The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: UW-Madison cellist Parry Karp and his longtime collaborator pianist Eli Kalman perform a FREE mostly French recital this Thursday night

October 23, 2019
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. 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. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.

By Jacob Stockinger

The new Hamel Music Center, located at 740 University Avenue next to the newer wing of the Chazen Museum of Art, hasn’t even officially opened yet at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, but already it is beginning to feel like the new normal.

Adding to that feeling is a FREE chamber music recital at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday night, Oct. 24, in Collins Recital Hall.

The always-reliable performers and longtime music partners are UW-Madison cellist Parry Karp (below left), who is an artist-in-residence and the longest-serving member of the Pro Arte Quartet in its more than a century-long history; and collaborative pianist Eli Kalman (below right), who received his doctorate from the UW-Madison and now teaches at the UW-Oshkosh.

The modern program from the first half of the 20th century features mostly French music with some rarely heard works:

Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937, below) – Sonata in One Movement in F-sharp Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 46 (1922)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975, below) – Sonata in D Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 40 (1934)

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921, below)) – Sonata No. 2 in F Major for Cello and Piano, Op. 123 (1905). You can hear the opening movement in the YouTube video at the bottom.

For more information and extensive biographies of the performers, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/parry-karp-cello-with-eli-kalman-piano/


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Classical music: The adventurous Oakwood Chamber Players open their new ”Panorama” season of unusual repertoire this coming Saturday night and Sunday afternoon

September 13, 2019
3 Comments

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. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.

By Jacob Stockinger

How many of the composers’ names below do you recognize?

Probably very few, if you are like The Ear.

But here is your chance to explore new musical territory.

Over many years, the adventurous Oakwood Chamber Players (OCP) have built a reputation for first-rate performances of rarely heard repertoire, both old and new.

This year is no different.

The group will begin its new season — entitled Panoramawith performances on this coming Saturday night, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, Sept. 15, at 2 p.m.

Both concerts will be held at the Oakwood Village Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.

Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks — no credit cards — at the door: $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors and $5 for students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com for more information.

Members of the Oakwood Chamber Players (below) are: flutist Marilyn Chohaney; clarinetist Nancy Mackenzie; bassoonist Amanda Szczys; hornist Anne Aley; violinist Elspeth Stalter-Clouse; and cellist Maggie Darby Townsend.

Guest artists are: pianist Eric Tran; flutist Dawn Lawler; oboist Valree Casey; bassoonist Midori Samson; and trumpeter John Aley.

The ensemble is pleased to feature a new member at its opening concert. Violinist Elspeth Stalter-Clouse’s talents will be heard in two works: a fiery piano trio by Spanish composer Gaspar Cassado (below top); and as a soloist on the sweetly expressive Canzonetta for violin and piano by Italian-American composer Rosa Alba Vietor (below bottom). You can hear the Recitative movement, which takes about 10 seconds to start, from the Piano Trio by Gaspar Casado in the YouTube video at the bottom.

The program will include two larger wind works by French composers: Pastoral Variations in the Old Style  by Gabriel Pierne (below top); and Octet for Winds by Claude Pascal (below bottom).

The ensemble will round out the program with two short contrasting works for winds and piano: the flute trio La Bergere des Brise de Vallee (The Shepherdess of the Valley Breezes) by American composer Margaret Griebling-Haigh (b. 1960, below top); and Suite for flute, oboe, clarinet and piano by Danish composer Johan Amberg (below bottom). 

The Oakwood Chamber Players is a group of Madison-area professional musicians who rehearse and perform at Oakwood Village University Woods. Members also play in other area ensembles, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and have ties to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.

The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.


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Classical music: This weekend kicks off the 27th annual summer season of Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society concerts with the theme of musical works as toys to be “played” with for serious fun

June 7, 2018
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Four performances on this coming Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon and Sunday night will open the 27th annual summer concert series of the critically acclaimed but always informal and light-hearted Madison-based Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society (below and in the YouTube video at the bottom).

There will be six programs in 12 concerts performed in three venues over the next three weekends.

The venues are: The Playhouse in the Overture Center (below top) at 7:30 p.m.; the Stoughton Opera House (below middle) at 7:30 p.m.; and the Hillside Theater (below bottom) at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright compound in Spring Green, at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.

