The Well-Tempered Ear
The New York Times music critics pick 10 online concerts and operas to watch through the month of November
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
Classical music critics for The New York Times have again listed their picks of virtual and online concerts that will be streamed during the month of November, starting this Sunday, Nov. 1, and running right through Nov. 30. In September, they did the same for the month of October.
The list of 10 highlights includes chamber music, orchestral music and operas as well as lots of new music, world premieres of commissions and even the Cliburn International Piano Competition, now known simply as The Cliburn.
Most of the events are posted and available for quite a while.
Note that all times are Eastern and that on this Sunday, Nov. 1, daylight saving ends.
As the critics point out, the list may be especially helpful and enjoyable now that the weather is turning colder, people are isolating at home during the nationwide spikes in coronavirus cases, and concert halls remain closed to the public.
Well-known institutions such as The Metropolitan Opera (below) and the Los Angeles Opera are featured. (You can sample an earlier Met production of Philip Glass’ “Satyagraha” – about the early life of Gandhi — in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
So are symphony orchestras from Detroit, Seattle, San Francisco and Cincinnati.
And pianist Igor Levit (below top), who this past year released the highly praised, award-winning complete cycle of 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven and who was named Artist of the Year by Gramophone magazine, is also featured, as is the outstanding Chicago-based violinist Jennifer Koh (below bottom, in a photo by the Los Angeles Times).
Here is a link to the story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/arts/music/classical-music-stream.html
What do you think of the choices?
Do you have other concerts or classical music events to add to the list?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #18thCentury, #African-AmericanComposer, #AnthonyDavis, #AnthonyMcGill, #BangonaCan, #BeethovenPianoSonatas, #BeethovenYear, #BerlinGermany, #BlackComposer, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonModernOrchestraProject, #BrettDean, #CarlVine, #CassieWieland, #CelloConcerto, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberOpera, #ChevalierdeSaint-Georges, #ChoralMusic, #CincinnatiOhio, #CincinnatiSymphonyOrchetsra, #ClaudeDebussy, #CommissionedMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DavidRobertson, #DaylightSaving, #DetroitMichigan, #DetroitSymphonyOrchestra, #ElectionDay, #EllenReid, #Esa-PekkaSalonen, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FerruccioBusoni, #FlorencePrice, #folksongs, #FranzSchubert, #FredericRzewski, #GramophoneMagazine, #IgorLevit, #JacobStockinger, #JamesConlon, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #JordanNelson, #JosephBoulogne, #JuliaHagen, #JuliaPerry, #KevChoice, #LiveStreaming, #LosAngelesCalifornia, #LosAngelesOpera, #LouisLangree, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeredithMonk, #MetropolitanOpera, #MinimalistMusic, #Mirandawarning, #MusicCritic, #MusicDirector, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #NewYorkTimes, #NicoMuhly, #OnlineConcert, #OrchestralMusic, #PhilipGlass, #PianoMusic, #PianoSonata, #PulitzerPrize, #RoscoeMitchell, #SanFranciscoSymphony, #SeattleSymphony, #SethParkerWoods, #SocialDistancing, #SouthAfrica, #SouthAsia, #SouthKorea, #StandardTime, #StevenLin, #SteveReich, #StringQuartet, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TheAnonymousLover, #TheCliburn, #TheEar, #TheMet, #ThomasKocheff, #TrackMusic, #TyshawnSorey, #UnfinishedSymphony, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #VickyChow, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinMusic, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WigmoreHall, #WorldPremiere, #XianZhang, #YouHavetheRighttoRemainSilent, #YouTubevideo, 18th century, acclaimed, African American, Anthony Davis, Anthony McGill, arrangement, Arts, asian, audience, available, award, Bach, Bang on a Can, Beethoven, Beethoven piano sonatas, Beethoven Year, Berlin, birthday, black, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Boston, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Brett Dean, Busoni, California, cancel, Carl Vine, Cassie Wieland, cellist, Cello, Cello Concerto, Chamber music, chamber opera, Chevalier de Saint Georges, China, Chinese, choral music, Cincinnati, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, clarinet, clarinetist, clarinettist, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claude Debussy, colder, commissions, company, Competition, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, coronavirus, counterpoint, David Robertson, Daylight Saving, Debussy, December, Detroit, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, early, Election Day, Ellen Reid, enjoyable, Esa-Pekka Salonen, event, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, Fantasia, Ferruccio Busoni, Florence Price, forward, Franz Schubert, Frederic Rzewski, Gandhi, Germany, Gramophone (magazine), helpful, highlight, Home, hymn, Igor Levit, improvisatory, India, institution, instrumentalist, insurrection, isolating, Jacob Stockinger, James Conlon, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, Jordan Nelson, Joseph Boulogne, Julia Hagen, Julia Perry, Kev Choice, known, Korea, Korean, Korean musician, life, like, link, list, livestream, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Opera, Louis Langrée, Ludwig van Beethoven, masterpiece, Meredith Monk, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Michigan, minimalist music, Miranda warning, monk, month, music critic, Music director, nationwide, New Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, Nico Muhly, October, Ohio, online, opera, option, Orchestra, orchestral music, pandemic, People, performer, Philip Glass, Pianist, Piano, piano music, Piano sonata, pick, Politics, postpone, production, program, Pulitzer Prize, resident, Roscoe Mitchell, running, San Francisco, San Francisco Symphony, Satyagraha, Schubert, Seattle, Seattle Symphony, Septemeber, Seth Parker Woods, share, singer, social distance, soloist, Sonata, song, South Africa, South Asia, spike, spriritual, standard time, starting, Steve Reich, Steven Lin, stream, String quartet, subscriber, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, testament, The Anonymous Lover, The Cliburn, The Ear, the Met, The New York Times, Thomas Kocheff, time, track record, turn, Tyshawn Sorey, Unfinished Symphony, United States, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Vicky Chow, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, virtual, vocal music, weather, well-known, Wigmore Hall, winner, world premiere, Xian Zhang, YouTube
Classical music: Sergei Pavlov is named the new artistic director and conductor of the Festival Choir of Madison as well as the new Director of Choral Activities at Edgewood College.
