The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The 7th annual Handel Aria Competition, which has grown in international stature and ties, will take place this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall. Here are the 7 finalists and more information
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The final round of the seventh annual Handel Aria Competition will be held on this Friday night, June 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. (Below is soprano Suzanne Karpov, the winner last year. You can hear her prize-winning performance in the YouTube video at the bottom. To whet your appetite, you can also find many other outstanding competition performances from past years on YouTube.)
As in recent years, the accompaniment will be provided by the Madison Bach Musicians (below), a period instrument Baroque music ensemble under the direction of harpsichordist Trevor Stephenson that uses historically informed performance practices.
Tickets will be $15 each for general admission, and will be available at the door.
The seven finalists were chosen from a field of 100 singers from five countries.
Three prizes are awarded by the guest judges, and the audience also gets to award its own prize — which doesn’t always agree with the judges.
The finalists are (below, from the upper left):
- Emily Yocum Black, soprano
- Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone
- Katherine Cecelia Peck, soprano
- Scott J. Brunscheen, tenor
- Sarah Moyer, soprano
- Morgan Balfour, soprano
- Ryne Cherry, baritone
To read extensive biographies about each of these singers, go to the competition’s home website.
There is other important news to announce. The competition has a new director, Wisconsin native Sarah Brailey (below), a soprano who is pursuing graduate work at the UW-Madison while maintaining a busy concert schedule and blossoming career. She is also a co-founder of the free monthly Just Bach midday concerts that started this past season.
Read her biography and be impressed: https://sarahbrailey.com/about/
This year also saw the competition foster music education with its first showcase concert by high school singers performing Handel arias at the Capitol Lakes Retirement Community near the Capitol Square.
Finally, an international link has been established.
There is a new cooperative initiative with the esteemed London Handel Festival! The first prize winner of this year’s Handel Aria Competition will be invited to give a lunchtime recital in London at Handel’s own parish church, St. George’s in Hanover Square, next spring. (It is contingent, of course, on being able to coordinate the singer’s schedule with that of the London Handel Festival.)
The winner will receive a travel grant of up to $750, and the London Handel Festival will provide a home stay, professional accompaniment and even a small stipend.
The Handel Festival in London, now in its 18th year, was one of the inspirations in starting the Handel Aria Competition in the U.S.
Tags: #BaritoneSinger, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOpera, #BassBaritone, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolLakes, #CapitolLakesRetirementCenter, #CapitolSquare, #ChristianChurch, #EmilyYocumBlack, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Fridaynight, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GraduateStudent, #GraduateStudies, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HanoverSquare, #HighSchool, #HighSchoolSingersShowcase, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #HomePage, #HomeWebpage, #HomeWebsite, #JohannSebastianBach, #JonathanWoody, #JustBach, #KatherineCeceliaPeck, #LondonEngland, #LondonHandelFestival, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddayConcert, #MusicEducation, #OperaAria, #OperaSinger, #PeriodInstrument, #Prize-Winning, #ProfessionalMusician, #RyneCherry, #SarahBrailey, #SarahMoyer, #ScottJ.Brunscheen, #SopranoSinger, #St.George, #SuzanneKarpov, #TenorSinger, #TheU.S., #TrevorStephenson, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, 100, accompaniment, agree, annual, appetite, aria, Arts, audience, award, baritone, Baroque, Baroque music, bass-baritone, blog, Capitol Lakes, Capitol Lakes Retirement Center, Capitol Square, career, Cello, Chamber music, church, Classical music, co-founder, community, Competition, composer, Concert, conductor, cooperative, countries, country, direction, director, Early music, Emily Yocum Black, ensemble, esteem, extensive, Facebook, finalist, first prize, free, Friday, George Frideric Handel, graduate, guest, Handel Aria Competition, harpsichord, high school, historically informed performance practices, Home, important, initiative, inspiration, international, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Woody, judge, June, Just Bach, Katherine Cecelia Peck, like, link, London, London Handel Festival, lunchtime, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Midday, monthly, MorganBalfour, Music, Music education, Musician, native, news, night, number, numerology, opera, Orchestra, parish, past, performer, period instruments, prize, professional, provide, pursuing, recital, Retirement, Ryne Cherry, Sarah Brailey, Sarah Moyer, schedule, Scott J. Brunscheen, Season, share, showcase, singer, singers, something, soprano, special, stay, stipend, studies, Suzanne Karpov, tag, tenor, travel, Trevor Stephenson, U.S., UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Website, whet, win, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, work, years, YouTube
Classical music: Saturday afternoon, Live From the Met in HD closes this season with an acclaimed production of “Dialogues of the Carmelites.” Here is a background story, two rave reviews, and next season’s 10 operas
2 Comments
ALERT:The Brass Choirs of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will present an afternoon of brass music this Saturday afternoon, May 11, at 2:30 p.m. in Mills Concert Hall, 455 North Park Street, in Madison. Directed by Tom Curry, the program features brass musicians from WYSO’s Concert, Philharmonia and Youth Orchestras. The concert is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLC. Music to be played is by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Giovanni Gabrieli, Charles Gounod, Edward Elgar, Paul Hindemith, Alan Hovahaness and Karel Husa.
