#LudwigVanBeethoven | The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra announces its 2020-21 season to mark The Beethoven Year. Plus, this Sunday afternoon, the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra also celebrates The Beethoven Year

February 21, 2020
1 Comment

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.

ALERT: The Madison Symphony Orchestra has just announced its 2020-21 season, which is heavy on works from Beethoven’s mid-career “Heroic” period to mark the Beethoven Year celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer (below).

Other composers to be featured include Haydn, Mozart, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Sibelius, Honegger, Grofé, Kabalevsky and the African-American composer George Walker.

Familiar soloists include pianists Olga Kern and Garrick Ohlsson; violinists James Ehnes and Gil Shaham. Also soloing are retired UW-Madison professor and MSO principal oboe Marc Fink and MSO concertmaster Naha Greenholtz.

The traditional Christmas Concert is in early December.

The “Beyond the Score” program in late January, with actors from American Players Theater in Spring Green, focuses on Stravinsky’s revolutionary “The Rite of Spring.” And the MSO Chorus will perform in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” and “Missa Solemnis.”

All concerts will be conducted by John DeMain.

Here is a link to details about the season and how to subscribe: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/2020-2021-symphony-season-concerts/

Let The Ear know what you think of the new MSO season in the Comment section.

By Jacob Stockinger

This Sunday afternoon, Feb. 23, the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra of Edgewood College presents a special winter concert.

The performance is at 2:30 p.m. in McKinley Performing Arts Center of Edgewood High School, 2219 Monroe Street, on Madison’s near west side.

The conductor is Blake Walter (below, in a photo by John Maniaci) and the guest soloist is violinist David Huntsman.

The concert celebrates the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Ludwig van Beethoven.

The Chamber Orchestra will perform the Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36, by Beethoven, who seems influenced in this work by Mozart and especially his teacher Haydn but who moved beyond them in this symphony. (You can hear the innovative Scherzo movement, which replaced the traditional minuet, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Also on the program are Handel’s Overture to the opera “Semele” and the virtuosic Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saens, which features soloist David Huntsman (below).

Tickets are $5 for general admission, and admission is free with an Edgewood High School or Edgewood College ID.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #African-AmericanComposer, #AmericanPlayersTheatre, #AntoninDvorak, #ArthurHonegger, #BaroqueComposer, #BaroqueOpera, #BeethovenYear, #BeyondTheScore, #BlakeWalter, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralSymphony, #DavidHuntsman, #DmitryKabalevsky, #EdgewoodChamberOrchestra, #EdgewoodCollege, #EdgewoodHighSchool, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FerdeGrofe, #FranzJosephHaydn, #GarrickOhlsson, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GeorgeWalker, #GilShaham, #HandelOpera, #IgorStravinsky, #IntroductionandRondoCapriccioso, #JacobStockinger, #JamesEhnes, #JeanSibelius, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarcFink, #MauriceRavel, #McKinleyPerformingArtsCenter, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MissaSolemnis, #NahaGreenholtz, #NinthSymphony, #OboeConcerto, #OdetoJoy, #OlgaKern, #OperaMusic, #OperaOverture, #OrchestralMusic, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SpringGreen, #TheEar, #TheRiteofSpring, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WestSide, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, actors, admission, African American, American Players Theatre, anniversary, Antonín Dvořák, Arthur Honegger, Arts, audience, Baroque, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Beyond the Score, birth, Blake Walter, blog, Camille Saint-Saëns, Cello, choral music, Choral Symphony, Christmas, Classical music, comment, composer, Concert, concertmaster, concerto, conductor, David Huntsman, Dmirty Kabalevsky, Dmitri Kabalevsky, Dvorak, Early music, Edgewood Chamber Orchestra, Edgewood College, Edgewood College Chamber Orchestra, Edgewood High School, Facebook, Ferde Grofe, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, free, Garrick Ohlsson, George Frideric Handel, George Walker, Gil Shaham, Grofe, Gruff, Handel, Handel opera, Haydn, heavy, heroic, Honegger, ID, Igor Stravinsky, innovation, innovative, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Sibelius, Kabalevsky, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marc Fink, mark, Maurice Ravel, McKinley Performing Arts Center, Mead Witter School of Music, mid-career, minuet, Missa Solemnis, movement, Mozart, MSO, Music, Naha Greenholtz, new season, Ninth Symphony, Oboe, Ode to Joy, Olga Kern, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, Overture, Overture Center, Overture Hall, performer, period, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, pincipal, post, posting, public, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Ravel, replace, revolution, revolutionary, rondo, Saint-Saens, Scherzo, Season, section, Semele, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, share, Sibelius, soloist, special, Spring Green, Stravinsky, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, The Ear, The Rite of Spring, tickets, traditional, United States, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, virtuosic, virtuoso, vocal music, west side, winter, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, works, YouTube

