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By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday is Mother’s Day 2024.
The holiday celebrating mothers, grandmothers and women whose are like mothers to us is celebrated around the world in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Mothers have long provided inspiration to composers, performers and listeners.
The Ear’s mom loved to hear him practice and play Chopin’s Waltz in E minor and Rachmaninoff’s popular Prelude in C-sharp minor (played by the composer in the YouTube video at the bottom), which dropped out of fashion for many years but now seems back in favor, especially as an encore.
Mom was proud of her pianist son and once even let the telephone sit near the piano when I was playing the Rachmaninoff for someone who had called her long-distance and wanted to hear more of what was until then just background noise to her conversation.
Anyway, here is one of the best pieces I have seen for you to read and listen to as you celebrate Mother’s Day. Some of the music is sure to be very familiar, other music less so.
Here are 20 pieces, with brief introductions and translations, about mothers from the website Interlude in Hong Kong:
Here’s to you, Mom.
Do you have a piece to dedicate to your mom?
Did your mother have a favorite piece she liked to hear?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The beautiful and animated face of the young girl comes on the screen with a violin, smiles and says simply, “I love the violin.”
And we as viewers fall in love right then and there.
“The Last Repair Shop” just won the 2024 Oscar for Best Short Documentary. The 40-minute film, released in 2023, is now available to watch on YouTube.
It is a feel-good, feel-guilty story about the last shop to repair free musical instruments offered students in the Los Angeles public schools. But it is also a meditation on things that are broken– and not just musical instruments but also people, schools and politics.
It is really a story about growing up; about adults making art matter to young people; about the role of public education at a time when it keeps getting attacked by ideologues as well as stingy legislatures, city councils, school boards and, ultimately, voters.
Here is a capsule summary: “Since 1959, Los Angeles has been one of the few United States cities to offer and fix musical instruments for its public school students at no cost.
“Those instruments, numbering around 80,000, are maintained at a Los Angeles downtown warehouse by a handful of craftspeople.
“The film profiles four of them, each specializing in an orchestra section, as well as students whose lives have been enriched by the repair shop’s work. The film concludes with a performance by district alumni.”
It sounds irresistible — and it is.
Here are some more background and particulars — including other awards and honors — from Wikipedia:
If you don’t have time right now to watch the whole film, the two-minute trailer is at the bottom. But if you go to YouTube yourself, you can also read the heart-warming and perceptive comments from other viewers:
What do you think of the movie?
How did you react?
And what do you think about the importance of music education in schools?
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By Jacob Stockinger
You have probably heard of piano superstars Lang Lang and Yuja Wang. Maybe even of prize-winners Yundi Li and Haochen Zhang, who both won the Van Cliburn competition while in their teens.
The Ear recently read where there are more piano students in China — the People’s Republic of China — than in Europe, North America and South America combined. In 2019, one music website estimated that “over 40 million Chinese kids are studying the piano today, with some sources going as high as 50 million.”
How did this piano phenomenon come about?
As Bloomberg news recently reported: “China’s love affair with the piano goes back several decades. During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, the instrument was condemned as a symbol of the bourgeoisie. But thanks to the economic reforms and the country’s opening up, the piano became an affordable luxury for a quickly expanding middle class.” (Is it a similar story in South Korea, which has produced many outstanding pianists and winners of international competitions?)
That sounds familiar — similar to what happened in Western culture as the middle class expanded and Hausmusik for amateur musicians took hold. It was a time when most middle-class households had a piano. But now that is fading in the West. Check out all the used pianos listed for sale on Craig’s List and other places.
For more detailed background about about the role of pianos and classical music in China, see this 2019 post by Ludwig-Van.com:
But now news reports say China’s economy is headed for hard times.
What does that mean for piano-mania in China?
Maybe the same thing that has happened in Europe and the United States?
Here is an updated story from another source that says the Chinese piano craze is playing itself out:
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By Jacob Stockinger
The 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 66th GRAMMY Awards (below, illustration courtesy of the Recoding Academy), will air live (8:00-11:30 PM, LIVE ET/5:00-8:30 PM, LIVE PT) on the CBS Television Network.
