The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: This Friday night, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra closes its season with a dark and unorthodox symphony by Shostakovich as well as lighter suites by Bizet and Debussy
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 Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below top) ends its winter Masterworks season this coming Friday night, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
And it is going out in a big, eclectic way.
The WCO will perform under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below).
Sewell and the WCO will be joined by two guest singers: soprano Mary Mackenzie, a former Madison resident and member of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO); (below top); and the Grammy-nominated bass Timothy Jones (below bottom).
Both critically acclaimed singers are familiar to Madison audiences from past appearances with the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Madison Opera, the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and previous appearances with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
They will all join in the major work that opens the concert, the Symphony No. 14, Op. 135, by Dmitri Shostakovich (below), his penultimate symphony that runs about 50 minutes and is highly unorthodox in its form.
Shostakovich wrote his symphony in 1969, and dedicated it to the British composer Benjamin Britten.
Perhaps to avoid more confrontations with the government of the USSR and perhaps to critique global events such as war, the composer gave it a very international flavor.
Written for strings and percussion with vocal soloists, the symphony is composed in 11 movements. It is also set to poetry by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire (below top), the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca (below middle) and the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (below bottom). In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a live recording of the first movement from the work’s world premiere in Moscow in 1969.
In the late work, Shostakovich (below, in 1950) – always suspect by the Soviet state and in danger during the Stalinist Terror — seeks to portray the idea of unjust and premature death that aroused deep feelings of protest in him. Shostakovich emphasized, however, that it was not out of pessimism that he turned to the problem of mortality but in the name of life on this earth.
The concert concludes on a lighter, more upbeat note by celebrating the innocence and joy of youth in two charming suites: “Jeux d’enfants” (Children’s Games), Op. 22, by Georges Bizet and the “Petite Suite” (Little Suite) by Claude Debussy.
Tickets are $12-$80. To buy tickets and to see more information about the program and detailed biographies of the performers, go to:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-v-4/
Tags: #AndrewSewell, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BassVoice, #BenjaminBritten, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BritishComposer, #CapitolTheater, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberSymphony, #Children'sGames, #ClaudeDebussy, #CriticalAcclaim, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DmitriShostakovich, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FedericoGarciaLorca, #FrenchPoetry, #Fridaynight, #GeorgesBizet, #GermanPoetry, #GrammyAward, #GuillaumeApollinaire, #InstrumentalMusic, #Jeuxd'enfants, #JohannSebastianBach, #JosefStalin, #LittleSuite, #LiveRecording, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MaryMackenzie, #MasterworksSeason, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MoscowRussia, #MusicDirector, #OvertureCenter, #PercussionSection, #PetiteSuite, #RainerMariaRilke, #SopranoSinger, #Sovietcomposer, #SovietUnion, #SpanishPoetry, #StalinistTerror, #StringSection, #TimothyJones, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WorldPremiere, #WorldWarI, #WorldWarII, #YouTubevideo, acclaim, Andrew Sewell, appearance, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, bass, baton, Benjamin Britten, big, biographies, blog, British, Capitol Theater, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Chamber Symphony, charm, charming, children, Children's Games, Classical music, Claude Debussy, composer, Concert, conductor, critical, critically acclaimed, danger, dark, death, dedication, deep, Dmitri Shostakovich, Earth, eclectic, Facebook, Federico Garcia Lorca, feelings, form, forward, French, French poetry, Friday, game, Georges Bizet, German, German poetry, global, government, Grammy, Guillaume Apollinaire, hour, innocence, instrumental music, international, Jacob Stockinger, Jeux d'enfants, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Stalin, Joy, life, light, lighter, like, link, little, live, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mary Mackenzie, masterwork, Mead Witter School of Music, member, mortality, Moscow, Music, Music director, name, New York City, night, nominated, note, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, penultimate, percussion, performer, pessimism, poem, poet, Poetry, premature, problem, protest, Rainer Maria Rilke, recording, share, sing, singer, soprano, Soviet, Soviet Union, Spanish, Spanish poetry, Stalin, Stalinist Terror, strings, Suite, symphony, tag, terror, text, ticket, Timothy Jones, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unjust, unorthodox, upbeat, USSR, Viola, Violin, vocal music, war, WCO, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, word, world premiere, World War I, World War II, WYSO, Youth, YouTube
Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Choir celebrates 20 years with a retrospective concert and alumni singers this Saturday night
1 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
This Saturday night, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir (below) will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a retrospective concert that includes alumni.
