The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Looking for serious fun? The thoroughly successful opening concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society bode well for the upcoming second weekend
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By Jacob Stockinger
After 28 summers, going to a concert by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society still feels like attending a family reunion – the best kind of family reunion where everyone is familiar and friendly, where everything is fun, and where you always leave glad that you went.
That’s not by chance.
The first thing that co-founders and co-artistic directors Stephanie Jutt and Jeffrey Sykes did last Friday and Saturday nights was to thank the loyal audience. And the audience, full of longtime fans, returned the favor by being attentive to and appreciative of the first-rate music-making as well as responsive to the horseplay and antics – such as the surreal scene of virtuoso Axel Strauss playing “The Skater’s Waltz” on his violin while rollerblading around the stage (below).
BDDS players really mean it when they say that their audiences are in for something different, something they won’t find elsewhere and won’t forget.
Last weekend that meant the return of two longtime guest performers: San Francisco cellist Jean-Michael Fonteneau and Montreal violinist Axel Strauss (below, with pianist Jeffrey Sykes). Neither disappointed as they performed very varied music by Franz Joseph Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Faure, Lili Boulanger, Maurice Ravel and Ned Rorem. And as always, the amazing pianist Jeffrey Sykes proved a chameleon who blended masterfully into the style of each period and each composer.
But for The Ear, the unexpected standout last weekend was guest accordion player Stas Venglevski from Milwaukee. Born in Russia and trained at the Moscow Conservatory, he is a virtuoso player, a sensitive arranger and a convincing composer – all done with good humor and a charismatic stage presence.
The Ear never thought of the accordion – the Russian bayan, to be specific – as an instrument for chamber music. But he does now, after hearing Venglevski play serious Russian, French and Latin American music that ran the gamut from a graceful waltz and a sprightly polka to torchy tangos. And then there were his flying fingers punching out “The Flight of the Bumblebee,” a real crowd-pleaser.
The large audience responded on both nights with wild applause and a standing ovation every time that Venglevski (below) played, and Jutt promised the audience that he will be back.
“As you can see, we have fun here,” Jutt deadpanned.
She is not exaggerating.
Which bodes well for the second weekend of three that will happen this coming weekend.
The second weekend — two programs in three venues — celebrates Jutt and Sykes, plus two of BDDS’ favorite guest artists: violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio and Madison pianist Thomas Kasdorf.
Kasdorf (below) and Sykes are both featured in a program called “Rock the Sykes-o-delic Kas-bah.” Kasdorf is featured in Brahms’ Horn Trio with guest horn player Karl Kramer Johansen, and in the appealing and accessible Café Concertino by the contemporary Australian composer Carl Vine.
Sykes will perform another chamber transcription of a Classical-era symphonic work, which over the years has become a welcome specialty of BDDS. In this case it is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s snappy and appealing Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271, the “Jeunehomme” concerto. (You can hear the irresistible last movement of the piano concerto, used in the film “Amadeus,” in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Sykes will also perform in Robert Schumann’s “Fairy Tales” for clarinet and viola.
A Madison native, cellist Alison Rowe (below) — an artist from the Dynamite Factory, which is BDDS’ program for emerging talent — will be featured in the Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Major by Johann Sebastian Bach.
“Rock the Sykes-o-delic Kas-bah” will be performed at the Stoughton Opera House on Friday, June 21, at 7:30 p.m. Braisin’ Hussies Food Cart will be parked outside the Opera House prior to the performance. The program will also be performed in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater, Sunday, June 23, at 2:30 p.m.
Jutt (below top) and Sant’Ambrogio (below bottom, in a photo by Stephanie Ann Boyd) worm their musical way into the most unexpected places in the other program, “Steph Infection.” The Nocturne for flute, violin, horn and piano of Franz Doppler opens the program, which continues with Jutt’s own arrangement of Antonin Dvorak’s popular “American” String Quartet, with a flute substituting for one of the two violins.
Dmitri Shostakovich’s Five Pieces for flute, clarinet and piano add spice to the program, and the evening concludes with Ernst von Dohnanyi’s epic Sextet for clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello and piano. A work that ranges from stormy and turbulent to tender and funny, it features an all-star cast including audience favorite clarinetist Alan Kay, horn player Karl Kramer Johansen, violist Carol Cook (principal at the Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Madison’s own cellist of the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet, Parry Karp (below).