The show will also stream on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).
You’ll notice by the number of the categories that classical music is at the bottom of the list. The Grammys are intended primarily to promote important and profitable contributions to the industry as well as the quality of the music and performances.
Here is a listing of the classical music nominations, which were announced yesterday, Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. The list can be helpful if you are looking for new recording to buy or stream. You can also hear promos and excerpts of most of the nominees on YouTube.
Adès: Dante Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Bartók: Concerto For Orchestra; Four Pieces Karina Canellakis, conductor (Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra)
Price: Symphony No. 4; Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor (The Philadelphia Orchestra)
Scriabin: Symphony No. 2; The Poem Of Ecstasy JoAnn Falletta, conductor (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
88. Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere Opera recording only.
Blanchard: Champion Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Ryan Speedo Green, Latonia Moore & Eric Owens; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Corigliano: The Lord Of Cries Gil Rose, conductor; Anthony Roth Costanzo, Kathryn Henry, Jarrett Ott & David Portillo; Gil Rose, producer (Boston Modern Orchestra Project & Odyssey Opera Chorus)
Little: Black Lodge Timur; Andrew McKenna Lee & David T. Little, producers (The Dime Museum; Isaura String Quartet)
89. Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
Carols After A Plague Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)
The House Of Belonging Craig Hella Johnson, conductor (Miró Quartet; Conspirare)
Ligeti: Lux Aeterna Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony Chorus)
Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil Steven Fox, conductor (The Clarion Choir)
Saariaho: Reconnaissance Nils Schweckendiek, conductor (Uusinta Ensemble; Helsinki Chamber Choir)
90. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.
American Stories Anthony McGill & Pacifica Quartet
Beethoven For Three: Symphony No. 6, ‘Pastorale’ And Op. 1, No. 3 Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax & Leonidas Kavakos
Between Breaths Third Coast Percussion
Rough Magic Roomful Of Teeth
Uncovered, Vol. 3: Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, William Grant Still & George Walker Catalyst Quartet
91. Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.
Adams, John Luther: Darkness And Scattered Light Robert Black
Akiho: Cylinders Andy Akiho
The American Project Yuja Wang; Teddy Abrams, conductor (Louisville Orchestra)
Difficult Grace Seth Parker Woods
Of Love Curtis Stewart
92. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with greater than 50% playing time of new material.
Because Reginald Mobley, soloist; Baptiste Trotignon, pianist
Broken Branches Karim Sulayman, soloist; Sean Shibe, accompanist
40@40 Laura Strickling, soloist; Daniel Schlosberg, pianist
Rising Lawrence Brownlee, soloist; Kevin J. Miller, pianist
Walking In The Dark Julia Bullock, soloist; Christian Reif, conductor (Philharmonia Orchestra)
93. Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 50% playing time of the album, and to the Composer and Librettist (if applicable) with over 50% playing time of a world premiere recording only.
Fandango Anne Akiko Meyers; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer
Julius Eastman, Vol. 3: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? Christopher Rountree, conductor; Lewis Pesacov, producer
Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright Peter Herresthal; Tim Weiss, conductor; Hans Kipfer, producer
Passion For Bach And Coltrane Alex Brown, Harlem Quartet, Imani Winds, Edward Perez, Neal Smith & A.B. Spellman; Silas Brown & Mark Dover, producers
Sculptures Andy Akiho; Andy Akiho & Sean Dixon, producers
Zodiac Suite Aaron Diehl Trio & The Knights; Eric Jacobsen, conductor; Aaron Diehl & Eric Jacobsen, producers
94. Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
Adès: Dante Thomas Adès, composer (Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Akiho: In That Space, At That Time Andy Akiho, composer (Andy Akiho, Ankush Kumar Bahl & Omaha Symphony)
Brittelle: Psychedelics William Brittelle, composer (Roomful Of Teeth)
Mazzoli: Dark With Excessive Bright Missy Mazzoli, composer (Peter Herresthal, James Gaffigan & Bergen Philharmonic)
Montgomery: Rounds Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry & Roomful Of Teeth)
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By Jacob Stockinger
If — like The Ear — you are really looking forward to seeing “Maestro”(below) and can hardly wait for it to arrive, you will want to see the newly released extended preview or trailer.