Classical music: This Friday brings a FREE concert at noon of cello and violin sonatas by Beethoven. At night, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra explores rarely heard works and composers plus the “Jupiter” Symphony by Mozart

February 19, 2020
4 Comments

ALERT: This Friday’s FREE Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features the Mosaic Chamber Players performing a one-hour, all-Beethoven concert in honor of the Beethoven Year, which celebrates the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

The program is: Cello Sonata, Op. 5, No. 1; and two violin sonatas, Op. 12, No. 3, and Op. 30, No. 2. For more information, go to: http://www.mosaicchamberplayers.com

By Jacob Stockinger

Can you tell the difference between the real Mozart and the “Swedish Mozart”?

You’ll have the chance to find out this Friday night, Feb. 21, if you go to the concert by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.

That is when you can hear the Symphony in C-Sharp Minor, VB 140, by Joseph Martin Kraus (1756-1791, below), an 18th-century German-born, short-lived composer who, as an exact contemporary of Mozart, spent most of his career at the court in Stockholm, Sweden, and became known as the “Swedish Mozart.”

(You can hear the opening movement of the Kraus symphony, played by Concerto Koln, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Here is more about Kraus (below): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Martin_Kraus

The Kraus symphony opens the WCO concert.

Then for the purpose of comparison, the concert closes with Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551. It is often cited as Mozart’s most accomplished work in the symphonic form, and is renowned for its melodies and harmonies, and for the masterful, even spectacular, counterpoint in the last movement.

But that kind of discovery and approach to programming is not unusual for WCO maestro Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz), who has a penchant for exposing audiences to rarely heard works and composers as well as to well-known masterpieces.

For this concert, Sewell will be helped by the return of guest violin virtuoso Giora Schmidt (below in a photo by David Getzschman), who has been acclaimed for his technique, tone, lyricism and riveting interpretations. He played the Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor by Sergei Prokofiev with the WCO in 2018.

Schmidt will solo in two rarely heard works for violin and orchestra: the 16-minute Violin Concerto, Op. 48, by the Russian composer Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987); and the 8-minute Romance by the Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen (1840-1911).

For more about Kabalevsky (below), go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Kabalevsky

For more about Svendsen (below), who was a conductor and violinist as well as a composer, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Svendsen

To purchase tickets ($10-$77) and to read a detailed biography of soloist Schmidt and find out more about the concert, go to: https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-ii-5/

