The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will give two concerts this week as part of the centennial season of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater
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By Jacob Stockinger
Think of it as one anniversary celebrating another anniversary.
This week, four members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York City will be giving two concerts as part of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater (below).
The Chamber Music Society is marking its 50th anniversary and is in town this week to help the WUT’s Concert Series celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Here is a link with more background about the special programming for the anniversary season: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/03/30/classical-music-personal-experience-artistic-excellence-and-historical-importance-drew-pianist-wu-han-and-cellist-david-finckel-into-planning-next-years-centennial-season-at-the-wisconsin-u/
The first concert is tomorrow — Thursday night, March 5 — at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall at the Memorial Union. The program features two piano quartets and a violin sonatina.
The Ear has seen the Society players before in Madison and has never heard them give anything short of a first-rate performance.
The piano quartets are the Piano Quartet in A Minor, Op. 1, by Czech composer Josef Suk; the Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25, by Johannes Brahms; and the Violin Sonatina in G Major, Op. 100, by Antonin Dvorak. (You can hear Chopin Competition winner and South Korean pianist Song-Jin Cho, play the Gypsy Rondo finale from the Brahms piano quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Personal ties link all three works. Brahms greatly admired Dvorak and helped launch his career. And Dvorak was both the teacher and father-in-law of Suk.
The performers (below, from left) are violinist Arnaud Sussmann, pianist Wu Han, violist Paul Neubauer; and cellist David Finckel.
The wife-and-husband team of Wu Han and David Finckel are the co-music directors of the Chamber Music Society and also the artistic advisors who helped the Wisconsin Union Theater put together its centennial season.
Says Han: Chamber music is a form of music that has the ability to provide comfort in difficult times, escape and inspiration for all. The Musical America’s Musician of the Year award winner adds that it’s those very things that drive her to continue to make music.
The performance is part of the new David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Series. More information about the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center can be found on their website.
There will also be a pre-concert performance by students of the Suzuki method in Sonora Strings (below) beginning in Shannon Hall at 7 p.m.
For more background as well as how to purchase tickets ($10-$50), go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/chamber-music-society-of-lincoln-center/
SATURDAY NIGHT
On Saturday night, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., pianist Wu Han (below top) will perform with the UW Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its director and conductor Oriol Sans (below bottom).
The program is the Suite No. 1 from the chamber opera “Powder Her Face” by the contemporary British composer Thomas Adès; the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37, by Beethoven; and the Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73, by Brahms.
Tickets are $30 for the public, $25 for Union members and UW faculty and staff; and $10 for UW students. For more information about Wu Han and to purchase tickets, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/wu-han-with-uw-symphony/
“Wu Han brings to the Wisconsin Union Theater not only a passion for music, but also authentic excitement about inspiring a love of music in others,” said Amanda Venske, Concert Series coordinator of the Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Performing Arts Committee.
The students of the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, with the UW Choral Union in the background) will have the opportunity to learn from Han as they prepare for the Saturday performance.
Patrons can purchase tickets online or at the Memorial Union Box Office. The Wisconsin Union Theater team offers discounted tickets for University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty, staff and students as well as Wisconsin Union members.
Other upcoming Concert Series performances are by violinist Gil Shaham with Akira Eguchi on March 28, and superstar soprano Renée Fleming on May 2. The Concert Series is the longest running classical music series in the Midwest.
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Classical music: Superstar soprano Renée Fleming and pianist Emanuel Ax headline the 100th anniversary of the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series next season
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following major announcement to post about the Wisconsin Union Theater, which The Ear calls “the Carnegie Hall of Madison” for its long and distinguished history of presenting great performing artists.
The Wisconsin Union Theater (below top, with Shannon Hall below bottom) is delighted to announce the schedule for its 100th Concert Series during 2019-20.
In this celebratory year, we introduce two exciting additions: A transformative gift by Kato Perlman establishes the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Series, ensuring the world’s best chamber ensembles continue to perform as a regular feature of the Concert Series.
Additionally, two Concert Series performances will take place in the Mead Witter School of Music’s new Hamel Music Center (below). We look forward to increased collaborations with the school of music.
The 100th anniversary series was curated by the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Performing Arts Committee, with wife-and-husband advisors pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel (below, in a photo by Tristan Cook), who are celebrated musicians and directors of several festivals of classical music and also serve as co-artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. (You can hear them performing music by Johann Sebastian Bach in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The first season of this distinguished series was in 1920-1921, and featured soprano May Peterson, violinist Fritz Kreisler and pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch.
