The Well-Tempered Ear
Madison Opera cancels its January production of “She Loves Me.” Will other groups follow suit? Plus, tonight is the last online concert by the LunART Festival of music by Black women
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ALERT: TONIGHT, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. the third LunART Festival will wrap up with the second of its two FREE streamed “Human Family” concerts featuring the works of Black women (below). Due to popular demand, last week’s concert is still posted and available for viewing. This week’s concert will be followed by a virtual party. Here are links for information, programs and biographies: https://www.lunartfestival.org/2020virtualfestival and https://welltempered.wordpress.com/?s=LunART
By Jacob Stockinger
The coronavirus pandemic continues to slowly take its toll on local live productions during the current season.
The Madison Opera has now canceled its second production of the season, the Broadway musical “She Loves Me” by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, which was scheduled for late January in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
Here are details from Madison Opera: “We will replace She Loves Me with a Digital Winter season that lasts from January to March. Details will be announced in December. (She Loves Me will be part of our 2021/22 season, so it’s only a delay!)”
For more about Madison Opera’s digital fall season – which costs $50 per household to subscribe to – go to: https://www.madisonopera.org/Fall2020
The next digital event is at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 24, by Sun Prairie bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen (below, in a photo by Lawrence Brownlee), who has performed around the world, including at the Metropolitan Opera.
He will perform a live-streamed concert from the Madison Opera Center that will be a tribute to the American bass Giorgio Tozzi (below), who was Ketelsen’s teacher at Indiana University. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Tozzi sing “This Nearly Was Mine” from “South Pacific” by Rodgers and Hammerstein.)
Here is Tozzi’s biography from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Tozzi
Soprano Emily Secor (below top) and pianist Scott Gendel (below bottom) will perform with Ketelsen.
Here is a link to details of Kyle Ketelsen’s recital: https://www.madisonopera.org/class/liveketelsen/?wcs_timestamp=1603567800
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The cancellation makes The Ear wonder: Are local groups and presenters being too timid or too hopeful when it comes to future plans for the current season?
After all, this past week we learned that both the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic have canceled the rest of the current season due to public health concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. And all indications are that it will be a very rough, unsafe winter and spring in Wisconsin and Madison.
That’s why The Ear suspects that, unfortunately, the rest of the season will either be canceled or be virtual and moved online. It even seems more than plausible that there will be no live performances until the winter or spring of 2022.
So you can probably expect further word pretty soon of more cancellations, postponements and virtual online performances from the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, the University Opera and others.
What do you think?
Will there be operas, orchestral performances and live chamber music sometime yet this season?
When do you think it will be safe to perform and attend live concerts?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #Blackcomposers, #BlackWomen, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BloomingtonIndiana, #BroadwayMusical, #CapitolTheater, #ChamberMusic, #CityofMadison, #CollaborativePianist, #ConcertProgram, #ConcertSeason, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DigitalWinter, #EmilySecor, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FlorencePrice, #GiogioTozzi, #HumanFamily, #IndianaUniversity, #JacobStockinger, #JerryBock, #KyleKetelsen, #LiveConcerts, #LiveStreaming, #LunARTFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaCenter, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MetropolitanOpera, #MusicEducation, #MusicPresenter, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #OnlineConcert, #OrchestralMusic, #OscarHammerstein, #OvertureCenter, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #PopularDemand, #PublicHealth, #RichardRodgers, #RodgersandHammerstein, #ScottGendel, #SeasonSubscriber, #SheldonHarnick, #SheLovesMe, #SouthPacific, #SunPrairie, #SunPrairieWisconsin, #TheEar, #TheMet, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #VirtualConcert, #VirtualFestival, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WomenComposer, #WrapUp, #YouTubevideo, 2020, 2020-21, 2021, 2022, accompaniment, accompany, African American, American, announce, artists, Arts, attend, audience, bass, bass-baritone, biography, Black composers, Black women, blog, Bloomington, Broadway, cacnel, cancellation, Capitol Theater, Chamber music, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, coronavirus, current, December, delay, demand, details, digital, Digital Winter, Emily Secor, expect, Facebook, Florence Price, forward, free, further, future, Gendel, Giorgio Tozzi, group, hopeful, household, human family, Indiana, Indiana University, indication, information, Jacob Stockinger, January, Jerry Bock, Ketelsen, Kyle Ketelsen, last, like, link, live, live concerts, live streaming, livestream, local, LunART Festival, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Center, Madison Symphony Orchestra, make, Mead Witter School of Music, Metropolitan Opera, move, Music, Music education, musical, New York City, New York Philharmonic, online, opera, Orchestra, orchestral, Oscar Hammerstein, Overture Center, pandemic, party, perform, performance, Pianist, Piano, plans, plausible, popular, post, posting, postpone, postponements, presenter, price, production, program, Public health, recital, replace, Richard Rodgers, rough, safe, scheduled, Scott Gendel, Season, Secor, share, She Loves Me, Sheldon Harnick, South Pacific, stream, Student, subscribe, Sun Prairie, suspect, symphony, tag, Teacher, The Ear, the Met, think, timid, toll, Tozzi, tribute, unfortunately, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, unsafe, UW, UW-Madison, virtual, vocal music, week, what, when, Wikipedia, winter, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, women composer, wonder, word, world, wrap up, you, YouTube
Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra uses a new website and a new brochure to announce its new Masterworks season plus other innovations
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By Jacob Stockinger
In many ways, there is much that is familiar or tried-and-true about the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) and its new Masterworks season for 2020-21.
But in other ways it seems as if the WCO is reinventing and rebranding itself – perhaps under the direction of its new CEO Joe Loehnis – as the ensemble starts a double anniversary: its 60th season of existence and its 20th year under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below in a photo by Alex Cruz).
As in past years, the WCO programs feature a mix of familiar composers and works with new and neglected ones. It also features both new and returning guest soloists.
Start with what’s new.
The new WCO home website – like the new brochure that has been mailed out — has been redesigned, with more visuals and more information about the 34-member orchestra. The Ear finds both the new brochure and the new home page to be more attractive, better organized and easier to use. Take a look for yourself: https://wcoconcerts.org
There also seems to be a heightened emphasis on donations and raising money, including a new organization called “Friends” that brings special benefits for $30 or even more perks at $8 a month.