The bio-pic about the late American conductor, composer, pianist and educator Leonard Bernstein being in love has been acclaimed at festivals and received standing ovations around the world. Film greats Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg were involved in making it.
“Maestro” — which runs 2 hours and 9 minutes — opens in select theaters in the U.S. on Nov. 22.
Then it comes to Netflix on Dec. 20.
And the soundtrack — which includes the music of Mahler whom Bernstein help to rediscover — will be released soon on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label.
Forget the silly brouhaha about whether Bradley Cooper — who wrote, directed and stars in the film — should have used a prosthetic nose to portray Lenny. It was a move that Lenny’s children approved of and it works even though some critics said the actor should have been the same ethnicity as the characters.
Cooper also practiced a certain way of breathing and talking, and took conducting lessons from Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
And to see and hear his portrayal is to be amazed at how closely he resembles Lenny.
And yes, if you ware wondering, it definitely does not ignore the gay side of Bernstein.
Just take a look and a listen.
The visuals and the music whet your appetite for more, much more.
Here is some of it found of the British radio station ClassicFM:
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By Jacob Stockinger
Since its founding in 1976 — on April Fools Day — Apple has often demonstrated a contrarian or oppositional streak that has helped to explain its enormous success among high-tech companies.
At a time when many critics and observers are questioning the future of classical music — and usually see major problems to overcome — Apple has taken the opposite tack.
This past year it bought the record label Primephonic in 2021 and then launched a separate streaming platform for classical music — Apple Music Classical — as part of Apple Music below).
This month, Apple doubled down and bought another record label that specializes in classical music — the acclaimed Swedish independent label BIS that just marked its 50th anniversary. No price was given.
Some analyses suggest that this recent acquisition gives Apple Music Classical the largest catalogue, with more than 5 million tracks, of any classical music streaming service.
Here is an excellent story from TechCrunch that gives the details and some context and background:
And here is another good story from the classical music website LudwigVan:
If you wonder about why BIS was sold to Apple in particular, here is a statement from CNBC by BIS founder Robert von Bahr (below):
“Von Bahr, who recently turned 80, said that both BIS Records and Apple share a “fundamental belief in the importance of preserving audio quality,” citing the iPhone maker’s surround-sound spatial audio technology as “something I have followed with interest.”
“BIS’s specialty, while paying our dues to the core repertoire, has been to nurture young classical artists and interesting living composers and to safeguard the musical treasure that we all represent long into the future. (Editor’s note: It also seeks to rediscover repertoire. See and listen to the YouTube video at the bottom for BIS’s promotion of release with baroque Neapolitan cantatas and arias for countertenors.)
“Apple, with its own storied history of innovation and love of music, is the ideal home to usher in the next era of classical and has shown true commitment towards building a future in which classical music and technology work in harmony.”
Are you familiar with BIS records?
What do you think of the repertoire, performers and recordings?
Do you subscribe to Apple Music Classical — or would now subscribe with the new acquisition?
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By Jacob Stockinger
It sure is shaping up as a year for movies about symphony orchestra conductors.
First there was the film “Tár” — now playing on Amazon Prime — about a woman composer-conductor, played by Cate Blanchett, that won a Golden Globe, BAFTA and Critics Choice awards but has also been harshly questioned and criticized as unfactual, biased, unfair.
Also in the works is a much-anticipated documentary about conductor Marin Alsop — a student and protegee of Leonard Bernstein (below) who became the first globally know female conductor and is reportedly the inspiration for “Tár.” (John DeMain, the music director and conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, also worked with Bernstein.)
And now there is the movie “Maestro” about the biggest conductor of them all, the larger-than-life Leonard Bernstein (below, in a photo by Jack Mitchell).
The official trailer-teaser for the movie has just been released. You can get a sneak peek at it in the YouTube video at the bottom.
The movie is a biopic of the famously popular American conductor, composer, pianist and educator and his wife, the Chilean-Costa Rican actress and social activist Felicia Montealegre (played by Carey Mulligan), shown with Lenny below in s photo from The Sun.
The clip is only about 1-½ minutes long. But even that is enough to prove telling in many ways.