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #18thCentury, #All-Beethoven, #AndrewSewell, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CapitolTheater, #CelloSonata, #ConcertoKoln, #CourtMusic, #DmitryKabalevsky, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #GioraSchmidt, #GuestArtist, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JohanSvendsen, #JosephMartinKraus, #JupiterSymphony, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #MusicalInterpretation, #NoonMusicale, #NorwegianComposer, #OvertureCenter, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #SergeiProkofiev, #SwedishMozart, #TheEar, #ViolinRomance, #ViolinSonata, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 18th century, 2018, accompany, accomplished, Andrew Sewell, anniversary, Arts, audience, Beethoven, biography, birth, blog, born, Capitol Theater, career, celebrate, cellist, Cello, century, chance, close, comparison, composer, Concert, concerto, Concerto Koln, conductor, contemporary, counterpoint, court, difference, discovery, Dmitry Kabalevsky, exact, exposing, Facebook, First Unitarian Society of Madison, form, forward, free, Friday, German, Germany, Giora Schmidt, guest, guest artist, harmony, honor, hour, information, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johan Svendsen, Joseph Martin Kraus, Jupiter Symphony, Kochel, Kraus, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, Madison, Maestro, masterpiece, melody, Mosaic Chamber Players, movement, Mozart, Music, musical, Noon Musicale, Norway, Norwegian, online, Orchestra, Overture Center, penchant, performer, Piano, play, post, posting, program, purpose, rare, real, Romance, Sergei Prokofiev, Sewell, share, short, short-lived, solo, soloist, Sonata, Stockholm, Sweden, Swedish, Swedish Mozart, symphonic, symphony, tag, technique, tell, The Ear, tickets, tone, United States, Violin, violinist, virtuoso, WCO, Website, well-known, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, YouTube

Classical music: This Sunday afternoon at Farley’s, pianist Shai Wosner performs sonatas by Beethoven, Schubert, Scarlatti and Rzewski. On Saturday afternoon, he gives a FREE public master class

February 18, 2020
1 Comment

ALERT and CORRECTION: Earlier this week, The Ear mistakenly said the concert by UW Concert Band is Wednesday night. He apologizes for the error.

It is TONIGHT at 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave. In addition, the School of Music website has updated information about the program to be played under director and conductor Corey Pompey. Go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-concert-band-3/

By Jacob Stockinger

This coming Sunday afternoon, one of the today’s most interesting and creative concert pianists will return to Madison to make his solo recital debut.

His name is Shai Wosner (below, in a photo by Marco Borggreve) and he is an Israeli-American who is acclaimed for his technique, his tone and his subtle interpretations.

But what also makes Wosner especially noteworthy and one of the most interesting musical artists performing today is his eclectic, thoughtful and inventive approach to programming.

For more information about Wosner, go to his home website: http://www.shaiwosner.com

Wosner returns to Madison to perform his first solo recital here at 4 p.m. this coming Sunday afternoon, Feb. 23, on the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos, at 6522 Seybold Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.

Born in Israel and now teaching in Boston while touring, Wosner will play sonatas by Beethoven, Scarlatti, Rzewski and Schubert.

He has performed with orchestras throughout the U.S. and Europe, and records for Onyx Classics. “His feel for keyboard color and voicing is wonderful,” said The Washington Post.

The Madison program is: Beethoven’s Sonata No. 15 in D Major (“Pastoral”), Op. 28; Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor, K. 141, Allegro, with Rzewskis’ Nanosonata No. 36 (“To A Young Man”); Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor, K. 9, Allegro, with Rzewski’s Nanosonata No. 38 (“To A Great Guy”); Scarlatti’s Sonata in C minor, K. 23, with Rzewski’s Nanosonata No. 12; and Schubert’s last Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960.

An artist’s reception will follow the concert.

Tickets are $45 in advance (students $10) or $50 at the door. Service fees may apply. Tickets are also for sale at Farley’s House of Pianos. Call (608) 271-2626.

Student tickets can only be purchased online and are not available the day of the event.

To purchase tickets, go to: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/706809

For more information about Wosner’s FREE public master class at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, including the names of local students and their teachers plus the titles of works by Mozart, Debussy and Ravel to be played, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org/concerts.html

Wosner (below) recently did an email Q&A with The Ear:

In concerts and recordings, you like to mix and intersperse or alternate composers: Brahms and Schoenberg; Haydn and Ligeti; Schubert and Missy Mazzoli; and Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Dvorak, Ives and Gershwin. Why do you pair sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) and the American composer Frederic Rzewski (1938-) in this program?

I like to pair together composers from very different periods in ways that, hopefully, bring out certain things they have in common in spite of the differences.

Perhaps it is a way of looking for the underlying principles that make music work, for the ideas that go beyond styles and time periods and that stimulate composers across centuries.