The performance is at 7:30 p.m. in the Atrium Auditorium (below, in a photo by Zane Williams) of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
The program features favorite works from the choir’s history.
Founding conductor Gary McKercher (below top) will join current artistic director Robert Gehrenbeck (below bottom) – who directs choral activities at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater — to lead the choir in this special performance.
\
Familiar composers such as Felix Mendelssohn, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Franz Joseph Haydn share billing with Jean Belmont Ford (below), whose Sand County, a setting of Aldo Leopold’s words, will be performed.
Also on the program are a set of pieces by Howard Helvey (below top) that the WCC commissioned in 2002, and the U.S. premiere of Utyos by longtime WCC member Albrecht Gaub (below bottom).
Alumni of the choir will participate as guest singers in the final two works on the program: Haydn’s humorous Eloquence; and Gregg Smith’s serene Now I Walk in Beauty, which is based on a Navajo prayer and can be heard in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Immediately following the performance, audience members are invited to join the singers for cake and refreshments to celebrate this milestone in the history of one of Madison’s premiere music ensembles.
Founded in 1998, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir has established a reputation for excellence in the performance of oratorios by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johannes Brahms; a cappella works from various centuries; and world premieres of commissioned works.
Artistic director Gehrenbeck has been hailed by critics for his vibrant and emotionally compelling interpretations of a wide variety of choral masterworks.
Advance tickets for the April 13 performance at are available for $15 ($10 for students) from www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org, via Brown Paper Tickets.
Tickets are also available in Madison from Orange Tree Imports, all three Willy Street Co-op locations, and from members of the choir. Tickets at the door will be available for $20 for adults and $10 for students.
Tags: #ACappella, #AlbrechtGaub, #AldoLeopold, #AtriumAuditorium, #BaroqueOratorio, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrownPaperTickets, #ChoralDirector, #CommissionedMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GaryMcKercher, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GreggSmith, #GuestArtist, #HowardHelvey, #JeanBelmontFord, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #MusicalInterpretation, #NewMusic, #OrangeTreeImports, #RobertGehrenbeck, #SandCounty, #SaturdayNight, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #UniversityofWisconsin-Whitewater, #VocalMusic, #WillyStreetCoop, #WisconsinChamberChoir, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, #ZaneWilliams, a cappella, adult, Albrecht Gaub, Aldo Leopold, alumni, anniversary, Artistic director, Arts, Atrium Auditorium, audience, Bach, Baroque, blog, Brown Paper Tickets, cake, celebrate, centuries, century, Choir, choral director, choral music, Classical music, commission, composer, Concert, conductor, door, Early music, eloquence, emotion, emotional, ensemble, environment, Facebook, favorite, Felix Mendelssohn, First Unitarian Society of Madison, forward, founder, Franz Joseph Haydn, Gary McKercher, George Frideric Handel, Gregg Smith, guest, History, Howard Helvey, humorous, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Belmont Ford, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, like, link, Madison, masterwork, member, milestone, Mozart, Music, Navajo, New Music, Orange Tree Imports, oratorio, performer, Piano, prayer, program, reception, refreshments, reputation, retrospective, Robert Gehrenbeck, Sand County, Saturday night, serene, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, share, sing, singer, Singing, special, Student, tag, ticket, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, UW-Whitewater, virbatn, vocal music, Willy Street Coop, Wisconsin Chamber Choir, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, work, works, world premiere, YouTube, Zane Williams
Classical music: The Well-Tempered Ear surpasses 2 million hits. Thank you, all!!
8 Comments
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
For a variety of reasons, The Ear has not posted anything new in a few days.
That is unusual for this blog.
Some of the reasons were personal.
But the largest reason simply had to do with success and marking a milestone.
Last week, the blog The Well-Tempered Ear surpassed 2 million hits.
Fittingly, the historic moment came while The Ear was attending the outstanding concert by the Madison Symphony Orchestra that featured three of its principal players.
In the beginning, when The Ear started the blog at the request of the Wisconsin Union Theater, such a landmark was never expected and seemed wholly unattainable.
But email subscriptions grew and readership grew – the blog is now read around the world – and such success is even more gratifying than surprising.
