The Well-Tempered Ear
Superstar maestro Gustavo Dudamel to leave LA for the New York Philharmonic
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By Jacob Stockinger
It will probably be the biggest music news story of the year, perhaps even the decade.
Gustavo Dudamel (below), the Venezuelan-born maestro of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will become the music director of the New York Philharmonic starting in 2026.
The news was announced late yesterday afternoon on both coasts. The New York Philharmonic post is probably the most prestigious music post in the United States, a podium once occupied by Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta and Kurt Masur.
In what one imagines is a very, very expensive coup — the financial terms were not disclosed — the New York Philharmonic recruited the 42-year-old superstar maestro who is known for giving passionate and fiery performances and for innovating music education programs, both of which have brought in bigger and younger audiences.
He also built a reputation for championing new music, Latin music and musicians of color. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Dudamel conducting Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, a Latin American piece he made famous and which is now often used by other orchestras on full programs or as an encore. In the video, he is conducting the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra, the senior orchestra of “El Sistema” and the post that Dudamel held before heading to Los Angeles.)
Dudamel has guest conducted the New York Philharmonic more than two dozen times. The musicians there have greeted him warmly and enviously, especially since their CEO Deborah Borda originally signed Dudamel to the Los Angeles post in 2009 when he was 26.
Born into a musical family, Dudamel himself became a professional musician by rising through the ranks of “El Sistema,” the national youth music organization in his native country. He studied violin and composition before turning to conducting with global success and fame.
In Los Angeles he has been nominated for and won many Grammys for his many recordings. He also been the music director of the Paris Opera.
It is worth noting: New York will soon have two of the most charismatic and recognizable conductors in the world: Dudamel; and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who is the music director of the Metropolitan Opera as well as the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal.
Here are stories from both sides now: from the West Coast he is leaving and the East Coast he will be going to.
Here is the story by The New York Times:
And here is the story from The Los Angeles Times:
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Classical music: Madison’s classical music critic Greg Hettmansberger has launched his own blog and has also been given a monthly slot on TV. Plus, this Wednesday night the UW-Madison Contemporary Chamber Music Ensemble will perform a FREE concert of new music
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ALERT: This Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m in Mills Hall, the UW Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, directed by UW-Madison composition professor Laura Schwendinger, will perform a FREE concert of new works by “rising young stars.”
On the program are: “Fluidity” by Yunkyung Hong; “Obnoxia” by Nathan Froebe; “Concerto da Camera II” by Shulamit Ran; Kay Ryan Songs by Laura Schwendinger; and a New String Quartet by Adam Betz.
Featured special guest performers are pianist Christopher Taylor, cellist Leonardo Altino, Erin K. Bryan and percussionist Sean Kleve, of Clocks in Motion, as well as students Biffa Kwok, Saya Mizuguchi, Mounir Nessim, Steve Carmichael, Seung Jin Cha, Joshua Dieringer, Seung Wha Baek, Saya Mizuguchi, Erin Dupree Jakubowski and Yunkyung Hong.
By Jacob Stockinger
One of the Madison-based classical music critics who deserves your respect is Greg Hettmansberger (below).
Hettsmanberger has two news items to announce.
He has just launched his own blog called “What Greg Says.”
First, some background.
Since August, 2011 Hettmansberger has authored the blog “Classically Speaking” for Madison Magazine, and added a print column of the same name two years ago.
He was first published as a critic by the Los Angeles Times in 1988, and freelanced as a critic and features contributor for a number of newspapers and other publications in Southern California.
He began writing program notes in 1996, and is currently completing his 19th season as an annotator for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Moving to the Madison area in 2001, Hettmansberger was the director of bands for Abundant Life Christian School until 2008.
Now Hettmansberger has also been tapped by WISC-TV Channel 3, a local CBS affiliate, to appear once monthly on a morning show (at 6:40 a.m.) to offer previews, reviews and news about the local concert scene. He will get 3-1/2 minutes on the third Wednesday of each month.
Hettmansberger is a discerning listener and a fine judge of musicians and music.
That makes him worth paying attention to. He always has important insights into performances by the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Overture Center and the countless chamber music groups in the area.
So perhaps you will want to bookmark his blog or subscribe to it.
The Ear will.
Here is a link:
https://whatgregsays.wordpress.com
Says Greg, in his typically modest manner, about his first major topic and posting:
“My blog space is up and running. In fact, I’ve posted twice. I still don’t feel fluent, but at least it’s serviceable, and my reviewing schedule begins in earnest this Friday.”
Presumably, he talking about a review of Friday night’s concert of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Francis Poulenc and Dmitri Shostakovich by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below top)and piano soloist Adam Neiman (below bottom).
