The Well-Tempered Ear
The famed International Tchaikovsky Competition has been expelled from the World Federation of International Music Competitions
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By Jacob Stockinger
One of the granddaddies of all international music competitions — probably the best known and most prestigious — has been disowned.
The International Tchaikovsky Competition — the one that catapulted the young American pianist and first winner Van Cliburn (below, during the competition) to worldwide fame during the height of the Cold War, for which he received the only ticker tape parade in New York City ever given to a musician — has been expelled from the World Federation of International Music Competitions, which was founded in 1957 and represents 110 music competitions and programs to help young musicians build a career.
The move comes in response to recent events in Ukraine — including alleged Russian war crimes during its brutal, deadly and unprovoked invasion.
The famed Tchaikovsky Competition — which started in 1958 and is now for pianists, violinists, cellists, vocalists as well as woodwind and brass players — is held in Moscow and St. Petersburg and is financed and organized by the Russian government. It has launched the careers on many great musicians.
It is co-chaired by the discredited Russian conductor Valery Gergiev (below right, in 2014), a close friend and avid supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin (below left) and of the conflict in Ukraine.
The expulsion came about because the Tchaikovsky Competition refused to condemn the Russian invasion, as the federation requested.
Here is a link to the story that was published on the website Classical Music, an online publication of the BBC Music Magazine. It contains background on both the competition and the current state of affairs regarding Russian musicians and the Russian conflict in Ukraine. It has a lot of noteworthy links:
And here is the response from the organizers of the Russian competition, which takes place every four years. The 16th competition was held in 2019, and the 17th is still scheduled for 2023. (The announcement of the 2019 piano winners — by the Russian former piano winner Denis Matsuev, who has been boycotted because of Ukraine — is in the YouTube-Medici.TV video at the bottom.)
The response — which accuses the federation of “persecuting” Russian musicians and promises that it will be held as usual and remain open to contestants worldwide — is posted on the competition’s website:
https://tchaikovskycompetition.com/en/news/415.htm
It makes one wonder what the effects on the next Tchaikovsky competition will be.
Will potential jurors outside Russia boycott the competition?
Will non-Russian contestants — with the exception perhaps on Chinese and Belarusian performers — avoid participating?
And what will be the effect on the inaugural Rachmaninoff Competition for pianists, composers and conductors that is scheduled to take place this June in Moscow?
What do you think?
Is it the right call by the international federation?
Or the wrong call?
Why do you think so?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra will provide a welcome break on Election Night
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By Jacob Stockinger
If you find yourself needing some relief or a short break from vote counting and the barrage of election news this coming Tuesday night, Nov. 3, the masked and socially distanced UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) fits the bill.
The group’s refreshingly short, one-hour and intermission-free online video premiere begins at 7 p.m. CST on YouTube. There is no fee for watching the event in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the Hamel Music Center, although donations are welcome.
No in-person attendance is allowed.
The program features “Strum” (1981) by Jessie Montgomery (below, in a photo by Jiyang Chen); the famous and familiar Adagietto from the Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler (which you can hear with conductor Claudio Abbado in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the youthful Sinfonia No. 7 in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn, who wrote 13 of the string symphonies between the ages of 12 and 14.
Here is a direct link to the UW-Madison music school’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/TMNCy9qooCM
Just a personal note of appreciation and encouragement from The Ear: If you are a fan of orchestral music and pay attention to the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Middleton Community Orchestra, for example, then you owe to it yourself to become acquainted with the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra if you don’t already know it.
It is that good, as you can hear for yourself in this virtual concert during the pandemic. You will probably find yourself wanting to hear more.
The programs are outstanding and often feature neglected, modern and contemporary music as well as classic repertoire, and the playing is usually first-rate.
The orchestra sounds exceptionally good, often even professional, under its new conductor Oriol Sans (below), a native of Spain who arrived here last season from a post at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Sans has provided remarkable leadership both in the orchestra’s programs and in accompanying the University Opera productions and the UW Choral Union.
