The Well-Tempered Ear
Ukraine’s most famous living composer is now a war refugee in Germany
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By Jacob Stockinger
He fights and defends his native country with beautiful sounds.
Ukraine’s most famous living composer has had to flee his war-torn country and — like some 3 million fellow Ukrainians in various other countries — is now living as a a war refugee in Germany.
He is Valentin Sylvestrov (below), 84, and has survived both World War II and the Nazi occupation as well as the Soviet rule experiencing democracy and freedom after the fall of the USSR and now the devastating Russian invasion five weeks ago.
The irony is that his music, which The Ear can’t recall ever hearing performed live in Madison — although Wisconsin Public Radio recently featured a beautiful choral work — seems calming and peaceful, even consoling.(Please correct me if I am mistaken.) Many people compare him to the style of Arvo Pärt, his Eastern European contemporary and colleague in Estonia.
Little wonder that his works have found a new popularity in worldwide concerts as the world hopes for the survival and victory of Ukraine — below is Ukraine’s flag — over Vladimir’s Putin’s army and war crimes.
His works have been particularly popular at fundraisers and memorials. They underscore the long history and importance of Ukraine’s tradition of making music, which has been recounted in the news features you find in the press, on TV, on radio and elsewhere in the media including live streams and recorded videos other media, especially the Internet.
As far as The Ear can tell, his most popular work in the concert hall these days is his hauntingly beautiful 1937 “Prayer for Ukraine.” You can hear it, in an orchestra version, in a YouTube video at the bottom.
As background here are two different interviews with the distressed and saddened Sylvestrov in exile.
The first interview, from The New York Times, is by a professor at Arizona State University who has published a book on postwar Eastern European composers and offers links to more works: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/arts/music/valentin-silvestrov-ukraine-war.html
The other interview is from the German media outlet Deutsche Welle, translated into English and featuring current photos: https://www.dw.com/en/ukrainian-composer-valentin-silvestrov-what-are-you-kremlin-devils-doing/a-61158308
The tragic occasion of the war in Ukraine could be the event that brings the soul-stirring music of Sylvestrov to a larger global public.
He certainly deserves it — along with some live performances here — and The Ear certainly plans on posting more of his music.
Have you heard the music of Valentin Sylvestrov?
Do you have favorite works from his piano music, chamber music, choral music and many symphonies?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Meet Alexander Gonzalez, the new assistant band director at the UW-Madison who is also a UW alumnus
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following press release from the UW-Madison about its new assistant band director. Like many of his musician colleagues at the UW-Madison, he is likely to see his duties curtailed because of the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.
After the completion of a national search, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music is pleased to announce the hiring of Alexander Gonzalez (below, in a photo by Robb McCormick) as the new assistant director of bands.
Gonzalez will conduct the Tuesday Night University Band, assist the University of Wisconsin Marching Band, direct the Men’s Hockey Band, and teach courses in conducting.
Gonzalez comes to Wisconsin after studying conducting at Ohio State University as a Doctorate of Musical Arts candidate, where he worked with all concert ensembles and the marching band. Alongside his studies, he was the director of the Professional School Orchestra and taught conducting at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music.
“We are thrilled to welcome Alexander and his wife Haley to the University of Wisconsin Marching Band family,” said Associate Director of Bands Corey Pompey (below). “Alexander is a supremely gifted musician and pedagogue whose role is integral to the success of our band program. He is thoughtful, engaging and direct. Our students will benefit in immeasurable ways from what he has to offer.”
Prior to his studies in Ohio, Gonzalez was a public school educator in Colorado and Florida, where he taught an array of courses at middle school and high school levels.
While participating in his Master’s degree in Wind Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he was the director of the Middleton High School Symphony Orchestra’s Wind Octet and worked in education and community outreach with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Alexander Gonzalez conducting the UW-Madison’s University Band in Michael J. Miller’s “Tribute for Band” in Mills Hall in 2014.)
“I am beyond excited to return to a place I consider home,” said Gonzalez (below). “The bands at UW-Madison were integral in forming the educator I am today. And I am equally excited to create a musical environment where present and future students can feel as loved, challenged and respected as I did.”