Nineteen years later, in 1939-1940, the series moved to the newly opened Wisconsin Union Theater. The first season in the Wisconsin Union Theater featured bass singer Ezio Pinza, cellist Emanuel Feuermann, violinist Joseph Szigeti, pianist Robert Casadesus and, the highlight, contralto Marian Anderson.
Through these 99 years, numerous renowned, accomplished and prominent classical musicians have played in the series, the longest continuous classical series in the Midwest. Some made their debut here and continued returning as their fame rose.
See this article for an interview with former WUT director Michael Goldberg about the history of the series.
The schedule for the 100th Concert Series, including the inaugural David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Series, is:
Oct. 6 – A cappella choral group Chanticleer, Hamel Music Center. Program To Be Announced
Nov. 2 – Pianist Emanuel Ax (below), Shannon Hall. All-Beethoven program, including Piano Sonatas Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
Dec. 6 – The Kalichstein, Laredo and Robinson Piano Trio (below), Shannon Hall. “Canonic Etudes” by Robert Schumann; Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor by Felix Mendelssohn; and Piano Trio in B-flat major “Archduke” by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Jan. 25, 2020 – The Escher String Quartet (below), featuring David Finckel, Shannon Hall. Quartets by Franz Joseph Haydn, Fritz Kreisler and Franz Schubert.
March 5, 2020 – Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – featuring David Finckel, Wu Han, Paul Neubauer and Arnaud Sussman, Shannon Hall. Sonatine by Antonin Dvorak; Piano Quartet by Josef Suk; Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25, by Johannes Brahms.
March 7, 2020 – Wu Han with the UW Symphony Orchestra, Hamel Music Center. Program TBD.
March 28, 2020 – Violinist Gil Shaham (below) with pianist Akira Eguchi, Shannon Hall. Program TBD.
May 2, 2020 – Special Gala Concert with Renée Fleming (below). Shannon Hall. Mixed Recital.
All programs are subject to change.
Subscriptions will be available starting March 18, 2019. Subscribers benefits include: access to the best seats, 20% off the price of single tickets, no order fees, a free ticket to Wu Han’s performance with the UW Symphony Orchestra, and the opportunity to be first to purchase tickets to Renée Fleming’s 100th Anniversary Gala Concert.
Find more information about the series and the artists at www.uniontheater.wisc.edu. Subscriptions will be available on March 18 at www.artsticketing.wisc.edu.
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Classical music poll: Who is your favorite neglected composer? And what is your favorite work by that composer?
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By Jacob Stockinger
It’s the weekend — a good time for another reader poll.
Last weekend, The Ear heard the Violin Sonata No. 1 by the French composer Gabriel Faure (below), in a wonderful performance by UW-Madison faculty members violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino and pianist Christopher Taylor, who make an outstanding partnership that The Ear hopes to heard more often.
The Ear has long thought that Faure, who was the teacher of Ravel, has been neglected. His work, especially his solo piano pieces and chamber music, is subtle and appealing but unjustly overshadowed by the Germanic school.
Yet Faure seems to be getting more performances, although still not as many as he deserves.
So maybe The Ear will switch to say that the 20th-century English composer Gerald Finzi (below) is now his favorite neglected composer.
You can hear Finzi’s haunting and exquisite “Eclogue” for piano and strings, which was originally the slow movement for a piano concerto, in the YouTube video at the bottom.
But The Ear also likes Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto and his Five Bagatelles — especially the “Romance” movement — for Clarinet and Piano.
There are so many composers who deserve a wider hearing — including big mainstream composers like the prolific master Franz Joseph Haydn whose name is better known than most of his works.
Recently, on Wisconsin Public Radio, The Ear heard rarely performed solo piano works by the Czech Josef Suk (below top) and really liked them. Same goes for some solo piano works and violin works by Clara Schumann (below bottom).
There are so many other composers, including ones from Scandinavia, Asia and the United States, who fly under the radar but deserve better recognition and more performances.
So here is what The Ear wants to know:
Who is your favorite neglected composer?
And what is your favorite piece by that composer and why?
