The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Autumn arrives today. The Ear thinks Richard Strauss’ poignant orchestral song “September” is perfect for greeting Fall. What music would you choose?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Fall officially arrives today.
The autumnal equinox takes place at 2:50 a.m. CST.
If you listen to Wisconsin Public Radio, it’s a certainty that you will hear music appropriate to the season. WPR does these tie-ins very well and very reliably — even during a pledge drive.
At the top of the list will probably be the “Autumn” section of three violin concertos from the ever popular “The Four Seasons” by the Italian baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi.
But there are lots of others, including late songs, piano sonatas and chamber music by Franz Schubert; slow movements from symphonies by Gustav Mahler; and many of the “autumnal” late works by Johannes Brahms, especially the short piano pieces and chamber music such as the Clarinet Trio, Clarinet Quintet and the two sonatas for clarinet or viola and piano.
Here is a link to a YouTube video with more than two hours of autumn music. You can check out the composers and the pieces, some of which might be new to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fddGrDV2gw
And if you want less music with some unusual choices, complete with individual performances, try this much shorter compilation:
http://www.classical-music.com/article/best-classical-music-inspired-autumn
Yet this time of year, when the days end earlier and the mornings dawn later, one work in particular gets to The Ear: It is “Four Last Songs” by Richard Strauss (below), one of the great masterpieces of the 20th century.
The second of the four songs is “September” and fits the bill very nicely.
In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear it sung by Renée Fleming, who will perform a recital next spring in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater. She is accompanied by the Houston Symphony Orchestra under conductor Christoph Eschenbach.
Here are the lyrics of the poem, in which summertime is the protagonist, by Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse:
The garden is in mourning
Cool rain seeps into the flowers.
Summertime shudders,
quietly awaiting his end.
Golden leaf after leaf falls
from the tall acacia tree.
Summer smiles, astonished and feeble,
at his dying dream of a garden.
For just a while he tarries
beside the roses, yearning for repose.
Slowly he closes
his weary eyes.
Is the Ear the only person who wishes that the Madison Symphony Orchestra and maestro John DeMain, who has a gift for finding great young voices, would perform Strauss’ “Four Last Songs” some autumn?
With the right vocal soloist it could make for a memorable season-opening concert.
What music do you identity with the fall season?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #20thCentury, #AmericanMusician, #AutumnalEquinox, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChristophEschenbach, #ClarinetMusic, #ClarinetQuintet, #ClarinetSonata, #ClarinetTrio, #CompactDisc, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FourLastSongs, #GermanComposer, #GermanLanguage, #GermanWriter, #GustavMahler, #HermannHesse, #HoustonSymphony, #HoustonTexas, #ItalianBaroque, #italianComposer, #ItalianMusic, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnDeMain, #KurtMasur, #LeipzigGermany, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MusicalInterpretation, #NobelPrize, #OrchestralAccompaniment, #PianoMusic, #PianoPieces, #PianoSonata, #PledgeDrive, #RenéeFleming, #RichardStrauss, #SlowMovement, #SopranoSinger, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #TheFourSeasons, #ViolaSonata, #ViolinConcerto, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, accompaniment, American, appropriate, Arts, astonished, Autumn, autumnal, Baroque, beautiful, blog, Brahms, CD, Cello, Chamber music, choice, Christoph Eschenbach, clarinet, classic, Classical music, classicalmusic, close, Compact Disc, compilation, composer, concerto, conductor, dawn, day, diva, dream, drive, dying, Early music, equinox, eyes, Facebook, fall, feeble, forward, Four Last Songs, Franz Schubert, Garden, German, Germany, Gewandhaus, gift, golden, great, Gustav Mahler, hear, Hermann Hesse, Houston, Im Abendrot, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Jessye Norman, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, Kurt Masur, late, leaf, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, like, link, list, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, Mahler, masterpiece, mourning, Music, Nobel Prize, Orchestra, perfect, performer, Piano, piano music, pieces, pledge, pledge drive, poem, Poetry, popular, post, posting, protagonist, recital, recording, Renée Fleming, repose, Richard Strauss, rose, roses, Season, September, share, sing, singer, Slow movement, smiles, Sonata, song, soprano, Strauss, string music, sublime, summertime, sunset, symphony, tag, tears, Texas, The Ear, The Four Seasons, tie-in, tree, United States, unusual, Viola, Violin, Violin concerto, Vivaldi, vocal music, voice, weary, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, WPR, Writer, young, YouTube
Classical music: Famed opera diva Kiri Te Kanawa says she will not be singing in public anymore
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By Jacob Stockinger
It happened a year ago.