Gonzalez holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Florida and is an active member in the National Association for Music Education, the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.
“Professor Gonzalez brings with him a wealth of knowledge from his background in teaching music at the public school and college levels,” said Director of Bands Scott Teeple (below). “He is an extraordinary musician, pedagogue and individual. Alexander’s contributions to the UW Band program and the Mead Witter School of Music will deepen the musical experiences of our students. We consider ourselves fortunate to have him as a member of our team.”
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Classical music: Salon Piano Series again postpones two final concerts for 2019-20. Programs for Spring 2021 will be announced soon
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By Jacob Stockinger
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post from the directors of the Salon Piano Series:
Although it likely will come as no surprise, we are saddened to announce that Salon Piano Series — like so many of our concert colleagues everywhere — must take a pause in our recital series.
We delayed our last two concerts of the 2019-20 season until late summer. It’s clear now that even late summer is too soon to re-open the doors of our intimate performance hall. The safety of our artists, audience, supporters, and staff is our first concern.
These are uncertain times, but we want to assure you that we are looking ahead to reschedule classical pianist Drew Petersen (below top) and jazz pianist Bill Charlap (below bottom), and we plan to announce the exciting performers we’ve scheduled for spring 2021 events very soon. (Editor’s Note: in the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Drew Petersen play Chopin’s Ballade No. 4.)
Until then, we hope that you continue to support the mission of the Salon Piano Series as we weather this storm.
We ask you to keep your Petersen and Charlap tickets and we will honor them when we are able to resume the series. If that won’t work please consider donating them (which is tax-deductible) to Salon Piano Series. However, if you need a ticket refund, please check below for instructions on how to proceed.
Salon Piano Series is dedicated to preserving the intimacy and intensity of the recital experience. We bring you world-class artists performing on superbly restored instruments, offering some of the greatest piano repertoire in the world, from timeless classics to lesser-known works.
We eagerly await the day when we can safely gather together and bring back these masterful concerts. Contributions are welcome at any time, and will help ensure the vitality of our organization.
In the meantime, we extend our best wishes for your health and safety, and look forward to seeing you again as soon as it’s possible.
With appreciation,
SPS Board of Directors
Refunds
If you would like a refund immediately, please follow the instructions below and specify which concerts you are requesting a refund for. For refunds issued through Salon Piano Series, please allow several business days for processing.
Paper Tickets
Please take a photo of your ticket and email the photo to cristofori@salonpianoseries.org explaining that you would like a refund.
Online Tickets
If the ticket is not part of a season ticket, email Brown Paper Tickets at refunds@brownpapertickets.com. Please be sure to include your order confirmation number. Brown Paper Tickets’ refund processing is significantly delayed; however, all refunds will be honored in full.
If your ticket is part of a season ticket, contact Salon Piano Series at 608-271-2626. Refunds for season ticket holders will be issued through Salon Piano Series by check, not through Brown Paper Tickets.
Tickets Ordered by Phone
If you purchased a ticket by phone, contact Salon Piano Series at 608-271-2626 to request a refund.
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Classical music: Legendary American cellist Lynn Harrell, who performed in Madison, is dead at 76
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By Jacob Stockinger
Legendary American cellist Lynn Harrell (below) died Monday at 76.
If his name sounds familiar, it could be because Harrell performed in Madison at least three times – twice with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (2007 and 2011), in concertos by Lalo and Victor Herbert, and a recital with pianist Yefim Bronfman at the Wisconsin Union Theater (1994).
No cause of death has yet been given, but various sources say it was unrelated to COVID-19 or the coronavirus pandemic.
To know more about his remarkable life and impressive career, go to his biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Harrell
Colleagues were quick to praise Harrell not only as a master musician – gifted with beautiful tone and sensitive, expressive interpretations — but also as a great teacher and a congenial man who made friends easily. He also cut promotional ads for National Public Radio (NPR) urging members to donate, as he himself did.