Please tell the rest of us, with a link to a YouTube performance, if possible, and help us expand our horizons.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Arts, Asia, bagatelle, Chamber music, Christopher Taylor, Clara Schumann, clarinet, composer, concerto, Czech, Eclogue, English, Faure, favorite, Finzi, French, French Canada, Jacob Stockinger, Josef Suk, Madison, Music, neglect, neglected, Orchestra, Piano, piece, Scandinavia, Soh-Hyun Park Altino, Sonata, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, work, YouTube
Classical music: Here are the classical music nominations for the 2017 Grammy Awards. They make a great holiday gift list of gives and gets
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By Jacob Stockinger
This posting is both a news story and a holiday gift guide of classical recordings you might like to give or get.
It features the classical music nominations for the 59th annual Grammy Awards that were just announced this past week.
As you can see, several years ago, the recording industry decided that the Grammys should put more emphasis on new music and contemporary composers as well as on less famous performers and smaller labels as well as less well-known artists and works. You don’t see any music by Bach, Beethoven or Brahms this year, although you will find music by Mozart, Handel, Schumann and Dvorak. And clearly this is not a Mahler year
The winners will be announced on a live TV broadcast on Sunday night, Feb. 12, on CBS.
BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL
“Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles” — Mark Donahue & Fred Vogler, engineers (James Conlon, Guanqun Yu, Joshua Guerrero, Patricia Racette, Christopher Maltman, Lucy Schaufer, Lucas Meachem, LA Opera Chorus & Orchestra)
“Dutilleux: Sur Le Même Accord; Les Citations; Mystère De L’Instant & Timbres, Espace, Mouvement” — Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers (Ludovic Morlot, Augustin Hadelich & Seattle Symphony)
“Reflections” — Morten Lindberg, engineer (Øyvind Gimse, Geir Inge Lotsberg & Trondheimsolistene)
“Shadow of Sirius” — Silas Brown & David Frost, engineers; Silas Brown, mastering engineer (Jerry F. Junkin & the University Of Texas Wind Ensemble)
“Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow: Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9” — Shawn Murphy & Nick Squire, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer (Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra)
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL
Blanton Alspaugh
David Frost
Marina A. Ledin, Victor Ledin
Judith Sherman (pictured below with the Grammy Award she won last year. She came to Madison to record the double set of new commissions for the centennial of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet)
Robina G. Young
BEST ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE
“Bates: Works for Orchestra” — Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony). You can hear excerpts in the YouTube video at the bottom.
“Ibert: Orchestral Works” — Neeme Järvi, conductor (Orchestre De La Suisse Romande)
“Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 In B-Flat Major, Op. 100” — Mariss Jansons, conductor (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra)
“Rouse: Odna Zhizn; Symphonies 3 & 4; Prospero’s Rooms” — Alan Gilbert, conductor (New York Philharmonic)
“Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow – Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9” (below) — Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
BEST OPERA RECORDING
“Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles” (below) — James Conlon, conductor; Joshua Guerrero, Christopher Maltman, Lucas Meachem, Patricia Racette, Lucy Schaufer & Guanqun Yu; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (LA Opera Orchestra; LA Opera Chorus)
“Handel: Giulio Cesare” — Giovanni Antonini, conductor; Cecilia Bartoli, Philippe Jaroussky, Andreas Scholl & Anne-Sofie von Otter; Samuel Theis, producer (Il Giardino Armonico)
“Higdon: Cold Mountain” — Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Emily Fons, Nathan Gunn, Isabel Leonard & Jay Hunter Morris; Elizabeth Ostrow, producer (The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra; Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers)
“Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro” — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Thomas Hampson, Christiane Karg, Luca Pisaroni & Sonya Yoncheva; Daniel Zalay, producer (Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Vocalensemble Rastatt)
“Szymanowski: Król Roger” — Antonio Pappano, conductor; Georgia Jarman, Mariusz Kwiecień & Saimir Pirgu; Jonathan Allen, producer (Orchestra of the Royal Opera House; Royal Opera Chorus)
BEST CHORAL PERFORMANCE
“Himmelrand” — Elisabeth Holte, conductor (Marianne Reidarsdatter Eriksen, Ragnfrid Lie & Matilda Sterby; Inger-Lise Ulsrud; Uranienborg Vokalensemble)