And the website seems more customer-friendly. There is a section on the website about “What to Expect,” which includes how to choose seats, how to dress, when to applaud and so forth. There is also a portal for streaming events and concerts.
There is more, much more, including the pre-concert dinners for the Masterworks concerts and the culturally diverse programs for the postponed Concerts on the Square (below), to run this summer on Tuesday nights at 6 p.m. (NOT the usual Wednesdays at 7 p.m.) from July 28 to Sept. 1.
There seems to be more emphasis on Sewell, who this year provides extensive first-person notes about each program and the guest artists. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Sewell discuss the new Masterworks season with Wisconsin Public Radio host and WCO announcer Norman Gilliland.)
This season will see two performances of Handel’s “Messiah”: one on Saturday, Dec. 19, at the Blackhawk Church in Middleton; and another downtown on Sunday, Dec. 20, at the UW-Madison’s Hamel Music Center.
The Masterworks series of concerts – held on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center – will begin in late November rather than in late January. The six concerts include five new ones and the postponed appearance of harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, whose appearance this season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, on May 14.
Two of the concerts – on two Saturdays, Feb. 20 and April 10 – will also be performed in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield at the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center for the Arts (below).
You can read more about the community outreach and music education programs, especially the Youth and Education programs. They include the free Family Series and “Side by Side” concerts (below, in a photo by Mike DeVries for The Capital Times, WCO concertmaster Suzanne Beia, right, tutors a WYSO student); the Super Strings educational program; and the Young Artists Concerto Competition for grades 9-12.
Here are the Masterworks series:
NOV. 20 – Pianist John O’Conor (below) returns in a program of the Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” by Beethoven; the Septet by Igor Stravinsky; and the Symphony No. 1 in D Major by Luigi Cherubini.
JAN. 15 – Cellist Amid Peled (below, in a photo by Lisa Mazzucco) returns in a program of Cello Concerto No. 1 by Dmitry Kabalevsky and the Andante by Jacques Offenbach; plus the Wind Serenade in D minor by Antonin Dvorak; and the Symphony No. 34 by Mozart.
FEB. 19 – Violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky (below) in returns in Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons in Buenos Aires”; plus the Suite for Strings by Leos Janacek.
MARCH 19 – Grammy-winning Spanish guitarist Mabel Millán (below) making her U.S, debut in an all-Spanish program that features the Concierto del Sur (Concerto of the South) by Manuel Ponce; the Sinfonietta in D major by Ernesto Halffter; and the overture “Los Esclavos Felices” (The Happy Slaves) by Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga.
APRIL 9 – Pianist Michael Mizrahi (below), who teaches at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wis., on the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Beethoven plus the Serenade No. 1 by Johannes Brahms.
MAY 14 — Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis (below) in the Harp Concerto by Alberto Ginastera; plus the Sinfonietta by Sergei Prokofiev and the Symphony no. 88 by Franz Joseph Haydn.
Single tickets, which go on sale in July, are $15 to $80. Season subscriptions are available now with seat preference through July 1, bring a discounted price with an extra 10 percent off for first-time subscribers.
For more information, go to the website at https://wcoconcerts.org; call 608 257-0638; or mail a subscription form to the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Attn: Subscriptions; PO Box171, Madison, WI 53701-0171.
Tags: #AlexanderSitkovetsky, #AmitPeled, #AndrewSewell, #AntoninDvorak, #AntonioVivaldi, #AppletonWisconsin, #AstorPiazzolla, #BaroqueMusic, #BBCYoungMusicianoftheYear, #BlackhawkChurch, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolTheater, #CelloConcerto, #ChamberMusic, #ChiefExecutiveOfficer, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalGuitar, #ClassicalGuitarist, #CommunityOutreach, #ConcertsontheSquare, #COVID-19, #customer-friendly, #DmitriKabalevsky, #DmitryKabalevsky, #EmperorConcerto, #ErnestoHalffter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FamilyEvent, #FourSeasons, #FourSeasonsofBuenosAires, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GrammyAward, #GuestArtist, #GuestSoloist, #GuitarConcerto, #HamelMusicCenter, #Handel'sMessiah, #HarpConcerto, #HarpMusic, #HighSchool, #HighTechnology, #HomeWebsite, #IgorStravinsky, #JacobStockinger, #JacquesOffenbach, #JoeLoehnis, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnO'Conor, #JuanCrisóstomoArriaga, #LawrenceUniversity, #LawrenceUniversityConservatoryofMusic, #LeosJanacek, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LuigiCherubini, #MabelMillán, #MasterworksSeason, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MexicanComposer, #MichaelMizrahi, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #ModernMusic, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #NewMusic, #NormanGilliland, #OvertureCenter, #PianoConcerto, #RadioHost, #Russianviolinist, #SharonLynneWilsonCenterfortheArts, #SidebySide, #SpanishComposer, #SpecialGuest, #StringMusic, #SuperStrings, #SuzanneBeia, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheEar, #TheHappySlaves, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VisualArt, #WindSerenade, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WYSOconcerts, #YolandaKondonassis, #YoungArtistConcertoCompetition, #YouTubevideo, 2020, 2021, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Amit Peled, Andante, Andrew Sewell, anniversary, announcer, Antonín Dvořák, Antonio Vivaldi, appearance, applaud, Appleton, April, Arriaga, Art, artist, Arts, attractive, audience, Ástor Piazzolla, Baroque, baton, Beethoven, benefits, better, Blackhawk Church, blog, Brahms, brand, brochure, Brookfield, Capitol Theater, cellist, Cello, CEO, Chamber music, Cherubini, choral music, Christian, church, Classical music, community outreach, Compact Disc, Competition, composer, Concert, concertmaster, concerto, concerts, Concerts on the Square, conductor, conservatory, coronavirus, covid, donate, donation, double, dress, Dvorak, Early music, easier, Education, Emperor Concerto, emphasis, ensemble, Ernesto Halffter, event, existence, expect, expectations, extensive, Facebook, familiar, Family, February, first-person, forgiveness, forward, Four Seasons, Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, free, friend, friends, George Frideric Handel, gift, give, grade, Grammy, Grammy Award, Graphics, guest artist, guest soloist, guitar, guitar concerto, Halffter, Hamel Music Center, Handel, happy', harp, harpist, heightened, hi tech, high school, home website, host, Igor Stravinsky, information, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, Janacek, January, Joe Loehnis, Johannes Brahms, John O'Conor, Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, July, Kabalevsky, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Leos Janacek, like, link, live streaming, look, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Cherubini, Mabel Millán, Madison, march, masterwork, May, Mead Witter School of Music, member, Messiah, Mexican composer, Michael Mizrahi, Millán, Milwaukee, Mizrahi, modern, money, more, Mozart, Music, Music director, Music education, neglected, new, New Music, Norman Gilliland, notes, November, O'Conor, Offenbach, Orchestra, organization, organized, outreach, Overture, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, pandemic, past, Peled, performance, performer, perk, photo, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piazzolla, portal, post, posting, postpone, program, Radio, raise, rebrand, redesign, reinvent, return, Season, section, September, septet, Serenade, series, share, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Side by Side, Sinfonietta, single, Sitkovetsky, slave, south, Spain, Spanish, special, Stravinsky, stream, streaming, strings, subscription, suburb, Suite, summer, Super Strings, Suzanne Beia, symphony, tag, technology, The Capital Times, The Ear, The Happy Slaves, ticket, tutor, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, use, UW, UW-Madison, Violin, violinist, visual, Vivaldi, WCO, Website, Wind Serenade, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woodwinds, works, WPR, WYSO, year, Yolanda Kondonassis, young, Young Artist Concerto Competition, yourself, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Middleton Community Orchestra, Festival Choir, Oakwood Chamber Players and First Unitarian Society cancel concerts because of the coronavirus
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By Jacob Stockinger
The state health emergency declared by Gov. Tony Evers has now become a national emergency declared by President Trump.
