Bellini | The Well-Tempered Ear

Italian opera diva Renata Scotto dead at 89

August 17, 2023
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

World-famous soprano and opera director Renata Scotto (below) died yesterday — Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023 — in her home town in Italy. She was 89.

As an opera diva, Scotto was popular with both the public and the critics. She was known for a fiery temperament and for outstanding acting as well as singing. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Scotto singing the well-known and sublime Puccini aria “O mio babbino caro” from “Gianni Schicchi” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.)

Here is an obituary for the Associated Press:

https://apnews.com/article/renata-scott-soprano-death-39a56fb590f69073ef0d892f61e3c189

And here is a Wikipedia entry with more specific history and background plus extensive lists ion her recordings and videos:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renata_Scotto

Did you ever hear Renata Scotto in a live performance?

What did you think of her singing and acting?

Did you have a favorite role that you liked her in?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, act, acting, AP, aria, Arts, Associated Press, audience, background, Bellini, blog, Cherubini, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, critics, dead, death, die, director, diva, Donizetti, drama, Facebook, famous, favorite, fiery, Gianni Schicchi, History, honor, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, link, live, Madison, Mascagni, Metropolitan Opera, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Music, New York, New York City, O mio babbino caro, opera, Orchestra, performance, popular, public, Puccini, Recordings, Renata Scotto, Respighi, role, Scotto, share, sing, singer, Singing, soprano, sublime, tag, temperament, the Met, United States, Vderdi, Verdi, videos, vocal music, well-known, Wikipedia, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube

Classical music: The gala opening this weekend of the UW-Madison’s new Hamel Music Center is SOLD OUT. What do you think of the building, the music and the event? Plus, veteran music critic John W. Barker has died

October 25, 2019
7 Comments

PLEASE HELP THE EAR. 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.

ALERT: Word arrived late last night that the respected longtime music critic John W. Barker, a retired UW-Madison professor of medieval history, died Thursday morning. He wrote locally for Isthmus, The Capital Times and this blog. Details will be shared when they are known.

By Jacob Stockinger

This weekend, Oct. 25-27, marks the official gala opening of the new Hamel Music Center (below, in a photo by Bryce Richter for University Communications) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music. It is located at 740 University Ave., next to the new wing of the Chazen Museum of Art, which has a special exhibit relating to the new music center.

The impressive $58-million structure, which has taken many years to fund (completely privately) and then to build, will celebrate its opening tonight, Saturday night (while the 14th annual Halloween FreakFest on State Street is happening) and Sunday afternoon.

The performers will include distinguished alumni, faculty members and students.

Here is a link to an overall schedule as published on the School of Music’s home website: https://www.music.wisc.edu/hamel-music-center-opening-schedule/

Thanks to an astute reader who found what The Ear couldn’t find, here is a complete schedule — long, varied and impressive — of works and performers: https://www.music.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191025-Hamel-Music-Center-Opening-Weekend.pdf

And here is a link to the official UW-Madison press release with more background and details about the building: https://news.wisc.edu/mead-witter-school-of-musics-hamel-music-center-opening-this-fall/

UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger (below) has been commissioned to write a Fanfare that will receive its world premiere tonight.

The opening promises to be a success, complete with receptions at the end of each performance.

In fact, the public has signed on enough that the FREE tickets to all events are SOLD OUT, according to the School of Music’s home website.

Taste is personal and varies, and The Ear has heard mixed reviews of the new building. (For the special occasion, you can hear “The Consecration of the House” Overture by Beethoven, performed by the La Scala opera house orchestra in Milan under Riccardo Muti, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Basically, people seem to agree that the acoustics are much improved over Mills Hall and Morphy Recital Hall in the old Humanities Building.

But public opinion seems more divided over other aspects, from the overall external architecture and interior design to the smaller size of the big hall, the seats and seating layout, and the restrooms.

So if you go – or have already gone – let the rest of us know what you think about those various aspects of the new building and about the various performers and programs.

As a warm-up preview, here are photos of the main halls or spaces, all taken by Bryce Richter for University Communications:

Here is the 660-seat Mead Witter Concert Hall:

Here is the 300-seat Collins Recital Hall:

And here is the Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall:

But what do you say? You be the critic.

The Ear and others hope to see COMMENTS from listeners and especially performers. What is it like to perform there? Or to sit and listen?

What does the public think of the new building and concert halls? Are you satisfied? What do you like and what don’t you like?

Should some things have been done – or not done – in your opinion?