For more information, including the names of the orchestra’s members, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra-video-premiere/
If you listen to it, please let us know: What did you think?
Did the performances please or impress you?
Did you like or dislike the scheduling on Election Night?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BarcelonaSpain, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CentralStandardTime, #CentralTime, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralUnion, #ClaudioAbbado, #ContemporaryMusic, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DonaldTrump, #ElectionDay, #ElectionNight, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #GustavMahler, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #JessieMontgomery, #JoeBiden, #LivingComposers, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #ModernMusic, #NeglectedMusic, #NewMusic, #OnlineConcert, #OrchestralMusic, #OriolSans, #PresidentDonaldTrump, #SocialDistance, #SociallyDistanced, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheUW, #Tuesdaynight, #U.S.Congress, #U.S.Senate, #UniversityOfMichigan, #UniversityofMichigan-AnnArbor, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UW-MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #UWChoralUnion, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, accompany, acquainted, Adagietto, allow, appreciation, Arts, attendance, audience, ballot, Barcelona, barrage, bill, blog, break, Central Standard Time, channel, choral music, Choral Union, classic, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claudio Abbado, composer, Concert, conductor, Congress, contemporary, coronavirus, CST, Democrat, Democratic, Donald Trump, donation, Election, Election Day, Election Day (United States), encouragement, Facebook, familiar, famous, fan, federa;, fee, Felix Mendelssohn, first-rate, forward, free, Gustav Mahler, Hamel Music Center, hear, impress, information, intermission, Jacob Stockinger, Jessie Montgomery, Joe Biden, leadership, like, link, living composers, local, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mahler, mask, masked, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, members, Middleton Community Orchestra, modern, more, Music, names, need, neglected, new, New Music, night, note, online, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, Oriol Sans, owe, pandemic, personal, playing, please, poll, post, posting, premiere, President, President Donald Trump, presidential, production, professional, program, refreshing, regional, relief, remarkable, repertoire, repertory, Republican, Season, Senate, share, short, sinfonia, social distance, socially distanced, Spain, standard, state, string music, strum, Student, symphony, tag, Teacher, The Ear, Tuesday night, United States, University of Michigan, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, US, UW, UW Choral Union, UW-Madison, UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra, virtual, vocal music, vote, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, you, yourself, YouTube, YouTube channel, YouTube video
Classical music: University Opera announces a new season that is politically and socially relevant to today. The two shows are a virtual revue of Marc Blitzstein and a live operatic version of “The Crucible.”
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By Jacob Stockinger
David Ronis (below), the director of the University Opera at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, has posted the following notice about its upcoming season on social media.
The award-winning Ronis is known for being creative both in programming and staging. The new season is yet another example of that. It features one virtual original production about an American composer to see and hear online, and two live performances of a mid-20th century American opera.
Both works seem especially pertinent and cautionary, given the times we currently live in in the U.S.
Here are the details:
FINALLY!!!
Things have fallen into place for the University Opera 2020-21 season and we are happy to announce our productions:
“I Wish It So: Marc Blitzstein — the Man in His Music”
“A biographical pastiche featuring songs and ensembles from Marc Blitzstein’s shows, spoken excerpts from his letters and working notes, and a narration.
“Oct. 23, 2020
8 p.m. Video Release
____________________________________________________________________________________
“The Crucible” (1961)
Music by Robert Ward
Libretto by Bernard Stambler
Based on the 1953 play by Arthur Miller
March 19 and 21, 2021
Shannon Hall, Wisconsin Union Theater
_____________________________________________________________________________________
We will post more information as we get it. For now, we are very excited about both projects! Stay tuned.”
(Editor’s note: To stay tuned, go to: https://www.facebook.com/UniversityOpera/)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
And what does The Ear think?
The revue of Marc Blitzstein seems a perfect choice for Madison since his papers and manuscripts are located at the Wisconsin Historical Society. For details, go to: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-us0035an
Focusing on Blitzstein (1905-1964) also seems an especially politically relevant choice since he was a pro-labor union activist whose “The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles,” was shut down by the Works Progress Administration of the federal government.
