opera Scenes will offer its latest production on this Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Music Hall. The FREE event features work by students in the Fall Opera Workshop class at the UW-Madison. Students direct, stage and sing the scenes. Piano accompaniment is again the norm, but this time a small Baroque orchestra of strings and winds will also be there.
The program will include scenes from “Der Freischütz” by Carl Maria von Weber; “Arabella” by Richard Strauss; “La Clemenza di Tito” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; and “Orlando” by George Frideric Handel. Also, violist, conductor, singer and critic-blogger Mikko Rankin Utevsky will make his opera conducting debut in the half-hour excerpt of Handel, which includes a mad scene. For more information, including a list of the singers, here is a link: http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/opera-workshop-fall/
By Jacob Stockinger
There are still quite a few big, important and appealing concerts left as the semester and the year wind down, with just over six weeks remaining until 2016.
At the UW-Madison, there are several major choral concerts, several of them with holiday music and holiday themes, just as many other music organizations — including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Madison Bach Musicians among them — do as the holidays approach.
There are probably some noteworthy student recitals at Edgewood College too, but The Ear generally doesn’t hear about those.
So The Ear wants to direct your attention to the many student degree recitals – both undergraduate and graduate – that begin to pile up as the semester comes to a close.
All are free and usually take place at 6:30 or 8:30 p.m. in Morphy Hall.
The variety is stupendous. There are piano and chamber music recitals of all sorts. There are voice recitals. You can hear music for the flute, horn, violin, viola, saxophone, clarinet and percussion. (Below is student Sara Giusti in a recent piano recital.)
Here is a link to the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music online calendar of events and concerts for November and December (click forward to advance the schedule of events):
http://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
Click on the event you are interested in for details. Some of the listings have specific programs; others don’t. But almost all are good bets, given the caliber of the teaching and performing at the UW-Madison music school.
Happy Listening!
And please use the COMMENT section to let The Ear and his readers know about outstanding results when you hear them.
Let us now praise students too!
Tags: Arabella, Arts, Autumn, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, contemporary music, Der Freischutz, Dmitri Shostakovich, Early music, Edgewood College, fall, flute, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, holiday music, holiday season, Horn, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, La Clemenza di Tito, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mozart, Music, New Music, opera, Opera Props, Orlando, percussion, Piano, Piano Trio, Richard Strauss, Robert Schumann, Saxophone, Sonata, song, songs, Strauss, Undergraduate education, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, voice, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Classical music: Here is music to greet Fall, which arrives today. Plus, up-and-coming coloratura soprano Brenda Rae returns to her alma mater UW-Madison from this Friday through Sunday to raise money for University Opera.
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ALERT: Autumn is here. The Fall equinox arrives today at 3:31 a.m. CDT. If you are looking for some appropriate music to listen to, here is a good selection — complete with audio samples – from Minnesota Public Radio:
http://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2014/09/23/classical-music-for-fall-autumn
Plus: The long-term weather prediction is for a warm Fall , according to the Web site Accuweather. Here is a link:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/warmth-to-continue-in-midwest/52475030
By Jacob Stockinger
Attention all opera fans!
Here is a press release for you from the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Music, written by concert manager and publicity director Kathy Esposito:
“Gazing at herself in a bewitched mirror, she is obsessed with her radiant beauty; she caresses her own face and simpers at an imagined lover.”
“That would be the Appleton, Wisconsin coloratura soprano Brenda Rae (below) in the Seattle Opera’s February production of George Frideric Handel’s “Semele,” in which she was described by Opera News as “sensual,” “dazzling” and “moving.” (You can see a clip in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Brenda will be on the UW-Madison campus September 25-27 as part of a larger three-day fund drive to put University Opera -– which has existed at UW-Madison for 57 years, but which relies mostly on ticket sales and donations to finance productions -– on a secure financial footing.
For a more detailed biography of Benda Rae, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/soprano-brenda-rae-with-the-uw-symphony-orchestra/
Here is a link to a story about Brenda Rae and the University Opera written by Gayle Worland in The Wisconsin State Journal:
On Friday, there will be a FREE and PUBLIC master class in Music Hall from 5 to 7 p.m.
On Saturday, two special donor events are planned: the first, a VIP dress rehearsal followed by a private University Club reception for event sponsors.