“Janáček: Glagolitic Mass” — Edward Gardner, conductor; Håkon Matti Skrede, chorus master (Susan Bickley, Gábor Bretz, Sara Jakubiak & Stuart Skelton; Thomas Trotter; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra; Bergen Cathedral Choir, Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Choir of Collegium Musicum & Edvard Grieg Kor)
“Lloyd: Bonhoeffer” — Donald Nally, conductor (Malavika Godbole, John Grecia, Rebecca Harris & Thomas Mesa; the Crossing; below)
“Penderecki Conducts Penderecki, Volume 1” — Krzysztof Penderecki, conductor; Henryk Wojnarowski, choir director (Nikolay Didenko, Agnieszka Rehlis & Johanna Rusanen; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Warsaw Philharmonic Choir)
“Steinberg: Passion Week” — Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir)
BEST CHAMBER MUSIC/SMALL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
“Fitelberg: Chamber Works” — ARC Ensemble
“Reflections” — Øyvind Gimse, Geir Inge Lotsberg & Trondheimsolistene
“Serious Business” — Spektral Quartet
“Steve Reich” — Third Coast Percussion (below)
“Trios From Our Homelands” — Lincoln Trio
BEST CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL SOLO
“Adams, J.: Scheherazade.2” — Leila Josefowicz; David Robertson, conductor (Chester Englander; St. Louis Symphony)
“Daugherty: Tales of Hemingway” — Zuill Bailey; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor (Nashville Symphony)
“Dvořák: Violin Concerto & Romance; Suk: Fantasy” — Christian Tetzlaff; John Storgårds, conductor (Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra)
“Mozart: Keyboard Music, Vols. 8 & 9” – Kristian Bezuidenhout
“1930’s Violin Concertos, Vol. 2” – Gil Shaham; Stéphane Denève, conductor (The Knights & Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra)
BEST CLASSICAL SOLO VOCAL ALBUM
“Monteverdi” — Magdalena Kožená; Andrea Marcon, conductor (David Feldman, Michael Feyfar, Jakob Pilgram & Luca Tittoto; La Cetra Barockorchester Basel)
“Mozart: The Weber Sisters” — Sabine Devieilhe; Raphaël Pichon, conductor (Pygmalion)
“Schumann & Berg” — Dorothea Röschmann; Mitsuko Uchida, accompanist
“Shakespeare Songs” — Ian Bostridge; Antonio Pappano, accompanist (Michael Collins, Elizabeth Kenny, Lawrence Power & Adam Walker)
“Verismo” — Anna Netrebko; Antonio Pappano, conductor (Yusif Eyvazov; Coro Dell’Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia; Orchestra Dell’Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia)
BEST CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM
“Daugherty: Tales of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon A Castle” — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
“Gesualdo” — Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor; Manfred Eicher, producer
“Vaughan Williams: Discoveries” — Martyn Brabbins, conductor; Andrew Walton, producer
“Wolfgang: Passing Through” — Judith Farmer & Gernot Wolfgang, producers; (Various Artists)
“Zappa: 200 Motels – The Suites” — Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Frank Filipetti & Gail Zappa, producers
BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION
“Bates: Anthology of Fantastic Zoology” — Mason Bates, composer (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
“Daugherty: Tales of Hemingway” — Michael Daugherty, composer (Zuill Bailey, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
“Higdon: Cold Mountain” — Jennifer Higdon, composer; Gene Scheer, librettist (Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Jay Hunter Morris, Emily Fons, Isabel Leonard, Nathan Gunn & the Santa Fe Opera)
“Theofanidis: Bassoon Concerto” — Christopher Theofanidis, composer (Martin Kuuskmann, Barry Jekowsky & Northwest Sinfonia)
“Winger: Conversations With Nijinsky” — C. F. Kip Winger, composer (Martin West & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra)
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Classical music: The Ear offers some semester-end shout-outs to UW student musicians.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The semester at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music is just about over. Winter Break starts next week and lasts until mid-January.
Performances are just about over as students focus on final papers, final exams and degree recitals.
But The Ear went to a couple of performances by several groups that he thinks deserve shout-outs.
On Sunday night, Dec. 6, The Ear went to a sparsely attended performance by the UW-Madison Chamber Orchestra under the director of conductor Jim Smith (both are below).
Too bad the audience wasn’t larger. The program was such a welcome relief from the hectic nature of the holidays. It proved to be a parenthesis of calm amid so much loudness and busyness.
The program featured Igor Stravinsky’s Neo-Classical ballet suite “Apollo” (Apollon, Musagete or Master of the Muses) on the first half. The second half was the “String Suite” by Czech composer Josef Suk, who was the student and eventual son-in-law of Antonin Dvorak. Historically, it may be a second-tier work, but it certainly has its lovely moments. And the overall pastoral mood was perfect for the occasion.