For more about Blitzstein (below in 1938) and his career, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Blitzstein
“The Crucible” also seems an especially timely choice. In its day the original play about the Salem witch trials was seen as a historical parable and parallel of McCarthyism and the Republican witch hunt for Communists.
Read about the Salem witch trials here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
Now that we are seeing a time when Democrats and others with progressive ideas are accused of being radical leftists, socialists and destructive revolutionaries, its relevance has come round again. Like McCarthy, President Donald Trump relies on winning elections by generating fear and denigrating opponents.
For more about the operatic version of “The Crucible” (below, in a production at the University of Northern Iowa) — which was commissioned by the New York City Opera and won both a Pulitzer Prize and the New York Music Critics Circle Award in 1962 — go to this Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crucible_(opera)
You can hear the musically accessible opening and John’s aria, from Act II, in the YouTube video at the bottom. For more about composer Robert Ward (1917-2013, below), go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ward_(composer)
What do you think of the new University Opera season?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #20thCentury, #AmericanComposer, #ArthurMiller, #BernardStambler, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChoralMusic, #CityofMadison, #CommissionedMusic, #DavidRonis, #DonaldTrump, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FederalGovernment, #JacobStockinger, #LaborUnion, #LivePerformance, #MadisonWisconsin, #MarcBlitzstein, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NewYorkCityOpera, #NewYorkMusicCriticsCircle, #NorthernIllinoisUniversity, #OperaLibretto, #OrsonWelles, #PoliticallyRelevant, #PresidentTrump, #PulitzerPrize, #RobertWard, #SalemWitchTrials, #Sen.JosephMcCarthy, #ShannonHall, #SocialActivist, #SociallyRelevant, #SocialMedia, #SpokenWord, #staytuned, #TheCradleWillRock, #TheCrucible, #TheEar, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinHistoricalSociety, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WitchHunt, #WorkingNotes, #WorksProgressAdministration, #YouTubevideo, 2020-21, 20th-century, 20th-century music, accessible, act, activist, American, archive, archives, aria, Arthur Miller, Arts, audience, award, award-winning, Bernard Stambler, biographical, blog, career, choice, choral music, citstion, Classical music, commission, Communism, Communist, composer, creative, cuationary, current, current events, David Ronis, Democrat, Democratic, denigrate, denigration, destructive, details, digital, direct, director, Donald Trump, drama, Election, ensemble, era, excerpts, excited, Facebook, fear, federal, federal government, finally, forward, government, hear, historical, hunt, ideas, insult, Jacob Stockinger, labor union, left, leftist, letter, libretto, like, link, live, located, Madison, man, manuscript, manuscripts, Marc Blitzstein, McCarthyism, Mead Witter School of Music, Music, narration, narrator, new, New York City Opera, New York Music Critics Circle, Northern Illinois University, notes, notice, online, opera, Orchestra, original, Orson Welles, paper, papers, parable, parallel, pastiche, perfect, performance, performer, pertinent, play, political, post, posting, President, President Donald Trump, President Trump, pro, production, programming, progressive, project, Pulitzer Prize, radical, release, relevant, Republican, revoltuion, revolutionaries, revolutionary, revue, Robert Ward, Salem, Salem Witch Trials, Season, see, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, senator, Shannon Hall, share, show, shows, shut down, shutdown, sing, singer, Singing, social, social media, socialism, socialist, song, spoken, stage, staging, stay, stay tuned, tag, The Cradle Will Rock, The Crucible, The Ear, theater, theatre, things, time, timely, Trump, Trumpism, tuned, U.S. Senator, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, upcoming, UW, UW-Madison, video, virtual, vocal music, we, Wikipedia, win, winning, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin Union Theater, wish, witch, witch hunt, working, working notes, Works Progress Administration, WPA, YouTube
Classical music: Does Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” reveal anything about Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump”?
