The Well-Tempered Ear
Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble performs a FREE live-streamed concert this Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
After a year of canceled events, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble (below) will perform a live-streamed concert this Sunday afternoon, Feb. 21, at 3 p.m. CST.
The concert will take place at the First Congregational Church in Beloit as part of the Musica Maxima concert series.
(A concert scheduled for this Saturday night, Feb. 21, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Madison has been CANCELED.)
On the program are: six duos for two cellos, Op. 18, by Tommaso Giordani (below top), played by Charlie Rasmussen and Anton TenWolde (you can hear the same performers play the second of the six duos in the Centaur recording featured in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord obbligato (WQ 88) by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (below bottom) performed by Eric Miller and Max Yount, respectively.
There will be no live audience.
The link to the free concert as well as a full program can be found at our home webpage: http://www.wisconsinbaroque.org
There is no charge, but please consider making a donation to the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble to help defray our expenses. Go to: http://www.wisconsinbaroque.org/donate.html
In case you are unable to watch the live broadcast, the concert will remain posted for viewing for several weeks.
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The New York Times names the top 25 classical recordings of 2020 and includes sample tracks
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By Jacob Stockinger
What did the holidays bring you?
Did Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa bring you a gift card?
A subscription to a streaming service?
Maybe some cash?
Or maybe you just want to hear some new music or new musicians or new interpretations of old classics?
Every year, the music critics of The New York Times list their top 25 recordings of the past year. Plus at the end of the story, the newspaper offers a sample track from each recording to give you even more guidance.
This year is no exception (below).
In fact, the listing might be even more welcome this year, given the coronavirus pandemic with the lack of live concerts and the isolation and self-quarantine that have ensued.
The Ear hasn’t heard all of the picks or even the majority of them. But the ones he has heard are indeed outstanding. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a sample of the outstanding Rameau-Debussy recital by the acclaimed Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafssen, who scored major successes with recent albums of Philip Glass and Johann Sebastian Bach.)
Here is a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/music/best-classical-music.html
Of course not all critics agree.
The Ear has already listed the nominations for the Grammy Awards (a link is below), and more critics’ picks will be featured in coming days.
You should also notice that a recording of Ethel Smyth’s “The Prison” — featuring soprano Sarah Brailey (below), a graduate student at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and a co-founder of Just Bach — is on the Times’ list as well as on the list of Grammy nominations.
What new recordings – or even old recordings — would you recommend?
The Ear wants to hear.
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This Wednesday’s FREE Just Bach virtual online concert features holiday music from the Christmas Oratorio and other works
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from the organizers of Just Bach:
The program for Just Bach’s holiday concert this Wednesday, Dec. 16, opens with Chorale Prelude settings of Advent melodies from the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) by Johann Sebastian Bach (below), with Mark Brampton Smith on organ and soprano Sarah Brailey singing the melodies.
Violinist Nathan Giglierano follows with the beautiful, contemplative Largo from the third solo violin Sonata, along with two pieces – Two-Part Invention No. 13 and the Sinfonia from Cantata 156 — arranged for violin and viola, which he plays with his wife Gillian.
The second half of the program features selections from the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248. The Madison-based early music group Sonata à Quattro (SAQ, below in a photo by Barry Lewis) plays the luminous Sinfonia – in an arrangement for string quartet and organ– that opens the second Cantata in this work. The performance was recorded at St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Waukesha, Wis., where SAQ is ensemble-in-residence. (You can hear the Sinfonia in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Members of SAQ (below, in a photo by Barry Lewis) are: Christine Hauptly Annin and Leanne League, violins; Marika Fischer Hoyt, viola; Charlie Rasmussen, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
Soprano and UW-Madison graduate student Sarah Brailey (below) — who was just nominated for a Grammy Award — returns with three chorales from the Christmas Oratorio, singing all four parts in a multi-track recording and bringing the holiday program to a high-tech conclusion.
We are thrilled to participate in the weekly ‘Music at Midday’ concert series by Luther Memorial Church. Here is a link: https://www.luthermem.org/music-at-midday.
As part of this series, Just Bach concerts take place on the third Wednesday of each month. Remaining concerts are Dec. 16, Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17, April 21 and May 19. Each program lasts approximately 30 minutes.
It is still too risky to have in-person audiences, so these concerts are posted on the Just Bach and Luther Memorial YouTube Channels.
Please note: Now that concerts are online instead of in person, the videos are published early Wednesday mornings, instead of at noon. Then the online post will remain up and accessible for an indefinite time.
Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcyVFEVsJwklHAx9riqSkXQ?