Here is an interview he did in 2011 with host Norman Gilliland for Wisconsin Public Radio:
https://www.wpr.org/shows/lynn-harrell
Here is a link to an obituary from The Violin Channel that features quotes from many musicians who admired Harrell:
https://theviolinchannel.com/cellist-lynn-harrell-has-passed-away-died-obituary-rip/
And here are tributes from many of his colleagues for British critic Norman Lebrecht’s blog “Slipped Disc”:
https://slippedisc.com/2020/04/lynn-harrell-tributes-pour-in/
A prodigy who made his Carnegie Hall debut at 17, Harrell, who studied at Juilliard and the Curtis Institute, was renowned internationally. He later taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
In 1994 he played a Papal Concert at the Vatican to mark the first commemoration and remembrance of the Holocaust. His performance there of Max Bruch’s “Kol Nidrei” for cello and orchestra can be seen and heard at the bottom in the most popular of Harrell’s many YouTube videos.
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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: This Saturday night, pianist Emanuel Ax returns to the Wisconsin Union Theater in an all-Beethoven recital, and also is in a FREE and PUBLIC Q&A that afternoon. That same night, UW-Madison professor Alicia Lee gives a free clarinet recital
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday night, Nov. 2, brings two separate but noteworthy recitals by Grammy-winning pianist Emanuel Ax and by UW-Madison clarinetist Alicia Lee.
Here are details:
EMANUEL AX
Emanuel Ax and Madison go way back.
Since 1974, the Wisconsin Union Theater has often seen Emanuel Ax (below, in a photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco) perform both as a soloist and a chamber musician with the legendary violinist Nathan Milstein and the superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who is also a close friend. (Ax has also performed with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra at the old Civic Center and with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in the Overture Center.)
This Saturday night, Nov. 2, Emanuel Ax returns again to help celebrate the centennial of the Union Theater’s Concert Series and to help kick off the Beethoven Year in 2020, which marks the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall with a pre-concert lecture, given by Andrea Fowler, a UW-Madison graduate student in musicology. Her lecture is at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s Play Circle.
The program centers on the first three piano sonatas, Op. 2, by Beethoven (below) plus two rarely heard sets of theme-and-variations. In addition, he will start the performance with the popular “Für Elise” Bagatelle known to so many piano students, their parents and the public. (You can hear “Für Elise” and see a graphic depiction of it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Tickets run from $15 for UW-Madison students to $70. For more information about tickets, Emanuel Ax, the program, sample reviews and links to Ax’s website, go to:
https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/emanuel-ax/
NOTE: This time, there will also be a special event as part of his appearance.
On Saturday afternoon from 1 to 2 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall at the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., Ax will participate in a FREE and public Q&A.
Here is a publicity blurb about that event: “Join us for a Q&A with Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax. Now is your chance to ask how he selects repertoire, what his practice schedule is like, if he has any pre-recital rituals, or whatever you would like to know!”
“This event is intended for UW-Madison students and UW campus community, however the Madison community is welcome.”
For more information about the Q&A, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/q-and-a-with-emanuel-ax/
ALICIA LEE
At 8 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall, UW-Madison clarinetist Alicia Lee (below), who also plays in the UW Wingra Wind Quintet, will give a FREE recital of chamber music.
The program includes music by Robert Schumann, Bela Bartok, Isang Yun, Eugene Bozza and Shulamit Ran.
Two faculty colleagues will join Lee: pianist Christopher Taylor and violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino.
For more information about the event, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/alicia-lee-faculty-clarinet/
For an extensive biography of Alicia Lee, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/alicia-lee/
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Classical music: TONIGHT one longtime, generous classical music patron honors another with a FREE public, all-Schubert memorial concert at Oakwood Village West
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By Jacob Stockinger
Think of it as a well-deserved, heart-felt homage that one longtime and generous patron of classical music is paying to another patron who also happened to be a close personal friend and a professional colleague.
The public is invited to join in the one-hour, FREE all-Schubert memorial concert at Oakwood Village West (University Woods), at 6205 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall, at 7 p.m. TONIGHT, Oct. 19.