So The Ear wants to thank all of his readers and especially his many subscribers as well as the many musicians and presenters who have cooperated and made this endeavor a success.
He has spent the past few days wondering what piece of music he could post that would express his gratitude.
Sad to say, no one piece came to mind.
So he will simply say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to all his loyal readers and followers.
He will add that he welcomes comments and suggestions about the contents of the blog and about what piece of music should be posted to celebrate getting 2 million hits!
Again, thank you.
And continued happy reading.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MusicPresenter, #ThankYou, #TheEar, #TheWell-TemperedEar, #TheWord, #WisconsinUnionTheater, audience, blog, celebrate, comment, Concert, email, express, Facebook, gratitude, happy', hits, landmark, like, Madison Symphony Orchestra, milestone, Music, Musician, personal, piece, potential, presenter, principal, read, reason, share, subscription, success, suggestion, tag, thank you, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Ear, Wisconsin Union Theater, word, world
Classical music: You can celebrate Valentine’s Day this Thursday, Feb. 14, with live concerts of new music or old music in a large hall or a small cafe
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
If you are looking to celebrate Valentine’s Day on this coming Thursday, Feb. 14, with live classical music, there are at least two excellent choices facing you.
The larger event is a FREE concert at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall by the UW Symphony Orchestra (below top) under the award-winning conductor and professor Chad Hutchinson (below bottom) and two graduate student conductors, Michael Dolan and Ji Hyun Yim.
The program features the “Valse Triste” (Sad Waltz) by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and the Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
But the main focus will be on two works by the living American composer Augusta Read Thomas (below), who lives in Chicago and whose music is widely performed because of its accessible style.
The two works by Thomas are “Of Paradise and Light” and “Prayer and Celebration.”
Thomas, who this week will be doing a residency at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, will also hold a free and open master class in Music Hall, at the base of Bascom Hill, from 2 to 5 p.m. that same day. (You can listen to her discuss how she composes in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information about the concert, the program and especially about Thomas – including an audio sample — go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra/
A BAROQUE VALENTINE’S DAY
On Valentine’s Day, baroque chamber music enthusiasts can hear the music of the Kim-Kielson Duo as they perform a program on period instruments, titled Canons, Chaconnes and Chocolate!
Longtime friends and performers, baroque violinist Kangwon Lee Kim and recorder player Lisette Kielson (below top, right and left respectively) will be joined by viola da gambist James Waldo (below bottom).
The concert is on this Thursday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. at Chocolaterian Cafe, 6637 University Ave., in Middleton.
You can name your own ticket price — $20-$35 per person is suggested, payable in either cash or check.
There also will be Special Valentine’s Day Chocolate available for purchase.
The program celebrates the popular baroque forms of the canon and chaconne as composed by Italian, German and French masters.
The duo will perform three chaconnes by Tarquinio Merula, Antonio Bertali and Marin Marais plus canonic duos by Georg Philipp Telemann as well as an arrangement of canons from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AntonioBertali, #AugustaReadThomas, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueRecorder, #BaroqueViolin, #BascomHill, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CashPayment, #ChadHutchinson, #ChocolaterianCafe, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FinnishComposer, #Frenchcomposer, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GermanComposer, #GraduateStudent, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #italianComposer, #James Waldo, #JamesWaldo, #JeanSibelius, #JohannSebastianBach, #KangwonKim, #LisetteKielson, #LivingComposer, #MarinMarais, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonWisconsin, #MillsHall, #MozartSymphony, #MusicalStyle, #Musicfaculty, #MusicHall, #PeriodInstruments, #PersonalCheck, #ReligionandSpirituality, #SadWaltz, #SymphonyNo.39, #TaquinioMerula, #TheArtofFugue, #UniversityofChicago, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ValentinesDay, #ValseTriste, #VioladaGamba, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, accessible, American, American composer, Antonio Bertali, arrangement, audience, Audio, Augusta Read Thomas, award, award-winning, Baroque recorder, Bascom Hill, blog, BWV, Canon, cash, celebrate, celebration, chaconne, Chad Hutchinson, check, Chicago, chocolate, Chocolaterian Cafe, choice, composer, Concert, conductor, counterpoint, discuss, discussion, duo, event, Facebook, faculty, faculty member, Finland, Finnish, Finnish music, forward, free, French, fugue, Georg Philipp Telemann, German, historically informed performance practices, information, Italian, Jean Sibelius, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kangwon Kim, Kochel, large, light, like, link, Lisette Kielson, Living composer, Marin Marais, Mead Witter School of Music, Middleton, Mills Hall, Mozart, Music, Music Hall, musical style, Paradise, pay, payable, performer, period instruments, person, player, prayer, professor, program, purchase, recorder, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, residency, sad waltz, spirituality, style, symphony, Symphony No. 39, Symphony No. 39 in E Flat Major, tag, Taquinio Merula, The Art of Fugue, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Symphony Orchestra, Valentine, Valentine's Day, valse triste, video, viola da gamba, Violin, week, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, YouTube
Classical music: Rediscovering the music of composer Florence Price is a great way to start the celebration of Black History Month
3 Comments
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
February is Black History Month.
