The Well-Tempered Ear
Too bad the Wisconsin Union Theater didn’t book a great pianist for next season
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By Jacob Stockinger
“We are living in a Golden Age of pianists,” famed concert pianist, Juilliard teacher and frequent Madison performer Emanuel Ax (below) has said.
He should know. But you would never guess that from the recently announced next season at the Wisconsin Union Theater (below).
The WUT has not booked a solo pianist for the 2022-23 season.
Here is a link to the lineup for the next season:
https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/seasonevents/
Is The Ear the only one who has noticed and is disappointed?
Who else feels bad about it?
After all, this is the same presenting organization that brought to Madison such legendary pianists as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ignaz Jan Paderewski, Percy Grainger, Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Dame Myra Hess, Guiomar Novaes, Egon Petri, Robert Casadesus, William Kapell, Claudio Arrau, Alexander Brailowsky, Gary Graffman, Glenn Gould, Rosalyn Tureck, Byron Janis, Misha Dichter, Peter Serkin, André Watts, Lili Kraus and Garrick Ohlsson
It is the same hall (below) in which The Ear has heard Rudolf Serkin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Angela Hewitt, Alfred Brendel, Murray Perahia, Valentina Lisitsa, Andras Schiff, Joyce Yang, Yefim Bronfman, Jeremy Denk, Ingrid Fliter, Richard Goode, Leon Fleisher, Simone Dinnerstein, Wu Han and so many other great and memorable names including, of course, Emanuel Ax.
What a history!
As you can see and as The Ear likes to say, the Wisconsin Union Theater is “The Carnegie Hall of Madison.” For over 100 years, it is where the great ones play.
One irony is that many of those former bookings of pianists took place when the University of Wisconsin School of Music had many more pianists on the faculty and provided a major alternative venue for piano recitals.
Another irony is that so many young people take piano lessons (below) and are apt to want to attend, probably with their parents, to hear a live professional concert piano recital. You would think the WUT would also see the advantages of having such community outreach links to the public and to music education, especially since the WUT has hosted Open Piano Day for the public. (See the YouTube video of a Channel 3000 story in February 2020 at the bottom.)
From what The Ear reads, there are lots of up-and-coming pianists, many affordable names of various winners of national and international competitions. They should be affordable as well as worthy of being introduced to the Madison public.
But that seems a mission now largely left to the Salon Piano Series.
Plus, so many of the new pianists are young Asians who have never appeared here, which should be another draw for the socially responsible and diversity-minded WUT.
But that is another story for another day.
What do you think of the WUT not presenting a solo pianist next season?
Maybe there will be a pianist booked for the 2023-24 season.
What pianists would you like see booked by the WUT student programming committee?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Wisconsin Union Theater announces its new season featuring Renée Fleming’s postponed concert on Oct. 24
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement with the lineup for next season’s concerts at the Wisconsin Union Theater (below top, with a photo of Shannon Hall below bottom), which he calls “The Carnegie Hall of Madison.”
The upcoming season of the Wisconsin Union Theater features eight performances, including a rescheduled performance on Oct. 24 by world-renowned vocalist Renée Fleming (below), who was previously scheduled to perform May 2, 2020, as part of the 100th Concert Series but had to cancel because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fleming recorded a special message for Wisconsin Union Theater patrons: https://youtu.be/V1B4L2KFUls.
During the 101st Concert Series, patrons will have the opportunity to attend performances by the following artists. Click on the links and names to find out more:
- Oct. 3, 2020 – Room Full of Teeth (below in a photo by Bonica Ayala)
- Oct. 24, 2020 – Soprano Renée Fleming
- Nov. 7, 2020 – Cellist Camille Thomas (below in a photo by Dan Carabas)
- Dec. 11, 2020 – Pianist Jeremy Denk (below, in a photo by Shervin Lainez)
- Jan. 29, 2021 – Verona Quartet (below in a photo by Dario Acosta)
- Feb. 28, 2021 – Meccore Quartet (below in a photo by Arkadiusz Berbecki)
- April 15, 2021 – Brentano Quartet (below in a photo by Juergen Frank)
- May 1, 2021 – Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw (below in photos by Stefan Cohen, top, and Kait Moreno)
All programs are subject to change. The WUT team will announce when subscriptions and single-event tickets, along with prices, will become available for purchase at a later date.
The Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series is one of the oldest uninterrupted series of its kind in the United States and has brought such talented artists as pianists Arthur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz, violinists Fritz Kreisler and Itzhak Perlman, and pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy and Claudio Arrau to Madison.
The Wisconsin Union Theater holds numerous arts events throughout the year and has provided cultural experiences for community members and visitors for more than 75 years.
The student-led Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Performing Arts Committee plans many of the Wisconsin Union Theater’s events, including the Concert Series.
More information — including ticket prices and programs — about the Concert Series and other 2020-21 Wisconsin Union Theater events will be made available soon at uniontheater.wisc.edu and on the Wisconsin Union Theater Facebook page.
Tickets purchased for Fleming’s May 2, 2020, performance are valid for the Oct. 24, 2020, performance.
Violinist Gil Shaham (below), who was to perform March 28, 2020, as part of the 100th Concert Series season will instead perform as part of the 2021-22 Wisconsin Union Theater season. Ticket holders for Shaham’s previously scheduled performance date are receiving refunds.
The upcoming year of programming will undoubtedly bring new challenges, and the Wisconsin Union team will continue to make decisions with the health and safety of team members and patrons in mind while providing experiences for a lifetime.
While Memorial Union and Union South remain closed to the public until further notice, the Wisconsin Union continues to provide support services, such as Meals To-Go, and online events and activities.
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Classical music: Who are the best pianists of all time? And which ones do you think were left off the list by Classic FM?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The British radio station and website Classic FM recently published its list of the 25 greatest pianists of all time.
Plus, the website also included samples of the playing where possible.
It is an impressive list, if pretty predictable — and heavily weighted towards modern or contemporary pianists. You might expect that a list of “all-time greats” would have more historical figures — and more women as well as more non-Western Europeans and non-Americans, especially Asians these days.
Here is a link:
http://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/piano/best-pianists-ever/
So The Ear started what turned out to be a long list of others who should at least be considered and maybe even included.
Here, then, is the question for this weekend: What do you think of the list? Which pianists do not belong on the list? And which are your favorite pianists who are not included in the compilation?
Leave your candidate or candidates in the COMMENT section with a link to a YouTube link of a favorite performance, wherever possible.
Happy listening!
Tags: Alfred Brendel, America, American, Argerich, Arrau, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Artur Rubinstein, Ashkenazy, asian, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Chamber music, Clara Schumann, Classic FM, Classical music, Claudio Arrau, concerto, contemporary, Daniel Barenboim, England, Europe, European, Franz Schubert, Glenn Gould, great, Great Britain, histiry', historical, Horowitz, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Ogdon, Lang Lang, Leif Ove Andsnes, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Maria Joao Pires, Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, modern, Mozart, Murray Perahia, Music, Myra Hess, Orchestra, Pianist, Piano, Radio, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sexism, sexist, Sonata, Stephen Hough, Sviatoslav Richter, time, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Western Europe, Western European, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, YouTube
Classical music: Edgewood College’s annual Christmas concert is this Saturday and Sunday nights. Plus, local young piano virtuoso Garrick Olsen performs Chopin, Schumann and Liszt on Friday for FREE.
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ALERT: Young local pianist Garrick Olsen will play a FREE recital at the Friday Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive. He will perform from 12:15 to 1 p.m. in the historic Landmark auditorium of the Meeting House that was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. His program includes music that is both virtuosic and poetic: the Etude, Op. 10, No. 1, by Frederic Chopin; the Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17, by Robert Schumann (listen to the soulful final movement played by Claudio Arrau in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the dramatic, flashy Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 by Franz Liszt (also at the bottom played fantastically by George Cziffra in a popular YouTube video). In the spring, on May 2, 3 and 4 — Olsen, who won the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s concerto competition two years ago with Maurice Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand, will perform George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” Variations for piano and orchestra with the MSO under John DeMain.