Six more local groups have cancelled concerts as the pandemic of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 spreads exponentially and threatens the health of both the public and the performers:
The Festival Choir of Madison (below) has cancelled its concert TONIGHT of Yiddish music at the First Unitarian Society of Madison.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) has cancelled and postponed all concerts through March. They include the “Beethoven Lives Next Door” Family Series concerts THIS MORNING at the Goodman Community Center and on March 29 in Brookfield; and the third Masterworks Concert in Madison with harpist Yolanda Kondonassis on March 27 in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
Says Joe Loehnis, CEO of the WCO: “We ask for your patience as we work to determine all of the options we will be able to offer to ticket holders. We are deeply grateful for your understanding.
“We’ll also keep you informed of the status of all our upcoming performances as we continue to monitor the situation closely over the coming days and weeks.
“To learn more about our contingency planning, please visit our website at http://bit.ly/2wSMCbe.
“If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at (608) 257-0638, or email, wco@wcoconcerts.org.
“Thank you for your patronage and support.”
The Oakwood Chamber Players (below) have cancelled their concerts on Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22, at Oakwood Village University Woods on the far west side.
The Middleton Community Orchestra (below, below in a photo by Brian Ruppert) has cancelled its upcoming concert of teenage concerto winners with guest conductor Kyle Knox on Wednesday, April 8, and postponed it until large gatherings become safe again.
The FREE Friday Noon Musicale series at the First Unitarian Society of Madison will be live-streamed without an audience. Says music director Drew Collins:
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the First Unitarian Society of Madison will alter the schedule for its Friday Noon Musicale recital series.
Beginning March 20, 2020…
- Musicales will be live-streamed from Atrium Auditorium (below, in a photo by Zane Williams) here: https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Ffusmadison%2Fvideos&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cce899e33b3124e28489608d7c70cdac6%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637196730328671160&sdata=mpn5tbESRbSx8tSaoKTi8RH7TpmkdGC5xTu1iyyJaEk%3D&reserved=0
* No audience members will be permitted.
* Outside doors will be locked.
* In cases where the performers are not able or willing to play, notification will be made via https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=www.fusmadison.org%2Fmusicale&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cce899e33b3124e28489608d7c70cdac6%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637196730328671160&sdata=069CmBdvgPRWjGi%2BiCEUdeD%2Fth2zVBJlzJowWcnH%2BFc%3D&reserved=0and no live-stream will be broadcast.
“Stay tuned for the upcoming launch of our SoundCloud channel, curated by Rich Samuels, where you will be able to listen to highlights from the Musicales.
In related news, the Madison Symphony Orchestra announced Friday that it will make a decision about upcoming concerts next week. But since the Overture Center later announced it is closing its doors until April 13 and cancelling all performances, it would seem that the MSO performances of the Dvorak Requiem on April 3, 4 and 5 will be cancelled. But that has not yet been officially confirmed by the MSO.
In addition, the Madison Opera has cancelled its production of Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” on April 17 and 19.
Tags: #AntoninDvorak, #AtriumAuditorium, #BeethovenLivesNextDoor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrookfieldWisconsin, #CapitolTheater, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #COVID-19, #DonaldTrump, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FamilySeries, #FestivalChoir, #FestivalChoirofMadison, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FridayNoonMusicale, #GoodmanCommunityCenter, #Gov.Evers, #Gov.TonyEvers, #JacobStockinger, #JacquesOffenbach, #KyleKnox, #LiveStreaming, #LocalArts, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MasterworksConcerts, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #NationalEmergency, #OakwoodChamberPlayers, #OakwoodVillage, #OrpheusintheUnderworld, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PresidentTrump, #RichSamuels, #TheEar, #UniversityWoods, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YiddishMusic, #YolandaKondonassis, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, Atrium Auditorium, audience, Beethoven, Beethoven Lives Next Door, blog, Brookfield, cancel, Capitol Theater, Chamber music, choral music, community, Concert, concerto, conductor, coronavirus, declare, Donald Trump, door, Dvorak, emergency, exponentially, Facebook, Family Series, Festival Choir, Festival Choir of Madison, First Unitarian Society of Madison, forward, free, Friday Noon Musicale, Goodman Community Center, Gov. Tony Evers, group, harp, harpist, Health, highlight, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, Kyle Knox, like, link, listen, live streaming, local, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, march, Masterworks, Middleton Community Orchestra, Music, national, national emergency, Oakwood Chamber Players, Oakwood Village, Oakwood Village West, Offenbach, opera, Orchestra, Orpheus, Orpheus in the Underworld, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, Overture Hall, pandemic, patience, patronage, performer, post, posting, postpone, President Trump, public, Requiem, Rich Samuels, Saturday, series, share, SoundCloud, spread, state, State Emergency, status, stream, Sunday, support, tag, teenage, The Ear, threaten, Unitarian, Unitarianism, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Woods, virus, vocal music, winners, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, work, Yiddish, Yolanda Kondonassis
Classical music: This Friday brings a FREE concert at noon of cello and violin sonatas by Beethoven. At night, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra explores rarely heard works and composers plus the “Jupiter” Symphony by Mozart
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ALERT: This Friday’s FREE Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features the Mosaic Chamber Players performing a one-hour, all-Beethoven concert in honor of the Beethoven Year, which celebrates the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
The program is: Cello Sonata, Op. 5, No. 1; and two violin sonatas, Op. 12, No. 3, and Op. 30, No. 2. For more information, go to: http://www.mosaicchamberplayers.com
By Jacob Stockinger
Can you tell the difference between the real Mozart and the “Swedish Mozart”?