Does the building and do the concert halls live up to the expectations and hype?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AnthonyDiSanza, #ArpeggioneSonata, #ArthurBenjamin, #AstorPiazzolla, #AugustaReadThomas, #BandMusic, #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassMusic, #BryceRichter, #CapTimes, #ChamberMusic, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #ChenYi, #ChoralFantasy, #ChoralMusic, #ChristopherTaylor, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClaudeDebussy, #CollinsRecitalHall, #CommissionedMusic, #ConcertChoir, #ConcertHall, #ConsecrationoftheHouse, #CoreyPompey, #EmeritusProfessor, #EuphoniumMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FluteMusic, #FranzSchubert, #Fridaynight, #GuitarMusic, #HalloweenFreakfest, #HamelMusicCenter, #HomeWebsite, #HumanitiesBuilding, #InteriorDesign, #IsthmusMagazine, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JamesSmith, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #JohnCage, #JohnW.Barker, #KarlheinzStockhausen, #KarlosMoser, #LaScala, #LauraSchwendinger, #Lee/KaufmanRehearsalHall, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarcFink, #MarcVallon, #MarkHetzler, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #MillsHall, #MorphyRecitalHall, #MusicCommission, #MusicCritic, #Musicfaculty, #NewMusic, #OldBuilding, #OperaHouse, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OriolSans, #ParryKarp, #PaulCollins, #PersonalTaste, #PianoMusic, #PressRelease, #ProfessorEmeritus, #PublicOpinion, #RebecccaBlank, #RiccardoMuti, #RichardLottridge, #RichardStrauss, #SaturdayNight, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SoldOut, #SopranoSinger, #StateStreet, #StephenSondheim, #Sundayafternoon, #SusanC.Cook, #TenorSinger, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheEar, #TimothyHagen, #TomCurry, #TraditionalMusic, #TyroneGreive, #TyroneGrieve, #UniversityCommunications, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #UWChorale, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VincenzoBellini, #ViolaMusic, #ViolinMusic, #VocalMusic, #WindEnsemble, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, acoustics, afternoon, alumni, Anthony DiSanza, architecture, Argentina, Arpeggione sonata, Art, Arthur Benjamin, artistic, Arts, audience, Augusta Read Thomas, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, background, band music, Bassoon, Beethoven, Bellini, Beverly Taylor, blog, blue, brass, Brazil, Brazilian music, Bryce Richter, build, building, Campus, Cap Times, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, chancellor, Chazen, Chazen Museum of Art, Chen Yi, Choir, choral, Choral Fantasy, choral music, Chorale, Christopher Taylor, clarinet, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claude Debussy, collage, Collins Recital Hall, comments, commission, commissioned music, communication, composer, Concert, Concert Choir, concert hall, conductor, consecration, Consecration of the House, Corey Pompey, critic, death, Debussy, design, details, die, died, director, distinguished, do, done, donor, ensemble, Euphonium, event, exhibit, expectations, external, Facebook, faculty, Fanfare, fantasy, fest, flute, folk song, folksong, forward, frak, Franz Schubert, freak, Freakfest, free, Friday night, fund, gala, graduates, guitar, Halloween, Halloween Freakest, Hamel Music Center, History, Holiday, home website, Horn, House, humanities, humanities building, hype, impressive, improved, information, interior, interior design, Isthmus, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, James Smith, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, John Cage, John W. Barker, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Karlos Moser, La Scala, Laura Schwendinger, Lee/Kaufman Rehearsal Hall, link, listeners, live, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, madrigal, major, Marc Fink, Marc Vallon, Mark Hetzler, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Medieval, Milan, Mills Hall, mixed, mixed reviews, Morphy Recital Hall, Mosse Humanities Building, Mozart, Music, music critic, music faculty, new, New Music, news, Oboe, occasion, Octet, offically, old, old building, opening, opera, Opera house, opinion, Orchestra, orchestral music, Oriol Sans, Overture, Parry Karp, Paul Collins, performer, performers, photo, photograph, photographer, Piano, pieces, post, posting, press, press release, preview, private, private schools, program, public opinion, publicity, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, reader, Rebecca Blank, reception, rehearsal, restroom, review, Riccardo Muti, Richard Lottridge, Richard Strauss, satisfaction, satisfied, Saturday night, say, schedule, Schubert, seat, seating, Serenade, share, social, sold-out, something, Sonata, soprano, space, special, State Street, Stephen Sondheim, Strauss, structure, Student, subscriber, success, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, Susan C. Cook, symphony, tag, tango, taste, tenor, The Capital Times, The Ear, think, Thursday, ticket, time, Timothy Hagen, Tom Curry, tonight, traditional, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Tyrone Greive, Tyrone Grieve, United States, University Communications, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Concert Choir, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW Wind Ensemble, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, vary, Veteran, Vincenzo Bellini, Viola, Violin, vocal music, warm up, weekend, wind ensemble, wind music, winds, wing, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, world, world premiere, years, you, YouTube

Classical music: Acclaimed pianist Ya-Fei Chuang plays works by Schubert, Liszt and Ravel this Saturday night at Farley’s House of Pianos

April 4, 2019
Leave a Comment

IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.

By Jacob Stockinger

The critically acclaimed pianist Ya-Fei Chuang (below) will return to Madison this weekend to perform a solo recital and give a master class for the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos, 6522 Seybold Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.