But since then Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (below), the celebrated soprano and opera diva, has kept her insight to herself: She would not sing again in any kind of public performance.
She is 73, so the news is not surprising.
But it is disappointing.
Much as The Ear admires superstar soprano Renée Fleming, he preferred Te Kanawa’s tone, phrasing and vibrato. He particularly liked her voice in operas and other music by Mozart, Puccini and Richard Strauss. (You can hear her in her prime singing the aria “O mio babbino caro” by Puccini in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
But whatever your preference, seeing such a career come to an end is a sad milestone, however inevitable.
Perhaps the best story about the New Zealand artist’s retirement that The Ear has seen came in The Guardian. Here is a link:
And here is a column about retirement in various fields, including professional sports, that praises Te Kanawa’s decision and timing:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/13/kiri-te-kanawa-bowed-out
Tags: aria, Arts, BBC, Classical music, column, Compact Disc, Diana, diva, insight, Jacob Stockinger, Kiri Te Kanawa, Mozart, Music, New Zealand, news, O mio bambino caro, opera, Orchestra, performance, phrase, phrasing, Princess Diana, Princess of Wales, professional, public, Puccini, Renée Fleming, Retirement, Richard Strauss, Royal Opera House, singer, Singing, song, soprano, sportd, Sports, superstar, The Guardian, The Marriage of Figaro, tone, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vibrato, voice, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Is she or isn’t she retiring from opera? Here is everything you want to know about superstar soprano Renée Fleming and the confusion over her future plans
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By Jacob Stockinger
Three recent stories tell you just about everything you could want to know about superstar soprano Renée Fleming (below), now 58, as she prepares to retire — at least partly retire — from the opera stage but still devote herself to music on and off the concert stage.
The first story came in The New York Times in a preview profile before her upcoming appearance as the aging Marschallin in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.” (You can hear some of her singing in that role in the YouTube link at the bottom.)
Here is a link to that story:
But just to eliminate any doubt about her leaving music altogether when she retires from singing and acting opera, Fleming also gave a long interview to Vanity Fair magazine in which she discusses her plans to still pursue music full-time as a recitalist, recording artist and someone working offstage to benefit opera and music, much as the famed Beverly Sills once did.
Here is a link to that story:
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/04/opera-legend-renee-fleming
And then Fleming also clarified some confusion in the Times story about her future plans in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR):
Tags: acting, age, aging, Arts, Beverly Sills, Classical music, Compact Disc, Concert, Der Rosenkavalier, diva, Fleming, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Music, National Public Radio, New York City, New York Times, NPR, opera, recital, recording, Renée Fleming, retire, Retirement, Richard Strauss, soprano, stage, superstar, The New York Times, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vanity Fair, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Former UW-Madison professor and soprano Julia Faulkner is named Director of Vocal Studies at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Many of us remember when, more than a decade ago, soprano Julia Faulkner returned from her noteworthy career in Europe, which included many major opera and orchestral appearances as well as recordings on the Naxos and Deutsche Grammophon labels, to her native Wisconsin.
Then, once settled at home, she started teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music as an instructor, as adjunct academic staff. Eventually, she joined the department as a junior faculty member.
Faulkner gave us many moments of pleasure when she performed at the UW-Madison and also with the Madison Opera and Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Two years ago, Faulkner went to do a guest teaching stint at the Ryan Opera School, an adjunct educational and professional development institution at the famous Lyric Opera of Chicago. Superstar diva Renée Fleming is an advisor to the school.
Now Faulkner is staying.
The gig is permanent and Faulkner is getting promoted.
