The Well-Tempered Ear
The New York Times music critics suggest 10 must-hear online classical concerts during December
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By Jacob Stockinger
Tomorrow is Dec. 1, 2020.
Lately, at the end of every month the music critics for The New York Times publish a list of 10 virtual and online classical concerts for the following month that they think deserve special attention.
Often – but not always — their choices feature the unusual: new music and world premieres; neglected repertoire; and lesser-known performers that most of us are not likely to hear locally.
The December choices, for example, include an oratorio “Perle Noire” (Black Pearl), by composer Tyshawn Sorey, about the famous African-American, Paris-based expat dancer Josephine Baker – she of the banana skirt (below). But she was more than just a risqué dancer and entertainer. She fought in the French Resistance movement against the Nazis and was a civil rights champion.
But this list also includes seasonal fare such the holiday tradition by which the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performs in one night all six Brandenburg Concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach (you can hear an excerpt in the YouTube video at the bottom); and other holiday celebrations such as a concert by the early music vocal group Tenet (below, in a photo by Nan Melville.)
But those suggestions do not take away from more local efforts and performances.
The Ear is certain that those same critics would approve of supporting local musicians and music groups during the coronavirus pandemic.
And there are many local offerings. The Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, the Madison Bach Musicians and Just Bach all have virtual online concerts scheduled for December.
You can check out their offerings at their websites and here on this blog as the month unfolds.
But if the Times’ choices interest you – and they should — here is a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/arts/music/classical-music-stream-december.html
Note that the blurbs show Eastern Time but also include how long the performances are posted for and links to the organizations presenting the concerts.
Happy listening!
And Happy Holidays!
Do you have other online performances – local, regional, national or international — to suggest?
Please leave the necessary information in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: YOU MUST SEE AND HEAR THIS: Tap dancing to Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations
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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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear really likes the “Goldberg” Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach (below).
In fast, he probably owns more recordings of that work than of any other.
And The Ear also likes tap dancing – although for his life he could not do even the most basic moves.
But it would never occur to The Ear to combine tap dancing and the “Goldberg” Variations.
But it did occur to tap dancer Caleb Teicher and pianist Conrad Tao (below) who teamed up to do just that — at least for the opening aria and first variation of the epic work.
It’s not profound, but it sure is fun.
And thanks to the Deceptive Cadence blog on National Public Radio, you can see and hear the four-minute video, done at the Steinway Factory and presented by the New York Philharmonic, for yourself.
Here it is.
Enjoy it.
You can find some other tap dancing and other dancing to the Goldbergs on YouTube . But please let The Ear know of any similar combination between other works of classical music and tap dancing that you have seen or heard or thought of and can suggest.
The Ear wants to hear.
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