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By Jacob Stockinger
For generations, the conquests of the legendary Don Juan were treated as seductions.
But were they really rape?
The question is important in considering the masterpiece opera “ Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
One blog writer for slate.com – Bonnie Gordon, who teaches a class on music and gender at the University of Virginia — draws a link between the charismatic historic nobleman and the current charges of “womanizing” and allegations of sexual assault made against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (below).
She doesn’t bring up whether the same discussion applies to former Democratic President Bill Clinton, but it doesn’t seem a stretch.
She raises questions about what is sexual assault, seduction and rape – and how the definitions of a “rape culture” have changed over time and depending on whether it comes from a man’s or a woman’s point of view.
She pegged her essay to LAST weekend’s broadcast performance of the opera by “Live From the Met in HD” with Simon Keenlyside in the title role. In the YouTube video at the bottom, with English subtitles, Don Juan’s servant Leporello sings an aria about his master’s thousands of “conquests.”
But despite the week that has passed since the broadcast of the production, to The Ear the essay still seems relevant as the national election approaches.
Here is a link to that essay:
What do you think about the essay and its main argument or point?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: aria, Arts, Bill Clinton, blog, candidate, catalog, catalogue, Classical music, course, culture, Democrat, Democratic, Don Giovanni, Don JUan, Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Election, English, gender, History, Jacob Stockinger, Leporello, Madison, man, men, Met Live in HD, Metropolitan Opera, Mozart, Music, national, New York City, noble, opera, Orchestra, Politics, President, presidential nominee, rape, Republican, Republican Party, seduction, servant, sex, sexual assault, Simon Keenlyside, Slate.com, subtitles, United States, University of Virginia, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, woman, womanizing, women, YouTube
Classical music: Women conductors speak out about breaking the glass ceiling with a baton
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By Jacob Stockinger
The time has finally come!
It has been, in fact, long overdue.
The candidacy of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee to be President of the United States is a historic first.
And it is generating a lot of buzz about breaking glass ceilings in politics and elsewhere.
So it seemed very timely when The New York Times reported on women conductors at a conference-festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. The pioneering American woman conductor Marin Alsop (below), who heads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, is among them.
Among the younger generation included is the Finnish conductor Susanna Malkki (below), who is taking over as the Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra this month. (You can hear her discuss her inaugural season in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is a link to the story and interviews with four female conductors. They offer some terrific advice and many memorable anecdotes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/arts/music/female-conductors-lucerne-festival.html?_r=0
Tags: America, Arts, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven, choral music, Classical music, concerto, conductors, conference, Debussy, Democrat, Democratic, female, festival, Finland, Finnish, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Hillary Clinton, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Lucerne, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Maestro, Marin Alsop, Music, New York Times, nominee, Orchestra, President, Ravel, Susanna Malkki, Switzerland, symphony, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, Viola, Violin, women, YouTube
Classical music: Female classical musicians are coerced to sex up their image, says star violinist Nicola Benedetti
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear loves all the talk about female equality happening at the Democratic National Convention this week.
It seems only fitting, after all, given that Hillary Rodham Clinton last night became the first female presidential nominee of a major political party in the U.S.
Now, you might think that culture and especially the arts lead the way in such progressive matters.
And sometimes they do.
But not always.
In a story in the newspaper The Daily Mail, published in the United Kingdom, Scottish star violinist Nicola Benedetti (below) says that female classical musicians are still coerced to “sex it up” to have major careers. (Y0u can hear another interview with her in the YouTube video at the bottom. She seems both charming and candid.)
NIcola Benedetti
PIcture:- Decca/Simon Fowler
Hmmm. Sounds almost like an appropriate story at a time when conservative political genius and news director Roger Ailes was forced to leave his Fox News job because of multiple allegations of sexual harassment.
Benedetti cites her own career as an example, and also the case of singer Charlotte Church (below), who had to wear sexy lingerie in a crossover video.
It sure sounds like sexism is alive and well in the world of classical music.
Here is a link to a story with Benedetti’s charges.