Ticket prices are $43, or $48 if you want a prime seat at the Overture Center. For more information, go to: http://bachdancing.org/tickets/season-tickets/

This opening weekend features a lot of flute music and a lot of string music plus some unusual arrangements or transcription and music by unknown women composers.

As usual, BDDS has lined up a series of impressive local talent as well as favorite guest performers, including the critically acclaimed soprano Emily Birsan (below top) and bass-baritone Timothy Jones (below bottom).

Also on the schedule is a Madison-based hip-hop dancer and choreographer, Blake Washington (below), for two pieces during the second weekend: Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale” and Francis Poulenc’s “The Masked Ball.” In addition, four players from the BDDS Dynamite Factory – the apprentice school of BDDS for emerging performers – will take part.

Again, as always, there is a unifying theme to the season. This year it is “Toy Stories,” playing off the idea of “playing” pieces of chamber music.

Here is a background and overview story that appeared this week in The Wisconsin State Journal: http://host.madison.com/wsj/entertainment/music/bach-dancing-and-dynamite-gets-playful-with-toy-stories/article_918d38c4-1eba-5196-822e-2b2616eddb75.html

Here is an explanation from UW-Madison graduate and San Francisco-based teacher and pianist Jeffrey Sykes (below left), who co-founded, co-directs and performs in the series with retired UW-Madison and Madison Symphony Orchestra principal flutist Stephanie Jutt (below right):

“When we were kids, we would ride our hobby horses around the back yard pretending to be knights on a quest. We’d race our Slinkies down the stairs, cheering their contorted yet gymnastic moves. We made crazy cyborgs with our Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads. The cyborgs would fight for world domination, and then they’d sit down to tea with our dolls. We cuddled our stuffed animals as we prepared for bed, confessing our deepest dreams and aspirations to them. How easily those toys sparked our imaginations and transported us to fantastic realms!

“I’m a grownup now, sort of, and while I might get a short-lived bang out of newfangled tech toys, I’ve mostly left behind the dolls, bears and rubber ducks (below) of my childhood. The “toys” that really light my fire are incredible pieces of chamber music that have their own personalities; that delight me, surprise me, cry with me, and laugh with me.

CHAMBER

“Performing chamber music is called “playing” for a good reason. Ask any artist who joins BDDS for our festival: chamber music is a magical way to recapture the spirit of imaginative play that came to us so easily as kids.

“We cherish favorite old toys — the great chamber works of Bach, Mozart, and Brahms, for example. Yet we can also delight in the new toys that come our way — the music of Gabriela Lena Frank (below top), Paul Wiancko (below middle) and Kevin Puts (below bottom).

“Whether these new playthings become favorite old friends, who’s to say? One thing’s for sure, we’ll never know unless we play with them.

“BDDS’s 27th season theme is TOY STORIES, and co-artistic director Stephanie Jutt and I have organized each of our programs around a quirky take on iconic toys.

“To celebrate the festival’s age, we’ve also scattered various “27s” across our programs. In the spirit of imaginative play, rather than spell ing everything out, here are some clues to what you’ll hear this June.

TEDDY TALKS. Just change the motto “ideas worth spreading” to “music worth hearing” and you have our modus operandi. In this case, we have all sorts of Teddies talking to us through their music: I wonder what they’ll say.

AMERICAN GIRLS. Proud and multi-ethnic, they have been coming on strong as composers for a hundred years, and here’s the proof!

PLAY DO(H). C Major is the most malleable of keys.

GI JOE. War is no game, but it has inspired some seriously imaginative music.

RUBBER DUCKY, YOU’RE THE ONE. Sesame Street’s beloved Ernie adored his bath toy: see who else jumps into the tub.

TRANSFORMERS. I’m amazed how a couple of twists and turns can transform a few unassuming blocks into something breathtakingly complex.

“Join us June 8-24 for TOY STORIES in Madison, Stoughton, and Spring Green. We’ll play together with some irresistible toys and have ourselves some serious fun.

“With a bang!”