This past week, Julia Faulkner was named Director of Vocal Studies at the school at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (below).
Here is a link to the story:
What can The Ear say?
Only: “Brava, bravissima!”
Plus, one can hope that Julia Faulkner’s departure is NOT a harbinger of things to come with other faculty and staff members under Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker‘s newly announced plan to implement huge cuts to the UW-Madison budget in exchange for more independence.
Anyway, listen to Julia Faulkner in her recording of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi‘s gloriously beautiful “Stabat Mater Dolorosa” in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Tags: Arts, Chicago, Classical music, Compact Disc, Deutsche Grammophon, diva, Jacob Stockinger, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, Naxos, opera, Orchestra, Pergolesi, Renée Fleming, Ryan Opera Center, soprano, Stabat Mater, Undergraduate education, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, YouTube
Classical music: Opera diva Deborah Voigt comes clean in her new memoir about her weight-loss surgery as well as her addictions to food, online dating and alcohol.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Talk about living a life that sounds like an opera.
Take opera diva Deborah Voigt (below).
Voigt is supremely talented.
And now it turns out that the opera star is also supremely honest. And boy, does she have some great stories to tell — stories that don’t always reflect well on the opera world, let alone herself.
In her new memoir, “Call Me Debbie: True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva,” the opera star talks about her childhood, her career, her gastric by-pass weight-loss surgery in 2004 and other problems including her abuse of alcohol, her dangerous relationships with men she met online and of course her relationships with food and music.
Here is pre-surgery Fat Debbie:
Here is post-surgery Thin Debbie, playing Brunnhilde in Richard Wagner‘s “Ring” cycle for the Metropolitan Opera:
Voigt also comes off as a thoughtful woman who does not shun her own individual responsibility for her problems, but who sees them in a social and even sexist context, such as the double standard in opera for heavy men like the legendary and obese tenor Luciano Pavarotti (below) and heavy women like herself.
The Ear offers you a roundup of reviews and interviews about the new book.
Here is an interview with Scott Simon on NPR or National Public Radio:
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/17/377503009/a-down-to-earth-diva-confronts-her-flaws-and-good-fortune
Here is a piece from The Wall Street Journal with a Q&A interview:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/opera-singer-deborah-voigt-an-anti-diva-bares-it-all-1421358335
Here is the take in the popular People magazine:
http://www.people.com/article/deborah-voigt-memoir-call-me-debbie-food-addiction
And here is a nitty-gritty account in The New York Post:
http://nypost.com/2015/01/11/too-fat-opera-singer-lost-the-weight-but-found-a-world-of-troubles/
But let’s not forget the talent and great voice that make all these other things noteworthy. So here is Deborah Voigt’s most popular video on YouTube:
Tags: Arts, Classical music, diet, diva, fat, gastric by-pass surgery, Jacob Stockinger, Luciano Pavarotti, Metropolitan Opera, Music, New York City, New York Post, NPR, opera, Pavarotti, People, Richard Wagner, soprano, The Ring, The Wall Street Journal, thin, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wall Street Journal, weight loss, YouTube
Classical music: The United States advances in the World Cup of soccer and The Ear advances to another great moment in music by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.
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By Jacob Stockinger
After its one-point loss to Germany, the U.S. soccer team will advance to the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup, which is being held in Brazil until July 13.
The next game for the U.S. is against Belgium on Tuesday.
Loyal fans of The Ear may recall that a week or so ago he decided the global soccer event being held in Brazil was a good opportunity to explore the music of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (below), whose music is beautiful and much too under-programmed and under-played here and elsewhere.
Here is a link to the original post that also featured the gorgeous Cantilena movement for soprano from the Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 that has been recorded by folk singer Joan Baez as well as opera divas Kiri Te Kanawa, Barbara Hendricks, Victoria de los Angeles and Kathleen Battle.