Advance tickets are $45 (students $10) or $50 at the door

You can purchase tickets at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3499200

Service fees may apply. Tickets are also for sale at Farley’s House of Pianos by calling 608 271-2626. Student tickets can only be purchased online and are not available the day of the event.

An artist’s reception will follow the concert.

For more information, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org

RECITAL

The recital by Chuang, who appears at festivals and concert halls around the world, is this Saturday night, April 6, 7:30 p.m. at Farley’s House of Pianos.

She comes with high praise from the famed Alfred Brendel, who said: “If you want to listen to Chopin and Liszt with different ears, Ya-Fei Chuang’s ecstatic performances cannot leave you cold, and her pianism is staggering.”

The program will include:

Maurice Ravel – Sonatine (1905) – Moderate; Menuet; Animated

Franz Schubert – “Moments Musicaux” (Musical Moments), D. 780/Op. 94

No. 2 in A-flat Major (1827); No. 3 in F Minor (1823) – played by Vladimir Horowitz in the YouTube video at the bottom; No. 6 in A-flat Major (1824)

Franz Liszt – “Reminiscences of Bellini’s ‘Norma,’” S. 394 (1831)

INTERMISSION

Maurice Ravel – “Jeux d’eau” (Fountain, or Play of Water) (1901)

Franz Liszt – “Reminiscences of Mozart’s ‘Don Juan,’” S. 418 (1841)

MASTER CLASS

On this Sunday afternoon, April 7, at 2 p.m., Ya-Fei Chuang will teach a master class at Farley’s House of Pianos, where she will instruct local students.

This is a FREE event that the public is invited to observe.

The master class program will include:

Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (”Pathetique”), Op. 13, Third Movement; performed by Angelina Chang whose teacher is Julie Chang
Franz Liszt – “Liebestraum” (Dream of Love) No. 3 in A-flat Major “Notturno” (Nocturne); performed by Antonio Wu whose teacher is Shu-Ching Chuang
Sergei Rachmaninov – Prelude Op. 3 No. 2, in C-sharp Minor; performed by Alexander Henderson whose teacher is Vlada Henderson

The master classes for the 2018-19 season are supported by the law firm of Boardman and Clark LLP.

This concert is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from Jun and Sandra Lee.

Another year of exceptional artists is planned for the 2019-20 season. Subscribe to the series’ e-newsletter, and check the website and social media sites Instagram and Facebook for the season announcement in June.

For more information, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org

To become a sponsor of Salon Piano Series, contact Renee Farley. Salon Piano Series is a nonprofit organization founded to continue the tradition of intimate salon concerts, including solo recitals and chamber music with piano, featuring exceptional artists.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AlexanderHenderson, #AlfredBrendel, #AngeliaChang, #AntonioWu, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardmanandClark, #ChamberMusic, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DonJuan, #DreamofLove, #EmailNewsletter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #FranzLiszt, #FredericChopin, #InstagramPost, #InstagramVideo, #IntimateSetting, #Jeuxd'eau, #JulieChang, #LawFirm, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MauriceRavel, #MomentsMusicaux, #MusicEducation, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NonprofitOrganization, #OpentothePublic, #OperaMusic, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #Shu-ChingChuang, #StateOfWisconsin, #VincenzoBellini, #VladaHenderson, #VladimirHorowitz, #WestTowneMall, #WineReception, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Ya-FeiChuang, #YouTubevideo, Alexander Henderson, Alfred Brendel, Angelina Chang, Antonio Wu, artist, Arts, Beethoven, Bellini, blog, Boardman and Clark, Chamber music, Chopin, Classical music, composer, Concert, critically acclaimed, Don JUan, Dream of Love, ear, Facebook, Farley's House of Pianos, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, free, funds, hear, information, Instagram, instruct, international, intimate, Jacob Stockinger, Jeux d'eau, Julie Chang, law form, Liebestraum, like, LLP, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, master class, masterclass, Maurice Ravel, media, menuet, Moments Musicaux, Mozart, Music, Musical Moments, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, new, newsletter, nocturne, nonprofit, Norma, open, opera, Pathetique Sonata, performer, pianism, Pianist, Piano, public, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, reception, recital, reminiscence, sale, Salon Piano Series, Season, share, Shu-Ching Chuang, Sonata, Sonatine, sponsor, State of Wisconsin, Student, support, tag, Teacher, tradition, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vlada Henderson, Vlady Henderson, Website, West Towne Mall, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, world, Ya-Fei Chuang, YouTube

Classical music: Madison Opera’s FREE 17th annual “Opera in the Park” takes place this Saturday night in Garner Park

July 16, 2018
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

Madison Opera’s annual Opera in the Park (below) celebrates its 17th year on this coming Saturday night, July 21, at 8 p.m. in Garner Park on Madison’s far west side, near West Towne Mall.