In the case of Scarlatti (below top) and Rzewski (below bottom), it is the extreme conciseness of their sonatas and also their almost impulsive kind of writing with ideas and twists and turns kept unpredictably spontaneous, almost in the style of stream-of-consciousness.

Their sonatas are closer to the literal meaning of the word – “a piece that is played” as opposed to sung (which was more common in Scarlatti’s time perhaps). They are also very much about treatment of the keyboard and gestural writing rather than the more essay-type sonatas that were the dominant idiom for Beethoven and Schubert.

Why did you pick these particular sonatas by Beethoven and Schubert to bookend the program?

The sonata by Beethoven (below top) is quite unusual for him, without many contrasts and very lyrical, which perhaps is a certain parallel with the Schubert sonata. (You can hear Wosner playing an excerpt from another Beethoven sonata in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

But they are also very different. Beethoven’s sonata looks around it and is about idyllic nature — the title “Pastoral” isn’t by Beethoven but it is written in that kind of style — and the sonata by Schubert (below bottom) is more introspective, perhaps about human nature.

What would you like the public to know about specific works and composers on your Madison program?

I think it’s always stimulating to challenge preconceptions we have about composers.

Beethoven is often associated with a certain “heroic” style and bold, dramatic gestures while this piece is quite understated in many ways.

Schubert’s last sonata is often seen as a farewell to the world. But at the same time Schubert himself may not have been aware of his impending death as much as we think – he made some plans right near the end that may suggest otherwise.

I prefer to let everyone find in this music what they will, of course. But I think these works reveal other aspects of these composers that we don’t always think of. Is Schubert’s piece really about his own tragedy? It is probably much broader than that.

Now that your acclaimed Schubert project is completed, what are your current or upcoming projects?

I am currently working with five other composers on a project that is a collection of five short pieces written as “variations” for which the theme is a quote from a 1938 speech by FDR: “remember, remember always, that all of us… are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”

Each composer chose a figure of an immigrant — some famous, some not — to write about. The composers are Vijay Iyer, Derek Bermel (below top), Anthony Cheung, Wang Lu and John Harbison (below bottom).

These “variations” will be paired with Beethoven’s “Diabelli” Variations.

What else would you like to say about your career and, after several concerto appearances with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, about your solo recital debut in Madison?

Madison has a lovely audience that I was fortunate to meet in the past, and I certainly look forward to being back there!