For more about level of sponsorship and the fundraising drive visit:
https://uwmadisonschoolofmusic.wordpress.com
And on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, a ticketed public concert ($25 for adults) will feature Brenda Rae singing Reinhold Gliere’s rarely heard Concerto for Coloratura Soprano, accompanied by the UW Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Smith. Also on the program are scenes and an aria from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “La Traviata” and “Symphonic Dances” by Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The two events are part of a fund-raising drive that honors opera alumna Karen K. Bishop, who passed away in January. We hope you will consider becoming a supporter of University Opera by sponsoring this event and attending one or more performances.
Tags: Appleton, Arts, Autumn, Baroque, biography, choral music, Classical music, coloratura, concerto, Early music, fall, George Frideric Handel, Gliere, Jacob Stockinger, Karen K. Bishop, La Traviata, Madison, Minnesota Public Radio, Music, opera, Opera News, Orchestra, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Seattle Opera, Semele, soprano, Symphonic Dances, symphony, university, University Club, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, Verdi, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin State Journal, YouTube
Classical music: Today, Sept. 22, 2014, is the first day of Fall. So The Ear plays two of Richard Strauss’ “Four Last Songs.” But what would you listen to to mark the coming of Autumn?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is the first day of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere. The Autumn Equinox arrives tonight at 9:29 p.m. CDT.
This year, the timing of the season and the music I recently listened to worked out just perfectly.
Last week, you see, The Ear went to see the film “The Trip to Italy” (below), a sequel with British funnymen Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. It was made by the award-winning director Michael Winterbottom, who also directed the first installment.
I loved the first one, “The Trip,” in 2010. But like so many sequels, this film suffers from self-indulgence. There was too little plot, a lot of impersonations that are not immediately recognizable or entertaining, and the film goes on for too long.
The movie has its enjoyable, entertaining and touching moments. to be sure. But the really outstanding characters in this film are the Italian landscape and Italian cuisine, captured in stunning cinematography.
But, oh, the music! That was the high note, so to speak, for The Ear.
A recurrent theme is from “Four Last Songs” by the Late Romantic Richard Strauss (below, in 1914). It is “Im Abendrot,” and it strikes the right notes, even for The Ear, who not a big voice fan, whether in choral music, opera or Lieder and art songs.
I was thinking of some appropriate music to play for the coming of the new season. There is always “Autumn” from “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi or the new “Four Seasons in Buenos Aires” by Astor Piazzolla.
Then there is the late piano music and chamber music of Johannes Brahms, so often and aptly described as “autumnal.” Of course, the symphonies and songs of Gustav Mahler qualify as do many of the songs of Franz Schubert. And there is more, much more.
But this year, perhaps because of personal circumstances and sheer coincidence, anyway I found the Strauss songs — which were composed in 1948, a year before Strauss died at 84 — perfectly appropriate and fitting in mood.
Here are two of them, found on YouTube video and sung by the incomparable soprano Jessye Norman with Kurt Masur conducting the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra on the Philips label.
The first is “In Abendrot” (At Sunset). The poem or text, written by Joseph von Eichendorff — which is translated on the YouTube site if you click on “Show More” – – does not deal with autumn per se, but with loss and death. So the mood is surely autumnal and, I find, deeply moving. And it is a common motif in the film:
And then there is “September” from the poem by Nobel Prize-winning German writer Hermann Hesse.
I hope you enjoy these two songs by Strauss and also find them fitting to the season, just as I hope we have sunny and warm, a long and colorful Fall.
And I would love to know what other music best expresses the new season for you.
Just leave your suggestions, with YouTube links if possible, in the COMMENTS section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Antonio Vivaldi, Argentina, art songs, Arts, Autumn, Brahms, Buenos Aires, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, equinox, Four Last Songs, Four Seasons, Franz Schubert, Hermann Hesse, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jessye Norman, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, Kurt Masur, Late Romantic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, lieder, Madison, Mahler, Michael Winterbottom, Music, Nobel Prize, opera, Piano, Piazzolla, Richard Strauss, Rob Brydon, Romantic, September, songs, Steve Coogan, The Trip, The Trip to Italy, Vivaldi, vocal music, YouTube
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