Here is another great moment in Villa-Lobos that I heard at the Cello Choir concert by the National Summer Cello Institute that was held this month at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
This moment comes from the Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1 in a YouTube video below. It is the third movement, the finale, that happens in fugal form and again shows how Heitor Villa-Lobos tried to adapt the compositional techniques of Johann Sebastian Bach to the folk music and native dance rhythms of Brazil. That was an ambitious project, to be sure, and one in which The Ear thinks the composer was surprisingly successful.
Enjoy as you prepare to root for Team U.S.A.
Tags: Arts, Bach, Bachianas Brasileiras, Barbara Hendricks, Baroque, Brazil, Brazilian music, Cello, cello choir, Chamber music, Classical music, counterpoint, dance, diva, FIFA, folk, Folk music, football, fugal, fugue, harmony, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Jacob Stockinger, Joan Baez, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kathleen Battle, Kiri Te Kanawa, Music, National Summer Cello Institute, opera, rhythm, singer, soccer, soprano, Sport, Sports, tune, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Victoria de los Angeles, Villa-Lobos, YouTube
Classical music: Superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel counters pianist Gabriele Montero and defends for art’s sake his remaining distant and quiet about the political and social protests in Venezuela.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Perhaps you have been seeing the many news reports about the major student-led political and social protests going on in Venezuela. They concern corruption, poverty, food shortages and the general ineptitude of Nicolas Maduro, the narrowly elected leader who followed the populist and leftist strong man Hugo Chavez after he died a year ago.
Then the protests spilled over into the artistic world.
Take the Venezuela-born pianist Gabriele Montero (below). You may recall that not long ago she played the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15, by Ludwig van Beethoven with the Madison Symphony Orchestra under John DeMain. She is also known for her improvisations, once of which she performed as an encore in Madison.
Montero has voiced a strong protest over the deadly upheaval in her native land.
She also called on her colleague, superstar conductor Gustavo Dudamel (below), who now leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as the student Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela, to speak up about what was happening in his homeland. When he didn’t, she took him to task and protested his silence or his tacit endorsement of the failing government.
Montero compared Dudamel handling of Venezuela to the election endorsements that two well-known Russian musicians with international reputations — conductor Valery Gergiev (below top on the right with Vladimir Putin) and opera diva Anna Netrebko (below bottom on the right with Putin) — gave to Russian President and former KGB agent Vladimir Putin. (Hmm–The Ear wonders how Gergiev and Netrebko stand on Ukraine and the Anschluss or illegal annexation of Crimea.) But that is another issue for another time and another post.
Here is an open letter that Montero wrote to Dudamel, as it was reprinted in British critic Norman Lebrecht’s blog “Slipped Disc”:
Dudamel has been silent or timid at best, and many have said it is because Hugo Chavez (below top, on the left with Gustavo Dudamel) and his successor Nicolas Maduro (below bottom) have both been generous to “el sistema,” the national music education program out of which Dudamel emerged. Many observers speculated that Dudamel was watching out for the interest of his young followers and successors.
Here is his letter response to Montero, also as it appear on Lebrecht’s blog:
But now Dudamel has spoken out forcefully and more at length, defending himself and saying that he intends to keep politics and arts separate.
Except that his removing himself from the controversy is itself political enough, and getting more so. The Ear recalls the saying of the 19-century Romantic French novelist Stendhal that speaking of politics in things of the imagination (like art) is like firing a gun in the middle of a concert.
Anyway, The Ear recently stumbled across a story by The Boston Globe that provided a very good wrap-up of Dudamel’s current position and also included an excellent chronology and summary of the background including Montero’s point of view and accusations.
Here is a link:
What do you think?
Should Gustavo Dudamel speak up about the protests and government killings in Venezuela?
Or should art and politics be kept separate?
Does this controversy change what you think of either pianist Gabriele Montero or conductor Gustavo Dudamel?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Anna Netrebko, Arts, Beethoven, Chamber music, Classical music, conductor, diva, Dudamel, Gabriele Montero, Gergiev, Gustavo Dudamel, Hugo Chávez, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maduro, Monrtero, Montero, Netrebko, Nicolas Maduro, Norman Lebrecht, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, Piano, President, Putin, Russia, Valery Gergiev, Venezuela, Vladimir Putin
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The Well-Tempered Ear 