There are a lot of African-American performers and composers to emphasize during the month. Check out this exhaustive listing – conveniently organized into categories such as composers, conductors and pianists — in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:African-American_classical_musicians
But this year one of the best ways to mark the event is to rediscover the composer Florence Price (below, in photos from the University of Arkansas Libraries).
Much of her work was until recently hidden in 30 boxes in her abandoned and dilapidated summer home located 70 miles south of Chicago.
A good introduction to Price (1887-1953) – who was famous in her day and was the first African-American woman composer to be performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — can be found in the Deceptive Cadence blog of National Public Radio (NPR).
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686622572/revisiting-the-pioneering-composer-florence-price
Here is a link to an excerpt from a new Albany recording of her two violin concertos:
And if you want to hear more of what her music sounds like check out the YouTube video at the bottom that has excerpts from the new Naxos recording, in the American Classics line, with her Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4.
You can also find quite a bit more of Price’s music, including a piano concerto, a piano sonata and orchestral suites, on YouTube.
Tags: #African-AmericanMusic, #AfricanAmerican, #AlbanyRecords, #AmericanClassics, #BlackComposer, #BlackHistoryMonth, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChicagoIllinois, #ChicagoSymphonyOrchestra, #DeceptiveCadence, #FemaleComposer, #FlorencePrice, #NationalPublicRadio, #NaxosRecords, #OrchestralMusic, #OrchestralSuite, #PianoConcerto, #PianoSonata, #UniversityofArkansas, #ViolinConcerto, #Wikipediaentry, #WomanComposer, #YouTubevideo, abandoned, African American, African-American music, Albany Records, American, American Classics, Arts, audience, black, black composer, Black History Month, blog, celebrate, Chamber music, Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, classic, Classical music, composer, concerto, conductor, Deceptive Cadence, event, exhaustive, famous, female, female composer, feminism, Florence Price, House, Jacob Stockinger, libraries, library, like, link, listing, Madison, mark, month, Music, National Public Radio, Naxos Records, NPR, Orchestra, orchestral, Orchestral Suite, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano sonata, Prejudice, racism, rediscover, Sexism, share, Sonata, summer home, symphony, tag, United States, Violin, Violin concerto, vocal music, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, women, work, YouTube
Classical music: “Just Bach” — a monthly mid-day FREE concert series — starts this Thursday at 1 p.m. in Luther Memorial Church. Plus, the FREE fifth annual UW Brass Fest takes place Friday and Saturday
2 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like It”) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
ALERT: This Friday and Saturday, the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music will host Brass Fest V. It features guest artists and the faculty group The Wisconsin Brass Quintet. Events are FREE and OPEN to the public. For a schedule and more information about events and performers, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/brass-fest-v-alumni/
By Jacob Stockinger
A new and noteworthy monthly event starts this Thursday. Here is an announcement:
“Just Bach” is a new monthly mid-day concert series in Madison. It celebrates the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (below).
The series of hour-long concerts kicks off at 1 p.m. this Thursday, Sept. 27,at Luther Memorial Church (below), 1021 University Avenue.
Admission is free, but goodwill offerings will be accepted.
The Madison series, inspired by a model and successful program established by conductor Julian Wachner at the Trinity Wall Street Church in New York City, will offer monthly concerts at Luther Memorial Church, presenting programs curated from Bach’s sacred vocal repertoire.
As in New York City, the concerts will open with all present singing a hymn, followed by an organ solo, with the rest of the program devoted to cantatas, motets, and possibly oratorios or passions. An important component of the initiative will be the training and inclusion of local singers for the chorus. The period-instrument orchestra will include local and regional players.