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AmericanMusic, #AmericanOrchestras, #AnthonyCheung, #AntoninDvorak, #ArnoldSchoenberg, #BandMusic, #BlogInterview, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonMassachusetts, #BrownPaperTickets, #CharlesIves, #ClaudeDebussy, #CommissionedMusic, #ConcertBand, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #CoreyPompey, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DerekBermel, #DiabelliVariations, #DomenicoScarlatti, #EclecticMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #FranklinDelanoRoosevelt, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzLiszt, #FranzSchubert, #FredericChopin, #FredericRzewski, #GyorgyLigeti, #HamelMusicCenter, #HomeWebsite, #HumanNature, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnHarbison, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LyricalMusic, #MarcoBorggreve, #MauriceRavel, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MissyMazzoli, #MusicalArtist, #MusicalInterpretation, #MusicalStyle, #MusicCommission, #NanoSonata, #NewMusic, #NewsUpdate, #OnyxClassics, #PastoralSonata, #PianoConcert, #PianoConcerto, #PianoMusic, #SalonPIanoSeries, #ShaiWosner, #Stream-of-Consciousness, #Sundayafternoon, #TheEar, #TheGoldenDoor, #ThemeAndVariations, #TheWashingtonPost, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWConcertBand, #VijayIyer, #WangLu, #WestTowneMall, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YoungMan, #YouTubevideo, advance, afternoon, alert, alternate, American, Anthony Cheung, Antonín Dvořák, apologize, appearance, approach, Arnold Schoenberg, artist, Arts, audience, aware, band music, Baroque, Beethoven, Bermel, blog, bold, bookend, Boston, Brahms, Brown Paper Tickets, career, centuries, challenge, Charles Ives, Cheung, Chopin, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claude Debussy, color, commission, common, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, Concert Band, concerto, conciseness, consciousness, contemporary, contrast, Corey Pompey, correction, creative, critically acclaimed, death, Debussy, debut, Derek Bermel, descend, descended, Diabelli Variations, difference, Domenico Scarlatti, dominant, door, dramatic, Dvorak, Early music, eclectic, email, end, essay, Europe, everyone, excerpt, extreme, Facebook, familiar, famous, farewell, Farley's House of Pianos, FDR, find, fortunate, forward, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Frederic Rzewski, free, George Gershwin, georgegershwin, Gershwin, gestural, great, guy, György Ligeti, Hamel Music Center, Harbison, Haydn, heroic, Home, human nature, idea, idiom, idyllic, immigrants, impulsive, information, interesting, interpretation, intersperse, interview, introspective, inventive, Israel, Israeli, Israeli-American, Ives, Iyer, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, John Harbison, Keyboard, last, let, Ligeti, like, link, Liszt, literal, look, lovely, Lu, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, Madison, Marco Borggreve, master class, masterclass, Maurice Ravel, Mazzoli, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, meaning, Missy Mazzoli, Mozart, Music, musical artist, name, nano, nature, New Music, noteworthy, online, Onyx Classics, Orchestra, pair, parallel, past, Pastoral Sonata, performer, period, periods, Pianist, Piano, pieces, plans, played, playing, preconceptions, prefer, principle, program, programming, project, public, purchase, Q&A, Ravel, recital, remember, revolutionists, Roosevelt, Salon Piano Music, Scarlatti, Schoenberg, Schubert, Shai Wosner, share, short, solo, Sonata, speech, spontaneous, stimulate, Student, style, subtle, Sunday, sung, tag, Teacher, teaching, technique, The Ear, The Washington Post, theme, theme and variations, thoughtful, tickets, time, together, tone, tour, touring, tragedy, treatment, turns, twists, type, U.S., underlying, understated, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unusual, update, UW Concert Band, UW-Madison, variations, Vijay Iyer, voicing, Wang Lu, Website, west side, West Towne Mall, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, working, world, writing, young man, YouTube

Classical music: A busy week brings FREE concerts of violin, orchestra, percussion, band, cello and bassoon music to the UW-Madison

February 16, 2020
2 Comments

ALERT: This afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall is your last chance to hear John DeMain lead the Madison Symphony Orchestra with guest soloists violinist Pinchas Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth in music by Brahms, Berlioz and Copland. Here is a positive review from Michael Muckian for Isthmus: https://isthmus.com/music/masterful-sounds-on-a-miserably-cold-night/

For more information about the program, soloists and tickets, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/02/10/classical-music-this-weekend-the-madison-symphony-orchestra-celebrates-valentines-day-with-violinist-pinchas-zukerman-and-cellist-amanda-forsyth-in-the-romantic-double-concerto/

By Jacob Stockinger

The coming week at the UW-Madison will be busy with FREE concerts of violin, orchestral, percussion, band, cello and bassoon music.

Here is the lineup:

MONDAY

At 6:30 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall at the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., you can hear a FREE performance of the popular Violin Concerto by Beethoven.

It is a student performance of the entire Beethoven Violin Concerto with the orchestra. The conductor is doctoral candidate Ji Hyun Yim (below) who is studying with UW conducting professor Oriol Sans. It is a concert of friends who enjoy playing together. The violinist soloist is Rachel Reese.

Then at 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the Chamber Percussion Ensemble (below) – formerly the Western Percussion Ensemble – will give a FREE concert of contemporary music.

The conductor is director and UW-Madison percussion professor Anthony DiSanza, who is also the principal percussionist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

The program is “A Forest from a Seed.” Featured is post-minimalist music by composers not named Steve Reich. No specific works or composers are named.