You’ll have the chance to find out this Friday night, Feb. 21, if you go to the concert by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
That is when you can hear the Symphony in C-Sharp Minor, VB 140, by Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1791, below), an 18th-century German-born, short-lived composer who, as an exact contemporary of Mozart, spent most of his career at the court in Stockholm, Sweden, and became known as the “Swedish Mozart.”
(You can hear the opening movement of the Kraus symphony, played by Concerto Koln, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is more about Kraus (below): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Martin_Kraus
The Kraus symphony opens the WCO concert.
Then for the purpose of comparison, the concert closes with Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551. It is often cited as Mozart’s most accomplished work in the symphonic form, and is renowned for its melodies and harmonies, and for the masterful, even spectacular, counterpoint in the last movement.
But that kind of discovery and approach to programming is not unusual for WCO maestro Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz), who has a penchant for exposing audiences to rarely heard works and composers as well as to well-known masterpieces.
For this concert, Sewell will be helped by the return of guest violin virtuoso Giora Schmidt (below in a photo by David Getzschman), who has been acclaimed for his technique, tone, lyricism and riveting interpretations. He played the Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor by Sergei Prokofiev with the WCO in 2018.
Schmidt will solo in two rarely heard works for violin and orchestra: the 16-minute Violin Concerto, Op. 48, by the Russian composer Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987); and the 8-minute Romance by the Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen (1840-1911).
For more about Kabalevsky (below), go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Kabalevsky
For more about Svendsen (below), who was a conductor and violinist as well as a composer, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Svendsen
To purchase tickets ($10-$77) and to read a detailed biography of soloist Schmidt and find out more about the concert, go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-ii-5/
Tags: #18thCentury, #All-Beethoven, #AndrewSewell, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolTheater, #CelloSonata, #ConcertoKoln, #CourtMusic, #DmitryKabalevsky, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #GioraSchmidt, #GuestArtist, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JohanSvendsen, #JosephMartinKraus, #JupiterSymphony, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #MusicalInterpretation, #NoonMusicale, #NorwegianComposer, #OvertureCenter, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #SergeiProkofiev, #SwedishMozart, #TheEar, #ViolinRomance, #ViolinSonata, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 18th century, 2018, accompany, accomplished, Andrew Sewell, anniversary, Arts, audience, Beethoven, biography, birth, blog, born, Capitol Theater, career, celebrate, cellist, Cello, century, chance, close, comparison, composer, Concert, concerto, Concerto Koln, conductor, contemporary, counterpoint, court, difference, discovery, Dmitry Kabalevsky, exact, exposing, Facebook, First Unitarian Society of Madison, form, forward, free, Friday, German, Germany, Giora Schmidt, guest, guest artist, harmony, honor, hour, information, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johan Svendsen, Joseph Martin Kraus, Jupiter Symphony, Kochel, Kraus, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, Madison, Maestro, masterpiece, melody, Mosaic Chamber Players, movement, Mozart, Music, musical, Noon Musicale, Norway, Norwegian, online, Orchestra, Overture Center, penchant, performer, Piano, play, post, posting, program, purpose, rare, real, Romance, Sergei Prokofiev, Sewell, share, short, short-lived, solo, soloist, Sonata, Stockholm, Sweden, Swedish, Swedish Mozart, symphonic, symphony, tag, technique, tell, The Ear, tickets, tone, United States, Violin, violinist, virtuoso, WCO, Website, well-known, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Opera’s superb and sensual production of “Fellow Travelers” broke both hearts and new ground
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By Jacob Stockinger
Walking out into the heavy snow last Sunday afternoon, The Ear left the Madison Opera’s production of “Fellow Travelers” – done in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center – feeling sad and moved, but also satisfied and proud. (Below is the full cast in a party scene. All performance photos are by James Gill.)
He was proud that the Madison Opera chose this 2016 work by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce — based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon — for its annual winter staging of a modern or contemporary opera.
It was a brave choice.
For one, it focuses on a same-sex love affair in the oppressive political environment of the McCarthy era with its Lavender Scare, which, during the larger Red Scare, tied gays to communists and tried to purge and ruin them lest they be blackmailed.
In addition, the opera speaks to today’s politics of smear and fear, as practiced by President Donald Trump and conspiracy theory proponents on the far right. The Madison Opera wasn’t afraid to point out possible parallels in the program notes.
But the real affirmation of the opera’s contemporaneity came from the first-rate quality of this memorable production.
The cast of nine made a tight ensemble in which each member proved equally strong in singing and acting.
The two leading men who played federal government workers – tenor Andres Acosta (below right) as the young Timothy Laughlin and baritone Ben Edquist (below left) as the older Hawkins Fuller – turned in outstanding performances from their first meeting on a park bench, through their sexual encounters, to the final breakup.
Particularly moving were the same-sex love scenes and moments of casual affection. Perhaps there are precedents in the history of other Madison Opera productions, but no one seems to know of any.
The two men in bed — wearing only boxer shorts while kissing and caressing each other — seemed like another brave first for the Madison Opera. The explicit scenes of the two men being intimate were tasteful but also sensual and realistic, erotic as well as poignant. (Below are Andres Acosta, left, as Timothy Laughlin and Ben Edquist, right, as Hawkins Fuller.)
