The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Home or concert hall? Will older listeners follow new CDC guidelines about the coronavirus to stay home and avoid attending concerts? What will performers and presenters do in response?
17 Comments
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
Late yesterday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued new guidelines for behavior during the outbreak of the coronavirus and COVID-19.
The CDC is asking all adults over 60, especially those with compromised immune systems and serious underlying illnesses and conditions, to “stay home as much as possible” and avoid attending events with big crowds. (Below is a sample of a full house at the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Overture Hall.)
Here is the full story — which also mentions other kinds of mass events such as movie theaters, mall shopping, sports events and religious services — from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/06/health/coronavirus-older-people-social-distancing/index.html
Moreover, the new guidelines apply nationwide — including here in Wisconsin where only one case has been confirmed and is now healthy– during the increasingly widespread, worldwide outbreak of confirmed cases and deaths.
The Ear wonders if the new advice will hit classical music especially hard because so much of the audience for it is made up of older people who are more vulnerable.
Will the guidelines affect your own attendance at concerts, even tonight and this weekend at the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Union Theater?
Will a lack of attendance and a more severe outbreak lead to empty concert halls and the cancellation of concerts? Refunds for seniors?
Will the guidelines lead to alternative ways of “attending” and hearing, such as live-streaming and other virtual attendance?
Pretty soon we should start hearing from music presenters and performers about their reactions, solutions and advice.
Meanwhile, here is a news story from The New York Times about what one string quartet did in Venice, Italy: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/arts/music/arts-coronavirus.html
Are you an older or vulnerable person?
Will you go to concerts or stay home?
What do you think presenters and performers should do to deal with the situation?
Please leave word about your plans and your thoughts.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BigCrowd, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CentersforDiseaseControl, #ChamberMusic, #CNNNews, #ConcertHall, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FullHouse, #HomeWebsite, #ImmuneSystem, #JacobStockinger, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MallShopping, #MovieTheaters, #NewsUpdate, #ReligiousServices, #SeniorCitizen, #SocialDistance, #SportsEvents, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VeniceItaly, #WisconsinUnionTheater, 60, adult, advice, advisory, alert, alternative, America, American, Arts, ask, audience, Beethoven, behavior, blog, cancel, cancellation, case, cases, CDC, Centers for Disease Control, Chamber music, church, Classical music, classicalmusic, CNN, compromised, Concert, concert hall, condition, confirm, confirmed, coronavirus, crowd, death, distance, empty, Facebook, forward, full house, games, guidelines, hearing, hit, Home, home website, idea, ill, illness, immune, immune system, isolate, isolation, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, know, large, like, live-stream, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mall, mall shopping, mass, movie theaters, Music, nationwide, new, New York City, news, online, opera, Orchestra, outbreak, Overture Center, performer, performers, plans, post, posting, presenter, prevention, quarantine, reaction, refund, Religion, religious services, senior, senior citizen, share, Shopping, sick, social, social distance, solution, Sports, spread, stay, story, String quartet, symphony, tag, The Ear, The New York Times, The U.S., theater, theatre, think, tonight, underlying, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Venice, virtual, virus, vulnerable, way, Website, weekend, widespread, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, word, worldwide, yesterday
Classical music: This 90-year-old Belgian classical pianist learned how to play slow movements by Mozart and Beethoven by hearing Ray Charles – and shows why The Ear likes the arts reporting on PBS and NPR
5 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Yesterday, I posted a disconcerting story from the Columbia Journalism Review about how most mainstream newspapers and traditional media are cutting way back on art coverage.
After all, runs the conventional wisdom, how can the arts compete with sports, politics and crime for attracting readers?
Here is a link to that post:
Well, that kind of mistaken thinking is one reason why The Ear likes to watch PBS and national Public Radio or NPR. Especially on the PBS NewsHour, you find terrific stories about and interviews with major figures in the fine arts and the performing arts.
PBS treats the arts as vital and essential, not ornamental or secondary.
A wonderful example happened this week on the segment called “Brief But Spectacular” in which people offer their thoughts about their own lives and careers.
In this case, it was Jean Stark — a 90-year-old Belgian-born woman who was an accomplished concertizing classical pianist. She performed in Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in New York City, and in halls around the world, and who talks about her life and career for PBS.
In the four-minute interview, she laments how classical music isn’t promoted these days and emphasizes how wonderful it was to be alive during the golden years of classical music with such great figures as composer-pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff and Sergei Prokofiev.
But, she confesses, for all her accomplishments she was unsatisfied with how she played slow movements of sonatas by Classical-era masters Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Until she came to the U.S. and went with a friend to a concert by Ray Charles.