CORRECTION: The Madison Youth Choirs will perform its “Legacy” concerts this weekend in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center on Saturday and Sunday — NOT Friday, as mistakenly listed and then corrected in the original post, which is below: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/05/08/classical-music-the-madison-youth-choirs-will-explore-the-theme-of-legacy-in-three-concerts-this-saturday-and-sunday-in-the-capitol-theater-of-the-overture-center/
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday afternoon, May 11, the last production of this season’s “Live From the Met in HD” series, broadcast worldwide via satellite to cinemas, is Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites.”
By all accounts, it would be hard to end on a higher, stronger or more darkly dramatic note, given the outstanding music and performance of the score as well as the superb acting. (There is a brief preview of short scenes in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The world premiere of the opera took place in 1957 at La Scala in Milan, Italy. One of the most successful operas of the later decades of the 20th century, “Dialogues of the Carmelites” is a rare case of a modern work that is equally esteemed by audiences and experts, according to program notes from the Metropolitan Opera.
The opera focuses on a young member of the order of Carmelite nuns, the aristocratic Blanche de la Force, who must overcome a pathological timidity in order to answer her life’s calling. The score reflects key aspects of its composer’s personality: Francis Poulenc (below) was an urbane Parisian with a profound mystical dimension, and the opera addresses both the characters’ internal lives and their external realities.
The opera takes place between 1789 and 1794 in Paris and in the town of Compiègne in northeastern France, the site of the Carmelite nuns’ convent.
Its historical basis is the martyrdom of a group of 16 Carmelite nuns and lay sisters from Compiègne, who chose to offer themselves as victims for the restoration of peace to France during the French Revolution.
The Met uses the classic John Dexter production of Poulenc’s devastating story of faith and martyrdom.
Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard (below right) sings the touching role of Blanche and soprano Karita Mattila (below left), a legend in her own time, returns to the Met as the Prioress.
The conductor for the performance is the Met’s highly acclaimed new music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who also leads the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal.
The high-definition broadcast of the live performance from the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City starts at noon and runs until 3:10 p.m. with two intermissions. (It will also air at noon on Wisconsin Public Radio.)
The encore HD showings are next Wednesday, May 15, at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The opera will be sung in French with supertitles in English, German and Spanish.
Tickets for Saturday broadcasts are $24 for adults and $22 for seniors and children under 13. For encore showings, all tickets are $18.
The cinemas where the opera can be seen are two Marcus Cinemas: the Point Cinema on the far west side of Madison (608 833-3980) and the Palace Cinema (608 242-2100) in Sun Prairie.