Here is an invitation from retired University of Wisconsin-Madison chemist Kato Perlman (below) about the concert she is sponsoring and funding in memory of her close friends:
“Join flutist Iva Ugrcic (below top) and pianist Thomas J. Kasdorf (below middle) for a FREE All-Schubert Evening and enjoy the music from one of the greatest composers of the 19th century, Franz Schubert (1797-1828, below bottom).
“This concert is in memory of the late Irving and Millie Shain. Irv Shain (below) was a chemistry professor and then a long-serving Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, and a great supporter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
“He played the flute himself and these Schubert pieces belonged to some of his favorites for the flute.
“He also established, in addition to his long-running annual Beethoven piano sonata competition, a woodwind and piano competition. Both Iva Ugrcic and Thomas Kasdorf are previous winners.”
The program is:
Sonata in A Minor, D. 821 (“Arpeggione”)
Introduction and Variations on “Trockne Blumen” (Withered Flowers) from “Die Schöne Müllerin” (The Beautiful Miller’s Daughter), D. 802 (Op. 160)
Ständchen (“Serenade”) from Schubert’s final song cycle Schwanengesang (Swan Song), D. 957 (heard in the YouTube video below)
Tags: #19thCentury, #ArpeggioneSonata, #ArtsPatron, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #DieSchöneMüllerin, #DieSchoeneMullerin, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FluteMusic, #FranzSchubert, #IntroductionandVariations, #IrvingShain, #IvaUgrcic, #KatoPerlman, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MusicSchool, #OakwoodVillageWest, #One-Hour, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #PianoSonata, #SchoolofMusic, #SongCycle, #SwanSong, #SwanSongs, #TheEar, #ThemeAndVariations, #ThomasKasdorf, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityWoods, #VocalMusic, #WestTowneMall, #WoodwindMusic, #YouTubevideo, 19th century, Arpeggione sonata, Arts, arts patron, attract, audience, beautiful, Beethoven, belong, blog, Chamber music, chancellor, chemist, chemistry, Classical music, classicalmusic, close, colleague, Competition, composer, Concert, daughter, deceased, deserve, Die Schöne Müllerin, donor, enjoy, evening, extra, Facebook, favorite, final, flowers, flute, flutist, forward, Franz Schubert, free, friend, fund, funding, generosity, generous, great, heart, heart-felt, help, himself, homage, hour, introduction, introduction and variations, invitation, Irving Shain, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, join, Kato Perlman, late, like, link, long-running, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mead Witter School of Music, memorial, memory, miller, Music, music school, Oakwood Village, Oakwood Village West, patron, performer, personal, Pianist, Piano, Piano sonata, piece, post, posting, professional, professor, program, public, reader, retire, retired, Retirement, School of Music, Schubert, Schwanengesang, Serenade, share, side, Sonata, song, song cycle, sponsor, statement, subscriber, supporter, Swan Song, Swan Songs, tag, The Ear, theme and variations, Thomas Kasdorf, tonight, tribute, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Woods, UW, UW-Madison, UW-Madison School of Music, video, vocal music, well-deserved, west, west side, West Towne Mall, winner, winners, Wisconsin, withered, Woods, woodwind, YouTube
Classical music: Steve Kurr talks about his new work celebrating Middleton that will be premiered Wednesday night by the Middleton Community Orchestra alongside Mozart and Dvorak
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Wednesday night, Oct. 9, the mostly amateur but highly praised Middleton Community Orchestra (below) will open its 10th anniversary season, which is dedicated to retired critic John W. Barker for his help in championing the ensemble.
The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in the comfortable and acoustically excellent Middleton Performing Arts Center (below, in a photo by Brian Ruppert), which is attached to Middleton High School, 2100 Bristol Street.
Admission is $15 for the public, free for students. Tickets are available from the Willy Street Coop West and at the door. The box office opens at 6:30 p.m. Auditorium doors open at 7 p.m.
The appealing program features J.J. Koh (below), principal clarinet of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, as guest soloist in the beautiful and poignant Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the sublime slow movement, which may sound familiar from when it was used in the soundtrack to the film “Out of Africa.”)
Also on the program is the popular Symphony No. 9 – “From the New World” – by Antonin Dvorak.
But raising the curtain will be the world premiere of a work that was written specifically for this orchestra on this occasion in its own city.