Audience members may take in food and beverage for their lunch, which can be consumed during the program.
This Thursday afternoon, organist Mark Brampton Smith (below) will play the “Little” Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578 (heard, with a graphic depiction, in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the choir and orchestra will perform two beautiful cantatas: O heileges Geist- und Wasserbad (O Bath of Holy Spirit and Water), BWV 165; and Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Dearest Jesus, My Desire), BWV 32.
Adds the organizer Marika Fischer Hoyt (below), who also directs the annual Bach Around the Clock event in March: “The goal of this series is to share the immense range of Bach’s vocal and instrumental repertoire with the Madison community at large.
“The period-instrument orchestra will bring the music to life in the manner and style that Bach would have conceived. Members of the artistic team will prepare local singers to perform alongside seasoned professionals and develop a familiarity and love of the repertoire.
“The audience will be invited to sing along during the opening hymns and the closing cantata chorales.
“The dream team bringing this venture to Madison consists of four individuals who have each dedicated a significant portion of their careers to the music of J.S. Bach: soprano Sarah Brailey, who did her master’s at the UW-Madison and won the Handel Aria Competition; mezzo-soprano Cheryl Bensman-Rowe; UW-Madison professor and bass-baritone Paul Rowe; and modern and baroque violist Marika Fischer Hoyt who also performs with the Madison Bach Musicians, Sonata à Quattro and the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The vocal soloists for the concert on this Thursday will be Sarah Brailey (below), Cheryl Bensman-Rowe, tenor Wesley Dunnagan, and Paul Rowe. The period orchestra of local and regional baroque players will be led by concertmaster Kangwon Kim.
After the debut, Just Bach dates go to Wednesdays and will take place at 1 p.m. on Oct. 31, Nov. 28 and Dec. 12.
Our Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/SingetdemHerrn
Our Instagram account is at https://www.instagram.com/_just_bach_/
A website is in the process of being constructed.
We are extremely grateful to Pastor Brad Pohlman and the congregation of Luther Memorial Church for hosting the series this Fall.
We invite the Madison community to come spend a lunch hour with the sublime music of J.S. Bach – feed your body and soul!”
Tags: #BachAroundtheClock, #BachCantata, #BaroqueEra, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassFest, #BrassMusic, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ConcertSeries, #FacebookPost, #Free-of-Charge, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HolySpirit, #HolyTrinity, #HolyWater, #HomeWebsite, #InstagramVideo, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JulianWachner, #JustBach, #KangwonKim, #LittleFugue, #LunchHour, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mid-day, #NewYorkCity, #OrganMusic, #PaulRowe, #PeriodInstrument, #SacredMusic, #SarahBrailey, #SonataaQuattro, #TheEar, #TheWell-TemperedEar, #Thursdayafternoon, #TrinityWallStreetChurch, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WallSt., #WallStreet, #Wednesdayafternoon, #WisconsinBrassQuintet, #YouTubevideo, admission, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, baritone, Baroque, bass, beverage, blog, Blog post, brass, brass fest, Cantata, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, choral music, Chorale, chorus, Christian church, church, Classical music, composer, Concert, concert series, concertmaster, congregation, depiction, desire, Early music, Facebook, faculty, fall, food, free, Friday, fugue, George Frideric Handel, goodwill, graphic, Handel Aria Competition, holy, holy water, host, hosting, hymn, information, Instagram, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, Julian Wachner, Just Bach, Kangwon Kim, life, local, Love, lunch, lunch hour, Luther Memorial Church, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Mezzo-soprano, modern, monthly, motet, Music, new, New York City, night, offering, oratorio, Orchestra, organ, organist, organizer, Passion, pastor, Paul Rowe, player, professional, professor, program, regional, repertoire, sacred, Sarah Brailey, Saturday, schedule, singer, Singing, soloist, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, soprano, symphony, tenor, The Ear, Thursday afternoon, training, Trinity Wall Street Church, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal, vocal music, water, Website, Wednesday afternoon, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, YouTube
Classical music: Here are the winners of Friday night’s sixth annual Handel Aria Competition
2 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
The sixth annual Handel Aria Competition took place Friday night in Mills Hall on the UW-Madison campus at the Mead Witter School of Music.
It was, as usual, much fun.