“Steph Infection” will be performed at The Playhouse, Overture Center for the Arts, Saturday, June 22, at 7:30 p.m.; and in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater, Sunday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m.
And of course there could also be some unannounced surprises – more door prizes, perhaps a mystery guest, or more shenanigans and antics that correspond to the “Name Dropping” pun theme of the programs.
For tickets ($43-$49) and more information, go to: https://bachdancing.org
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Classical music: The Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society again brings its surefire summery approach to serious classical chamber music when it starts its 28th annual series this weekend
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By Jacob Stockinger
It’s not just the calendar that makes the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society the official start of the increasingly busy summer classical musical season in Madison.
The real reason is that the summer chamber music series, about to start its 28th annual summer this Friday night, June 14, is downright summery in its approach.
Say “summer,” and you think of lightness, of fun, of playfulness. And those are the very same qualities – along with serious, first-rate performances of great music by outstanding musicians – that BDDS brings to its six programs spread out in 12 concerts over three weekends and three venues during the month of June.
By now both the performers (below, in a photo by Dick Ainsworth for BDDS) and the audiences know that the formula works, however finely tuned or slightly changed it is from one summer to the next.
WHAT’S THE SAME
This year much remains.
There are still door prizes, spoken introductions and stories, mystery guests and a colorful art installation by UW-Madison designer Carolyn Kallenborn.
The titles of the six programs for 12 concerts over three weekends still have groan-inducing puns — “Name Dropping” in the theme for this summer — that are based on the musicians’ names like “Founteneau of Youth” after the San Francisco cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau (below top) and “Quadruple Axel” after the Montreal-based violin virtuoso Axel Strauss (below bottom).
There are still the usual venues: the Playhouse in the Overture Center (below top); the Stoughton Opera House (below middle); and the Hillside Theater at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright compound in Spring Green.
There are still the many distinguished and accomplished musicians among the many imported guest artists and the many local musicians, including the co-founders and co-artistic directors flutist Stephanie Jutt and pianist Jeffrey Sykes (below). The Ear can’t recall ever hearing a bad BDDS performance, even of music he didn’t like.
And there is a mix of older well-known and classic repertoire along with newer and neglected composers and works.
WHAT’S NEW
But some things are different too.
The first concert this Friday will have a post-concert reception with free champagne and dessert to celebrate the 28th season.
This summer, unlike recent ones, there is no vocal music. All music is instrumental.
At both Stoughton and Spring Green, you can get food. Go to the home website for details.
Especially new and noteworthy is that the Russian virtuoso accordion player Stas Venglevski (below), from Milwaukee, will also perform on programs. Venglevski performs on the bayan, a Russian-style accordion noted for its deep bass sound and range and purity of tone.
Venglevski will be featured in works that range from polkas and heart-on-the-sleeve tangos by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky; down-and-dirty original works by Russian master Tatyana Sergeyeva and arrangements of favorite pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and others.
This Wednesday night, June 12, from 7 to 9 p.m., Venglevski and Jutt will perform “Bayan-o-rama” at the Arts and Literature Lab, 2021 Winnebago Street. Tickets are $10 at the door. Refreshments will be served.
Here is a summary of the first weekend:
WEEK ONE
The elegance, charm, and finesse of French cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau is displayed in a program called “Fonteneau of Youth.”
It includes music written by great composers in their youth, including the ravishing Elegy for cello and piano of French composer Gabriel Fauré; the rhythmically exciting Trio for flute, cello and piano of living American composer Ned Rorem; and the astonishing D’un soir triste (One Sad Evening) and D’un matin de printemps (One Spring Morning), both for piano trio, of 21-year old Lili Boulanger (below), who was the Prix de Rome-winning composer sister of famed teacher Nadia Boulanger and who died very young. (You can hear both pieces by Lili Boulanger in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The great Franz Joseph Haydn—always the most youthful of composers, even into his late years—is represented by the masterful Piano Trio no. 28 in E major, in honor of BDDS’ 28th season.
“Fonteneau of Youth” will be performed at The Playhouse in the Overture Center for the Arts on this Friday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m. A free champagne and dessert reception will be held following the performance to celebrate the 28th season opener. It will also be performed in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater on Sunday, June 16, at 2:30 p.m.