The annual FREE and family-friendly concert of opera and Broadway favorites closes the company’s 2017-18 season and provides a preview of the 2018-19 season.

A Madison summer tradition that often attracts over 15,000 people (below, in a photo by James Gill), Opera in the Park is an evening of music under the stars that features selections from opera and Broadway.

This year’s Opera in the Park features four soloists: soprano Elizabeth Caballero; soprano Brenda Rae; tenor John Lindsey; and baritone Levi Hernandez.

Caballero (below top) and Hernandez (below bottom) recently starred in Madison Opera’s acclaimed production of “Florencia en el Amazons” last spring.

Lindsey (below) is making his debut, and will return to the company as the Prince in Antonin Dvorak’s Rusalka in April, 2018.

Rae (below) is also making her Madison Opera debut. She did her undergraduate work at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music before going on to the Juilliard School and an international career. She is singing Cunegonde in Candide at Santa Fe Opera this summer, and is performing at Opera in the Park in between performances there.

The four soloists are joined by the Madison Opera Chorus and Madison Symphony Orchestra (below top, in a photo by James Gill), conducted by Gary Thor Wedow (below bottom), who has guest conducted Opera in the Park before.

The evening is hosted by Madison Opera’s General Director Kathryn Smith and WKOW-TV’s 27 News co-anchor George Smith (below).

“Opera in the Park is the most wonderful and most unique performance we give at Madison Opera,” says Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill). “We have beautiful voices performing music from many centuries in many languages, while thousands of members of our community relax together under the same night sky. It truly shows how music and opera can connect us. I am so grateful to all of our supporters for enabling us to produce this free concert every summer, harnessing the community-building power of music.”

Opera in the Park 2018 features arias and ensembles from Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, which open the 2018-19 season in November; Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, which will be performed in February; and Antonin Dvorak’s Rusalka, which will be performed in April. (You can hear the beautiful “Song to the Moon” from Rusalka — a signature aria for superstar soprano René Fleming — sung by Frederica von Stade, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The program also includes selections from La Bohème, Turandot, La Sonnambula, The Marriage of Figaro, El Niño Judío, La del Soto del Parral, My Fair Lady, Candide, On the Town, and more. For a complete list of repertoire on the program, which is subject to change, go to: https://www.madisonopera.org/2018-2019-season/oitp/

As always, this evening will include one number conducted by the audience with light sticks (below).

Garner Park is located at 333 South Rosa Road, at an intersection with Mineral Point Road. Parking is available in the CUNA Mutual Group and University Research Park lots across the street.

Attendees are encouraged to bring picnics, blankets and chairs. Alcohol is permitted but not sold in the park. On the day of the concert, Garner Park will open at 7 a.m. Audience members may not leave items in the park prior to this time.

The rain date for Opera in the Park is Sunday, July 22, at 8 p.m.

While Opera in the Park is free to attend, it would not be possible without the generous support of many foundations, corporations and individuals.

Sponsors of Opera in the Park 2018 are: the BerbeeWalsh Foundation, the John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, Full Compass Systems, the Raymond B. Preston Family Foundation, University Research Park, Colony Brands, the Evjue Foundation – the charitable arm of The Capital Times, Hooper Foundation, MG&E Foundation, Johnson Bank, National Guardian Life, Wisconsin Bank and Trust, the Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane Arts and the Madison Arts Commission.

Madison Magazine, Wisconsin Public Radio, Magic 98, and La Movida are media sponsors for this community event.

RELATED EVENT: Prelude Dinner at Opera in the Park 2018 is on Saturday, July 21, at 6 p.m. in the park under a tent.

This annual fundraiser to benefit Opera in the Park helps support Madison Opera’s free gift to the community. The event includes dinner catered by Upstairs Downstairs, VIP seating at the concert, a complimentary light stick, and a reception with the artists following the performance. Tickets are $145 per person or $1,100 for a table of eight. More information is available at www.madisonopera.org

Madison Opera is a non-profit professional opera company based in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1961, the company grew from a local workshop presenting community singers in English-language productions to a nationally recognized organization producing diverse repertoire featuring leading American opera singers and emerging talent.