The piece was composed by Steve Kurr, who teaches at Middleton High School and who is the resident conductor of the MCO.
For more information about the MCO’s season along with critical reviews and information about how to join it or support it and how to enter its new youth concerto competition, go to:
http://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
Kurr, below, will conduct the premiere of his own work, which he recently discussed via email with The Ear:
How much do you compose and why do you compose?
When I do compose, which is not often, it is usually with a specific event in mind. I have written several things for the musicians at Middleton High School, including a four-movement string symphony, a piece for a retiring colleague, and several works we have taken on tour.
In this case, the 10th season of the Middleton Community Orchestra provided a great reason to write. I always enjoy the process, but it can be time-consuming, so I don’t do it as often as I might like.
How does composing fit in with your teaching and conducting?
Most of the composing I do comes in the summer because it is when I can devote larger chunks of time. This new work was germinating in some form for several years, but almost all of the notes-on-the-page work came this past June.
How do you compose?
I approach composition in an analytical way, which will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. I think about structure early on in the process, both at the full work scale and in the smaller sections.
Most of my work comes on the computer in the notation software Finale, and some comes on the piano or on a string instrument.
I run ideas past my wife Nancy for her input and for this piece I also got a huge amount of advice and help from composer and MCO violist Neb Macura (below). (Thanks, Neb! You were invaluable!) Most of the melodic material came to me in the car on the way to school.
How would you describe your musical or tonal style?
I would say that my style is mostly tonal and not all that adventurous in terms of harmony. The fact that I have spent much of my musical career studying the works of the Classical and Romantic periods shows through. And yet you might find some moments that hint at more recent styles.
Can you briefly tell the public about the new piece to be premiered?
“Good Neighbors” is subtitled “Episodes for Orchestra” and the connected episodes describe various aspects of the Middleton community.
Episode 1 depicts the city of Middleton and its bustling energy within a small town feel. Episode 2 is about all of the water around, including the creeks, ponds and Lake Mendota. Episode 3 is the Good Neighbor Festival, appearing at the end of summer for so many years. Episode 4 describes the land around, including the rolling farmland, the driftless area, and the Ice Age Trail.
The final episode brings together tunes from the previous four, combining them to demonstrate that the Good Neighbor City is more than the sum of its parts. The opening theme shows up in several different versions throughout, including most notably the theme from Episode 4.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
At first I considered the endeavor almost self-indulgent as I set a piece of my own in front of the ensemble. Then I started to feel presumptuous. It is a humbling experience to see my name on a program with Mozart and Dvorak, two of my favorite composers.
It has been a terrific experience working with these fine musicians as we realize this new work together. My thanks go to them for their willingness to help me present this gift to the Middleton community.
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Classical music: Meet UW-Madison bassoonist Marc Vallon who performs with the Willy Street Chamber Players on Friday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
Who is Marc Vallon (below, in a photo by James Gill)?
This week, he is the bassoonist who will perform Franz Danzi’s Quartet for Bassoon and Strings in D minor, Op. 40, No. 2 (ca. 1820), this coming Friday night, July 19, with the acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players (below), who will also be joined by pianist Jason Kutz and violist Sharon Tenhundfeld..
(The concert is at 6 p.m. in Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight Street. The program includes: the Allegretto for Piano Trio by Ludwig van Beethoven (1812); “Dark Wood” by American composer Jennifer Higdon (2001); and the rarely heard String Quartet No. 1 (1948) by Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera. Admission is $15.)
A native of France, Vallon is one of the busiest musicians in Madison. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, where he also performs individually, with faculty and student colleagues, and as a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet. He also frequently performs and conducts Baroque music with the Madison Bach Musicians.
Vallon attended the Paris Conservatory, where he won first prizes in bassoon and chamber music, and also earned a philosopher degree at the Sorbonne or University of Paris.
A versatile musician, Vallon played with famed avant-garde French composer Pierre Boulez and for more than 20 years was the principal bassoon of the well-known Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. He has also performed with major modern orchestras and conductors as well as with many period-instrument groups.
He gives master classes worldwide and also composes.