Audience favorite Axel Strauss—not just a virtuoso violinist, but a virtuoso musician and artist of the highest distinction—will brave gravity-defying musical heights in “Quadruple Axel.” Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Trio Sonata in D minor for violin, flute, cello and piano starts the program on an elegant note. Johannes Brahms’ fiery Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101, raises the temperature significantly. And all sorts of hijinks are on display in Maurice Ravel’s extraordinary and ravishing Sonata for Violin and Piano.
“Quadruple Axel” will be performed at The Playhouse in the Overture Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m. and in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater, Sunday, June 16, at 6:30 p.m.
For more information about the full BDDS season and how to purchase tickets ($43 and $49), go to: https://bachdancing.org
Tags: #AcademicFestivalOverture, #AmericanComposer, #ArgentineanComposer, #ArtisticDirector, #ArtsandLiteratureLaboratory, #AstorPiazzolla, #AudienceFavorite, #AxelStrauss, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarlPhilippEmanuelBach, #CarolynKallenborn, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicians, #Classicalera, #ContemporaryComposers, #ContemporaryMusic, #CPEBach, #Cubancomposer, #DoorPrize, #ErnestoLecuona, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FigureSkating, #FrankLloydWright, #FranzJosephHaydn, #Frenchcomposer, #FrenchMusic, #GabrielFaure, #HillsideTheater, #HomeWebsite, #IgorStravinsky, #InstrumentalMusic, #Jean-MichelFonteneau, #JeffreySykes, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #LiliBoulanger, #LivingComposer, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MauriceRavel, #McGillUniversity, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #ModernComposers, #ModernMusic, #MontrealCanada, #MysteryGuest, #NadiaBoulanger, #Name-Dropping, #NameDropping, #NedRorem, #NeglectedComposers, #NeglectedRepertoire, #NewMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PianoTrio, #PrixdeRome, #Prize-Winning, #RussianComposer, #SanFrancisco, #SanFranciscoCalifornia, #SanFranciscoTrio, #SpringGreen, #StasVenglevski, #StephanieJutt, #StoughtonOperaHouse, #StoughtonWisconsin, #Taliesincompound, #TatyanaSergeyeva, #ThePlayhouse, #TrioSonata, #UniversityofCalifornia-Berkeley, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolinistVirtuoso, #VirtuosoViolinist, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, accordion, American, annual, Argentina, Argentinean, Argentinian, Art, Artistic director, Arts, Arts and Literature Laboratory, audience, axel, Axel Strauss, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, bad, Baroque, Baroque music, bass, bayan, BDDS, blog, busy, calendar, California, Canada, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Carolyn Kallenborn, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, champagne, change, charm, classic, Classical era, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, compound, Concert, contemporary, CPE Bach, Cuba, Cuban, dance, dancing, design, dessert, desserts, different, door prize, Early music, elegance, elegant, Elegy, Ernesto Lecuoña, evening, Facebook, Faure, favorite, festival, figure skating, finesse, first-rate, flute, flutist, food, formula, forward, founder, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Joseph Haydn, free, French, fun, Gabriel Fauré, great, groan, guest, heart, Hillside Theater, House, Igor Stravinsky, induce, installation, instrumental, introduction, introductions, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Jeffrey Sykes, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, June, late, lightness, like, Lili Boulanger, link, literature, living, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Ravel, McGill University, Mead Witter School of Music, Milwaukee, mix, modern, month, Montreal, morning, Music, Musician, mystery, Nadia Boulanger, name, Ned Rorem, neglected, new, New Music, official, opera, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, performance, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, playfulness, polka, Prix de Rome, prize, program, purity, quadruple, qualities, range, recall, reception, refreshment, repertoire, Russian, San Francisco, San Francisco Trio, Season, serious, share, sister, sleeve, Sonata, Sound, spoken, Spring, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, start, Stas Venglevski, Stephanie Jutt, stories, story, Stoughton, Stoughton Opera House, summer, summery, tag, Taliesin, tango, Tatyana Sergeyeva, Teacher, The Playhouse, theme, ticket, tone, trio, trio sonata, tuned, United States, University of California-Berkeley, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, venue, Violin, violinist, virtuoso, vocal music, Website, weekend, what, winning, Wisconsin, Wiscosnin, word, works, year, Youth, YouTube
Classical music: Violinist Axel Strauss and pianist Trevor Stephenson will recreate a historic concert of Beethoven, Debussy and Bartok this Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this coming Friday night, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at West Middleton Lutheran Church, the prize-winning and internationally acclaimed violinist Axel Strauss (below) — a Madison favorite through his many wonderful concerts with the San Francisco Trio for the Bach, Dancing and Dynamite Society — and pianist Trevor Stephenson, artistic director of the Madison Bach Musicians, will collaborate on a program of masterpieces by Beethoven, Bartok and Debussy.