By Jacob Stockinger
Edgewood College will present its 86th Annual Christmas Concerts this coming weekend, at 7 p.m. on both Friday night, December 6, and Saturday night, December 7, in the St. Joseph Chapel, 1000 Edgewood College Drive, in Madison.
Featured performers of joyous seasonal holiday music include the Guitar Ensemble, the Chamber Singers (below), the Women’s Choir, the Men’s Choir, the Concert Band and the Jazz Ensemble.
Sorry, The Ear has no details about programs.
The annual Christmas celebration is one of Edgewood College’s oldest traditions. A highlight each year is the invitation for audience members to join in singing traditional carols.
A limited number of tickets may be available at the door each night (cash or check only, please). Edgewood College strongly encourages patrons to purchase tickets online.
All proceeds for these concerts benefit Edgewood College students through the Edward Walters Music Scholarship Fund.
Tags: band music, choral music, Christmas, Claudio Arrau, Edgewood College, etude, fantasy, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, George Gershwin, Georges Cziffra, guitar, Hungarian Rhapsody, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, John DeMain, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Ravel, Piano, Robert Schumann, YouTube
Classical music poll: Who were the 10 greatest pianists of all time?
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By Jacob Stockinger
An interesting and accomplished monthly Australian magazine – Limelight Magazine (below) – is devoted to classical music and the fine arts in the Land Down Under. Limelight recently polled contemporary well-known concert pianists today and asked them to name the Top Ten Pianists of All-Time. 
But what I do find funny, and even questionable or suspect, is that they all equated the qualifier “Of All Time” with the 20th century. Partisans of Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Rudolf Serkin might also find some grounds for minor disagreement. And feminists will almost certainly object to the sexist list, which completely excludes women, including such talents Guiomar Novaes, Teresa Careno and Martha Argerich (below).
Granted, perhaps that is because we do not possess recordings of certain figures. But you might think that, even without recordings as documents, someone might name, say, Chopin (below top) and Liszt (below bottom) as among the most accomplished pianists of all time.
Some of you might also be a bit disappointed in how such titanic figures as Claudio Arrau (below), Josef Hoffmann and Leopold Godowsky rate in the listing.
Take a look for yourself: http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Article/306444,the-10-greatest-pianists-of-all-time.aspx/0
Published since 2003, the Australian magazine itself — given the home country’s geographical location — understandably has a lot to say about the classical music scene in Asia and about less well-known names of performers and compositions. It is worth checking out. It seems to publish a lot of Top Ten lists and features rarely heard performers, groups and compositions.
Here is a link to its home website: www.limelightmagazine.com.au
And be sure to leave your own nominations for the Best Pianists of All Time in the COMMENT section.
Classical music news: BBC Music Magazine names the Top 50 greatest classical music recordings ever made. How many have you heard? Or do you own?
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By Jacob Stockinger
What are the 50 greatest – I assume that is not the same as the most important — classical recordings ever made?
And how many of them have you heard?
Or do you own?
That list has been compiled by the BBC Music Magazine (below) for its January 2012 issue.
Here is a link to the names and titles, given in descending order a la David Letterman and various other countdowns:
http://wpr.org/music/BBC-Music-Top-50-1201.htm
A lot of the choices make great sense.
For example, the first complete recording of Wagner’s titanic “Ring” cycle by George Solti is a drama behind the drama.
Who could argue, for example, with Pablo Casals’ pioneering recording of Bach’s six solo suites for cello (below)? After all, it was Casals who discovered them and then restored them to the repertoire as music when many people thought of them as mere exercises.
And who could argue with including Artur Schnabel’s first-ever cycle of the complete 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven (below) — though what about his championing the neglected piano sonatas of Schubert?
But why is there nothing by pianist Artur Rubinstein (below), who was quite the pioneering pianist when it came to recording complete Chopin works and other composers from early in the 20th century though the 1970s? Do they really think Claudio Arrau’s version of Chopin’s Nocturnes is greater than Rubinstein’s? Could it had ego do with a European label versus an American label? Are the BBC critics subject to geographical, national or cultural bias?
Anyway, you can make your own judgments.
What recordings of the BBC Top 50 do you most agree with?
And what recordings do you think belonged on the list but were overlooked or left off it?
The Ear wants to hear.
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