Read it and see what you think:
Then tell the rest of us what your opinion is.
And if you know of other examples.
The Ear recalls a sexed up album cover for American violinist Lara St. John (below) who, on a recording of solo works by Johann Sebastian Bach, used her instrument to conceal her bare breasts.
Let us know what you think.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, breast, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, conservative, crossover, Democratic, Democratic National Convention, England, Fox News, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lata St. John, lingerie, Madison, Music, Nicola Benedetti, progressive, Roger Ailes, Scotland, Scottish, sex, Sexism, sexual harassment, sexy, singer, The Daily Mail, UK, United Kingdom, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Violin, vocal music, YouTube
Classical music: What kinds of classical music and classical composers do the presidential candidates like?
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ALERT: This Sunday night’s concert of new music for woodwinds and piano composed by UW-Madison professor of saxophone Les Thimmig, with UW-Madison pianist Jessica Johnson, has been CANCELLED.
By Jacob Stockinger
Tonight is the last debate for the Republicans before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday. It takes place at 7 p.m. CST in Manchester, and will be broadcast on ABC-TV.
This past week also saw both a town hall meeting and a debate between the Democrats – their last before the primary election (below, in a photo by Getty Images).
Here’s a question no one has asked them during the debates: What kind of classical music do you like?
I know, I know. The question has little relevance and little popularity.
But still.
The Ear is happy that the famed New York City radio station WQXR listed such preferences in its blog.
The Ear notes a couple of trends.
No specific pieces were named.
No sonatas or concertos, no symphonies or operas.
All the names of composers were extremely mainstream except for Arcangelo Corelli by Dr. Ben Carson (below), who also named Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. Others mentioned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, March 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS HEALTH)
Bernie Sanders’ preferred composer echoes his own populist and defiantly anti-establishment, even rabble-rousing, sentiments. Can you guess which composer he favors?
Why is The Ear not surprised that Hillary Clinton remains vague about composers and pieces, but says YES of course she likes classical music and even has it on her iPod.
And former businesswoman Carly Fiorina (below, in a photo by Politifact) surprises one with her youthful plan to be a professional musician, a concert pianist. Does she still play? The Ear wants to ask.
The Ear also wonders:
Does Evangelical Ted Cruz consider classical music frivolous or even sinful?
Does the Cuban background of Marco Rubio feel ethnically distant from European classical music?
And what about Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich and especially Donald Trump?
The Ear bets that country music, rock and pop music draw many more voters and gets many more votes.
But doesn’t anyone else think that the irresistible opening thee of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony would be a great dramatic call to arms for a candidate?
But who knows for sure?
Anyway, here is a link tot he WQXR story:
http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/classical-music-presidential-campaign-trail/
Now, The Ear doesn’t expect that this survey will change anyone’s vote.
Still, it is interesting as a sidelight to the much bigger and much more important issues confronting the candidates and the electorate.
And perhaps more specifics about their taste in music will emerge during the rest of the primary campaign and the then the general election.
Their individual culture quotients must matter for something.
What are your reactions?
What do you think?
Let us know.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: ABC-TV, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Ben Carson, Bernie Sanders, Carly Fiorina, Chamber music, Chris Christie, Classical music, composer, Corelli, culture, debate, Democratic, Donald Trump, Election, Fifth Symphony, General election, Jacob Stockinger, Jeb Bush, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Kasich, List of classical music composers by era, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Manchester, Marco Rubio, Mozart, New Hampshire, New Music, New York City, opera, Piano, President, presidential candidates, primary, Republican, Republican Party United States, Saxophone, Sonata, symphony, Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven), Ted Cruz, town hall, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, woodwinds
Classical music: Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson talks about the classical music he likes. It includes Schubert and Rossini, and Baroque composers Bach, Vivaldi and Corelli
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By Jacob Stockinger
Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson has been in the news this week as his campaign flounders with the loss of its manager, deputy manager and communications director, who all resigned.