The event is something of a re-creation of a legendary concert given by famed violinist Joseph Szigeti (below top) and pianist-composer Bela Bartok (below bottom) at the Library of Congress on April 13, 1940 when Bartok, fleeing Europe and World War II, had been in the U.S. only a couple of days.
You can hear a recording of their historic performance of the Rhapsody by Bartok in the YouTube video at the bottom.
At the Sept. 14 concert, Strauss — who now teaches at McGill University in Montreal, Canada — and Stephenson will perform three major works that Szigeti and Bartok also played that April evening in 1940: Beethoven’s Sonata in A major Op. 47 (“Kreutzer”), Bartok’s Rhapsody No. 1 and Debussy’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, the last completed major work by Debussy (below) finished less than a year before his death in 1918. (You can find more about the impressive biography of Axel Strauss at http://www.axelstrauss.com and at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Strauss on Wikipedia.)
Stephenson will bring his 1855 Boesendorfer concert grand piano (both are below in a photo by Kent Sweitzer). Although heavily strung like a modern piano, this mid 19th-century Boesendorfer piano has no metal plate to alleviate the tension of the strings, but relies instead upon an ingenious wooden frame design.
The resonance of the sound is thus carried entirely by the wood, resulting in a complex and dark tone wonderfully suited to the sensibility of 19th- and early 20th-century music.
The West Middleton Lutheran Church (below top and bottom) is at 3763 Pioneer Road — the intersection of Mineral Point Road and Pioneer Road, just 10 minutes west of West Towne Mall.
It has superb acoustics for chamber music. The seating is very comfortable. The sight-lines are terrific. And there is plenty of parking.
Concert tickets are $25 available at the door (credit card, check and cash) or in advance (check only). Seating is limited to 225.
To reserve tickets, email trevor@trevorstephenson.com
Find more information at www.trevorstephenson.com.
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Classical music: The impressive second weekend of four concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society adds elements of theater and dance to chamber music
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By Jacob Stockinger
The second weekend of the three-weekend summer series of concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society features two performances each of two programs.
The programs in this 27th season with its “Toy Stories” theme – “Play-Do(h)” and “GI Joe” – will be performed at The Playhouse (below) of the Overture Center on Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday performances are at the Hillside Theater (below) at Taliesin, at the Frank Lloyd Wright compound in Spring Green, at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.
Each program introduces elements of drama, using a narrator, and of dance.
The works include “The Kitchen Revue” by Bohuslav Martinu and “The Masked Ball” by Francis Poulenc as well as “Einstein on Mercer Street” by American composer Kevin Puts and “The Solder’s Tale” by Igor Stravinsky. (You can hear the first part of the Stravinsky work — “The Soldier’s March” — with Jeremy Irons narrating and the composer conducting in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The baritone singer is Timothy Jones (below top), a longtime favorite of BDDS audiences, and Milwaukee-based hip-hop dancer and choreographer Blake Washington (below bottom), who is returning for his second season with BDDS.
Here is a link to the introduction and complete schedule to the entire summer season, including a FREE concert of “American Haiku: for violin and cello this coming Wednesday night:
Also included this weekend are various works for bassoon, flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, double bass and percussion by Alexandre Tansman; Georg Philipp Telemann, Gabriel Pierné and Robert Schumann.
A bonus to notice: This year for the first time, at the Hillside Theater at Taliesin, Enos Farms is offering picnic dinners that can be ordered, then picked up and eaten outside or in the Taliesin dining room. For food reservations, go to Tickets at http://bachdancing.org
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The Well-Tempered Ear 