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following news release:
The Festival Choir of Madison is delighted to announce the appointment of Sergei Pavlov (below) as its new artistic director beginning with the 2015-16 season.
Pavlov will also join the faculty of Edgewood College this fall as their new Director of Choral Activities after serving as adjunct choral director during the 2014-15 school year. He succeeds Albert Pinsonneault, who has taken a position with Northwestern University in Illinois.
Pavlov’s past professional experience includes conducting positions, among others, with the opera program at the University of Illinois in Urbana; Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina; the Théatre du Châtelet in Paris; the Classic FM Radio Symphony and Choir in Sofia, Bulgaria; National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado.; and the Teatro Nacional Sucre and Coro Mixto Ciudad de Quito in Quito, Ecuador. (In a YouTube video at the bottom you can hear Sergei Pavlov discussing in fluent Spanish Charles Gounod’s opera “Faust” when it was produced in Quito, Ecuador.)
A native of Sofia, Bulgaria, Sergei Pavlov moved to the United States in 2004 and completed a Master of Music in 2007 and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting in 2011 at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
About his new position with the Festival Choir of Madison (below), Pavlov says: “I am excited to become part of a community with wonderful musical and choral traditions. Madison is a vibrant, modern city with great culture, and the Festival Choir has a unique place in the cultural scene of Wisconsin’s capital.”
The Festival Choir of Madison is a mixed-voice choir of singers from all walks of life. Established in 1973, the choir has commissioned works from outstanding living composers while also performing many favorites of the choral repertoire.
Rehearsals are held Monday evenings from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Ave. For information about the Festival Choir and about joining the choir for the 2015-16 season, please see the choir’s website at http://festivalchoirmadison.org/
Tags: Arts, Bulgaria, Charles Gounod, choral music, Classical music, Colorado, commissions, Ecuador, Edgewood College, Faust, Festival Choir, France, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Music, Northwestern University, opera, Paris, Quito, Sergei Pavlov, Spoleto Festival, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: You Must Hear This: Violinist Hilary Hahn plays “Mercy” by Max Richter
4 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
One of the gems in the 27 encores that violinist Hilary Hahn commissioned from 27 different composers a couple of years ago is “Mercy” by the German-born British composer Max Richter.
Hahn has played here several times, mostly at the Wisconsin Union Theater but also with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Although Max Richter’s Minimalist music has not been played in Madison as far as The Ear remembers, you might already know his name from the popular recording of his take on Vivaldi in “The Four Seasons Recomposed” or his more ambitious and most current project “Sleep,” which provides music for eight and a half hours of sleeping.
But The Ear confesses he had not heard this moving miniature called “Mercy” until recently, even though Hahn recorded it along with the other 26 encores with pianist Cory Smithe.
He likes it.
And so apparently do a lot of other listeners.
So it is something that is well worth using five minutes of your time to sample.
Write your comments, positive or negative, below.
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #AntonioVivaldi, #CorySmythe, #GreatBritain, #HilaryHahn, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MaxRichter, #TheFourSeasons, #UnitedKingdom, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinMusic, #WisconsinUnionTheater, ambitious, Arts, British, Chamber music, Classical music, comment, commission, commissions, composer, Cory Smythe, current, encore, gem, German, Germany, Hilary Hahn, Jacob Stockinger, listener, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Max Richter, mercy, miniature, minimalism, Music, name, negative, Orchestra, Pianist, Piano, positive, project, recording, sample, Sleep, sleeping, The Four Seasons, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, YouTube