Here is a link to the Marcus website for addresses and more information. You can also use them to purchase tickets:
https://www.movietickets.com/movies
Here is a link to the Metropolitan Opera’s website where you can find the titles, dates, casts, production information and video clips of all 10 productions this past season — PLUS an announcement, with dates and titles, for next season’s 10 productions (which feature five new productions but no Verdi):
https://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/
Here is a background story that focuses on the French-Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who leads the orchestra in this production and is the new music director of the Metropolitan Opera:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/arts/music/met-opera-dialogues-des-carmelites.html
Here is a rave review of “Dialogues of the Carmelites” by senior classical music critic Anthony Tommasini for The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/arts/music/dialogues-des-carmelites-met-opera-review.html
And here is another rave review from New York Classical Review:
http://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2019/05/met-closes-season-with-a-riveting-devastating-carmelites/
Here are links to a synopsis and program notes:
https://www.metopera.org/discover/synopses/dialogues-des-carmelites/
https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/dialogues-des-carmelites/
And here is a Wikipedia history of the hi-def broadcast series that gives you more information about how many cinemas it uses, the enormous size of the worldwide audience – now including Russia, China and Israel — and how much money it makes for The Met.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Opera_Live_in_HD
Tags: #20thCentury, #AlanHovhaness, #AlbanBerg, #AnthonyTommasini, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOpera, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #BrassChoir, #BrassMusic, #CapitolTheater, #CatholicReligion, #CharlesGounod, #ChinaBroadcast, #ChristianReligion, #DialoguesoftheCarmelites, #EdwardElgar, #EnglishLanguage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrancisPoulenc, #FrenchCanadian, #FrenchLanguage, #FrenchMusic, #FrenchRevolution, #GaetanoDonizetti, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GermanLanguage, #GiacomoPuccini, #GiovanniGabrieli, #GiuseppeVerdi, #Hi-Definition, #HomeWebsite, #IsabelLeonard, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnDexter, #JulesMassenet, #KarelHusa, #KaritaMattila, #LaScala, #LiveFrom the MetinHD, #LivePerformance, #MadamaButterfly, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #Marcus, #MarcusTheaters, #MarcusTheatres, #MetLiveinHD, #MetropolitanOpera, #MetropolitanOperaLiveinHD, #MetropolitanOrchestraofMontreal, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MilanItaly, #MontrealCanada, #MovieTheater, #MusicCritic, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkClassicalReview, #OperaMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PalaceCinema, #ParisFrance, #PaulHindemith, #PhiladelphiaOrchestra, #PhiladelphiaPennsylvania, #PhilharmoniaOrchestra, #PhilipGlass, #PointCinema, #PorgyandBess, #ProgramNotes, #RichardWagner, #RomanCatholicism, #SopranoSinger, #SpanishLanguage, #SunPrairie, #TheFlyingDutchman, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WorldPremiere, #YannickNezet-Seguin, #YouthOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, address, afternoon, Agrippina, air, Alan Hovhaness, Alban Berg, alert, Anthony Tommasini, aristocratic, Arts, aspect, audience, background, Baroque, basis, blog, brass, brass choir, Broadcast, calling, Capitol Theater, Carmelite, cast, Charles Gounod, China, choral music, Christian, Christianity, cinema, classic, Classical music, composer, conductor, convent, correction, dark, darkly, date, decade, devastating, dialogue, Dialogues of the Carmelites, dimension, Donizetti, drama, dramatic, Edward Elgar, encore, end, English, enormous, equal, esteem, expert, experts, external, Facebook, faith, forward, France, Francis Poulenc, free, French, French language, French Revolution, French-Canadian, georgegershwin, German language, Gershwin, Giovanni Gabrieli, global, Handel, HD, hi def, high, historical, History, information, inner, intermission, Isabel Leonard, Israel, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Dexter, Karel Husa, Karita Mattila, key, La Scala, language, last, lay, legend, like, link, Live From The Met in HD, live performance, Madama Butterfly, Madison, Madison Youth Choirs, Manon, martyr, martyrdom, Massenet, member, Met Live in HD, Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal, Mezzo-soprano, Milan, modern, money, Montreal, more, Movie theater, Music, music critic, Music director, Music education, mystical, new, New York City, New York Classical Review, New York Times, Nobel Peace Prize, noon, note, nun, opera, Orchestra, order, outer, outstanding, overcome, Overture Center, Palace Cinema, Paris, Parisian, pathological, Paul Hindemith, peace, Pennsylvania, performer, personality, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philharmonia, Philip Glass, Point Cinema, Porgy and Bess, preview, prioress, production, profound, program notes, public, Puccini, purchase, rave, realities, reality, Religion, restoration, review, role, Roman Catholicism, Russia, satellite, satellite broadcast, Saturday, scene, score, Season, share, short, showing, sisters, size, soprano, Spanish, story, strong, successful, Sun Prairie, sung, superb, supertitle, synopsis, tag, The Flying Dutchman, the Met, The New York Times, theatre, time, timid, timidity, title, Tosca, touching, Turandot, United States, urbane, Verdi, victim, victims, vocal music, Wagner, Website, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, work, world premiere, worldwide, Wozzeck, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, you, young, Youth Orchestra, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
| welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ann Boyer on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 