These are both deceptive scores that sound easy and transparent but are difficult to play and are loaded with many subtleties. The UW Chamber Orchestra played extraordinarily well and thoroughly convincingly.
One last thing to praise: Each piece lasted about 30 minutes. Add in the intermission and the whole program clocked in at about 90 minutes. It started at 7:30 p.m. and The Ear was home by just after 9.
That shorter concert time was refreshing and welcome, and allowed me to do things after the performance. In some important ways, shorter does not mean less!
UW CHORAL UNION and UW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA with TYANA O’CONNOR
A week ago Saturday night, on Dec. 11, The Ear went to the all-20th century program performed by the campus and community UW Choral Union and the UW Symphony Orchestra with graduate student and guest soprano soloist Tyana O’Connor, all under the baton of Beverly Taylor.
The program featured the Overture to “The Wasps” by Ralph Vaughan Williams; the Symphony of Psalms by Igor Stravinsky; and the eminently listenable Gloria by Francis Poulenc, which you can hear in a YouTube video at the bottom.
It was an original and engaging program, one that possessed a certain joy that wasn’t ruined even by the ticketing fiasco and by the long wait to get into the hall.
That meant it worked well with the holidays, but not in the obvious way that certain oratorios like “Messiah” by George Frideric Handel or cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach do. And all parties performed very well.
Here is what choral director Beverly Taylor had to say about the program in an interview with The Ear:
Special notice goes to the winds and brass (below) of the UW Symphony Orchestra, which replace the upper string (violins and violas) in the Stravinsky’s score. They performed outstandingly, often with the mastery of professionals, in a score that is thorny with polyrhythms and dissonances.
And even though I had heard soprano soloist Tyana O’Connor in this semester’s Opera Scenes, I was unprepared for the power of her voice in the Poulenc. Perhaps she was sick earlier, or under-rehearsed; or maybe she didn’t want to overwhelm her duet partner; or maybe her strong and beautiful voice was simply swallowed up by the acoustics of Music Hall. Whatever the case, she was terrific in this performance and easily sang over the tight orchestra and the well prepared chorus without straining.
So thanks you to all these musicians, and to so many other student performers, both singers and instrumentalists, who gave The Ear so many memorable and moving moments during the past semester and will do so again this coming semester.
Have a fine Winter Break, all of you!
You have earned it.
Tags: Arts, Bach, ballet, Baroque, brass, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Christmas, Classical music, dissonance, Dvorak, Early music, George Frideric Handel, Gloria, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Josef Suk, Madison, Music, Orchestra, Overture, Overture to The Wasps, polyrhythm, Poulenc, Psalms, pslams, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Serenade, solo, soprano, Stravinsky, Symphony of Psalms, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, winds, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: The popular and FREE Winter Concert by the UW-Madison choirs will be this Sunday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Also, two UW bands and the UW Chamber Orchestra will perform on Sunday. Plus, the UW School of Music has received a gift of $25 million from the Mead Witter Foundation.
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NEWS ALERT: The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music has just received a major gift of $25 million from the Mead Witter Foundation. It will be used for the new performance center, which will open in 2018. Here is a link with details and background:
By Jacob Stockinger
It’s that time of the year.
It’s the end of the semester, and concerts are starting to stack up like planes over O’Hare.
Take this Sunday:
WINTER CHORAL CONCERT
If you’re looking for a seasonal treat, the annual Winter Concerts of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music Choral Program will be this Sunday, Dec. 6, at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Ave.
There will be two performances: from 2-3 p.m. and then 4-5 p.m.
The performances are FREE and popular, so people are urged to arrive early.
The public will hear holiday pieces performed by the Madrigal Singers, Chorale, the Masters Singers, the Women’s Chorus, the University Chorus, Concert Choir and pieces sung by all the singers, as well as an organ prelude by UW-Madison Prof. John Chappell Stowe.
Sorry, no word yet on specific pieces or composers.
UW-MADISON BANDS
There will be two FREE band concerts on this Sunday.
At 2 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Concert Band will perform a FREE concert under director Scott Teeple. Sorry, no word about the works or composers on the program.
At 4 p.m. in Mills Hall, the University Bands, under several directors, will perform a FREE concert. Sorry, no word yet about the program.
UW CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
At 7:30 p.m. the UW Chamber Orchestra (below), under director James Smith, will perform a FREE concert. The program features the hauntingNeo-Classical ballet score “Apollon Musagete” (Apollo Leader of the Muses, heard at bottom in a YouTube video) by Igor Stravinsky and the Suite, Op. 6, by the Czech composer Josef Suk.