A while back, The Ear complained about too little attention being paid to the arts by the candidates and questioners during the Republican and Democratic presidential debates.
Here is a link to the posting:
But now Dr. Ben Carson (below) – whose politics seem downright bizarre to The Ear – has indeed talked about classical music, including the music he listened to, and made others listen to, in the operating room.
Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, March 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
True, in this interview he doesn’t talk about funding the arts. And one must assume that his conservative, small government policies would probably undermine any support for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).
The Ear guesses, perhaps wrongly, that Dr. Ben Carson is or will be a defender of defunding.
But at least it is a start. And given his earlier comments and complaints, The Ear feels obliged to be honest and pass it along:
And in honor of Carson — who especially loves the Baroque composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli — here is a YouTube recording of one of his favorites: the Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” by Franz Schubert as performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the late music director and conductor George Solti:
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Ben Carson, candidate, candidates, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Classical era, Classical music, Compact Disc, Corelli, Democratic, Dr. Ben Carson, Franz Schubert, hymns, Jacob Stockinger, Music, National Endowment for the Arts, opera, Orchestra, Overture, presidential, Republican, Romanticism, sing, String quartet, Unfinished Symphony, United States, Vivaldi, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Presidential debates should include questions about funding and supporting the arts and humanities
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By Jacob Stockinger
Well, well.
Tomorrow night — from 7 to 9 p.m. CDT on CNBC — there will be another presidential debate.
The always astonishing and amazing Republicans, led by the always astonishing and amazing Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson, will debate in Boulder, Colorado.
The Ear has watched three presidential debates so far — two Republican and one Democratic.
But he still has no idea of where the various candidates on both sides stand when it comes to government support of the arts –- including music — and the humanities.
Please tell us, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, what you think?
And you too, Donald Trump and Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum and Chris Christie and Jeb Bush and Rand Paul and John Kasich and ….
Do you want to defund PBS?
Or defund NPR?
Or will you support these important and historic cultural commitments? Why or why not?
Along the same lines, do you want to defund, sustain or enhance the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities?
Why or why not?
Some funny reasoning is going on here. Some of the candidates want to eliminate all subsidies to the arts, which are a form of economic development after all – at a time when a lot of conservatives don’t mind funding big rich corporations in the same name of economic development.
The arts create a lot of jobs and spark a lot of spending and stimulus. Or don’t the culture-challenged charlatans realize that?
Stop and think a minute about the local situation. The Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Overture Center (below), public schools, the University of Wisconsin and its School of Music — all rely in part on public funding. They employ a lot of people and generate a lot of value.
Don’t these issues deserve a public airing? Doesn’t the arts consuming public have a right to know where the various candidates stand on these issues? Shouldn’t voters know what they might be getting in those areas?
As The Ear understand its, one flank of the attack has to do with the so called left-leaning liberal or progressive bias and politics of PBS and NPR.
Plus, there is the view that the art that public taxpayer money is helping to create doesn’t defend the so-called family values that the most radically conservative Republicans and Christian fundamentalists and Evangelicals want defended.
The other flank of the attack has to do with the stance that government should be smaller and that therefore should be funding less in general.
Makes you wonder just how the radical “freedom coalition” and Tea Party people in South Carolina, Texas and California feel about having a smaller government when it comes to providing aid for victims of torrential floods and devastating wildfires. And how is that kind of help for those in need different from funding education or health care?
AUSTIN, TX – MAY 25, 2015
Extreme flooding takes place in Austin, Texas May 25, 2015.
(Photo by Drew Anthony Smith/Getty Images)
Anyway, wouldn’t it be appropriate for some of the panelists to question the candidates on the issues pertaining to the arts and humanities?
The Ear is reminded of Sir Winston Churchill’s comment during World War II. Some members of the British Parliament asked him if funding for the arts shouldn’t be cut and used instead to fight Hitler and the Nazis. He said no and added, “Then what would we be fighting for?”
Tell the Ear what you think. Leave a COMMENT.