Acting seems the real fulcrum of this chamber opera, with the appealing music underscoring the scenes and the acting rather than standing on its own. Yet the two men proved to be powerful singers, especially in their solos and duets. (You can hear Andres Acosta sing an aria in the Minneapolis production in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The haunting music was always accessible and atmospheric, disproving the notion that music in new operas is always discordant or hard to listen to. True, The Ear heard no tunes to take away from the opera, no earworm arias from a first hearing. But the singing by all the cast members was uniformly strong.
John DeMain’s conducting exuded both control and subtlety. He maintained a balance from the Madison Symphony Orchestra players in the pit and never overwhelmed the singers.
DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) knew exactly when to pull the music into the background and create a context for the action; and then when to push it to the foreground to accompany the singers or set a scene.
Stage director Peter Rothstein (below), who also staged the opera for the Minnesota Opera in Minneapolis with some of the same cast, kept the show moving at a brisk and engaging pace.
The 16 scenes moved quickly throughout the two-hour show, thanks in part to the austere and portable but convincing sets.
The atmosphere of the 1950s, for example, was believably evoked by a simple office setting — a desk, a few filing cabinets, an American flag and a portrait of President Eisenhower. (Below, from left, are Ben Edquist as Hawkins Fuller, Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin, and Adriana Zabala as Mary Johnson.)
Particularly effective and disturbing was the interrogation scene, from the embarrassing questions about whether Hawkins Fuller walks or talks like a homosexual to the lie detector test. (Below, from left, are Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin, Ben Edquist as Hawkins Fuller, Stephen Hobe as the Technician and Alan Dunbar as the Interrogator.)
One outstanding performance involved the resonant and expressive Sidney Outlaw (below) as Tommy McIntyre, the bureaucrat who knows all the secrets in the office of Senator Charles Parker (played by Andrew Wilkowske) and how to use them in order to get his way. (Below, from left, are Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin and Sidney Outlaw as Tommy McIntyre.)
Another outstanding performance came from Adriana Zabala (below) as Mary Johnson, the secretary who finally quits her job and leaves Washington, D.C., to protest the treatment of Timothy by the aptly nicknamed “Hawk” Fuller and the government inquisitors. (Below, from left, are Ben Edquist as Hawkins Fuller and Adriana Zabala as Mary Johnson.
Throughout the entire opera, the audience proved amazingly quiet, rapt in their attention as they laughed out loud at humorous moments and openly cried at the heart-wrenching plot.
At the end the audience — gay and straight, men and women, old and young – gave the singers and orchestra players a prolonged standing ovation and loud applause.
And walking out, you heard many people talking about the opera in the most positive and approving ways.
The underlying irony, of course, is that an opera with this much insight into both the human heart and the exploitative politics of oppression could never have been staged in the same era it depicts.
At least on that score, we can say we have made some progress in confronting and correcting the injustices and bigotry we witness in “Fellow Travelers.”
But in the end the opera tells us to keep traveling.
You can see what other critics thought of “Fellow Travelers”:
Here is the review that Jay Rath wrote for Isthmus: https://isthmus.com/arts/stage/forbidden%20love/
And here is the review that Lindsay Christians wrote for The Capital Times: https://madison.com/ct/entertainment/arts_and_theatre/theatre/opera-review-fellow-travelers-is-a-certain-kind-of-wonderful/article_0ebc5a83-afbe-5f50-99eb-51e4baa4df0e.html
What did you think?
Leave your own review or reactions in the Comments section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AdrianaZabala, #AlanDunbar, #AmericanFlag, #AndresAcosta, #AndrewWilkowske, #Army-McCarthy, #BaritoneSinger, #BenEdquist, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #BoxerShorts, #CapitolTheater, #CastMember, #ChamberOpera, #ConspiracyTheory, #DonaldTrump, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalWorker, #FellowTravelers, #FilingCabinets, #FirstLove, #GayHistory, #GregorySpears, #GregPierce, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JacobStockinger, #JamesGill, #JayRath, #JohnDeMain, #JosephMcCarthy, #KIss, #LavenderScare, #LGBTQrights, #LGBTRights, #LieDetector, #LindsayChristians, #LoveAffair, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #McCarthyEra, #MinnesotaOpera, #NewMusic, #OperaPlot, #OperaReview, #OrchestraPlayers, #OvertureCenter, #ParkBench, #PeterRothstein, #PresidentDonaldTrump, #PresidentEisenhower, #ProgramNotes, #RedScare, #RightWing, #SexualEncounter, #SidneyOutlaw, #SocialInjustice, #StageDirector, #StephenHobe, #TenorSinger, #The1950s, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheEar, #ThomasMallon, #WashingtonD.C., 1950s, accessible, accompany, acting, Adriana Zabala, affection, affirmative, Alan Dunbar, American, Andres Acosta, Andrew Wilkowske, annual, applause, aria, atmosphere, atmospheric, attentive, austere, background, balance, baritone, bed, Ben Edquist, bench, bigotry, bisexual, blackmail, blog, Book, boxer shorts, brave, breakup, brisk, Capitol Theater, caress, caressing, cast, cast member, Casual, chamber opera, choice, comment, communists, composer, Conducting, confront, Congress, conspiracy theory, contemporaneity, contemporary, context, control, convincing, Cry, crying, D.C., depict, desk, discordant, disturbing, Donald Trump, Dwight D. Eisenhower, earworm, Eisenhower, embarrassing, encounter, engaging, environment, era, erotic, evoke, explicit, exploitative, Facebook, fear, federal, Fellow Travelers, filing cabinets, first, first love, flag, Focus, foreground, forward, fulcrum, gay, gays, government, Greg Pierce, hard, haunting, hawk, hear, hearings, heart, heart-wrenching, History, homosexual, Homosexuality, human, injustice, insight, interrogation, intimate, irony, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, James Gill, Jay Rath, John DeMain, Joseph McCarthy, kissing, laugh, Lavender Scare, lesbian, LGBT, LGBTQ, libretto, lie detector, liketag, Lindsay Christians, link, listen, Love, love affair, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, McCarthy era, McCarthyism, memorable, memory, men, Minneapolis, Minnesota Opera, modern, move, moving, Music, New Music, nickname, noiton, novel, office, old, opera, Opera review, oppression, oppressive, orchestra players, ovation, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, pace, pacing, parallels, Park, party scene, peformance, Peter Rothstein, photo, photogenic, plot, poignant, political, Politics, portable, portrait, post, posting, precedent, President, President Donald Trump, President Eisenhower, production, program notes, proud, pull, purge, push, queer, questions, quiet, rapt, reaction, real, realism, Red Scare, review, right-wing, Romance, ruin, sad, same-sex, scene, secretary, secrets, senator, sensual, sex, sexual, share, show, Sidney Outlaw, singer, Singing, smear, snow, social injustice, stage director, staging, Stephen Hobe, straight, subtlety, talk, tasteful, tenor, test, The Capital Times, The Ear, Thomas Mallon, today, transgender, travel, traveler, traveling, Trump, walk, Washington, winter, witness, work, worker, young
Classical music: The timing and political climate could not be more relevant for seeing the Madison Opera’s production of “Fellow Travelers” this Friday night and Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
You might recall from a previous blog posting that this weekend, the Madison Opera will present its production of the 2016 opera “Fellow Travelers.”