For the schedule of performances, with times and places, go to: http://bachdancing.org

For the full programs, including the many new or neglected composers and works to be performed, go to: http://bachdancing.org/concerts/festival-concerts/

For a complete list of performing and helping personnel, go to:

http://bachdancing.org/concerts/cast-crew/

And for a complete and impressive list of BDDS repertoire throughout the years, listed in alphabetical order by the composer’s last name, go to:

http://bachdancing.org/about/repertoire-through-the-seasons/


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Classical music: This weekend sees vocal music, band music, woodwind music and orchestral music at the UW-Madison. Plus, a FREE concert of early music for viola da gamba is on Friday at noon

March 9, 2017
2 Comments

ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features Eric Miller (below) playing early music for viola da gamba by Le Sieur de Machy, Johann Schenk and Carl Abel. The concert runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.

By Jacob Stockinger

This week brings four major public events at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music: one on Friday; two on Saturday; and one on Sunday.

VOCAL MUSIC

On Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Morphy Hall, the students in the studio of soprano and UW-Madison voice professor Mimmi Fulmer (below) will present a FREE concert. Sorry, no word on the program.

For more information, go to: http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/mimmi-fulmer-studio-recital/

WOODWIND-PIANO WINNERS

On Saturday at 4 p.m. in Morphy Hall the four winners of the annual Irving Shain Wood-Piano Duo Competition will give a FREE recital.

The pairs of winners are: bassoonist Chia-Yu Hsu with pianist Kangwoo Jin; and bassoonist Eleni Katz with pianist Rayna Slavova.

The program features music by Noël-Gallon (1891-1966); Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013); Gabriel Grovlez (1979-1944); Eugène Bourdeau (1850-1926); Robert Schumann (1810-1856); Gabriel Pierne (1863-1937); Eugène Bourdeau (1850-1926); and Charles Koechlin (1867-1950)

For more information, including the works on the program and biographies of the performers, go to:

http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/irving-shain-woodwind-piano-duo-winners-recital-2/

BAND MUSIC

On Saturday at 5 p.m. in Mills Hall, there is a FREE concert by University Bands. Conductors are Darin Olson (below), Nathan Froebe and Justin Lindgre. Sorry, no word on the program.

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

Sunday at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Symphony Orchestra will perform with soloist and UW-Madison alumnus, bassoonist Anthony Georgeson  who is Principal Bassoon of the Florida Orchestra. Retiring UW-Madison professor James Smith (below top) will conduct, but the former clarinetist will NOT be a featured performer.

The program is:

Concerto for Bassoon Concerto in B-Flat Major, K. 191, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with alumnus Anthony Georgeson (below bottom) as bassoon soloist. (You can hear Anthony Georgeson talk about music and the cadenzas in Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

“Un Sourire pour Orchestra” (A Smile for Orchestra) by Olivier Messiaen

“Scheherazade” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

For more information, go to:

http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-symphony-orchestra-5/


Classical music: The Ear turns matchmaker – and helps amateur musicians to connect

January 8, 2016
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

It started out simply as a desire to help.

But now The Ear has turned out to be a matchmaker.

You may recall that a University of Wisconsin-Madison bacteriology professor Kenneth Hammel is an amateur baroque bassoonist. He asked if The Ear might have suggestions for his finding a chamber music partner.

So The Ear suggested posting his request, and he agreed.

Here is the original link:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2015/12/13/classical-music-an-amateur-baroque-bassoon-player-wants-to-play-who-can-help-make-that-happen/

Now it turns out the experiment worked and was a success.

So The Well-Tempered Ear now serves as a sort of online dating service for classical musicians who seek musical partners to play with. And as a fierce advocate of amateur music-making, he likes that role!

Here is the follow-up letter that Hammel sent to The Ear:

“Hi Jake:

“I wanted to let you know that it worked. Two people contacted me after you posted my letter and picture. One of them you certainly know — Paul Baker. He and I played together on cello and bassoon this weekend.

“The other person, named Betty Cohen, is a recorder player who says she’ll contact me shortly to arrange a session.

“So, many thanks to you for getting the word out on your blog.”

“In case you want to hear a sample of baroque bassoon playing, I’ve attached an mp3 (not for dissemination!) of me playing a short fantasia by Jean Daniel Braun, ca. 1730.

