The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: There is a lot of FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC classical music for guitar, cello, trombone, flute and piano trio this week and weekend at the University of Wisconsin School of Music.

By Jacob Stockinger

It is only Wednesday, and already twice this week I have already spotlighted two big and important upcoming music events at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

On Friday night is the second SoundWaves lecture-concert at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Here is a link to that post:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/classical-music-qa-science-and-music-will-meet-again-this-friday-night-at-the-second-soundwaves-concert-at-the-wisconsin-institutes-for-discovery/

Also on Friday night is the first of three performances of George Frideric Handel’s opera “Ariodante.” The performance marks the opening production of this season at the University Opera. Here is a link to that post:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/classical-music-handel-is-hot-and-his-ariodante-opens-university-operas-fall-season-this-friday-and-sunday-and-next-tuesday/

But you know the semester is starting to wind towards its end when you start seeing the concerts pile up.

So consider what else in the way of smaller events is happening – what other FREE and PUBLIC concerts – at the UW-Madison during the rest of the week.

CLASSICAL GUITAR

Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW guitarist Javier Calderon (below) will give a FREE and PUBLIC recital on the UW Faculty Concert Series.

The program includes: “Ancien Lute Dances” by Abel Carlevaro;
 Variations, Op. 9, 
by Fernando Sor; 
Suite for Lute No. 1 BWV 996, by Johann Sebastian Bach;

”Cafe 1930” by Astor Piazzolla; “Three pieces” by Manuel Ponce; “Aire de Bolivia’ by Gaston Caba; “Torre Bermeja,” “Pavana Capriccio” and “Sevilla” by Isaac Albeniz.

When Javier Calderon played his solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall, The New York Times called him “…a virtuoso with poetic sensibility.” Since then many composers, including the eminent American Alan Hovhaness and Lawrence Weiner, have been writing and dedicating guitar concertos and solo pieces to Calderon.

At age 17 Javier Calderon thrilled the audience of his native city of La Paz, Bolivia the evening he played with the Bolivian National Symphony Orchestra. Then he was invited to the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont.

Soon after, the legendary Andres Segovia awarded the young guitarist a scholarship to study under his tutelage in Spain. Calderon, who is also an accomplished cellist, studied interpretation with Janos Starker.
 Javier Calderon now tours extensively in the United States, Europe, South America and the Far East.

He appears regularly as concert soloist with orchestras including the St. Louis and Atlanta symphonies and the Minnesota Orchestra and in solo recitals throughout the world. Javier Calderon has performed chamber music concerts with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and has been featured at numerous international music festivals.

Professor Calderon (below) founded and heads the UW-Madison guitar program.

TROMBONE AND PIANO

On Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. in Mills hall, UW-Madison trombonist Mark Hetzler (below top, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) and UW pianist Martha Fischer (below bottom) will present a special program – FREE and open to the PUBLIC — on the Faculty Concert Series.

It is called “Meditations and Visions: The Music of Anthony Plog and Anthony Barfield” and consists of two modern works that feature lyricism and technical virtuosity in a rich romantic language.

FLUTE TRIOS

On Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW saxophonist Les Thimmig will perform the second of three installments presenting the late-period Trios of American composer Morton Feldman. It is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Also performing will be Jennifer Hedstrom, keyboards; and Sean Kleve, percussion. This performance will present Feldman’s “Crippled Symmetry” (1983). The next concert in the series is February 2, 2014.

DUO-CELLISTS

On Sunday at 8 p.m. in Morphy Hall, duo-cellists German Marcano (a UW-Madison alumnus, below top) and Pablo Mahave-Veglia (below bottom), will present a FREE and PUBLIC program on the Guest Artist Series.

The program 

includes “Tonadas,” by Diaz and Galindez, arranged by German Marcano; 
Suite in C Major, BWV 1009 by Johann Sebastian Bach;
 “Sonsoneo” by Alvarez;
”Cello Tango” by Federico Ruiz; and Sonata for Two Cellos by Jose Maria Castro.

Marcano and Mahave-Veglia will also be giving a FREE and PUBLIC master class on Monday October 28 at 12:15 p.m. in Mills Hall.

PIANO TRIOS

On Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, UW cellist Parry Karp (below), who heads the chamber music program at the UW-Madison School of Music and who performs with the Pro Arte Quartet, will be featured in a FREE program of piano trios.

Karp will perform violinist Suzanne Beia
 and pianist Thomas Kasdorf, who is also a UW alumnus.

The program includes:
 the Piano Trio in G Major, Op. 1 No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven;
 the Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 26, by Antonin Dvorak; and
 the Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 32, by Anton Arensky. (Its gorgeously lyrical and Romantic slow movement — an elegy — is below in a YouTube video.)