The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: First Unitarian Society of Madison will give two performances this Sunday of the “German” Requiem by Brahms in the more intimate “London version” that featues duo-pianists instead of an orchestra
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By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Sunday, April 9, the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, will give two performances of the “German” Requiem, Op. 45, by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
Instead of an orchestra, the prize-winning duo-pianists Stanislava Varshavski and Diane Shapiro (below) will be featured.
The performances are at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Admission is a free will donation.
FUS music director Dan Broner (below), who will conduct the performance, explains:
“We are using the four-hand piano accompaniment and singing in English.
“However, we are including the fifth movement, with solo soprano, that was not included in the first London performance.
“More intimate than the orchestral version, the “London” version was a hit in New York City last season where they also had three performances of the “German” Requiem.”
NOTE: You can hear the first movement of the “London version” of the “German” Requiem in the YouTube video below.
Tags: A German Requiem (Brahms), Arts, Brahms, choral music, Classical music, conductor, Dan Broner, English, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Johannes Brahms, London, Madison, Music, Music director, New York City, Orchestra, Piano, Requiem, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Varshavski Shapiro Piano Duo, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The new year starts out on a sour note — Chopin’s favorite piano maker, the venerable Paris-based Pleyel, has gone out of business even while Steinway seems to have a bright future. Plus, violinist Kangwon Kim performs music by Brahms and Rochberg this Friday at noon for FREE.
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ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, to be held from 12:15 to 1 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of the historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive, features violinist Kangwon Kim (bel0w) with pianist and FUS music director Dan Broner in the Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78, by Johannes Brahmas and music for solo violin by the American composer George Rochberg.
By Jacob Stockinger
The past few days I have spent catching up with some leftovers from 2013. This is another one, though it could also be classified as opening the new year of 2014 with sad news.
The news is that Pleyel, the venerable Paris-based piano maker (below) that made the favorite pianos of composer Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) — and was the oldest piano maker in the world — has gone out of business. (You can hear Chopin’s famous Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23, performed an 1836 Pleyel in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Was too much attention paid to marketing and promotion? Not enough to building pianos? Did too much effort and money go to surface and not enough to substance? Check out this YouTube video from several years ago about Pleyel trying to go upscale:
Perhaps the story with piano makers is not unlike the problem that some orchestras are facing because too much money has gone into new facilities, refurbishing concert halls and raising conductors’ salaries rather than to the musicians.
Whatever the answer is, the fate is certainly different that what has been promised to the famous Steinway and Sons company by its new owner, billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson.
Here a link to the Steinway story I posted earlier:
And here is a link to the story about Pleyel, which Chopin (below) favored for its light touch and soft sound, as reported by Paris correspondent Eleanor Beardsley, one of my favorite NPR reporters.
It also features audio-visual clips with the superb Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska (below, who has recovered from a debilitating injury) playing an 1848 Chopin-vintage piano.
Perhaps it is similar to the Erard piano that American pianist Emanuel Ax used some years ago to record with the late Charles Mackerras Chopin’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 in E Minor and 2 in F minor (really his first concerto) on a period instrument:
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