Viewing the concerts is free, but we ask those who are able, to help us pay our musicians with a tax-deductible donation. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7A4R7CA8VDRMG&source=url
Concert viewers are invited to a half-hour live Zoom post-concert reception on Wednesday night, Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m. Those who would like to join us and chat with the performers can follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88960952122?pwd=NTNQY21HZmxNSEh0ODRWdmQvVTlsQT09
Just Bach concerts are typically performed in Luther Memorial’s beautiful nave (below), but that was not possible this month. The recent Emergency Order barring indoor gatherings in Dane County of people from different households inspired some special creativity.
The program was recorded by musicians in their respective homes, and at a church in Waukesha County, and in some cases, some high technology was involved.
Dave Parminter was the videographer.
Just Bach’s social media links are:
youtube.com/channel/UCcyVFEVsJwklHAx9riqSkXQ?
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The 10th annual Baroque Holiday Concert by the Madison Bach Musicians is next Saturday night and will be virtual and online
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By Jacob Stockinger
On this coming Saturday night, Dec. 12, the Madison Bach Musicians will present their 10th annual Baroque Holiday Concert (below is a photo of a previous year’s holiday concert).
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s one-hour concert will be a virtual web event.
The program features Baroque masterworks by Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann, Arcangelo Corelli, Joseph Dall’Abaco, Jean Daniel Braun and Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It was recorded Dec. 1-6 in several acoustically superior venues.
Links to the MBM holiday program can be purchased at $15 per household at https://madisonbachmusicians.org. Patrons purchasing the link can view the program the evening of Dec. 12 and anytime afterward through Friday, Dec. 26.
Festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. with MBM director Trevor Stephenson’s 30-minute pre-concert lecture about the repertoire, the composers and the period instruments.
At 8 p.m., viewers will see the 60-minute, high-definition video of the concert portion of the program, followed by a 30-minute Zoom Q&A session with the musicians from their homes. Questions for the Zoom session should be submitted by email to MBM manager Karen Rebholz at madisonbachmusicians.manager@gmail.com.
The concert begins with a selection of nine pieces from the Schemelli Songbook. Georg Schemelli collaborated with Johann Sebastian Bach (below, 1685-1750) in assembling this magnificent collection of spiritual songs, published in Leipzig in 1736. Bach provided most of the bass lines and wonderful harmonizations.
Grammy Award-winning soprano Estelí Gomez and harpsichordist Trevor Stephenson (both below) perform this set in the beautiful chapel at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
From the sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church, on the Capitol Square in downtown Madison, baroque cellist James Waldo (below) will perform Bach’s magisterial Solo Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major.
UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music bassoon faculty member Marc Vallon (below top, in a photo by James Gill) and esteemed baroque cellist Martha Vallon (below bottom) team up in the Collins Recital Hall of the UW”s Hamel Music Center for a Duo Sonata by Jean Daniel Braun (1703-1738).
Marc will also play a solo bassoon transcription of two Fantasias, originally for solo flute, by Telemann (1681-1767). Martha will perform the meditative Capriccio no. 4 in D minor by Dall’Abaco (1710-1805).
The program concludes at The Crossing in Madison with MBM concertmaster violinist Kangwon Kim (below top), violist Micah Behr (below bottom) and cellist James Waldo joining in a medley of holiday favorites.
They include Greensleeves variations over a ground (repeated bass line); three movements from Christmas Music for Instruments by Charpentier (1643-1704); the Adagio from the Christmas Concerto Op. 6, No. 8 by Corelli (1653-1713), which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom; and two beloved carols — Lo How a Rose and Sussex Carol – in arrangements by Micah Behr.
MBM wishes to thank Geneva Campus Church for their collaboration in filming this portion of the program as a contribution to their weekly services.
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October’s FREE virtual and online Just Bach concert is this Wednesday at noon. It lasts 30 minutes. Here are details
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement about the month’s Just Bach virtual concert from co-founder and violist Marika Fischer Hoyt.
The online concert takes place at noon CDT this Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Please join us as Just Bach shares the timeless beauty of music by Johann Sebastian Bach (below) from our home in the nave of Luther Memorial Church (LCM), 1021 University Ave.
We are thrilled to participate in LMC’s weekly “Music at Midday” concert series.
As part of this virtual online series, Just Bach concerts (below) take place at NOON on the third Wednesday of each month: Sept. 16; Oct. 21; Nov. 18; Dec. 16; Jan. 20; Feb. 17; March 17; April 21; and May 19.