Such serious fun deserved a bigger audience. But The Ear suspects that the opening night of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society at the Overture Center and the aria competition cut into each other’s audience. Maybe that scheduling conflict can be avoided in the future.
Everyone seems to agree that every year, as word of the competition continues to spread far and wide, the singers get better. This year, the seven finalists – five sopranos and three mezzo-sopranos chosen from 113 international applicants — were all terrific.
Special thanks should also go to the Madison Bach Musicians, who in a short amount of rehearsal time turned in outstanding accompaniment in music that can be hard to follow because or ornaments and embellishments as well as subjective interpretations and the Baroque singing style.
The wide repertoire included recitatives and arias from “Semele,” “Giulio Cesare,” “Rodelinda,” “Theodora,” “Hercules,” “Ariodante,” “Judas Maccabeus” and “Ricardo Primo, re d’Inghilterra” (Richard the First, King of England).
The biggest disappointment – in truth not very big — was that the competition had no male voices. There were no tenors, countertenor, baritones or basses to add to the variety. (You can hear the 2017 Audience Favorite, tenor Gene Stenger, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
But that is how judging on merit works, so who can argue?
Once again, The Ear and many of his voice-savvy friends disagreed with the three professional judges. That seems to happen every year. But there will be more about that, as well as some other observations, another time.
In the meantime, let us celebrate the results.
Here, from left to right in a photo by David Peterson, are this year’s winners: soprano Sarah Hayashi, Second Prize; soprano Suzanne Karpov, First Prize; mezzo-soprano Lindsay Metzger, Audience Favorite; and mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit, Third Prize.
All of the performances will be posted on YouTube at a later date, which The Ear will announce when it happens.
For more information about the seven finalists and the three professional judges, as well as updated news and how you can support the ever-expanding competition, go to:
https://handelariacompetition.com
https://handelariacompetition.com/2018-competition/
Tags: #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOpera, #BaroqueSingingStyle, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HandelOpera, #JohannSebastianBach, #KingofEngland, #LindsayMetzger, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NewsUpdate, #OrchestralAccompaniment, #OvertureCenter, #RehearsalTime, #SarahCoit, #SarahHayashi, #SchedulingConflict, #SuzanneKarpov, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #YouTubevideo, accompaniment, aria, Ariodante, Arts, audience, baritone, Baroque, bass, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Competition, composer, conflict, countertenor, Early music, earlymusic, embellish, embellishment, England, favorite, George Frideric Handel, Giulio Cesare, Hercules, international, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Judas Maccabeus, judge, King, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, merit, Mezzo-soprano, Music, news, Orchestra, ornament, photo, photograph, prize, recitative, rehearsal, results, Ricardo Primo, Richard the First, Rodelinda, Semele, soprano, style, subjective, support, tenor, Theodora, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Today is the first day of Spring. What piece of music best suits the season? Then take a quiz to see what composer and which spring music best suits you
5 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is the Vernal Equinox – the first of day of Spring 2018.
It arrives at 11:15 a.m. CDT.
A lot of classical composers have written works inspired by Spring, which often appears in the title.
Here is a link to a YouTube video with almost two hours of Spring music – including works by Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Grieg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfe3MUMdWKQ
But recently a close friend reminded The Ear that spring-like music doesn’t have to allude specifically to spring. And the friend said that the “Trout” Quintet by Franz Schubert fits the bill perfectly.
So the Request Line is open, and here, for The Ear’s good friend, is the “Trout” Quintet, with pianist Yuja Wang, in the YouTube video at the bottom. It does indeed seem ideally Spring-like with its freshness, liveliness and bubbliness.
What music do you think best celebrates the coming of Spring?
Leave the composer, the work’s title and, if possible, a link to a YouTube performance, in the COMMENT section.
Why do you like it?
Moreover, did you choose correctly?