For a more extended and detailed biography, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/faculty/marc-vallon/
Vallon recently did an email Q&A interview with The Ear:
What drew you to the bassoon (below) over, say, the piano or singing, over strings, brass or other woodwinds?
I played the piano as young kid but was not very interested in the mechanics of it, even if I had a strong passion for music. It was the day that my piano teacher brought to my lesson a friend of his to do a bassoon demo that I found the right medium for my passion.
I started practicing like a maniac and knew by the age of 14 that I was going to be a professional bassoonist.
What would you like the public to know about the bassoon, perhaps about the challenges of playing it and about the repertoire for it?
The bassoon does not offer more challenges than other wind instruments, but it is safe to say that an absolute perfectionist person should probably not play it.
It is an instrument capable of true beauties, yet it has its own character. You don’t conquer it, you work with it like you would work with a wonderful but temperamental colleague.
Bassoonists sometimes complain that our solo repertoire is not as rich in masterpieces as the clarinet’s or the flute’s. True, but in its 350 years of existence, the bassoon has amassed enough wonderful music to keep us busy for several lifetimes.
What would you like to tell the public about the specific Bassoon Quartet by Franz Danzi that you will perform, and about Danzi and his music in general?
The bassoon and strings quartet became popular in the last decades of the 18th century, a trend that lasted well into the Romantic era.
Sadly, many of these quartets are basically show-off pieces for the bassoonist while the strings players have to suffer through some often very dull accompaniment parts.
I like this one by Danzi (below) because it features the strings on the same musical level as the bassoon, creating an enjoyable musical conversation rather than a cocky bassoon monologue. (You can hear that musical conversation in the opening movement of the Bassoon Quartet by Danzi in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
As a performer and conductor, you are well–known for championing baroque music as well as modern and contemporary music. Do you have a preference? Do they feed each other in your experience?
What I always have enjoyed about playing contemporary music is the possibility to work with living composers because I often realized how flexible they are with their own music and how much they like the performer’s input. They’re often ready to compromise and veer away from the strict notation.
The approach when playing composers from the past is actually very similar in the sense that we have to remember how approximate music notation is. Baroque composers are not here anymore obviously, but the 17th and 18th centuries sources tell us clearly how much flexibility we, modern performers, have in our approach to their music.
When it comes to music pre-1800, we basically have a sketch on our music stands. I always want to remember this. (Below is a manuscript page of a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach.)
Do you have big projects coming up next season?
Always! I am putting together a contemporary program on March 27 in our new concert hall on campus. It is called ”Opening Statements” and will feature early works from major 20th-century composers.
On period instruments, I have Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio,” Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” and more Bach on my calendar.
Is there something else you would like to say?
A big Thank You to you, Jake, for being such a relentless and informed advocate of the Madison musical scene!
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: After a year recovering from an injury, Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang says he has become a more serious musician
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Chinese pianist Lang Lang (below) has long been popular, a best-selling superstar and one of the most bankable players in the business.
Yet such was his flamboyant showmanship and self-indulgence that many of his colleagues and critics did not take him very seriously. Many thought of him more as the Liberace of the classical concert stage.
But then a serious injury to his left arm, tendonitis from over-practicing and straining, forced Lang Lang to take a year off to recover.
During that time he married. He worked with young children and music students, even funding a new piano lab. And he released a new CD (“Piano Book”) of short pieces that he has loved since his student days. (You can see Lang Lang coaching a young pianist about a Mozart sonata that played a pivotal role in his life during a master class in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Lang Lang now says that during that recovery period he rethought everything about his career and has made some major changes from practicing to performing.
And what seems to have emerged, at age 37, is a new approach that emphasizes more seriousness and regularity coupled with greater respect for the music he plays.
Time will tell – in both live and recorded performances — how much has really changed in Lang Lang’s approach to making music.
Nonetheless, the dramatic change was recounted recently in a comprehensive story in The New York Times, which even goes back to trace the pianist’s career, including failures, from his early childhood (below) in China.
Read it and see what you think.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/arts/music/lang-lang-piano.html
Then tell us in the Comment section if it has changed how you think about Lang Lang.
The Ear wants to hear.
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