A resident organization of the Overture Center for the Arts, Madison Opera presents three annual productions in addition to the free summer concert Opera in the Park and a host of educational programming.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #ALittleNightMusic, #AntoninDvorak, #BrendaRae, #BroadwayMusicals, #CavalleriaRusticana, #CUNAMututal, #DaneArts, #ElizabethCaballero, #EvjueFoundation, #FamilyFriendly, #FlorenciaenelAmazonas, #FoodCaterer, #FredericavonStade, #GarnerPark, #GaryThorWedow, #GeorgeSmith, #GiacomoPuccini, #JohnLIndsey, #JuilliardSchool, #KathrynSmith, #LaBoheme, #LaSonnambula, #LeonardBernstein, #LeviHernandez, #LightStick, #MadisonArtsCommission, #MadisonMagazine, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarriageofFigaro, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MediaSponsor, #MusicEducation, #MyFairLady, #NationalGuardianLife, #NewsAnchor, #OntheTown, #OperaAria, #OperaComposer, #OperaInThePark, #OperaMusic, #PietroMascagni, #PucciniOpera, #RenéeFleming, #SantaFeOpera, #SongtotheMoon, #StephenSondheim, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheSleepwalker, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityResearchPark, #UpstairsDownstairs, #VincenzoBellini, #WestTowneMall, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinBankandTrust, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, A Little Night Music, alcohol, anchor, aria, Arts, baritone, Bellini, blanket, Brenda Rae, Candide, cater, Cavalleria Rusticana, Cello, chair, choral music, Classical music, composer, conductor, CUNA Mutual, Dane Arts, dinner, Evjue Foundation, family-friendly, Florencia en el Amazonas, food, Frederica von Stade, Garner Park, Gary Thor Wedow, George Smith, Giacomo Puccini, Jacob Stockinger, John Lindsey, Juilliard School, Kathryn Smith, La bohème, La Sonnambula, Levi Hernandez, light stick, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison Magazine, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, media, media sponsor, moon, Mozart, Music, Music education, My Fair Lady, National Guardian Life, news, news anchor, On the Town, opera, Orchestra, Overture, Overture Center, Overture to Candide, Pagliacci, Park, picnic, Pietro Mascagni, production, Puccini, Renée Fleming, Song to the Moon, soprano, sponsor, Spring, stars, Stephen Sondheim, summer, symphony, Television, tenor, The Capital Times, The Marriage of Figaro, The Sleepwalker, Turandot, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Research Park, Upstairs Downstairs, Viola, Violin, vocal music, West Town Mall, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Bank and Trust, wisconsin public radio, WKOW TV, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WPR, YouTube

Classical music: Live radio broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera start their 87th season with the Verdi Requiem at NOON this Saturday on Wisconsin Public Radio.

December 1, 2017
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

What is the longest-running classical music broadcast on American radio?

If you said the live Saturday matinee broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City, you got it right.

So, does that qualify the Met, and opera in general, as pop culture?

Does it do anything to reassure those who worry about the future of opera and classical music?

Anyway, the 87th broadcast season starts again on Wisconsin Public Radio this Saturday morning and runs through May 5.

Of course, not there are also the popular and more cinematic broadcasts of “Live From the Met in HD.” But many listeners still prefer the radio — which is FREE — to help them focus on the music, not the visual and theatrical aspects, and to use their imagination more.

On Saturday at the usual time of NOON — not 11:05 a.m. as was mistakenly first published here — the Met features a performance of the dramatic Requiem by opera great Giuseppe Verdi (below). (You can hear the operatic Dies Irae, or Day of Wrath, section in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The Requiem will be conducted by James Levine (below), the now retired longtime artistic director of the Met.

The 90-minute performance will dedicated to the famed Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky (below bottom), who died two weeks ago from a brain tumor at age 55. For more information about the late singer, go to:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2017/11/24/classical-music-charismatic-russian-baritone-dmitri-horostovsky-is-dead-at-55/

For as complete schedule of the works to be performed, which include well-known standards by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner and Richard Strauss as well as a contemporary work by Thomas Adès, go to the WPR website:

https://www.wpr.org/metropolitan-opera-begins-its-87th-broadcast-season

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Adès, Arts, Bellini, Brain, brain tumor, Broadcast, cancer, choral music, cinema, Classical music, composer, day, dedicated, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Donizetti, drama, dramatic, future, Gaetano Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi, imagination, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, listener, Live From The Met in HD, matinee, Metropolitan Opera, Mozart, Music, New York City, opera, Orchestra, performance, pop, pop culture, Puccini, Radio, Requiem, Rossini, Saturday, schedule, Season, standard, Strauss, theater, theatre, theatrical, tumor, United States, visual, Wagner, Website, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, work, WPR, wrath, YouTube

Classical music: On Saturday “The MET Live in HD” will feature Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute.” Also, UW trombonist Mark Hetzler’s concert is TONIGHT (NOT Saturday) as is a concert of Mozart’s music for piano-four hands

October 13, 2017
Leave a Comment

CORRECTION: The Stravinsky concert by UW trombone professor Mark Hetzler and friends is TONIGHT at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall – NOT Saturday night as incorrectly listed in the posting yesterday. For more information about the performers and the program, go to:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2017/10/12/classical-music-uw-trombonist-mark-hetzler-explores-stravinsky-with-alumni-musicians-in-a-free-concert-on-saturday-night-plus-you-can-hear-free-brahms-at-noon-this-friday/

ALERT: The Ear received the following word from early music specialist Trevor Stephenson: “Tonight, my distinguished colleague from France, Marcia Hadjimarkos, will join me for a program of Mozart’s thrilling music for piano four-hands.