Here is a fun quiz, from the famed radio station WQXR in New York City, that can help you determine which composer’s piece of music about spring best fits you and your personality:
https://www.wqxr.org/story/quiz-which-spring-themed-classical-music-piece-are-you/
Tags: #AntonioVivaldi, #EdvardGrieg, #FranzSchubert, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannStrauss, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #NewYorkCity, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #TroutQuintet, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YujaWang, Arts, Bach, Baroque, bass, Beethoven, bubbly, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, double bass, Early music, equinox, Franz Schubert, fresh, fun, Grieg, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, link, lively, Madison, Mozart, Music, New York City, Orchestra, past, personality, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano, quintet, quiz, Radio, Sonata, Spring, station, Strauss, symphony, title, Trout Quintet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vernal equinox, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, Waltz, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, WQXR, WQXR-FM, you, YouTube, Yuja Wang
Classical music: It’s Valentine’s Day 2018. Let us now praise musical couples and say what music we would play to celebrate romantic love
3 Comments
ALERT: If you are a fan of new music, you might not want to miss a FREE concert this Thursday night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall by the UW-Madison Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.
The program of “Ideas and Landscapes,” assembled and directed by UW’s award-winning composer Laura Schwendinger, includes works by UW students and alumni as well as a world premiere of a work for solo oboe by Schwendinger herself.
For more details about the composers, the performers and the complete program, go to:
https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/contemporary-chamber-ensemble/
By Jacob Stockinger
It is Valentine’s Day 2018, and music plays a big role in celebrating the holiday — as the portrait of Cupid (below) expresses.
This week, musician and teacher Miles Hoffman was featured by National Public Radio (NPR) on the program “Morning Edition” with a most appropriate story about famous musical couples who were also linked romantically.
The Ear was particularly pleased that a same-sex couple – British composer Benjamin Britten (below left) and British tenor Peter Pears (below right) — was recognized during this time when the homophobic administration of President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence keeps attacking the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people under the guise of protecting and promoting religious tolerance. The leaders use the concept of religious freedom as camouflage for bigotry, zealotry and prejudice.
But more conventional and traditional couples were also recognized, and deservedly so.
Here is a link to the story that also contains some wonderful musical samples:
And here is what The Ear wants to know:
First: Can you think of other musical couples – especially local ones — to single out for recognition on Valentine’s Day? The Karp family as well as pianists-singers Bill Lutes and Martha Fischer plus singers Cheryl Bensman Rowe and Paul Rowe, conductor Kyle Knox and Madison Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Naha Greenholtz, and violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino and cellist Leonardo Altino all come immediately to mind. But surely there are others The Ear has overlooked.
Second: What piece of classical music would you listen to or play in order to express love for your Valentine?
Leave the names and information, with a YouTube link if possible, in the COMMENT section.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
Tags: #ClaraSchumann, #DonaldTrump, #FreedomOfReligion, #GreatBritain, #LauraSchwendinger, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MIkePence, #MorningEdition, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewMusic, #PresidentTrump, #ReligiousFreedom, #RobertSchumann, #TheWelltemperedEar, #UnitedKingdom, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ValentinesDay, #VicePresident, alumni, Arts, assume, Benjamin Britten, big, bigotry, Bil Lutes, bisexual, British, Britten, camouflage, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, Christianity, Clara Schumann, Classical music, composer, concertmaster, conductor, contemporary, couple, cupid, direct, freedom, Galina Vishnevskaya, gay, Holiday, idea, information, Jacob Stockinger, Karp, landscape, Laura Schwendinger, lesbian, LGBT, Love, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Martha Fischer, Miles Hoffman, Mstislav Rostropovich, Music, Music education, Musician, Naha Greenholtz, name, New Music, NPR, Oboe, Paul Rowe, performer, Peter Pears, Piano, portrait, Prejudice, premiere, President, program, promote, protect, Religion, Robert Schumann, role, Romance, Romantic, same-sex, sample, sex, singer, Sonata, song, story, Student, Teacher, tenor, The Ear, The WellTemperedEar, tolerance, transgender, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Valentine's Day, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, world, world premiere, YouTube, zealot, zealotry
Recent Comments
 | samanthacrownoversbc… on Classical music: Looking for s… |
 | Genie Ogden on Classical music: The seventh a… |
| Sam Crownover on Classical music: The Bach Danc… |
 | Mary Gordon on Classical music: Here are the… |
 | Larry Wells on Classical music: Here are the… |
Classical music: Sonata à Quattro does justice to the spiritual piety and beautiful music in Haydn’s “Seven Last Words of Christ”
1 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
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
Marika Fischer Hoyt’s newest ensemble is called Sonata à Quattro (below), using the Italian Baroque expression for instrumental works scored for three upper parts and basso continuo. That idiom was the background to the more integrated balance of the string quartet.