The online programs last approximately 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it is still too risky to have in-person audiences, so Music at Midday concerts are posted on the Luther Memorial website: https://www.luthermem.org/music-at-midday/
In addition, Just Bach concerts are posted on the Just Bach website, the Just Bach Facebook page, and the Just Bach YouTube Channel, where you can still hear the season’s opening concert in September. Links are below.
Viewing the concerts is FREE, but we ask those who are able to help us pay our musicians with a tax-deductible donation at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7A4R7CA8VDRMG&source=url
Just Bach co-founder and graduate student soprano at the UW-Madison Sarah Brailey (below) will provide the opening welcome remarks at this Wednesday’s program.
Our guest artists this month, the Madison-based baroque ensemble Sonata à Quattro (SAQ, below top in a photo by Barry Lewis) will perform the instrumental Sinfonia from Cantata 146, featuring organist Mark Brampton Smith (below bottom). You might recognize this as the first movement of the well-known Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052.
Members of SAQ, who normally use period instruments and historically informed performance practices, will play modern instruments this time because of the organ pitch. SAQ members will continue the program with movements from the solo Cello Suite in G Major and the solo Violin Sonata in G Minor.
Sarah Brailey returns to lead the final chorale from Cantata 146, which uses the familiar tune from “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” (You can hear “Jesu, Joy” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
We encourage viewers to sing along by following the chorale sheet music, which will be displayed on the computer screen, as Mark Brampton Smith accompanies on the organ.
We need this soul-centering music now more than ever. So we invite the music community to join us at noon this Wednesday, Oct. 21, for a wonderful program of music by J.S. Bach.
OCT. 21 PROGRAM:
• Cantata 146: Opening Sinfonia
• Solo Cello Suite in G Major, BWV 1007: Menuets I and II, Courante
• Solo Violin Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1001: Adagio, Presto
• Cantata 146: Final chorale: Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele (Rejoice greatly, oh my soul)
Guest Ensemble: Sonata à Quattro, whose members are: Christine Hauptly Annin, violin; Nathan Giglierano, violin; Leanne League, violin; Marika Fischer Hoyt, viola; Charlie Rasmussen, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
Sarah Brailey provides the welcome and leads the chorale.
Dave Parminter is the videographer.
Here, in order, are links to: the Just Bach webpage; the Just Bach Facebook page; and the Just Bach YouTube channel:
youtube.com/channel/UCcyVFEVsJwklHAx9riqSkXQ
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The Madison Bach Musicians will open its new season with a virtual online concert of Haydn and Mozart this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement, about a promising contrast-and-compare concert, from the Madison Bach Musicians:
The Madison Bach Musicians (MBM) will start its 17th season this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Oct. 3 and 4, with a virtual chamber music concert and livestream event featuring the irrepressibly joyous, witty and poised music of Classical-era masters Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).
The performances features period instruments and historically informed performance practices.
See details near the bottom about the schedules and how to buy tickets.
Performers are violinist Kangwon Kim and cellist James Waldo (on gut-strung period instruments), fortepianist Trevor Stephenson, and soprano soloist Morgan Balfour — winner of the 2019 Handel Aria Competition. (Below top is Kangwon Kim; below middle is James Waldo; and below bottom is Morgan Balfour.)
The broadcast will begin with a 30-minute pre-concert lecture by MBM artistic director Trevor Stephenson (below, in a photo by Kent Sweitzer) illuminating the program’s repertoire, the lives of Haydn and Mozart, and the aesthetic aims of the period instruments.
While most of the pieces on the program are buoyant and full of celebration, the concert will begin with a pensive and melancholy work commensurate with our current pandemic times.
Mozart composed the Sonata in E minor for violin and fortepiano in 1778 at the age of 22 while on tour in Paris. His mother, who was with him on the tour, became suddenly ill and died unexpectedly. This sonata is the only piece of instrumental music Mozart ever composed in the key of E minor, and its blend of gravitas, sparseness and tenderness is heartbreakingly poignant.
Mozart’s Piano Trio in G major, composed in 1788, shows him at his sunniest and most affable, with one brilliant and catchy tune after another suspended effortlessly — at least in Mozart’s hands! ― within the balance of Classical form.
The program’s first half ends with five of Mozart’s songs. Mozart truly loved the soprano voice, and he lavished some of his greatest writing upon it. The set includes perhaps his best-known song, Das Veilchen (The Violet)―which is also, oddly enough, Mozart’s only setting of a text by the German poet Goethe.
The second half of the concert is devoted to the music of Mozart’s near contemporary, Joseph Haydn, who was just 24 years older than Mozart.
Though the two composers came from very different musical and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Haydn (below) was lower working class, rural, and musical but not professionally trained.