Charles, she says, taught how to play slowly.
The Ear only wishes she had been more specific about the lessons she learned. Was it phrasing? Tempo? Accents? “Rubato,” or flexible timing?
It is a great, heart-warming story and typical of the kind of human interest arts coverage that you generally do not find on other television news channels, whether traditional networks like CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX or cable TV channels such as CNN and MSNBC.
So The Ear offers it as both an enjoyable and informative arts story, and as an endorsement of the PBS NewsHour and especially reporter Jeffrey Brown, who does such a terrific job of reporting on the arts.
Here is the segment, which you can find on YouTube, along with other recordings by Stark:
An after-thought: To the best of his knowledge, The Ear thinks that the music you hear her playing is the “Aeolian Harp” Etude in A-Flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1, by Frederic Chopin and part of the suite “Pour le piano” (For the Piano) by Claude Debussy.
What do you think of arts coverage on the mainstream media and on PBS?
What do you think Jean Stark learned from Ray Charles?
If you saw this story, how did it affect you?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: ABC, accents, adagio, Arts, Bartok, Beethoven, Belgium, Carnegie Hall, CBS, Chopin, Classical era, Classical music, CNN, Columbia Journalism Review, Debussy, etude, FOX, Jacob Stockinger, Jeffrey Brown, Ludwig van Beethoven, media, metronome, movement, Mozart, MSNBC, Music, National Public Radio, NBC, New York City, Newshour, NPR, PBS, PBS Newshour, phrasing, Piano, Prokofiev, Queen Elizabeth, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Ray Charles, rubato, Sonata, Suite, Television, Tempo, town hall, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Will the “death” of classical music be good for the future of classical music? Plus, today’s Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen features a fortepiano recital
3 Comments
ALERT: Trevor Stephenson, keyboardist and founder of the Madison Bach Musicians, will perform a solo recital on the fortepiano TODAY starting at 12:30 p.m. in Brittingham Gallery III of the Chazen Museum of Art at the UW-Madison.
The program includes works — sonatas and mazurkas, a fantasy and an impromptu — by Domenico Scarlatti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Frederic Chopin, Joseph Haydn and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.
Admission is FREE and the recital will be streamed live at the following website:
http://www.chazen.wisc.edu/about/news/press-releases/a-concert-by-trevor-stephenson-june-5
By Jacob Stockinger
This past week, two readers posted comments about the so-called Death of Classical Music.
One reader clearly lamented it and didn’t believe in it.
The other reader didn’t desire it, but seemed to accept it as a fact and remarked that the demise was classical music’s own fault due to conservative programming and other shortcomings in falling behind the times.
Along comes pianist Charlie Albright (below), a former prodigy from Seattle who was trained at the famed Juilliard School. (You can learn more about him in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Albright’s point of view is that the “death” of classical music might even be beneficial to classical music in the long run – at least if you are talking the “death” of classical music such as it is right now and has been in recent times.
Albright’s essay appeared on the CNN website and makes for interesting reading and food for thought.
At least The Ear thinks so.
Read it and see what you think.
Then share your thoughts and ideas about the death of classical music and Charlie Albright’s essay with The Ear and other readers.
Here is a link:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/29/opinions/classical-music-dying-and-being-reborn-opinion-albright/
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Chamber music, Charlie Albight, Chazen Museum of Art, Chopin, Classical music, CNN, fantasy, fortepiano, Haydn, impromptu, Jacob Stockinger, Juilliard School, Juilliard School of Music, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, mazurka, Mozart, Music, New York, New York City, Piano, prodigy, Scarlatti, Seattle, Sonata, Trevor Stephenson, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, YouTube
Classical music: Happy New Year to you from The Ear, from Beethoven and from Spain.
5 Comments
A REMINDER: The annual “New Year’s Day Concert From Vienna” (below) with the Vienna Philharmonic under conductor Franz Welser-Most and with TV host Julie Andrews will air this morning on NPR (and Wisconsin Public Radio) at 10 a.m. this morning with the TV version airing tonight on PBS (and Wisconsin Public Television) at 7 p.m. For more information and links to a play list of Strauss family waltzes and polkas plus works by Verdi and Wagner and lots of background, visit:
By Jacob Stockinger
Today, Jan. 1, 2013, is New Year’s Day.
The past year was not an easy year in so many ways.
Especially disappointing is the increasing polarization or partisanship one sees not only in the US but also around the world. I myself fear for the rise of right-wing fanaticism (often signaled by hatred of immigrants, a callousness toward social welfare and the oppression of minorities) in Greece and elsewhere because of economic situations. Economic strife often leads to war or other forms of strife and suffering. (Below is a CNN photo of an austerity protest riot in Greece.)