(A preview from the Minnesota Opera’s production, which featured the same sets and many of the same singers at the Madison Opera’s production, can be seen in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Performances are this Friday night, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9, at 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
Here is a link to more background and details about American history, the production, the cast and tickets.
Today, all The Ear wants to do is to point out how timely this story about the “Lavender Scare” of purging and punishing gays during the Red Scare, anti-Communist witch hunt of McCarthyism in the late 1940s and 1950s.
The opera’s story is about a young man (below) who supports Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and then finds himself romantically and sexually attracted to another man who works in the State Department, one of McCarthy’s favorite targets.
He then has to deal with hypocrisy, with the contradictions between his personal life and his political beliefs as he goes from being victimizer to victim.
The political climate for such a work exploring fear and prejudice couldn’t be more relevant .
A lot of the credit for that can go directly to President Donald Trump (below), the master of “Fake News.”
Trump is a right-wing fear-monger and name-smearer, constantly raging against “radical left-wing Democrats.” He has even called Sen. Bernie Sanders — a Democratic candidate for president — a “Communist,” even though Sanders describes himself as a democratic Socialist along the lines of Western European socialists.
It is also no secret that in addition to such unfair and insulting name-calling, Trump and his homophobic supporters – including Vice President Mike Pence and Christian Fundamentalists – are looking to roll back the civil rights and human rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
And they want to do so even at a time when an openly gay man who is married, Pete Buttigieg, is running for president and seems to have just won the Iowa caucuses.
Moreover, there is a direct link between McCarthyism and the homophobia of the Liar-in-Chief.
Remember that McCarthy’ lawyer was a closeted and self-hating gay man named Roy Cohn (below right, with McCarthy). There is some evidence that McCarthy himself was secretly homosexual too.
After the humiliating end of the Army-McCarthy hearings and the premature death of McCarthy, Cohn went into private practice in New York City.
And that is where Cohn became the lawyer – and a role model of thuggish public behavior — for a young real estate developer named Donald Trump (below left, with Roy Cohn).
Such partisan times as the present seem to call for and inspire didactic art – better called “message art.” The Ear hasn’t seen the opera yet, so he can’t say how well it fits the bill.
But at first glance, the opera sure seems to fit the times we live in and the personalities of many of those who determine such a disturbing political and social climate. As The Nation magazine put it, “Trumpism is the New McCarthyism.”
In short, the opera’s plot seems both pertinent and realistic, one that could take place in today’s Washington, D.C.
The Ear is anxious to find out more and to make up his own mind, including about the music to be sung by the cast and played by the Madison Symphony Orchestra under conductor John DeMain.
He also hopes many of you will see the opera, and then leave your reactions and comments here, be they positive or negative.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra expands its Masterworks series this Friday night in Madison and Saturday night in Brookfield with piano soloist Orion Weiss and music by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Donald Fraser
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CORRECTION: The Ear received the following correction to the story about the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and apologizes for the error:
“There was a change to our rollout in Brookfield. We are only repeating the fifth Masterworks concert on Saturday, May 9. at 7:30 p.m. at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. We are NOT repeating this Friday’s concert in Brookfield.
“We will perform a Family Series concert of “Beethoven Lives Next Door” on Sunday, March 29, at 3 p.m. at the same Brookfield venue.”
By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) is about to take a Great Leap Forward.
This weekend will see the WCO — now in its 60th year of existence and its 20th season under music director Andrew Sewell (below bottom, in a photo by Alex Cruz) – take a major step in its evolution as a statewide music ensemble. It is a development comparable to when John DeMain took the Madison Symphony Orchestra from single performances to “triples.”
That is because, for the first time ever, the WCO is going to “doubles.” It will perform Masterworks concerts in Madison on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center. Then the WCO will repeat the same concert on the following Saturday night in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts.
For a full story with lots of background and quotes about future plans for the WCO, you can’t do better than read the story by Michael Muckian that appeared last week in Isthmus:
Here is a link: https://isthmus.com/music/wisconsin-chamber-orchestra-turns-60/
The opening program has a couple of points of special interest.
First, this concert will mark the Madison debut of pianist Orion Weiss, a former student of Emanuel Ax who is increasingly booked for concerts and recordings.
Weiss (below in a photo by Jacob Blickenstaff) will solo in perhaps the most popular and famous of Mozart’s 27 piano concertos: No. 21 in C Major, K. 467. It is also known as the “Elvira Madigan” concerto because the beautiful slow movement was used as the soundtrack to the movie of that same name. (You can hear the slow movement at the bottom in a YouTube video that has more than 59 million views.)
You can learn more about Weiss at his website: https://www.orionweiss.com
Another unique facet of the WCO concert is the U.S. premiere of “Sinfonietta for Strings” (2018) by the award-winning British composer Donald Fraser, now an American resident who lives in Illinois and is married to Bridget Fraser, the executive director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO).
Fraser (below) – whose music is tonal and accessible — is especially well known, not only for his original compositions but also for his orchestral arrangements of chamber music by Brahms, Elgar, Marin Marais and others. His 2018 recording of “Songs for Strings” features many of those transcriptions.