“Best wishes for the new year,

“Ken”

“PS: The music, and an interesting commentary on it (at the end of the score) is at:

http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/b/bf/IMSLP349300-PMLP564250-Tel41a4fag-cel.pdf

The bass line for the sonata was long thought to be lost, but was then discovered in a different library than the one that holds the original solo part.

A very good YouTube performance on baroque bassoon (4 separate links for the 4 movements) is at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO9l1PYJZEY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_ZyJp-avc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKNtxgEoatg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2IyM3pKR6A

A quick search for the ensemble, Concordi Musici, indicates that their bassoonist is named Josip Casadella.

ken hammel baroque bassoon

And The Ear also heard about success from the other chamber music partner, Paul Baker (below), who wrote with his usual sense of self-deprecating humor.

Paul Baker, you might recall, is a jazz fan in addition to being a radio host for WSUM, the student radio station at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He hosts a program and writes a blog called Only Strings:

Here is a link to his blog:

https://onlystringswsum.wordpress.com

“My friend:

I thank you for posting Ken Hammel’s request for baroque practice buddies. We are now working independently on sections of a Sonatina in A Minor, TWV 41, by Georg Philipp Telemann and will meet soon to begin rehearsing.

Yo-Yo Casals

Paul Baker at WSUM

Forgive The Ear’s pride.

But now he may have to seek out a violinist or cellist or another pianist for himself, as an avid amateur pianist, to play with.

Anyone interested in playing with The Ear?

Anyone else want to find a different music partner?

Leave word in the COMMENT section.

Or maybe it should be called the PERSONALS?


Classical music: Calling all oboists, bassoonists and woodwind fans! This coming Saturday is Double Reed Day — with master classes, workshops and FREE concerts — at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

January 7, 2014
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

Calling all players and fans of the oboe (below top) and the bassoon (below bottom), those woodwind instruments with such beautiful and distinctive tonal qualities! (At the bottom is a YouTube video of the last movement from 20th-century French composer Francis Poulenc’s lovely Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon.)

oboe

bassoon

Even though the second semester hasn’t started yet – and won’t start until Jan. 21 — this coming Saturday afternoon and evening offers a day of master classes, workshops and concerts during the annual “Double Reed Day” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This year, the hosts are UW-Madison visiting oboist Kostas Tiliakos and UW-Madison bassoon professor Marc Vallon (below left and right, respectively).

Kostas Tiliakos and Marc Vallon horizontal

“Double Reed Day is an event that has taken place at the School of Music for the last 15 years,” says Vallon. “We invite middle-school students and high-school students and all double reed enthusiasts of all levels to join us for an informal and fun event that includes master classes for both instruments, a faculty concert and a final Double Reed concert in which every participant takes part.”

Adds Vallon: “We had something like 20 oboes and 18 bassoons on stage last year. The goal is to give double-reeders a chance to break from their usual isolation and play with their fellows colleagues, improve their skills and enjoyment.” (Below is a vintage print from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, an 18th-century drawing of “Le Chevalier de Liroux playing the bassoon.”)

Bassoon playing %22%22Le chevalier de Liroux jouant le bassoon%22 from Bibliotheque Nationale de France

The events run from at-the-door registration ($20 with a $5 fee for each additional dinner guest) held from 1 to1:30 p.m. to dinner and a short evening concert at 7 p.m. in Mills Hall.

(You can also register by mail. Include payment and mail to Double Reed Day, in care of Marc Vallon, School of Music, UW-Madison, 4122 Humanities Building, 455 North Park Street, Madison, WI 53706-1483

From 2:30 to 3:45 there will be master classes, then exhibits from 3:45-4:15. From 4:15 to 5:30 there will be readings of the double reed repertoire as well as rehearsals.

Dinner is 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

A final Festival Concert, open to the public free of charge but with a program yet to be decided, will be held from 7 to 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall.

A faculty concert is free of charge, and the program will include some French music by Gabriel Pierné and “Five French Folk Songs” by Marc Vallon.

The final concert is also free of charge. It will last 30 minutes and will involve all the participants. 


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