Here is the latest post, a reminiscence of Pierre Boulez (below), the avant-garde French composer and conductor who died recently at 90 and who gave Hettmansberger a personal interview that he recounts in his blog posting:
https://whatgregsays.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/merci-monsieur-boulez/
Wish Greg Hettmansberger well and leave your words of congratulations in the COMMENT section.
Tags: Arts, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, Boulez, California, CBS, Cello, Chamber music, Channel 3, choral music, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, concerto, contemporary music, critic, Early music, Greg Hettmansberger, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, Kay Ryan, Laura Schwendinger, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mozart, Music, New Music, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, percussion, Piano, poems, Poulenc, Pro Arte Quartet, review, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Schubert, Shostakovich, String quartet, TV, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, WISC-TV, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater
Classical music: Who has stage fright and why? And how can you overcome stage fright?
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By Jacob Stockinger
It’s surpising how many acclaimed professional performers -– like dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, pop singers Adele and Carly Simon, actors Laurence Olivier and Daniel Day-Lewis, and pianists Charles Rosen, Glenn Gould, Vladimir Horowitz and Emanuel Ax — have suffered from the same ailment that afflicts countless students and amateurs, including The Ear.
We are talking about stage fright, which ranges from mild to debilitating in its severity. (Below is an illustration by Nishant Choksi.) It can literally rob people of careers in the performing arts.
Periodically, stories about stage fright and how to deal with it or perhaps even lessen it come to the public’s attention. (See the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The latest is a book by gifted amateur pianist Sara Solovitch (below top, in a photo by Christine Z. Mason). Her book, “Playing Scared: A History and Memoir of Stage Fright” (below bottom) has just been published by Bloomsbury.
Playing Scared is journalist Sara Solovitch’s first book. Her work has appeared in Politico, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and Wired.¬†She lives in Santa Cruz, Calif
And here is Sara Solovitch playing a work by Claude Debussy:
Several essays and interviews give a terrific overview of the book and its contents.
Probably the best is in the Aug. 3 issue of The New Yorker in a review by critic Joan Acocella. Here is a link:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/03/i-cant-go-on
Also, two stories on NPR or National Public Radio offer an engaging take on the book and the subject of stage fright:
Do you suffer from stage fright?
How do you deal with it?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Actor, Adele, amateurs, American Ballet Theatre, Arts, Carly Simon, Charles Rosen, Classical music, dance, Daniel Day-Lewis, Debussy, drama, Emanuel Ax, Glenn Gould, Laurence Olivier, Los Angeles Times, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Music, Music education, NPR, Pianist, Piano, Playing Scared, pop, Sara Solovitch, stage fright, stagefright, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vladimir Horowitz, YouTube
Classical music: Here are news items. Elusive and eccentric pianist Grigory Sokolov signs with Deutsche Grammophon. Italian maestro Daniele Gatti is named director of the famed Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra remains silent and locked out. And THIS AFTERNOON is your last chance to hear the Madison Symphony Orchestra and pianist Olga Kern in an all-Russian program of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich.
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ALERT: Today at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall is the final performance of this season’s second concert by the Madison Symphony Orchestra under the baton of John DeMain. Pianist Olga Kern (below) is the soloist in Sergei Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor. Other music includes the Suite from the ballet “Swan Lake” by Peter Tchaikovsky and the Symphony No. 6 by Dmitri Shostakovich. For information about tickets, the artists and the program, visit:
http://www.madisonsymphony.org/kern
Here are reviews of Friday night’s opening night performance:
By John W. Barker of Isthmus:
http://www.isthmus.com/daily/article.php?article=43817&sid=665cd87de278be4a3d198906d0365515
By Jess Courtier for The Capital Times:
And by Greg Hettmansberger, who writes the Classically Speaking blog for Madison Magazine:
By Jacob Stockinger
The much admired but elusive, eccentric and enigmatic Russian pianist Grigory Sokolov (below) has signed up with Deutsche Grammophon and will release a live recital –- he refuses to make studio recordings – in January.
For the news plus an interesting interview and profile of Sokolov, here is a link to a story in the British magazine Gramophone. It includes some of his quirks such as not playing pianos older than five years and his specific repertoire favorites:
Italian conductor Daniele Gatti is named the new maestro of the famed Dutch Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He starts in 2016 and sounds like he might be quite a bit of a contrast to past Concertgebouw conductors such as Bernard Haitink. Here is a story:
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra continues its lockout over labor disputes, thereby postponing or canceling the opening of the new season. But last weekend ASO music director Robert Spano conducted the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in the German Requiem of Johannes Brahms.