For more about Fraser, go to his website: https://donaldfraser.com/index.html
The concert will conclude with the Symphony No. 4 – the “Italian” Symphony – by Felix Mendelssohn. It is a sunny, tuneful and energetic work that is the most popular and best-known symphony by Mendelssohn. It was also used in a movie as the soundtrack to the Italian bicycle race in the coming-of-age film “Breaking Away.”
Tickets are $10-$77. For more information about the program and the soloist, as well as about pre-concert dinners and how to buy single and season subscription tickets, go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-i-5/
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Classical music: Background discussions, lectures and documentaries lead up to Madison Opera’s production of the LGBTQ-themed, McCarthy-era opera “Fellow Travelers” on Feb. 7 and 9
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Opera continues its foray into 21st-century operas with Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers on Friday night, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9, at 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center.
(Production photos below are by Dan Norman of the Minnesota Opera production, which is being encored in Madison. You can see and hear a preview of the Minnesota Opera production in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The acclaimed 2016 opera is set in 1950s Washington, D.C. The “Lavender Scare,” in which suspected homosexuals saw their livelihoods and lives destroyed, has enveloped the U.S. government. (Below are Andres Acosta as Timothy Laughlin and Sidney Outlaw as Tommy McIntyre.)
Against this backdrop, Timothy Laughlin, a recent college graduate and an ardent supporter of Wisconsin’s anti-Communist Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, meets Hawkins Fuller, a State Department official.
The two men (below, Acosta on the right) embark on a relationship, tangled in a web of fear and necessary deceit. Their friends and colleagues fill out a story of individuals grappling with their beliefs and emotions.
With a libretto by Greg Pierce that is based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel, Fellow Travelers was praised as “a near-perfect example of fast-flowing musical drama” by The New York Times and tells of the very human consequences of prejudice and fear, with compassion, nuance and incredible beauty.
The opera will be sung in English with projected text.
The performance will last approximately 2 hours 25 minutes, including one intermission.
For more information, go to: www.madisonopera.org/FellowTravelers
Tickets are $26 to $118 with discounts available for students and groups. Go to the Overture Center box office at 201 State Street or call it at (608) 258-4141 or go online to www.MadisonOpera.org/Tickets
“When I saw Fellow Travelers, I knew before it was over that I would be producing it in Madison,” says Madison’s Opera’s General Director Kathryn Smith (below in a photo by James Gill). “I fell in love with the haunting music and the well-drawn characters, and the emotional impact at the end was even more powerful than I had anticipated. I am truly looking forward to sharing this modern masterpiece with our community.”
Peter Rothstein (below) directs this production in his Madison Opera debut. Rothstein, who received his MFA from the UW-Madison, directed Fellow Travelers for Minnesota Opera in 2018.
The Twin City Arts Reader called his production “equal parts sweeping love affair and tragic circumstance. To some, the events will feel comfortably distant for this doomed period romance. For others, they will seem all too real and possible in this day and age. It’s a powerful combination.”
Making his Madison Opera debut as Timothy Laughlin is Andres Acosta (below), who performed this role to acclaim at the Minnesota Opera.
Ben Edquist (below), who debuted at Opera in the Park this past summer, sings Hawkins Fuller.
Adriana Zabala (below, of Florencia en el Amazonas) returns as Mary Johnson, who works with Hawkins and is a friend and voice of conscience for him and Timothy.
Returning to Madison Opera are Sidney Outlaw (below top, of Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet) as Tommy McIntyre, a political insider, and Alan Dunbar (below bottom, in a photo by Roy Hellman, of Mozart’s The Magic Flute) in multiple roles, including Senator Joseph McCarthy and a government interrogator who puts Hawkins through a lie detector test.
Andrew Wilkowske (below) debuts in several roles, including Senator Potter and General Arlie.
Filling out the cast is Madison Opera Studio Artist Emily Secor (below top) as Miss Lightfoot, who works in Hawkins’ office; soprano Cassandra Vasta (below bottom) as Lucy, whomHawkins marries; and Madison Opera Studio Artist Stephen Hobe in five different roles.
John DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) conducts, with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in the pit.
Madison Opera’s production of “Fellow Travelers” is sponsored by: Fran Klos; Sally and Mike Miley; David Flanders and Susan Ecroyd; John Lemke and Pamela Oliver; Sharyn and Carl Stumpf; and Dane Arts. Community events are sponsored by The Capital Times.
RELATED EVENTS
In addition to the two performances, Madison Opera offers several events to allow deeper exploration of the opera and its historical background.
They include a free discussion of the “Wisconsin Dimension” of this period in history at the Madison Central Library and a free showing of The Lavender Scare documentary at PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television).
OPERA NOVICE: WELCOME TO THE 21st CENTURY
This Friday, Jan. 17, 6-7 p.m. FREE and open to the public at the Madison Opera Center (below), 335 West Mifflin Street
New to opera? Not sure how you feel about modern opera? Come to the Madison Opera Center for a short, fun and informative evening, led by General Director Kathryn Smith.
Learn about some of the new American operas that are shaping the operatic landscape in the 21st century, including Fellow Travelers. Studio Artist Stephen Hobe (below) will sing an aria from Fellow Travelers, and there will be plenty of time for questions. It’s the perfect jump-start for the opera-curious.
FELLOW TRAVELERS: THE WISCONSIN DIMENSION
This Sunday, Jan. 19, 3–4:30 p.m.; FREE and open to the public at the Madison Central Library, 201 West Mifflin Street
Join us for a discussion of how the Lavender Scare and its fallout was felt in Wisconsin, led by R. Richard Wagner (below top), activist and author of We’ve Been Here All Along: Wisconsin’s Early Gay History (below middle), and Susan Zaeske (below bottom), a UW-Madison campus leader in the arts and humanities who has taught an experiential-learning course on LGBTQ history.
THE LAVENDER SCARE– Documentary Screening
Friday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.; FREE and open to the public at PBS Wisconsin, 821 University Avenue
PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television) presents a screening of The Lavender Scare, the first documentary film to tell the little-known story of an unrelenting campaign by the federal government to identify and fire all employees suspected of being homosexual.