Says DiSanza (below, in a photo by Katherine Esposito): “From the seed of minimalism (1964-1972), a deep and exhilarating repertoire has blossomed. Join us as we explore 40 years of diverse and engaging post-minimalist percussion chamber music.”

The Chamber Percussion Ensemble, he adds, “is dedicated to the performance of significant and engaging works for the Western percussion ensemble tradition, emphasizing core repertoire and works by emerging composers.”

TUESDAY (not Wednesday, as originally and incorrectly posted)

At 7:30 in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the UW Concert Band (below) will give a FREE concert under director and conductor Corey Pompey. For the complete program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-concert-band-3/

THURSDAY

At 7:30 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall, UW cello professor Parry Karp (below), who plays in the UW’s Pro Arte Quartet, will give a FREE recital.

Piano accompanists are Bill Lutes; Martha Fischer; Frances Karp, the mother of Parry Karp; and Thomas Kasdorf.

The program is:

Robert Schumann: “Five Pieces in Folk Style” for Piano and Cello, Op. 102 (You can hear the first of the five pieces in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Johannes Brahms: Sonata in F Minor for Piano and Clarinet, Op. 120 No. 1 (arranged for piano and cello by Parry Karp)

Robert Kahn (below): Three Pieces for Piano and Cello, Op. 25

Richard Strauss: Andante from “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” (The Bourgeois Gentleman), Op. 60

Ernest Bloch: “Schelomo” – a Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra

FRIDAY

At 8 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall, UW-Madison bassoon professor Marc Vallon (below) and friends – fellow faculty members and students — will perform a FREE concert of chamber music.

Joining Vallon, who plays in the acclaimed UW Wingra Wind Quintet, are: pianist Satoko Hayami; percussionist Todd Hammes; bassoonist Midori Samson; flutist Iva Ugrcic, clarinetist Alicia Lee; trumpeters Jean Laurenz and Gilson Luis Da Silva; trombonist Cole Bartels; and Travis Cooke.

Composers to be performed are: Robert Schumann; Alexander Ouzounoff; Sophia Gubaidulina (below); and Igor Stravinsky. No word about titles of specific works on the program.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AlexanderOuzounoff, #AliciaLee, #AmandaForsyth, #BassoonMusic, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberPercussionEnsemble, #ClarinetMusic, #ColeBartels, #CollaborativePIano, #CollinsRecitalHall, #ConcertBand, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #CoreyPompey, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #EmergingComposers, #ErnestBloch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyConcert, #FacultyMember, #FolkStyle, #FrancesKarp, #GilsonLuisDaSilva, #GraduateStudent, #HamelMusicCenter, #HebraicMusic, #HectorBerlioz, #IgorStravinsky, #IsthmusMagazine, #IsthmusNewspaper, #IvaUgrcic, #JacobStockinger, #JeanLaurenz, #JiHyunYim, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnDeMain, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarcVallon, #MarthaFischer, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MichaelMuckian, #MinimalistMusic, #MusicProfessors, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OriolSans, #ParryKarp, #PercussionMusic, #PianoAccompanist, #PinchasZukerman, #ProArteQuartet, #RichardStrauss, #RobertKahn, #RobertSchumann, #SatokoHayami, #SofiaGubaidulina, #SteveReich, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #ThomasKasdorf, #ToddHammes, #TravisCooke, #TromboneMusic, #TrumpetMusic, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWConcertBand, #ViolinConcerto, #WesternPercussionEnsemble, #WindQuintet, #WingraWindQuintet, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, acclaimed, accompaniment, accompanist, afternoon, Alexander Ouzounoff, Alicia Lee, Amanda Forsyth, Andante, arrangement, Arts, audience, band, Bassoon, bassoonist, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bill Lutes, blog, blossom, bourgeois, Brahms, busy, candidate, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Chamber Percussion Ensemble, chance, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, Cole Bartels, Collins Recital Hall, composer, Concert, Concert Band, concert hall, concerto, conductor, contemporary, core, Corey Pompey, critically acclaimed, dedicated, deep, director, diverse, doctoral, emerging composers, engaging, ensemble, Ernest Bloch, event, exhilarating, Facebook, faculty member, flute, flutist, folk style, forest, forward, Frances Karp, free, friends, gentleman, Gilson Luis Da Silva, graduate student, Gubaidulina, guest, Hamel Music Center, Hebraic, Hebrew, Hector Berlioz, Hyun, Igor Stravinsky, information, Isthmus, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Laurenz, Ji, Ji-Hyun Yim, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marc Vallon, Martha Fischer, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Michael Muckian, minimalism, minimalist, Music, music faculty, New Music, Orchestra, orchestral, Oriol Sans, Parry Karp, percussion, percussionist, performer, Pianist, Piano, pieces, Pinchas Zukerman, playing, positive, post, post-minimalist, posting, principal, Pro Arte Quartet, professor, program, recital, repertoire, repertory, review, rhapsody, Richard Strauss, Robert Kahn, Robert Schumann, Satoko Hayami, Schelomo, Schumann, seed, share, significant, Sofia Gubaidulina, soloist, Sonata, Steve Reich, Stravinsky, String quartet, Student, tag, The Ear, Thomas Kasdorf, ticket, tickets, Todd Hammes, together, transcription, Travis Cooke, Trombone, Trumpet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Concert Band, UW-Madison, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, Western, western Percussion Ensemble, Wind quintet, Wings Wind Quintet, Wisconsin, works, years, Yim, YouTube