Bernstein is played by actor Bradley Cooper, who also wrote and directed the film, which is being produced by cinema titan Martin Scorsese — a hard-to-beat pedigree when it comes to backers.
The Ear also finds that Cooper has an uncanny resemblance to Lenny not only in how he looks — even with the prosthetic nose that some criticize but Bernstein’s children defend. He also speaks like Lenny, laughs like Lenny, smokes like Lenny and conducts like Lenny, who was perhaps the most documented figures ever to exist in classical music.
And of course to express the romantic yearning and hints of tragedy the soundtrack relies heavily the famous Adagietto movement from Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, which was used decades ago for similar reasons in the movie version of Thomas Mann’s novella “Death in Venice.”
No surprise there. Mahler and Bernstein fans know that the rediscovery of Mahler’s music in the mid-20th century was championed and led by Bernstein, who succeeded in making the neglected Mahler mainstream. So the music is more than appropriate in carping Bernstein’s passionate view of life and music.
One puzzling feature is that none of the preview materials The Ear has seen mentions Bernstein’s bisexuality. It led to many personal and professional conflicts and dramatic moments throughout their lives, and one must assume that it is not avoided in the movie.
Maybe they just don’t want too give away a major plot point.
But it makes The Ear wonder if the current cultural hostility to things LGBTQ+ is leading the moviemakers to back away from a reveal that comes too early and gives the hateful right-wing, fact-denying homophobes more time to martial their forces for a harmful boycott like they did with Bud Light beer and Target’s collection of Pride Month clothing.
We will soon see as the unveiling schedule unfolds.
On Sept. 2 “Maestro” makes its debut at the 80th Venice Film Festival, where critics, actors and industry people will get a first view.
The movie hits selected cinemas on Nov. 22.
Finally, it will premiere via streaming on Netflix on Dec. 22.
It should be fun — and perhaps alarming — to follow it as its audience grows.
Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry for the film. It includes background and the current controversy about the “Jewface” stereotypes created by Cooper using a prosthetic nose. It will be updated often, one expects.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today — Feb. 14, 2023 — is Valentine’s Day.
When it comes to composing music that expresses romantic love, The Ear thinks nobody did it more consistently or better than Robert Schumann.
Inspired by his wife Clara, a former student who defied her father to marry Robert, Schumann (seen below with Clara) put romantic love at the heart of so many pieces.
One of his finest is the second movement of the eight-movement piano suite “Kreisleriana,” Op. 16. Perhaps you will agree after listening to it played by Martha Argerich in the YouTube video below.
Check it out.
Does it move you?
If you have a different choice for a composer or a piece suitable for the occasion today, please include it, perhaps with a YouTube link, as a comment.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today — Tuesday, March 29, 2022 — is World Piano Day.
(Below is a restored vintage concert grand piano at Farley’s House of Pianos used for recitals in the Salon Piano Series.)
How will you mark it? Celebrate it?
It’s a fine occasion to revisit your favorite pianist and favorite piano pieces.
Who is your favorite pianist, and what piano piece would you like to hear today?
If you yourself took piano lessons or continue to play, what piece would you play to mark the occasion? Fo the Ear, it will be either a mazurka by Chopin or a movement from either a French Suite or a Partita by Johann Sebastian Bach. Maybe both!
What piano piece do you wish you could play, but never were able to? For The Ear, it would be the Ballade No. 4 in F minor by Chopin.
One of the best ways to mark the day is to learn about a new younger pianist you might not have heard of.
For The Ear, one outstanding candidate would be the Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson ( below), who has won critical acclaim and who records for Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
Olafsson has a particular knack for innovative and creative programming, like his CD that alternates works by Claude Debussy and Jean-Philippe Rameau.
He also seems at home at in many different stylistic periods. His records every thing from Baroque masters, to Mozart and his contemporaries in the Classical period — including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach — to Impressionists to the contemporary composer Philip Glass.
But The Ear especially loves his anthology of Bach pieces (below) that include original works and transcriptions, including some arranged by himself. His playing is always precise and convincing, and has the kind of cool water-clear sound that many will identify with Andras Schiff.