“The concert will be held at the Madison Christian Community church, 7118 Old Sauk Road. The acoustics there for the fortepiano are really wonderful. Tickets are available at the door. They cost $20 for the general public and $10 for students.”

By Jacob Stockinger

The broadcasts of “The Met Live in HD” don’t usually fall in consecutive weeks.

But this weekend is an exception.

Last Saturday and then again on Wednesday, the current season premiered with a critically acclaimed production of Bellini’s “Norma.”

This Saturday, a new production of the ever-popular “The Magic Flute” by Mozart will be featured.

The three-hour show starts at 11:55 a.m. on Saturday at the Marcus Point Cinema on the far west side of Madison and the Marcus Palace Cinema in Sun Prairie.

Encore performances at both movie theaters are this coming Wednesday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The full-length opera will be sung in German with English surtitles.

Tickets are $22 for the public, and $18 for seniors.

The production promises to be special for two reasons: the elaborate, colorful staging and innovative costumes by director Julie Taymor, famous for her oversized puppet-like costumes in “The Lion King”; and vibrant conducting by longtime Metropolitan Opera artistic director and now emeritus conductor James Levine. (You can hear the upbeat Overture in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Below are some other photos to give you a taste of the production:

Here is a link for notes about the production, including several videos:

http://www.metopera.org/Season/2017-18-Season/zauberflote-mozart-tickets/

And here is a link to a synopsis and notes about the cast:

http://www.metopera.org/metoperafiles/season/2017-18/operas/zauberflote/hd_syn_Zauberflote_global_and_usa_dates.pdf

Posted in Classical music
Tags: acoustics, Arts, Bellini, Broadcast, cast, Chamber music, choral music, church, cinema, Classical music, colleague, composer, conductor, costume, director, Early music, emeritus, encore, English, Entertainment, fortepiano, four-hands, France, German, innovative, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, Julie Taymor, Lion King, Live From The Met in HD, Madison, Marcus Corporation, Mark Hetzler, Metropolitan Opera, movie, Mozart, Music, New York City, note, opera, Overture, Palace Cinema, performance, Piano, Point Cinema, popular, posting, production, puppet, show, Sonata, staging, Stravinsky, Sun Prairie, supertitle, surtitle, synopsis, The Magic Flute, The MET Live in HD, theater, theatre, Trevor Stephenson, Trombone, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, week, weekend, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, yesterday, YouTube

Classical music: Bellini’s opera “Norma” opens the new season of “Live From the Met in HD” at movie theaters this Saturday and Wednesday

October 6, 2017
Leave a Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

At a time when so many classical music programs are striving desperately for commercial success and popularity with the public, one program stands out as phenomenally successful: The Metropolitan Opera’s “Live From the Met in HD” broadcasts.

Those broadcasts reach hundreds of cinemas around the world in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Here is a list of the international showings:

http://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/international-locations/

The new season of the live broadcasts by the Metropolitan Opera (below) opens this Saturday.

The broadcasts in Madison will take place at two Marcus Corporation cinemas: at the Point Cinemas on the far west side and the Palace Cinemas in Sun Prairie on the far east side.

The first of 10 operas in the season is a new production of Vincenzo Bellini’s Druid-based bel canto opera “Norma.”

The outstanding cast of singers and actors includes Sondra Radvanovsky, Joseph Callejo and Joyce DiDonato. Carlo Rizzi is the conductor. (You can hear a preview of this production in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The running time is 3 hours 30 minutes.

Tickets are $18.

Here is a season trailer:

http://www.metopera.org/Season/In-Cinemas/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjdLOBRCkARIsAFj5-GBXxKzE43SMmgIUAPUrx1p2YrxzvDPG4cMZZk_7JwaoFQOMy22lf_0aAl8xEALw_wcB

The live performance is this Saturday, Oct. 7, at 11:55 a.m.:

http://www.marcustheatres.com/movies/met-norma-live

Encore presentations and rebroadcast are on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 1 pm. and 6:30 p.m.:

http://www.marcustheatres.com/movies/met-norma-encore

For this production of “Norma,” here are:

A link to a synopsis and cast list:

http://www.metopera.org/Season/In-Cinemas/SynopsisCast/norma/?performanceNumber=14827

Links to production notes and program notes:

http://www.metopera.org/Season/2017-18-Season/norma-bellini-tickets/

http://www.metopera.org/metoperafiles/season/2017-18/operas/norma/programs/100717%20Norma.pdf

Much of the upcoming season features standard tried-and-true operas by Mozart (“The Magic Flute” and “Cosi fan tutti“); Puccini (“Tosca” and “La Bohème”); Verdi (“Luisa Miller”)’ Rossini (“Semiramide”) and Donizetti (“The Elixir of Love”). But there is also a contemporary work, “The Exterminating Angel,” by Thomas Adès and a holiday production of Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel.”