It was Franz Joseph Haydn (below) who really consolidated that transformation, and so it was appropriate that the new group should at this early point in its development pay a major tribute to that composer.
Responding to a commission from a Spanish prelate, in 1786-87 Haydn composed a set of seven orchestral adagios — plus opening and closing pieces — to be played in a Good Friday ceremony celebrating the seven final statements by Christ from the cross (below, in a painting by Diego Velazquez) that are cumulatively reported by the Gospel writers.
At the same time, Haydn made a reduction of those orchestral movements into the string quartet format. That version he published outside his regular sets of string quartets, which had opus numbers.
Especially in the quartet form, this music achieved wide circulation, so much so that several attempts were made by others to create an oratorio out of this music, prompting Haydn himself to make his own oratorio version in 1795-96. Along the way, someone else made a keyboard transcription of the music that Haydn sanctioned.
It was, of course, the string quartet version — The Seven Last Words of Christ — that the Sonata à Quattro performed. It did so, first as part of a Good Friday church service in Milwaukee on April 19, and then as an independent one-hour free and public concert at the Oakwood Village West auditorium last Thursday night.
Fischer Hoyt (below), the group’s founder and violist, gave an introductory talk about the group’s name and about its decisions as to instrumentation. (It usually plays on period instruments, but chose this time to use modern ones with period bows.) Cellist Charlie Rasmussen added some comments about the music and its history. Violinists Kangwon Kim and Nathan Giglierano were happy just to play.
Haydn’s music was written in the deepest piety and sincerity, and that comes through in the individual components, which cost him much effort. (You can hear the second half of the work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The seven Sonatas are framed by a solemn Introduction and a furious evocation of the “earthquake” that we are told followed the death of Jesus. Each successive Sonata is cast in very tight and concentrated sonata form. Haydn makes the Latin form of each statement or “word” the theme of each sonata. In all, the cycle makes the most deeply absorbing combination of spirituality and ingenuity.
The players brought out both those dimensions in a performance of rapt beauty. This score has quite a few recordings, but it is not heard in concert all that often, so it was a treasure to be given this wonderful presentation.
And now we know that Sonata à Quattro has great possibilities to develop.
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #AmericanRecordGuide, #BaroqueMusic, #BassoContinuo, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #BooksoftheBIble, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusician, #CharlieRasmussen, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #CommissionedMusic, #ConcertHall, #DiegoVelazquez, #EmeritusProfessor, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GoodFriday, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #InstrumentalMusic, #IsthmusNewspaper, #ItalianBaroque, #JesusChrist, #JohnW.Barker, #KangwonKim, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MedievalHistory, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #NathanGiglierano, #OakwoodVillageWest, #OrchestralMusic, #PeriodInstrument, #PianoTranscription, #RadioHost, #SevenLastWordsofChrist, #SonataaQuattro, #StringQuartet, #WORT-FM89.9, absorbing, adagio, American Record Guide, Arts, audience, background, basso continuo, beauty, Bible, blog, bow, celebrate, cellist, Cello, ceremony, Chamber music, Charlie Rasmussen, choral music, Christ, Christian, church, circulation, Classical music, classicalmusic, closing, comments, commission, Compact Disc, component, composer, concentrated, concentration, Concert, concert hall, consolidate, cross, crucifixion, cumulative, cycle, death, deep, develop, development, Diego Velazquez, dimension, Early music, earthquake, Easter, effort, emeritus professor, ensemble, evocation, expression, Facebook, final, form, forward, founder, Franz Joseph Haydn, furious, Good Friday, gospel, historically informed performance practices, History, host, hour, idiom, independent, individual, ingenuity, introductory, Isthus, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John W. Barker, Kangwon Kim, Keyboard, Latin, lecture, like, link, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marika Fischer Hoyt, Medieval, Milwaukee, modern, movement, Music, music review, name, Nathan Giglierano, new, number, Oakwood Village West, opening, opus, oratorio, painting, performance, performer, period instruments, photo, piety, player, possibilities, possibility, prelate, presentation, professor, Radio, rapt, recording, reduction, reported, review, service, Seven Last Words of Christ, share, sincerity, socre, solemn, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, Spanish, spirituality, statement, String quartet, Sunday, tag, talk, tight, transcription, transformation, treasure, tribute, upper, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, wonderful, word, WORT-FM 89.9, Writer