One can only hope for much better in 2013.
So that makes this “flash mob” performance of Beethoven (below) all the more appropriate and moving. It certainly was an emotional experience for and for the very old friend who sent it on to me — as well as for the more than 8 million viewers so far on YouTube.
It is the perfect piece – or, to be precise, the perfect excerpt of the perfect piece – in words and music — performed in a perfect way that was commissioned by Banco Sabadell in Barcelona to mark its 130th anniversary, I believe.
It is the “Ode to Joy” and finale from Beethoven’s famous Symphony No. 9 “Choral.”
What a great gift to all of us! So pass it on. Link to it. Forward it. Facebook or Twitter it. But see that other people you know and care about experience this flash mob video.
It gives one hope – especially at a time when Spain, like so many other countries, in undergoing the trials, tribulations and testing of austerity.
Judge for yourself – be sure to look at the facial expressions of the children and the ordinary people who just pass by and stop to take it all in. You can see that great music connects and bonds.
And let us know what you think by leaving something in the COMMENTS section.
Happy New Year to you! May Peace, Joy and Prosperity be in abundance in 2013.
Tags: Banco Sabadell, Barcelona, Beethoven, CNN, Facebook, Flashmob, Greece, Holiday, Joy, Julie Andrews, Ludwig van Beethoven, New Year, New Year's Day, NPR, Ode to Joy, Spain, Twitter, Vienna, Vienna Philharmonic, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Public Television, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Today is the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Here is disturbing music that sonically depicts the charred remains of the people and the city
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima (below) and the dawn of the Atomic Age.
On this Sunday, it will be the same anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki (below).
Whether you agree or disagree with President Harry S Truman’s decision to use nuclear weapons to end World War II between Japan and the United States, the disturbing music at the bottom uses sound to help the listener picture the charred remains of the people and the devastated cities, seen below in a photo from The New York Times.
It is hard to imagine music being used more descriptively than in this disturbing and even terrifying piece that has received more than 2 million views on YouTube.
“Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” was composed by the celebrated Polish composer Krzysztof Pederecki (1933-2020, below), who died just over four months ago. Here is a link to more information about the composer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzysztof_Penderecki
And here are some links to historical accounts of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing:
From cable TV channel CNN, here is an account of the two bombings in photos: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/world/gallery/hiroshima-nagasaki-atomic-bomb/index.html
Here, also from CNN, is an account of Tinian Island, the place where the bombings started: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/hiroshima-atomic-bomb-75th-anniversary-intl-hnk/index.html
Here is a comprehensive history about Hiroshima and its culture, both pre-bombing and post-bombing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima
There will be much more to see, hear and read today and this weekend on National Public Radio (NPR), on many TV news channels including the History Channel and on PBS (especially The Newshour), and in many newspapers as well as on the internet.
If you know of other noteworthy accounts, please leave the name with a link in the Comment section.
What do you think of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
And what do you think about the musical depiction?
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Tags: #AsianHistory, #AtomBomb, #AtomicAge, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CableTelevision, #CNNNews, #EnolaGay, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #HarrySTruman, #HistoryChannel, #JacobStockinger, #KrzysztofPenderecki, #NationalPublicRadio, #nuclearweapons, #PolishComposer, #PresidentTruman, #PublicBroadcastingSystem, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheInternet, #TheNewsHour, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheU.S., #ThrenodyfortheVictimsofHiroshima, #TinianIsland, #Wikipediaentry, #WorldWarII, #YouTubevideo, 75, account, agree, America, Americans, anniversary, Arts, Asia, atom bomb, atomic, Atomic Age, audience, blog, bomb, bombing, cable television, celebrated, channel, charred, city, Classical music, CNN, comment, composer, comprehensive, culture, dawn, dead, death, decision, depiction, descriptive, devastated, died, disagree, disturbing, Enola Gay, Facebook, fallout, first, forward, hard, Harry S Truman, hear, help, Hiroshima, historical, History, History Channel, imagine, information, Internet, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Krzysztof Penderecki, like, link, listener, Music, musical, National Public Radio, newspapers, NPR, nucelar, nuclear, Orchestra, PBS, Penderecki, People, photos, Picture, pictures, place, Poland, Polish, post, post-bombing, posting, pre-bombing, President, President Truman, Public Broadcasting System, radiation, read, reader, remains, section, see, share, Sound, start, string music, strings, Sunday, symphony, tag, Television, terrifying, The Ear, The New York Times, The Newshour, threnody, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, Tinian Island, Truman, TV, U.S., United States, victim, view, Viola, Violin, war, warfare, weekend, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, world, World War II, YouTube