Maybe, just maybe, someone else will read it and pass it along and we will finally get a substantive discussion from the candidates about where they stand on arts and humanities funding by the federal government.
Tags: Arts, Ben Carson, Bernie Sanders, Boulder, California, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie, Christian, Classical music, Colorado, conservative, corporations, Democratic, Democratic Party (United States), Donald Trump, economic development, Evangelicals, family values, fire, floods, Freedom Caucus, Freedom Coalition, fundamentalism, Hillary Clinton, Hitler, Jacob Stockinger, Jeb Bush, left, leftist, liberal, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Nazis, Nazism, NPR, Overture Center, PBS, Politics, presidential debate, progressive, public schools, Rand Paul, Republican, Republican Party United States, Rick Santorum, South Carolina, Tea Party, Ted Cruz, Texas, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Winston Churchill, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, World War II, YouTube
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: The timing and political climate could not be more relevant for seeing the Madison Opera’s production of “Fellow Travelers” this Friday night and Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
You might recall from a previous blog posting that this weekend, the Madison Opera will present its production of the 2016 opera “Fellow Travelers.”
(A preview from the Minnesota Opera’s production, which featured the same sets and many of the same singers at the Madison Opera’s production, can be seen in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Performances are this Friday night, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9, at 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
Here is a link to more background and details about American history, the production, the cast and tickets.
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/01/14/classical-music-background-discussions-lectures-and-documentaries-lead-up-to-madison-operas-production-of-the-new-lgbtq-themed-opera-fellow-travelers-on-feb-7-and-9/
Today, all The Ear wants to do is to point out how timely this story about the “Lavender Scare” of purging and punishing gays during the Red Scare, anti-Communist witch hunt of McCarthyism in the late 1940s and 1950s.
The opera’s story is about a young man (below) who supports Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and then finds himself romantically and sexually attracted to another man who works in the State Department, one of McCarthy’s favorite targets.
He then has to deal with hypocrisy, with the contradictions between his personal life and his political beliefs as he goes from being victimizer to victim.
The political climate for such a work exploring fear and prejudice couldn’t be more relevant .
A lot of the credit for that can go directly to President Donald Trump (below), the master of “Fake News.”
Trump is a right-wing fear-monger and name-smearer, constantly raging against “radical left-wing Democrats.” He has even called Sen. Bernie Sanders — a Democratic candidate for president — a “Communist,” even though Sanders describes himself as a democratic Socialist along the lines of Western European socialists.
It is also no secret that in addition to such unfair and insulting name-calling, Trump and his homophobic supporters – including Vice President Mike Pence and Christian Fundamentalists – are looking to roll back the civil rights and human rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
And they want to do so even at a time when an openly gay man who is married, Pete Buttigieg, is running for president and seems to have just won the Iowa caucuses.
Moreover, there is a direct link between McCarthyism and the homophobia of the Liar-in-Chief.
Remember that McCarthy’ lawyer was a closeted and self-hating gay man named Roy Cohn (below right, with McCarthy). There is some evidence that McCarthy himself was secretly homosexual too.
After the humiliating end of the Army-McCarthy hearings and the premature death of McCarthy, Cohn went into private practice in New York City.
And that is where Cohn became the lawyer – and a role model of thuggish public behavior — for a young real estate developer named Donald Trump (below left, with Roy Cohn).
Such partisan times as the present seem to call for and inspire didactic art – better called “message art.” The Ear hasn’t seen the opera yet, so he can’t say how well it fits the bill.
But at first glance, the opera sure seems to fit the times we live in and the personalities of many of those who determine such a disturbing political and social climate. As The Nation magazine put it, “Trumpism is the New McCarthyism.”
In short, the opera’s plot seems both pertinent and realistic, one that could take place in today’s Washington, D.C.
The Ear is anxious to find out more and to make up his own mind, including about the music to be sung by the cast and played by the Madison Symphony Orchestra under conductor John DeMain.
He also hopes many of you will see the opera, and then leave your reactions and comments here, be they positive or negative.
The Ear wants to hear.
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