Mozart (below) was urban, solid middle class, musically trained, sophisticated, and ambitious.
Both managed to carve out successful careers in the fertile musical culture of Vienna and its environs. They certainly knew each other and even made music together on occasion, playing in string quartets — with Haydn on violin and Mozart on viola.
Haydn composed two sets of English Canzonettas (songs) during his visits to England during the early 1790s.
The Mermaid, with its flirtatious beckoning, stretches the confines of the parlor setting (where this music was most likely performed) and suggests a cabaret environment. Fidelity, on the other hand, stays within the parlor style, emphasizing how the bond of devotion can overcome physical separation. Haydn brilliantly interweaves stormy, naturalistic episodes with declarations of unbending loyalty.
The concert will close with Haydn’s mercurial Piano Trio No. 27 in C major. Also composed during his London visits in the 1790s, this trio is the first of a set of three dedicated to the London-based virtuoso pianist Therese Bartolozzi. The Presto finale―with its unbridled high spirits―is a supreme example of Classical Era cheeky, theatrically conceived wit. (You can hear the finale in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
SCHEDULE AND TICKETS
As a result of public health guidelines in response to Covid-19 that do not allow for an in-person audience, we will livestream our concert from Grace Episcopal Church, downtown on Capitol Square, on Saturday evening for at-home viewing. (Below are Trevor Stephenson and Kangwon Kim rehearsing in masks at Stephenson’s home.)
The event will begin with a pre-concert talk by Trevor Stephenson at 7:30 p.m., and after the 8 p.m. concert, the musicians will remain on stage to answer questions submitted by our audience.
On Sunday, starting at 3 p.m. we will rebroadcast the Saturday evening recording and follow that with a live question-and-answer session with our musicians from their homes.
After purchasing tickets for $15 per household, you will be sent a link to access the performance. The recorded lecture and video will be available for up to 72 hours after they take place.
To purchase tickets, go to: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/oct-3-4-haydn-mozart/ or to: https://madison-bach-musicians.square.site/product/haydn-mozart-oct-3-4-livestream/54?cs=true
For information about the Madison Bach Musicians’ full season, go to: https://madisonbachmusicians.org/season-overview/
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Season 3 of the free monthly Just Bach concerts begins at noon TODAY virtual and online. Each concert will be available for the following week. Here is the 2020-21 schedule
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from the Just Bach monthly concert series – featuring singers as well as period instruments and historically informed performance practices — to post:
“We are thrilled to share the timeless beauty of Johann Sebastian Bach (below) with music lovers in Madison and beyond for another year.
“Our host venue, Luther Memorial Church at 1021 University Ave., has resumed their weekly ‘Music at Midday’ concert series: https://www.luthermem.org/music-at-midday/
“As part of this series, the one-hour Just Bach concerts will take place at noon on the third Wednesday of each month. Here are the dates for the new 2020-21 season: today Sept. 16; Oct. 21; Nov. 18; Dec. 16; Jan. 20; Feb. 17; March 17; April 21; and May 19.
“Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it is still too risky to have an in-person audience. So Music at Midday concerts will be virtual and online, posted on the Luther Memorial website.
“In addition, Just Bach concerts will be posted on the Just Bach website, the Just Bach Facebook page, and the Just Bach YouTube Channel.
“The concert footage should be available online for at least a week following the concert. At least that is the plan.
“Viewing the concerts is FREE, but we ask those who are able, to help us pay our musicians with a tax-deductible donation.
“Today’s concert program opens with the Pastorale in F, BWV 590, performed by organist Mark Brampton Smith (below).
“Violinist Kangwon Kim (below), concertmaster and assistant artistic director of the Madison Bach Musicians, will continue, with the Partita No. 2 in D Minor, with the famous Chaconne, for solo violin, BWV 1004 (see a brief preview in the YouTube video at the bottom).
“Co-founder and violist Marika Fischer Hoyt (below) will lead the final chorale sing-along, from Cantata 99, Was Gott tut, das isn wohlgetan (What God does, is well done).
“The chorale sheet music (below) will be displayed on the screen, and Mark Brampton Smith will accompany on the organ. Cantata 99 is a timely choice. It was composed for the 15th Sunday after Trinity, which is next Sunday, Sept. 20.
“We need this soul-centering music now more than ever. We invite the music community to join us today and other Wednesdays for a wonderful program of J.S. Bach.”
Sept. 16 program:
- Pastorale in F, BWV 590
- Partita in D Minor for solo violin, BWV 1004
- Chorale: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (What God does, is well done)
Performers: Kangwon Kim, violin 1; Mark Brampton Smith, organ
For more information go to: https://justbach.org and Facebook.org/JustBachSeries
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Classical music: As superstar Itzhak Perlman turns 75, a critic assesses his virtues and shortcomings in playing both the violin and his audiences
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By Jacob Stockinger
Last Monday, Aug. 31, superstar violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman (below, in a photo by Yael Malka of The New York Times) turned 75.
To celebrate, Sony Classical released a boxed set of 18 CDs (below) with many performances by Perlman – solo, chamber music and concertos – recorded over many years.
On the occasion of Perlman’s birthday, critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim of The New York Times wrote a retrospective review of Perlman’s long career. (You can hear his most popular performance ever — with more than 6 million hits — in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Ear finds the opinion piece both brave and truthful, pointing out Perlman’s mastery of the Romantic repertory but also criticizing his stodgy treatment of Vivaldi and other Baroque music that has benefitted from the period-instrument movement and historically informed performance practices
Yet the essay, which also touches on ups and down of Perlman’s career, always remains respectful and appreciative even when discussing Perlman’s shortcomings.
Offering many historical details and photos as well as sample videos, the critical assessment of Perlman seems perfectly timed.
The Ear hopes you enjoy it as much as he did. Here is a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/arts/music/itzhak-perlman-violin.html
If you have heard Itzhak Perlman either on recordings or live – at the Wisconsin Union Theater, the old Civic Center or Overture Hall — let us know what you think.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Madison Bach Musicians will hold their sixth annual summer workshops on baroque music online July 28-31. Registration ends July 26
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post from the Madison Bach Musicians – who are known for their authentic interpretations with period instruments and historically informed performance practices:
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Here is a preview video on YouTube video:
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Which classical composer has helped you the most during the Covid-19 pandemic?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The holidays are over and as we close in on marking a year of the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic, The Ear has a question:
Which composer has helped you the most to weather the pandemic so far?
The Ear wishes he could say Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin or Brahms. And the truth is that they all played a role, some more than others.
But The Ear was surprised by the composer whose works he most listened to and liked — Antonio Vivaldi (below), the Red Priest of Venice who lived from 1678 to 1714 and taught at a Roman Catholic girls school.
Here is more about his biography, which points out that his work was neglected for two centuries and began being rediscovered only in the early 20th-century and still continues being rediscovered to the present day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi
The Ear isn’t talking about popular The Four Seasons although that set of 12 solo violin concertos has its charms and originalities.
The Ear especially appreciated the lesser-known concertos for two violins and the cello concertos, although the concertos for bassoon, flute, recorder, oboe, lute, trumpet and mandolin also proved engaging, as did the concerto grosso.
It was the 20th-century composer Igor Stravinsky (below) – the modern pioneer of neo-Classicism — who complained that Vivaldi rewrote the same concerto 500 times. “Vivaldi,” Stravinsky once said, “is greatly overrated – a dull fellow who could compose the same form many times over.”
But then did anyone turn to Stravinsky – who, The Ear suspects, was secretly envious — when they needed music as medicine or therapy during the pandemic?
Vivaldi was, in fact, a master. See and hear for yourself. In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a performance of Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in G minor, RV 535, performed by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
Why Vivaldi? You might ask.
Well, it’s nothing highbrow.
The best explanation is that Vivaldi’s music simply seems like caffeine for the ears and sunshine for the eyes. His music isn’t overly introspective or glum, and it isn’t too long or melodramatic.
The melodies and harmonies are always pleasing and energizing, and the tempi are just right, although bets are that the music is much harder to play than it sounds.
In short, Vivaldi’s extroverted music is infectious and appealing because it just keeps humming along — exactly as those of us in lockdown and isolation at home have had to do.
Happily, there are a lot of fine recordings of Vivaldi by period instrument groups from England, Italy and Germany and elsewhere that use historically informed performance practices. But some the most outstanding recordings are by modern instrument groups, which should not be overlooked.
With a few exceptions – notably Wisconsin Public Radio – you don’t get to hear much Vivaldi around here, especially in live performances, even from early music and Baroque ensembles. If you hear Vivaldi here, chances are it is The Four Seasons or the Gloria. Should there be more Vivaldi? Will we hear more Vivaldi when live concerts resume? That is a topic for another time.
In the meantime, The Ear wants to know:
Which composer did you most listen to or find most helpful throughout the pandemic?
Leave your choice in the comment section with, if possible, a YouTube link to a favorite work and an explanation about why you liked that composer and work.
The Ear wants to hear.
Thank you and Happy New Year!
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