Narrated by Glenn Close, the film was praised as “a gripping, nimbly assembled documentary… vivid, disturbing and rousing” by the Los Angeles Times. The screening will be followed by a discussion.
OPERA UP CLOSE: FELLOW TRAVELERS
Sunday, Feb. 2, 1-3 p.m.; FREE for full-season subscribers; $10 for two-show subscribers; and $20 for non-subscribers; at the Madison Opera Center, 335 West Mifflin Street
Join the Madison Opera for a multimedia behind-the-scenes preview of Fellow Travelers. General Director Kathryn Smith will discuss many aspects of the opera, including the historical events that provide the story’s backdrop, the novel on which it is based, and how this 2016 opera swiftly spread across the country.
Principal artists, stage director Peter Rothstein, and conductor John DeMain will participate in a roundtable discussion about Madison’s production and their own takes on this acclaimed 2016 work.
PRE-OPERA TALKS
Friday, February 7, 2020, 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 9, 2020, 1:30 p.m. FREE to ticket holders at the Wisconsin Studio in the Overture Center
Join General Director Kathryn Smith one hour prior to performances for an entertaining and informative talk about Fellow Travelers.
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Classical music: Next season the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra will expand to two performances of its winter Masterworks concerts by adding a Saturday night concert in Brookfield, near Milwaukee
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By Jacob Stockinger
Next season will mark the 20th anniversary of Andrew Sewell (below top) coming to Madison to serve as the music director and principal conductor of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below bottom).
It is hard to imagine a better Bravo! or anniversary gift for the maestro – who has said he wants the WCO to become a chamber orchestra, as its name implies, for the entire state of Wisconsin — than what will in fact take place: the WCO will expand its winter Masterworks concerts to two performances by adding a Saturday night performance at 7:30 p.m. in the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts (below) in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee. (Sewell is also the music director of the San Luis Obispo Symphony in California.)
Madison performances of Masterworks will continue to take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
You can find out more about the Masterworks programs for next season by going to the WCO home website:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performance-listing/category/masterworks
There you will find the usual eclectic mix of new guest artists and new or neglected composers and repertoire that has marked Sewell’s tenure and brought him critical acclaim.
Pianist Orion Weiss will perform the popular Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 – “Elvira Madigan” – by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; violinists Giora Schmidt and Eric Silberger will perform concertos by Dmitri Kabalevsky and Niccolo Paganini, respectively; harpist Yolanda Kondonassis will perform a concerto by Argentinian Alberto Ginastera; and Andrew Balio (below), principal trumpet of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, will return to Madison where he grew up and perform a 1948 trumpet concerto by Italian composer Andre Tomasi.
Early music and new music to be featured includes works by: Donald Fraser (an acclaimed English conductor, composer and arranger, below) who now lives in Illinois, and often comes to Madison); Joseph Martin Kraus, known as the “Swedish Mozart”; Norwegian composer Johann Svensen; and three English composers (always favorites of Sewell who was born and educated in New Zealand) who are John Marsh, James Macmillan and York Bowen. (In the YouTube video at the bottom you can hear the English Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Woods — a native Madisonian who will return next season to conduct the Madison Symphony Orchestra — recording the Scherzo movement from Donald Fraser’s “Sinfonietta,” the same work that the WCO will perform.)
Works by Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn and Sergei Prokofiev also figure prominently, including Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” in honor of the composer’s 250th birthday in 2020.
Also on the website, you will find the upcoming season of Wednesday night Concerts on the Square for this summer (June 26-July 31) plus the dates and themes – although no guest artists or works — for 2020 (June 24-July 29).
Go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances
You can also find information for next season about the WCO performing George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” with the Madison Ballet; the Young Artist Concerto Competition; the free Family Series; and the community Super Strings program for elementary students.
To receive a brochure with information about all these events and about how to get tickets — an “early bird” discount on subscription tickets runs through May 31– call (608) 257-0638 or go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Madison Opera announces its 2020-21 season and plans for Opera in the Park on July 25. Plus, today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. What music would you choose to mark the event?
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ALERT: Today, April 22, is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, which was founded by Gaylord Nelson, a former Wisconsin governor and senator. To celebrate it, in the YouTube video at the bottom is “The Earth Prelude” — a long work, both Neo-classical and minimalist, with beautiful photos, by the best-selling, award-winning Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi. It has more than 2.3 million views.
What music would you listen to to mark the event? Leave suggestions with YouTube links, if possible, in the Comment section.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Madison Opera has just announced its upcoming 2020-21 season.
As usual, there are three works. The fall and spring operas take place in Overture Hall and the winter production, a Broadway musical, will use the Capitol Theater.
Below are the titles with links to Wikipedia entries for more information about the works and their creators:
Here are the titles:
“Il Trovatore” (The Troubadour) – with the popular “Anvil Chorus” — by Giuseppe Verdi (below) in Overture Hall on Friday night, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Nov. 8, at 2:30 p.m. It will be sung in Italian with projected English translations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_trovatore
“She Loves Me” with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick (below) – the same team that created “Fiddler on the Roof” — in the Capitol Theater on Friday night, Jan. 29, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Jan. 31, at 2:30 p.m. It will be sung in English with projected text.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Loves_Me
“The Marriage of Figaro,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (below) in Overture Hall on Friday night, April 30, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, May 2, at 2:30 p.m. It will be sung in Italian with projected English translations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marriage_of_Figaro
You can see a short preview peek — with music but no word about casts, sets or production details — on Vimeo by using the following link: https://vimeo.com/398921274
For more forthcoming information about the season, go to: https://www.madisonopera.org
OPERA IN THE PARK
You may recall that this spring the Madison Opera had to cancel its production of “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Jacques Offenbach because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What about this summer’s 19th annual Opera in the Park (below, in a photo by James Gill)?
It is still slated for Saturday, July 25, in Garner Park, on Madison’s far west side, with a rain date of Sunday, July 26.
But the opera company is being understandably cautious and says: “At this time, we are proceeding with Opera in the Park as scheduled.
“The safety and wellbeing of our community are our top priority, and we are closely following the guidelines and recommendations of public health officials. We are prepared to make necessary decisions in response to rapidly changing conditions.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate these circumstances.”
For updates and more information about Opera in the Park, go to: https://www.madisonopera.org/2019-2020-season/oitp2020/
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