Here is a link to a story on NPR (National Public Radio) to yet another turmoil in the world of American symphony orchestras:
Tags: "Goldberg" Variations, Amsterdam, Arts, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Bach, Beethoven, Capital Times, Carnegie Hall, Chamber music, Classical music, Classically Speaking, Compact Disc, Daniele Gatti, Deutsche Grammophon, Faure, Greg Hettmansberger, Grigory Sokolov, Israel, Isthmus, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, January, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Adams, John DeMain, John W. Barker, Los Angeles Times, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison Magazine, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, Metropolitan Opera, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Music, Netherlands, New York City, New York Times, Orchestra, Palestine, Palestinian, Piano, Piano Concerto No. 3 (Rachmaninoff), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Sergei Rachmaninoff, sonatas, terrorist, The Death of Klinghoffer
Classical music: Is “The Death of Klinghoffer” anti-Semitic, racist or pro-terrorist? Does it merit protests of and death threats to the Metropolitan Opera? Or is it a painfully realistic and human portrayal of political fanaticism and terrorism? What would Alice say? What do you say?
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REMINDER: If you can’t or won’t go hear superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Kathryn Stott in music by Johannes Brahms, Igor Stravinsky, Astor Piazzolla and others at their SOLD–OUT recital at the Wisconsin Union Theater TONIGHT, you can stream it LIVE and for FREE by going to this website at 8 p.m.:
http://www.uniontheater.wisc.edu
By Jacob Stockinger
Talk about mixing politics and art!
And especially at a time so close to a contemporary conflict — Hamas, Gaza and Israel — that reflects the continuing tensions, frictions and bloodshed depicted in the original art decades ago.
No wonder, then, that the Metropolitan Opera has been protested and has received death threats over the new production of American composer John Adams’ controversial reality-based opera about Israel and Palestinian terrorists called “The Death of Klinghoffer.”
Due to pressure from the pro-Israeli lobby and some Jewish groups, the opera was already canceled as part of this season’s “Live From The Met in HD” telecasts.
Both detractors and defenders of the opera are deeply displeased with the Met.
But the actual production — which has gone on without incident in other cities at other times — continues in rehearsal as it heads to its opening this Monday night. (At bottom is a YouTube video with the director, conductor and composer of “The Death of Klinghoffer.”)
Here is a story from The New York Times (Below is a photo from The New York Times by Damon Winter of actor-singers Aubrey Allicock (left) and Paolo Szot):
And here is another story from The Los Angeles Times:
And finally here is a terrific and well-balanced, well-sourced summary story, which includes an interview with librettist Alice Goodman (below) — who converted from Judaism to Christianity and is now an Episcopalian priest in England — about the opera and the protests. It was broadcast Friday on NPR (National Public Radio):
What do you think about the opera “The Death of Klinghoffer”?
Would you be a defender?
Or a detractor and protester?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Alice Goodman, Arts, Chamber music, Classical music, Death of Klinghoffer, Episcopal, Episcopal Church, Igor Stravinsky, Israel, Jacob Stockinger, Jewish, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, Kathryn Stott, Live From The Met in HD, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Los Angles Times, Madison, Metropolitan Opera, National Public Radio, New York City, New York Times, NPR, opera, Palestine, Palestinian, Piazzolla, terrorism, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube
Classical music: The great British conductor Sir Colin Davis is dead at 85. Here is a round-up of stories and remembrances, appreciations and obituaries.
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By Jacob Stockinger
In case you haven’t already heard, the great British conductor and longtime music director of the London Symphony Orchestra Sir Colin Davis (below) died last Sunday at 85 after a brief illness.
The news came unexpected to The Ear as Davis seemed actively involved in conducting almost up to the end. He seemed to have the stamina that would take him well into his 90s – especially since the aerobic act of conducting seems conducive to conductors have long careers and lives.
But then again, the obituaries make it clear that he suffered deeply from the death of his wife.
I never heard him live. But I loved his recorded performances –- and he recorded prolifically with some 250 albums to his credit. In the works of Sibelius and Berlioz he was a stalwart champion and acclaimed master. He also championed British composers such as Edward Elgar, William Walton and Benjamin Britten.
But I also liked his complete command of the Classical era-style in Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven – symphonies, concertos, operas, oratories and other choral works. (Below is the cover of his recording on the London Symphony Orchestra‘s own in-house label LSO Live of the Berlioz Requiem.)
Sir Colin earned fame and a fine living early on (below) in the 1950s and 1960s. But I especially liked that his career seemed to peak late in his life –- a good riposte to the cultural tendency today to worship prodigies and young achievers. He was never better than when his hair turned white.