What do you think of the “Live From the Met” screenings?

What do you think most makes them so successful? The quality of the productions? The affordable price? The accessibility?

And what do you think of the choice of operas in the new season?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: accessible, affordable, Africa, angel, Arts, Asia, bel canto, Bellini, Broadcast, Carlo Rizzi, cast, choral music, cinema, Classical music, commercial, conductor, contemporary, Cosi fan tutte, Donizetti, Druid, Elixir of Love, encore, Europe, Exterminating Angel, Hansel and Gretel, HD, High definition, Holiday, Humperdinck, international, Jacob Stockinger, Joseph Callejo, Joyce DiDonato, La bohème, live, Live From The Met in HD, Luisa Miller, Madison, Magic Flute, Marcus Corporation, Met, Metropolitan Opera, movie, Mozart, Music, New York City, Norma, North America, notes, opera, Orchestra, palace, Palace Cinema, Point Cinemas, popular, popularity, price, production, program, quality, rebroadcast, Rossini, Season, Sermiramide, Sondra Radvanovsky, South America, success, Sun Prairie, theater, theatre, Those Adès, Tosca, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Verdi, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, world, YouTube

Classical music: Broadway star and UW-Madison alumnus joins students for the University Opera benefit this Sunday afternoon.

January 14, 2016
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Students in the University Opera program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music will perform a concert of songs and arias on this Sunday afternoon, Jan. 17, at 3:30 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison 900 University Bay Drive.

The concert will feature currently enrolled students as well as a 2008 alumnus, Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek(below), who is at the Overture Center this week through Sunday playing the role of Gaston in a national tour of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

A reception will follow this Opera Props benefit concert that is intended to help support University Opera.

Admission is $25 per person with a $10 charge for students.

Several of the UW-Madison student singers have already been featured in October’s production of The Marriage of Figaro (below in photo by Michael R. Anderson ) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and some will appear in March’s University Opera production of Transformations, by Conrad Susa and poet Anne Sexton.

Marriage of Figaro dress rehearsal. Tia Cleveland (Marcellina), Joel Rathmann (Figaro), Anna Whiteway (Susanna), Thomas Weis (Bartolo).

The singers will be accompanied by pianist Chan Mi Jean.

Joining the students will be Broadway star and distinguished University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, baritone Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek, who praises his operatic training for enabling him to sing as many as three performances a day on this demanding tour.

Recently appointed to “barihunk” status by one blog (below), he is something of a crossover singer too, singing romantic ballads while playing his guitar. These multiple talents provide the young singer with a busy career.

Here is the program:

Chacun à son gout (Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss Jr.) – Meghan Hilker; Bella siccome un angelo (Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti) – Gavin Waid; Ici-bas (Gabriel Fauré) and Der Blumenstrauss (Felix Mendelssohn) – Talia Engstrom; Tu che di gel (Turandot by Giacomo Puccini) – Anna Polum; Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix (Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saens) – Rebecca Buechel; Largo al factotum (Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini) – Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek; Sous le dôme épais (Lakme by Leo Delibes) – Tyana O’Connor (below) and Meghan Hilker; Emily’s Aria (Our Town – Ned Rorem) – Nicole Heinen; On the Street Where You Live (My Fair Lady – Lerner and Lowe) – William Ottow; Ah, non credea mirarti (La Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini) – Tyana O’Connor; Love’s Philosophy (Roger Quilter) – Anna Polum; The Lady is a Tramp (Rodgers and Hart) – Rebecca Buechel; Au fond du temple saint (Les Pêcheurs de Perles by Georges Bizet, sung by tenor Roberto Alagna and bass-baritone Bryn Terfel at the bottom in a YouTube video) – William Ottow (below) and Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: alumnus, Anne Sexton, Arts, Barber of Seville, baritone, bass, Beauty and the Best, Bellini, Broadway, Bryn Terfel, choral music, Christiann Smith-Kotlarek, Classical music, Conrad Susa, Delibes, Die Fledermaus, Disney, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Gabriel Fauré, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, graduate, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Strauss, La Sonnambula, Lakme, Lerner and Lowe, Madison, Marriage of Figaro, Mendelssohn, Metropolitan Opera, Mezzo-soprano, Mozart, Music, My Fair Lady, Ned Rorem, New York City, opera, Opera Props, Our Town, Overture Center, Pearl Fishers, Piano, Puccini, Roberto Alagna, Rodgers and Hart, Rossini, Saint-Saens, Samson and Delilah, soprano, tenor, Transformations, Turandot, University of Wisconsin System, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube

Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players will perform “Remix! Christmas Lights Memories” twice this coming weekend at Oakwood Village West in Madison. Plus, UW-Madison voice students perform a FREE workshop of opera highlights TONIGHT at 7:30.