Tags: Apollo, Arts, Bach, ballet, band, Baroque, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, choral music, Christmas, Classical music, Early music, Holiday, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Josef Suk, Madison, Music, Orchestra, organ, Prelude, Stravinsky, Suite, Undergraduate education, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, winter, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Happy Halloween! Here is some spooky music along with a spooky way to listen to it.
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By Jacob Stockinger
BOO!
Today is Halloween 2015.
Trick or treat?
The Ear is giving out treats today.
Eeriness has played a role in classical music since its beginning.
So here are the 13 scariest pieces of classical music – with links to performances – as determined by Limelight magazine:
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/features/13-scariest-pieces-classical-music-halloween
And here is another selection of Halloween music, 10 pieces also with links to performances, from The Imaginative Conservative:
http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2014/10/classical-music-pieces-for-halloween.html
Together the two websites offer a wide variety of composers: Camille Saint-Saens, Franz Liszt, Johann Sebastian Bach, Modest Mussorgsky, Hector Berlioz, Bela Bartok, Arnold Schoenberg, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Gyorgy Ligeti, Antonin Dvorak, Josef Suk, Jean Sibelius, Andre Caplet, Carl Maria von Weber and Franz Schubert.
You could stream them loudly as you do trick-or-treat with neighborhood children.
But The Ear also wants to share what he finds to be a fascinating and irresistible but nonetheless spooky way of listening to the famous Organ Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, a work that made both lists of music appropriate to Halloween.
The YouTube video uses an ingenious but spooky visual bar graph bar way to follow the music. Try it and see for yourself! Over 25 million people have!
Then leave any suggestions you have for Halloween music, along with a link to a YouTube or other performance if possible, in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Andre Caplet, Arnold Schoenberg, Arts, Bach, bar graph, Baroque, Bartok, Berlioz, BWV 565, Carl Maria von Weber, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Dvorak, Franz Schubert, fugue, graph, Halloween, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Sibelius, Johann Sebastian Bach, Josef Suk, Ligeti, Limelight magazine, Liszt, Madison, Music, Mussorgsky, Orchestra, Piano, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saens, Schoenberg, The Imaginative Conservative, toccata, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, trick or treat, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, vocal music, YouTube
Classical music education: The University of Wisconsin-Madison will have a chamber orchestra after all for this season.
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By Jacob Stockinger
In the on again-off again saga of having a chamber orchestra at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, there is good news to report.
That is heartening to hear, given that the music school has been ranked in the Top 10 of the nation and a chamber orchestra is important for student education because it offers a very different educational experience than a symphony orchestra. (The UW-Madison continues to have the UW Symphony Orchestra.)
This academic year and concert season, 2015-16, the UW-Madison will indeed once again have a chamber orchestra (below), which, if The Ear recalls correctly, had been threatened earlier with the lack of various instruments and players of high enough quality.
That lack was blamed on the lack of scholarships to lure top students away from competing music schools.
First, it was the lack of winds and brass that threatened the orchestra.
So the chamber ensemble was redesigned as a string orchestra.
But even a couple of weeks ago, the stumbling block appeared to be a lack of violists.
But now that problem has apparently been solved.
Conductor James Smith sent The Ear a tentative schedule of concert programs for the first semester. And the repertoire – subject to change — looks quite engaging.
Here it is:
SUNDAY, OCT. 4, AT 2 P.M. IN MILLS HALL: Serenade for Strings by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and “Death and the Maiden” by Franz Schubert as arranged by Gustav Mahler.
SUNDAY, NOV. 1, AT 2 P.M. IN MILLS HALL: Chamber Symphony for String Orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich as arranged by Russian violist and conductor Rudolf Barshai; and the Serenade, Op. 22, by Antonin Dvorak
SUNDAY, DEC. 6, AT 7:30 P.M. IN MILLS HALL: the haunting beat score “Apollon Musagete (Apollo, Father of the Muses, heard at bottom in a YouTube video) by Igor Stravinsky; and the Serenade, Op. 6, by Czech composer Josef Suk.
Tags: Apollo, Arts, ballet, Cello, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, Classical music, conductor, Franz Schubert, Igor Stravinsky, Jacob Stockinger, Josef Suk, Madison, Mahler, Music, Orchestra, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Rudolf Barshai, Serenade, String Orchestra, strings, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, YouTube
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