There is also something endearing and Britty eccentric about Davis who liked to sit in a chair and think about musical interpretations while he was puffing on his pipe and knitting.
Yes, knitting.
And in his stage performances and touring, and it sounds to The Ear as if Sir Colin led a very good and very full life. Which may help explain why Sir Colin’s music-making sounded so healthy and robust and natural rather than neurotic or forced. (Below is a photo of Sir Colin at his home.)
Anyway, here are links to some of the best stories, remembrances and obituaries I found along with a fitting YouTube video of Sir Colin conducting Mozart’s Requiem at the bottom):
Here is a comprehensive and compassionate overview of Sir Colin’s life and career from NPR’s always outstanding blog “Delayed Cadence”:
And here is a story from Sir Colin’s native UK:
Here is a column, with some details of Sir Colin’s personal life and turmoil, by Anne Midgette of The Washington Post:
Here is a link to BBC report:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22148334
Here is a link to report from The New York Times:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/sir-colin-davis-british-conductor-dies-at-85/
And here is a story from another UK source, The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/apr/14/sir-colin-davis-obituary
Here is a report from the UK wire service Reuters:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/uk-davis-idUKBRE93E0BJ20130415
And here are two more from the Los Angeles Times and The Huffington Post:
Did you hear Sir Colin live? What did you think?
Do you have a favorite recording?
A word of tribute about Sir Colin to leave in the COMMENTS section?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Anne Midgette, Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, Berlioz, Classical, Colin, Colin Davis, Davis, Edward Elgar, Franz Josef Haydn, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Sibelius, London, London Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Times, Mozart, New York Times, NPR, Requiem, Royal Opera House, Sibelius, Washington Post, William Walton, YouTube
Classical music: Pianist Jeffrey Siegel celebrates his 25th anniversary of Keyboard Conversations in Madison, Wisconsin, with “Spellbinding Bach.”
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REMINDER: On Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, bass trombonist Gerry Pagano (below) will give a FREE recital on the Guest Artist Series at the University of Wisconsin School of Music. Joining Pagano will be pianist SeungWha Baek, trombone professor Mark Hetzler and trumpet professor John Aley. The program will feature “Duo for Bass Trombone and Piano” by Jeffrey Miller; “Sonata Rhapsody ‘the Arch'” by James M. Stephenson; “Pastorale for trumpet, bass trombone and piano” by Eric Ewazen, featuring John Aley on trumpet; “Three Preludes for Piano” by Dmitri Shostakovich, featuring Mark Hetlzer on trombone; and works by Vivaldi and J.. Bach.
By Jacob Stockinger
Happy Silver Anniversary!
Pianist Jeffrey Siegel (below) — who for decades has done more than his fair share of building audiences for classical music — will be performing and discussing compositions by J.S. Bach tomorrow night, on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall as part of his 25th annual Keyboard Conversations® series in Madison.
The program is all J.S. Bach (below) and includes the Chorale Prelude “Rejoice, Beloved Christians,” BWV 734; Toccata in D Major, BWV 912; Prelude in B-flat Major, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV 866; Prelude in B-flat Minor, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, BWV 867; and Italian Concerto, BWV 971, as well as the Bach-Busoni Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2, BWV 1004.
The program is followed by a Q & A session.
It could be a good chance to ask about the new book “Reinventing Bach” by Paul Elie, which talks about the music of Bach and how it successfully get transplanted to new technology. The Ear posted about it this past weekend. Here is a link:
Tickets are $32 for the general public, and $28 for Union Members, UW Faculty and Staff, and non-UW Students. This is a family savings event with up to two youth tickets (age 6-18) at only $14 with the purchase of an accompanying adult ticket. Age is verified at the door.
University of Wisconsin-Madison students get in for FREE.
For information and tickets, call the Box Office at 608-265-ARTS (2787), fax your order at 608-265-5084, buy online here, or purchase in person at the Campus Arts Ticketing box office in Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave.
Jeffrey Siegel has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as with numerous symphonies and orchestras abroad.
Siegel will play an evening of Bach, providing commentary on the music’s history, its form and structure. The Los Angeles Times has said that Siegel has “An unusual gift for commentary as well as extraordinary pianism [which] bring Siegel’s audience wholly into the musical experience.”
Keyboard Conversations is designed for novices and experts alike, combining a masterful performance with illuminating commentary. Here is an example of one of the Keyboard Conversations about one of the world’s most popular and well-known piano pieces,”Fur Elise” by Beethoven:
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The Well-Tempered Ear 