You can hear a sample of his beautiful playing for yourself in the YouTube video at the bottom. It is an live-performance encore from his inaugural appearance last August at The Proms in London, where he also played Mozart’s dramatically gorgeous Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor (also available on YouTube.)
Final word: You might find some terrific pianists and performances on the Internet. Record labels, performing venues and other organizations are marking the day with special FREE recitals that you can reach through Google and Instagram.
Happy playing!
Happy listening!
Please leave a comment and let The Ear and other readers know what you think of the piano — which seems to be falling out of favor these days — and which pianists and piano pieces you will identify this year with World Piano Day.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to a technical glitch, the following commentary was posted briefly yesterday and then withdrawn. That also disabled the commentary function temporarily. Once the glitch is solved, The Ear will post it again. That means some of you will get it twice. I apologize for any inconvenience. And to the fans who have kindly greeted my return, heartfelt thanks. I will be posting more details about the use and frequency of this blog in the near future.
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Can’t help it.
The harp always reminds The Ear of a giant egg slicer.
Still, The Ear loves the sound of the harp — in the right works.
That usually means when it is blended into orchestral works (Brahms, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Mahler come to mind) and chamber music works (Debussy and Ravel come to mind).
But when it comes to solo harp and harp concertos, no thanks. Barring some Baroque music and Classical works — Handel’s concerti grossi and Mozart’s “Brunch” Concerto for Flute and Harp — he’ll pass for the most part.
So much harp music, both original and arranged, just sounds second-rate or worse. Can anyone name a masterpiece for the solo harp written by a great composer? And I don’t mean Louis Spohr who composed for his harpist wife.
The solo harp repertoire is very small, hence the need for so many transcriptions.
That’s a problem.
The harp tends to make music for other instruments sound so .. so … so pleasant! Even when the original is dramatic, it’s all pluck pluck, twang twang, zing zing. Just listen to the YouTube video at the bottom of J.S. Bach’s mighty Toccata and Fugue in D minor for Organ played on the harp.
So, The Ear asks, why has Wisconsin Public Radio started playing so much harp music on almost every show? (Below is WPR host, accomplished harpist and harp evangelist Ruthanne Bessman, who often includes harp music in her Saturday Morning program “Classics by Request.”)
Is it because the public really loves hearing the harp so much?
Is it because the radio show hosts do?
Do listener surveys indicate a preference for the harp?
Does the covid pandemic play a role in seeking bland but soothing music?
What do you think?
Do you like or even crave harp music?
Do you think WPR is programming too much harp music these days?
Watch ‘The Last Repair Shop’ — the Oscar-winning short documentary about music education
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By Jacob Stockinger
The beautiful and animated face of the young girl comes on the screen with a violin, smiles and says simply, “I love the violin.”
And we as viewers fall in love right then and there.
“The Last Repair Shop” just won the 2024 Oscar for Best Short Documentary. The 40-minute film, released in 2023, is now available to watch on YouTube.
It is a feel-good, feel-guilty story about the last shop to repair free musical instruments offered students in the Los Angeles public schools. But it is also a meditation on things that are broken– and not just musical instruments but also people, schools and politics.
It is really a story about growing up; about adults making art matter to young people; about the role of public education at a time when it keeps getting attacked by ideologues as well as stingy legislatures, city councils, school boards and, ultimately, voters.
Here is a capsule summary: “Since 1959, Los Angeles has been one of the few United States cities to offer and fix musical instruments for its public school students at no cost.
“Those instruments, numbering around 80,000, are maintained at a Los Angeles downtown warehouse by a handful of craftspeople.
“The film profiles four of them, each specializing in an orchestra section, as well as students whose lives have been enriched by the repair shop’s work. The film concludes with a performance by district alumni.”
It sounds irresistible — and it is.
Here are some more background and particulars — including other awards and honors — from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Repair_Shop
If you don’t have time right now to watch the whole film, the two-minute trailer is at the bottom. But if you go to YouTube yourself, you can also read the heart-warming and perceptive comments from other viewers:
What do you think of the movie?
How did you react?
And what do you think about the importance of music education in schools?
The Ear wants to hear
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