November 25, 2014
2 Comments

ALERT: TONIGHT at 7:30 p.m. in Old Music Hall (below) at the foot of Bascom Hill, student singers in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music opera department, under the direction of UW-Madison professors Mimmi Fulmer and David Ronis, will perform a FREE Opera Workshop. Sorry, The Ear has no word on the specific program — and it is not on the UW-Madison School of Music website at http://www.music.wisc.edu/events/uw-opera-workshop/ But it usually features popular arias and familiar scenes from popular operas, all done with piano accompaniment. (JUST IN: The program includes excerpts from: Ludwig van Beethoven‘s “Fidelio,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” and “Cosi fan tutte”; Claudio Monteverdi’s “L’incoronazione di Poppea”; Gioachino Rossini’s “Il barbiere di Siviglia“; Gaetano Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale”; Jules Massenet’s “Cendrillon”; Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus”; Vincenzo Bellini’s “I Capuleti ed i Montecchi“; and Stephen Sondheim‘s “A Little Night Music.”)

By Jacob Stockinger

The holiday season, in music as well as in shopping malls, has arrived.

Our friends at the Oakwood Chamber Players, known for the quality of its performance and its unusual repertoire, send us the following information:

The Oakwood Chamber Players (below) continues to celebrate its 30th anniversary season when the ensemble presents “Remix! Christmas Lights Memories” this coming Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

The two concerts this coming weekend continue the group’s tradition of kicking off the holiday season over Thanksgiving weekend with Christmas-themed music. The concerts will revisit favorite holiday music from the past 30 years.

Guest musicians include Heather Thorpe, soprano, Mary Ann Harr, harp (below top), Jennifer Morgan, oboe (below bottom), and Mike Sczyzs, horn.

The concerts are on Friday, November 28, at 1 p.m. and Sunday, November 30, at 1:30 p.m. Both concerts will be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on the far west side of Madison.

This is the second concert in their celebratory 30th anniversary season series titled “Reprise! Looking Back Over 30 Years”

Upcoming concerts include:

Recapitulate! – January 17 and January 18
Replay! – March 14 and March 15
Reissue! – May 23 and May 24

The Oakwood Chamber Players is a group of Madison-area professional musicians who have been affiliated with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. They have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for 30 years.

Tickets are available at the door. Admission is $20 for the general public, $15 for seniors and $5 for students.

Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com for more information.

The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.

Classical music: The Opera Student Showcase concert this Sunday afternoon will introduce David Ronis as the new director of University Opera and spotlight University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate soprano Shannon Prickett.

September 12, 2014
5 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Here is a the press release for the University Opera’s Student Showcase that will take place this coming Sunday afternoon and will preview the talent and productions of the upcoming season:

“A concert of favorite melodies by Vincenzo Bellini, Giuseppe Verdi and others -– mostly operatic but one clearly comic -– will be presented by students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music’s opera program.

The concert will take place this Sunday afternoon, September 14, at 3 p.m. in the First Unitarian Society of Madison’s Landmark Auditorium (below) at 900 University Bay Drive.

Directing the concert and this year’s University Opera program will be David Ronis (below, in a photo by Luke DeLalio), currently on leave from the Aaron Copland School of Music at City University of New York, and Hofstra University. He is serving as the interim successor to longtime director William Farlow, who retired from the University of Wisconsin-Madison last spring. (At bottom is a YouTube video of the work that the versatile Ronis recently did at Queens College with an early music version of Luigi Rossi’s opera “Orfeo.”)

Here is a link to a press release, issued by the UW-Madison School of Music when David Ronis was chosen from a nationwide search last spring, with Ronis’ impressive background:

http://www.music.wisc.edu/2014/07/11/school-of-music-announces-david-ronis-as-visiting-director-of-opera/

Most of the singers will appear in this year’s productions of Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring this fall and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Magic Flute in the spring.

Here is a link to information about the upcoming season of the University Opera:

http://www.music.wisc.edu/opera/

But one singer -– soprano Shannon Prickett (below top) – is an alumna returning from her current work as Resident Artist at the Minnesota Opera.

While in Madison from 2011 to 2013 and working on her Master’s of Music degree, Prickett performed lead parts in Puccini’s La Bohème, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Luigi Cherubini’s Medea, Pietro Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz, and Verdi’s Requiem.

In the Showcase concert, she will sing arias from Verdi’s I Lombardi, Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, and a dramatic duet from Verdi’s Aïda with new mezzo-soprano doctoral student Jessica Kasinski, below bottom. (The Ear has no word on specific works to be performed.)

Other singers will take on arias by Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini, Richard Strauss and even Flanders and Swann: That number requires good humor as well as pianistic skill from the accompanist, and will provide a treat for fans of the multi-talented and critically acclaimed Thomas Kasdorf (below), another graduate of the UW-Madison.

The concert is a benefit for the University Opera that sponsored by Opera Props, which supports the University Opera. Admission is a contribution of $25 per person, $10 for students. A reception follows.

	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…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: