The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Music from Schubert’s last year of life is the focus of this year’s UW-Madison’s Schubertiade this Sunday afternoon when a world-famous Schubert scholar will share her insights
Leave a Comment
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.
NEWS UPDATE: The UW-Madison is offering FREE ADMISSION to Sunday afternoon’s Schubertiade, discussed below, to furloughed federal workers, who just have to show their federal identification to an usher.
By Jacob Stockinger
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s sixth annual Schubertiade – a re-creation of the historical and informal celebration of his music that Franz Schubert (1797-1828) used to hold with friends – will take place this Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27, at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
The focus this year is the music composed in the last year of Schubert’s life, before his death at 31.
A schedule of events and information about tickets are below.
This Schubertiade will feature a world-famous Schubert scholar. Susan Youens, recently retired from the University of Notre Dame, has one of the most impressive musicology resumes in the world, and will share her insights about the late style of Franz Schubert (below) in her pre-concert lecture.
Youens has won four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as fellowships from the National Humanities Center, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. She has published eight books, hundreds of articles, essays and chapters, and lectured all over the world.
“Dr. Youens (below) will explore the rich relationship of Schubert’s music to the poems he chose to set and the emergence of new directions in Schubert’s style,” says co-organizer William Lutes. “The influence of Beethoven had loomed large throughout Schubert’s music, and in the year following Beethoven’s death, the 31-year-old composer wrote works of homage to this great master, as he saw his own music becoming more widely recognized, published and performed.”
Highlights of the Schubertiade will be a complete performance of Schubert’s 14 final songs, published after his death as Schwanengesang, or “Swan Songs” — among the composer’s richest and most forward-looking works. (You can hear the famous “Serenade” from “Swan Songs” sung by Angela Gheorghiu in the YouTube video at the bottom,)
Also on the program are the humorous and risqué Refrain-Lieder; the slow movement of the great Piano Trio in E-flat major; the enchanting Rondo in A major for piano four-hands; and the beautiful song Auf den Strom for voice, horn and piano, composed for a concert commemorating the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death, and filled with subtly haunting references to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.”
In addition to pianists and singers Martha Fischer and William Lutes (below), guest performers will include voice faculty members Mimmi Fulmer, Julia Rottmayer and Paul Rowe, voice students Sarah Brailey, Wesley Dunnagan, and Benjamin Hopkins, graduate hornist Joanna Schulz, and guest singer Cheryl Bensman-Rowe.
Also participating is the Perlman Trio (Mercedes Cullen, violin; Micah Cheng, cello; and Kangwoo Jin, piano).
The School of Music also thanks donors Ann Boyer and Kato Perlman for their longtime support of the Schubertiades, the Perlman Trio and other musicians and events.
2019 SCHUBERTIADE SCHEDULE
Pre-concert lecture: 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 27, Morphy Hall. (Free.)
Concert: 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 27, Mills Hall. (Ticketed.)
Post-concert reception, included with ticket purchase: Sunday, Jan. 27, at the nearby University Club, 5:30 p.m.
TICKETS: $17 for adults, $7 for all age students/children; free to music majors, faculty and staff. To avoid long lines, we suggest arriving 30 minutes early or buying tickets ahead of time, either in person or online. Please see the link below.
Purchase options (online, by telephone and in person) here: https://www.music.wisc.edu/about-us/tickets/
To buy tickets directly online, click here.
Tags: #AngelaGheorghiu, #BenjaminHopkins, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #EroicaSymphony, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FederalGovernment, #FederalWorkers, #FranzSchubert, #FreeAdmission, #FurloughedWorker, #GovernmentShutdown, #GuggenheimFoundation, #HornMusic, #InstituteforAdvancedStudy, #JoannaSchultz, #JoannaSchulz, #JuliaRottmayer, #KatoPerlman, #LateStyle, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarthaFischer, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicalStyle, #Musicfaculty, #NationalEndowmentfortheHumanities, #NewsUpdate, #PaulRowe, #PerlmanTrio, #PianoTrio, #PrincetonUniversity, #SarahBrailey, #SeniorCitizen, #SlowMovement, #SusanYouens, #SwanSongs, #UniversityClub, #UniversityofNotreDame, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSchubertiade, #WesleyDunnagan, #WilliamLutes, #World-famous, #YouTubevideo, Angela Gheorghiu, anniversary, article, Arts, beautiful, Beethoven, Benjamin Hopkins, Bill Lutes, blog, Book, celebration, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chapter, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, children, Classical music, composer, Concert, death, Eroica Symphony, essay, events, Facebook, faculty, faculty member, federal, federal government, forward, four-hands, Franz Schubert, free admission, friend, furlough, government, government shutdown, guest, Guggenheim Foundation, haunting, History, homage, Horn, humorous, influence, informal, Institute for Advanced Study, Jacob Stockinger, Joanna Schultz, Joanna Schulz, Julia Rottmayer, Kato Perlman, late style, lecture, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Martha Fischer, Master, Mead Witter School of Music, Mimmi Fulmer, Music, musicology, National Endowment for the Humanities, NEH, news, Paul Rowe, performer, Perlman Trio, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, post, posting, Princeton University, publish, re-creation, reception, risqué, rondo, Sarah Brailey, scholar, Schubertiade, Schwanengesang, senior citizen, Serenade, share, singer, Singing, Slow movement, song, staff\, Student, style, Susan Youens, Swan Songs, tag, ticket, United States, University Club, University of Notre Dame, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW-Madison, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Wesley Dunnagan, William Lutes, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts this weekend feature three local debuts — by a woman conductor, a Grammy-winning cellist and an immigrant composer
2 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Three local debuts will take place this weekend in the three “Epic Romance” concerts by the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below).
Renowned Canadian guest conductor Tania Miller will lead the MSO while music director John DeMain makes his debut at the Liceu Theater in Barcelona, conducting the opera Candide in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth.
Grammy Award-winning American cellist Zuill Bailey will make his Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) solo debut in Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
And Canadian composer Michael Oesterle will be performed for the first time in Madison when his work “Home” opens each concert.
The second half of the program is Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5.
Performances will be held in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 2912 State Street, on Friday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m.; on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m.; and on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 2:30 p.m.
Here are more details:
Canadian Conductor Tania Miller has distinguished herself as a dynamic interpreter, musician and innovator, on the podium and off. She has been praised for “energy, grace, precision and restraint.” She has appeared as a guest conductor in Canada, the United States and Europe with such orchestras as the Bern Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony, among others.
Over a 14-year tenure as the Music Director of the Victoria Symphony in Canada, Miller (below) gained national acclaim for her passion and commitment to the orchestra and community. Recipient of the 2017 Friends of Canadian Music award from the Canadian League of Composers for her acclaimed commitment to contemporary music in Canada, Miller has been an example of the impact of commitment and dedication to an orchestra and to the future of orchestral music through creative innovation and vision.
You can hear Tania Miller discuss women conductors in the informative YouTube video at the bottom.(But please be forewarned: YouTube was having major technical issues and glitches last night that affected all their videos on this blog, not just this one. If it doesn’t load when you try, wait and then try again.)
Zuill Bailey (below), described by Classical Net as “easily one of the finest cellists today,” has been featured with symphony orchestras worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Israel, Cape Town, and the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, Austria. Bailey has also appeared at Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, the United Nations, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.
In 2017, Bailey won a best solo performance Grammy Award for his live recording of “Tales of Hemingway,” by composer Michael Daugherty. His celebrated “Bach Cello Suites” and recently released Britten Cello Symphony and Sonata CD with pianist Natasha Paremski immediately rose to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard magazine Classical Chart.
His Cello Concerto was the last notable work by Sir Edward Elgar (below), composed in 1919 in the aftermath of World Ear I. Upon regaining consciousness following a 1918 tonsillectomy, Elgar immediately asked for pencil and paper and wrote down the melody that would become the first theme in this concerto.
Despite today’s renown as a crowd favorite, the piece did not achieve wide popularity until the 1960s, when a recording by Jacqueline du Pré caught the public’s attention, and it became a classical favorite.
Michael Oesterle’s “Home” had its world premiere in November 2017 with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and conductor Tania Miller.
The piece is an homage to the great geographical ebb and flow of humanity, also known as the immigrant experience. Oesterle (below) notes, “I wrote it through the filter of my personal impressions as an immigrant, and with the realization that this subject is humbling in its breadth.”
Composed between May and August 1888, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 was first performed in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre with Tchaikovsky below) conducting.
Unlike its two predecessors, there is no known program for the Fifth Symphony, save for a recurring main theme heard throughout all four movements. Over the years this theme has become known as the “fate” motive; its original ominous character undergoes various metamorphoses, emerging triumphant in the score’s concluding pages.
ABOUT ATTENDING
The lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert. One hour before each performance, Madison Symphony Chorus Director and UW-Madison director of choral activities Beverly Taylor (below) will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience. It is free to ticket holders.
The MSO recommends concert attendees arrive early for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations, and so they can experience the Prelude Discussion.
Program notes for the concerts are available online: http://bitly.com/oct2018programnotes
Tickets can be purchased in the following ways:
- Single Tickets are $18-$93 each and are on sale now at: https://madisonsymphony.org/ax through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141. Fees apply to online/phone sales.
- Groups of 10 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information, visit, https://www.madisonsymphony.org/groups.
- Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $15 or $20 tickets. More information is at: https://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush
- Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
- Subscribers to 5 or more symphony subscription concerts can save up to 50% off single ticket prices. More information is available about the season at: https://madisonsymphony.org/18-19
- Flex-ticket booklets of 10 vouchers for 18-19 symphony subscription concerts are available. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/flex
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Find more information, go to madisonsymphony.org
Major funding for the October concert is provided by: Mirror 34 Productions and National Guardian Life Insurance Company. Additional funding is provided by John A. Johnson Foundation, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation, Barbara J. Merz, Selma Van Eyck, and the Wisconsin Arts Board, with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tags: #AmericanImmigration, #AntonBruckner, #AsianImmigration, #BarcelonaSpain, #BenjaminBritten, #BillboardMagazine, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #CanadianComposer, #CanadianConductor, #CanadianLeagueofComposers, #CanadianMusic, #CandideOpera, #CapeTown, #CarnegieHall, #CelloConcerto, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicalChart, #ClassicalNet, #CompactDisc, #ContemporaryComposers, #ContemporaryMusic, #DisneyHall, #EbbandFlow, #EdwardElgar, #ErnestHemingway, #EuropeanImmigration, #FacebookPost, #FemaleConductor, #GrammyAward, #GuestConductor, #HomeWebsite, #InsuranceCompany, #JacquelineduPré, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnDeMain, #KennedyCenter, #LeonardBernstein, #LincolnCenter, #LinzAustria, #LiveRecording, #MadisonCommunityFoundation, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MariinskyTheatre, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MichaelOesterle, #MusicalInterpretation, #MusicDirector, #NatashaParemski, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NationalGuardianLife, #NewMusic, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OregonSymphony, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PublicAttention, #RoyalConservatory, #RussianComposer, #SeattleSymphony, #SeattleWashington, #SoloCelloSuites, #SoloDebut, #SouthAfrica, #StateOfWisconsin, #TalesofHemingway, #TaniaMiller, #TechnicalGlitch, #TechnicalIssue, #The1960s, #The60s, #TorontoCanada, #UnitedNations, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VancouverCanada, #VancouverSymphony, #VictoriaSymphony, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WomanConductor, #WorldPremiere, #WorldWarI, #YouTubevideo, #ZuillBailey, 1960s, acclaim, anniversary, Anton Bruckner, Arts, Austria, award, Bach, Barcelona, Benjamin Britten, Bern, BernSwitzerland, Billboard magazine, birth, Canadian, Candide, Cape Town, Carnegie Hall, cellist, Cello, centennial, character, Chicago, choral music, Classical chart, Classical music, Classical Net, commitment, community, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, conductor, debut, dedication, discount, discussion, Disney Hall, Edward Elgar, epic, Ernest Hemingway, Europe, example, Facebook, favorite, female, funding, geographical, geography, glitch, Grammy, Grammy Award, group, homage, Home, immigrant, immigration, impact, impression, innovation, innovator, insurance, interpretation, interpreter, Israel, issue, Jacob Stockinger, Jacqueline du Pré, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, Kennedy Center, Leonard Bernstein, Lincoln, LIncoln Center, Linz, Live Recording, Los Angeles, Madison, Madison Community Foundation, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre, Mead Witter School of Music, melody, metamorphoses, Michael Oesterle, Music, Natasha Paremski, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, New York City, ominous, online, opera, Oregon, Passion, personal, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Pianist, Piano, podium, popular, popularity, Prelude, public attention, Romance, Royal Conservatory, Russia, San Francisco, Seattle, security, senior, solo, Sonata, South Africa, Spain, St. Petersburg, State of Wisconsin, Student, subscriber, Switzerland, symphony, Tales of Hemingway, Tania Miller, technical, theme, ticket, Toronto, United Nations, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Victoria, Viola, Violin, vision, web site, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, women, YouTube, Zuill Bailey
Classical music: Today is both Good Friday and Passover. Here is music to mark both religious holidays
2 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Good Friday, 2018.
Today is Passover, 2018.
Today is both religious holidays.
So it is a good time to recall that the original Last Supper that led to Easter WAS a Seder where Jesus Christ and his Disciples celebrated Passover, as depicted in the famous Renaissance painting “The Last Supper” (below) by Leonard da Vinci.
So today The Ear offers Jewish music that is an homage to both Christianity and Judaism.
If you go to YouTube, you can find a lot of music celebrating each event from Johann Sebastian Bach, and before, to the notorious anti-Semite Richard Wagner.
But in the YouTube video at the bottom, The Ear is offering a moving performance of Ernest Bloch’s “Schelomo: A Hebrew Rhapsody” as played by cellist Leonard Rose with the Cleveland Orchestra under conductor Lorin Maazel.
The mood of the music feels right for both Passover and Good Friday.
The Ear hopes you agree.
Tags: #AntiSemitism, #CelloConcerto, #CelloMusic, #ChristianReligion, #ClevelandOrchestra, #ErnestBloch, #GoodFriday, #JesusChrist, #JewishReligion, #JohannSebastianBach, #LeonardodaVinci, #LeonardRose, #LorinMaazel, #ReligiousHoliday, #RichardWagner, #Seder, #TheLastSupper, anti-Semitic, anti-Semitism, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Bloch, Cello, Christian, Christianity, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, Disciples, Easter, Easter Vigil, God, Good Friday, Hebrew, Holiday, Holy Week, homage, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Jewish, Johann Sebastian Bach, Judaism, Leonard Rose, Leonardo Da Vinci, Madison, Music, Orchestra, painting, Passover, Passover Seder, Religion, religious, Renaissance, rhapsody, The Last Supper, United States, Wagner, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: On Saturday night, the Festival Choir of Madison will sing a program of modern Norwegian and Baltic music about the Northern Lights. Plus on Friday there is a FREE noontime concert of music by Mozart and Ernesto Nazareth and a FREE PUBLIC master class by pianist Richard Goode
2 Comments
ALERT I: This Friday’s FREE Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ernesto Nazareth. (Sorry, no specific works for either composer were named.) The concert runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
The performers in Mozart are: Joanne Schulz and Sarah Gillespie, horns; Elspeth Stalter-Close, violin; Melanie De Jesus and Shannon Farley, violas; Emma Downing, cello. The performers in Nazareth are: Chris Allen, guitar; Shannon Farley, viola; and Iva Ugrcic, flute.
ALERT II: On Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, pianist Richard Goode will give a FREE and PUBLIC master class on Haydn, Beethoven and Debussy. For more about Goode’s recital on Saturday night at the Wisconsin Union Theater, go to:
By Jacob Stockinger
This Saturday night, at 7:30 p.m., at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, the Festival Choir of Madison (below top) will perform under director and Edgewood College professor Sergei Pavlov (below bottom).
The program features contemporary Norwegian and Baltic choral music around the theme of the “Northern Lights” or Aurora Borealis (below, as seen in northern Norway).
For more information, go to: https://www.festivalchoirmadison.org/concerts/2017/11/northernlights
Admission is $20 for the public; $15 for seniors; and $10 for students. For ticket information, go to: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3054565?ref=349591
The voices will be supported by leading Madison-based musicians in a journey through the mystical soundscapes of the North with music by Ola Gjeilo (below top), Peteris Vasks, Trond Kverno, Eriks Esenvalds (below middle), and retired UW-Madison horn professor and composer Douglas Hill (below bottom).
The specific program includes: “Northern Lights” by Ola Gjeilo; “Dark Night of the Soul” by Ola Gjeilo; “Mate Saule” by Peteris Vasks; “Ave Maris Stella” by Trond Kverno; “Northern Lights” by Eriks Esenvalds (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom); and “Homage to Thoreau” by Douglas Hill.
Tags: Arts, Aurora borealis, Ave, Baltic, Beethoven, Cello, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, contemporary, Debussy, Douglas Hill, Edgewood College, Eriks Esenvalds, Ernesto Nazareth, Festival Choir of Madison, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flute, free, Friday, guitar, Haydn, homage, Horn, Jacob Stockinger, journey, light, Madison, master class, modern, Mozart, Music, musicale, Musician, New Music, night, north, Northern, Northern Lights, Norway, Norwegian, Ola Gjeilo, Peters Vasks, Piano, professor, program, Richard Goode, Saturday, Sergei Pavlov, soul, soundscape, theme, Thoreau, Trond Kverno, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra takes The Ear over the rainbow and turns in an impressive season-closing concert that leaves him looking forward to the next season
4 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
To The Ear, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below) just keeps getting better and better, each concert building on the last one.
Take the final concert of this season last Friday night in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
It proved typical WCO fare in the quality of the soloists and orchestra players and in the variety of the program.
WCO music director Andrew Sewell (below) continues to mold his group into the tightest of ensembles. You know you are hearing precision when the rests and silences become as important to the music as the sound. And when you are listening, you feel how relaxing it is to rule out worrying about raggedness.
Here’s a rundown:
The concert opened with a tried-and-true masterpiece, the “Le Tombeau de Couperin” by Maurice Ravel (below). Each of the five dance movements pays homage to a friend of Ravel who fell in World War I, the centennial of which, the gracious Sewell explained, is being marked this year. The Ear likes such tie-ins. (The Ear also loves the original piano version, which has a sixth movement, a fabulous toccata conclusion.)
The Symphony No. 2 in C Major by Romantic master Robert Schumann is not The Ear’s favorite Schumann symphony – that would be No. 4 – and The Ear thinks that Schumann’s orchestral writing is generally not up to his piano writing, his chamber music or his songs.
Indeed, long-form music was not Schumann’s strength, as his many miniature movements in his longer suites and his fragmentary esthetic attest. Perhaps it had to do with his mental illness; perhaps it was just his preference and temperament, much as was the case with his contemporary Chopin, who also preferred the miniature to the epic.
Still, the work proved enjoyable and moving, especially in the vivacious and energetic Scherzo that was executed so precisely and then in the poignant slow movement, which was beautifully shaped with the romantic yearning that Schumann (seen below, with his wife Clara Wieck Schumann) was peerless at expressing. (You can hear the third movement, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
And once again, the smaller size of the chamber orchestra — versus a full symphony orchestra — created transparency. Listeners got to hear inner voices and the interplay of parts in all sections of the orchestra that they might otherwise miss.
But the piece that everyone came to hear was the finale: The world premiere of a Two-Piano Concerto by American composer Thomas Cabaniss (below top). The WCO commissioned the piece with help from two local patrons (Jun and Sandy Lee) and the soloists, Michael Shinn and Jessica Chow Shinn (below bottom), who have ties to Madison.
The work and its three movements – “Surfaces,” “Disturbances” and “Revelation” — did not disappoint and received a rapturous reception from the large audience, which demanded and received a piano-four hands encore.
The concerto struck The Ear as perfectly fitting its title, “Double Rainbow.” You heard elements of Maurice Ravel and John Adams. But you did NOT hear the typical standout solo playing of, say, a piano concerto by Beethoven or Brahms, Rachmaninoff or Prokofiev.
This was a much more atmospheric ensemble work that shimmered and glittered, much like a rainbow. It almost seemed in many places similar to a Baroque concerto grosso, with the piano incorporated into the orchestral texture rather than standing out against it.
That is not to say the concerto, more mood than melody, wasn’t impressive. The score seemed very difficult, even virtuosic, and it certainly had moments that allowed the two soloists to show off their first-rate, Juilliard-trained chops.
Will this new concerto join other two-piano staples, such as the famous two-piano concertos by Poulenc and Mozart? It would take more hearings to be sure, but The Ear suspects not. It will surely get repeated hearings, especially from the Shinns, without becoming a go-to default piece in the two-piano repertoire. But he could well be wrong.
In any case, one would be hard put to find a better summary of the WCO approach to music-making than this outstanding concert that combined the old and the new, that mixed works from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and performed them with technical precision and moving interpretation.
Bravos to all.
And all the more reason to look forward, after the WCO’s six summer outdoor Concerts on the Square from June 28 to Aug. 2, to the next indoors Masterworks season, both of which you can find here:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances
Tags: American, Andrew Sewell, Arts, Baroque, Beethoven, British Romanticism, Chamber music, Chopin, Clara Wieck Schumann, Classical music, commission, composer, concerto, Concerto Grosso, Concerts on the Square, dance, duo-pianists, encore, ensemble, homage, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Jessica Chow Shinn, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, Le tombeau de Couperin, Leonard Bernstein, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, masterpiece, masterwork, melody, mental illness, Michael Shinn, miniature, mood, movement, Music, Orchestra, Overture Center, parts, Piano, precision, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, rainbow, Ravel, Robert Schumann, Romantic, Scherzo, section, Slow movement, solo, symphony, technique, Thomas Cabaniss, toccata, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, Viola, Violin, voices, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, world premiere, World War I, YouTube
Classical music: Remembering The Modest Maestro. English conductor Sir Neville Marriner died this past week at 92
3 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
He played in a string quartet and a symphony orchestra before founding and directing a chamber orchestra that rose to the top ranks of the music world. Then he became a world-famous conductor of larger ensembles, including the Minnesota Orchestra.
He was Sir Neville Marriner (below, in old age), and he died at 92 on Oct. 2.
Perhaps because Marriner, who pioneered period practices on modern instruments when playing music of the Baroque and Classical eras, was famous for recording the soundtrack to the Academy Award-winning film “Amadeus,” his death was announced the same day on radio news programs – something that doesn’t happen often and speaks to his popularity and influence.
By all accounts, in the world of many egotistical maestros, Marriner remained modest. For this friendly titan, music mattered most and he was busy conducting right up until the end. Apparently, Marriner was a wonderful man to know and to work with.
Chances are good that by now you have already heard about Marriner’s death. So The Ear is offering some homages that repeat the details of his career and his passing. (Below is a photo of the young Neville Marriner.)
First are two moving testimonies from Marriner’s friend, the British critic Norman Lebrecht, published on Lebrecht’s blog Slipped Disc:
http://slippedisc.com/2016/10/sad-news-neville-marriner-is-gone-at-92/
http://slippedisc.com/2016/10/the-unforgettable-neville-marriner/
Here is the announcement of his death from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (heard playing the Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni in the YouTube video at the bottom), which Marriner founded and led for many years:
http://www.asmf.org/sir-neville-marriner/
Here is an exhaustive obituary from The New York Times:
And here is another obituary from The Washington Post:
Here is a good overview with some audio-visual samples, from the Deceptive Cadence blog on NPR or National Public Radio:
And here is a good summary from famed radio station WQXR-FM in New York City:
Sir Neville Marriner was a prolific recording artist, with more than 500 recordings to his credit. The Ear fondly remembers an LP that had the Serenades for Strings by the Czech composer Antonin Dvorak and the “Holberg” Suite by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, which has been reissued as a “Legends” CD by Decca. The playing was warmly heart-felt and superb.
The Ear also loved his complete set of piano concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, done with pianist Alfred Brendel.
What are your favorite Marriner recordings?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: "Amadeus", Academy Award, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Albinoni, Alfred Brendel, Arts, Baroque, Beethoven, CD, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, Classical era, Classical music, concerto, conductor, death, Decca, Dvorak, Grieg, Historically informed performance, homage, instruments, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison, Maestro, Minnesota Orchestra, Mozart, Music, New York City, New York Times, news, Norman Lebrecht, Norway, NPR, Orchestra, Piano, Radio, recording, Sir Neville Marriner, Slipped Disc, String quartet, symphony, symphony orchestra, The Washington Post, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WQXR-FM, YouTube
Classical music: Which are the most famous and most popular string quartets? And which ones are your favorites?
8 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
Does The Ear ever love chamber music!
And it has been a good few days for him and for other Madison fans of string quartets.
On Saturday night, The Ear heard the Ancora String Quartet (below) in outstanding performances of the “Dissonance” Quartet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the late String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor, “Rosamunde,” by Franz Schubert.
Then on Monday night, the Ear heard the terrific Rhapsodie Quartet (below top, in a photo by Greg Anderson), made up of players in the Madison Symphony Orchestra, perform the “American” String Quartet by Antonin Dvorak followed by the sublime and profound Cello Quintet by Franz Schubert. UW-Madison and Pro Arte Quartet cellist Parry Karp (below bottom) sat in as the extra cellist.
At the Ancora concert, cellist Benjamin Whitcomb, who teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, made the case that Mozart’s “Dissonance” Quartet is well known for its apt nickname and is probably the best known or most popular of Mozart’s string quartets.
That got The Ear to thinking:
What are the most well-known and most popular string quartets?
And which string quartets are your favorites that you would recommend to other chamber music fans?
The Ear drew up a list of candidates of the first honor of being well-known.
He suspects that the “Emperor” Quartet — with its famous and infamous slow movement theme that was turned from an homage to the Austrian emperor into an anthem for Nazi Germany — by Franz Joseph Haydn, the “Death and the Maiden” Quartet of Schubert and the “American” Quartet of Dvorak all rival or surpass the public reputation of the Mozart’s “Dissonance,” although that one is certainly and deservedly famous to the general public.
As to The Ear’s favorite quartets: The Ear is especially partial to the six early Op. 18 string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven (below), which often take a back seat to the same composer’s middle quartets and late quartets. But of the famous last ones, The Ear loves the very last one, Op. 135, with its return to classical structure and clarity.
He also loves all of the Op. 76 string quartets by Haydn (below top) and is especially partial to the “Sunrise” and the “Quinten” or “Fifths” quartets. He also loves Haydn’s earlier Op. 20 “Sun” quartets; and all six string quartets that Mozart (below bottom) composed for and dedicated to Haydn, generally considered the father or the modern string quartet who also played string quartets with himself on violin and Mozart on viola.
The Ear likes Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” well enough, but he is always blown away by Schubert’s last quartet in G major, which was used as a soundtrack in Woody Allen’s great movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
He also loves the lyrical quartets on Dvorak (below), especially the Op. 51 “Slavonic” as well as the “American.” (You can hear the opening of the “Slavonic” String Quartet in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
As for Johannes Brahms, The Ear prefers the string quintets and string sextets to the string quartets.
Francophile that he is, The Ear also loves the single string quartets by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
Among other modern string quartets, he loves the third and fifth of Bela Bartok, the second one by Sergei Prokofiev and the eight and 11th by Dmitri Shostakovich. He also adds the String Quartet No. 3 “Mishima” by Philip Glass.
Well, that’s enough for today and for this post.
What string quartet do you think is the most famous or most popular?
And which string quartets are your favorites?
Leave word, with a YouTube link if possible, in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: American, Ancora String Quartet, anthem, Arts, Austria, Beethoven, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, crimes, Death and the Maiden, Debussy, dissonance, Dvorak, Emperor, Fifths, film, Franz Schubert, Germany, Haydn, homage, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, misdemeanors, Mishima, movie, Mozart, Music, Nazi, Philip Glass, Pro Arte Quartet, Prokofiev, Quinten, Ravel, Rhapsodie Quartet, Rosamunde, Schubert, Shostakovich, Slavonic, soundtrack, String Quartet (Ravel), sunrise, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Woody Allen
Recent Comments
 | Mary Friedel-Hunt on What do you think of the… |
 | music88 on Yunchan Lim’s Chopin etudes ar… |
 | diacon2 on Who was the better pianist? Ma… |
 | welltemperedear on Classical music: Madison Opera… |
| welltemperedear on Classical music: Was Bernard H… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 