Classical music: This Saturday night, the Con Vivo woodwind quintet makes its debut. Plus, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble performs a variety of chamber music

February 11, 2020
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

Valentine’s Day weekend is turning out to be a popular time for concerts. Here are two more performances on this coming Saturday night:

CON VIVO

Con Vivo!, or “Music With Life,” continues its 18th season of chamber music concerts with the inaugural performance of CVQ, the Con Vivo woodwind quintet (below).

The concert will take place this Saturday night, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Ave., across from Camp Randall Stadium.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students.

Convenient free parking is only 2 blocks west at the University Foundation, 1848 University Ave.

The debut concert will include music — no specific titles have been named — by Aaron Copland, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Gyorgy Ligeti and Ludwig van Beethoven. The woodwind quintet comprises flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn.

Says Con Vivo’s artistic director Robert Taylor: “We continue our season with our newest members joining forces to perform pieces for the woodwind quintet genre, providing new sounds for our audiences. We are excited to add these fabulous musicians to our group. This concert will be a great way to shake off those winter blues!”

Con Vivo (below) is a professional chamber music ensemble comprised of Madison area musicians assembled from the ranks of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and various other performing groups familiar to Madison audiences.

For more information, go to: convivomusicwithlife.org

WISCONSIN BAROQUE ENSEMBLE

The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble (below) will perform a concert of baroque chamber music this Saturday night, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1833 Regent Street.

Players include: Eric Miller, viola da gamba; Sigrun Paust, recorder; Chelsie Propst, soprano; Charlie Rasmussen, baroque cello and viola da gamba; Daniel Sullivan, harpsichord; and Anton TenWolde, baroque cello and viola da gamba.

Tickets at the door only are: $20, $10 for students.

The program includes:

François Couperin – Pieces for viol, Suite No. 1 (You can hear the Prelude, played by Jordi Savall, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre – Cantata “Jacob and Rachel”

Pietro Castrucci – Sonata No. 3 for recorder and basso continuo

Jean-Baptiste Barriere – Adagio from Sonata No. 2 for cello and basso continuo, Book 1

Marin Marais – Chaconne 83 from Pieces for Viol, Book 5

Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana – “Veni dulcissime Domine” (Come, Sweet Lord)

Girolamo Frescobaldi – Toccata No. 8, Partita on the Aria of Monicha (1637)

Unico van Wassenaer – Sonata No. 2 for recorder and basso continuo

Johann Michael Nicolai –Sonata for Three Viola da Gambas in D major

For more information, go to: www.wisconsinbaroque.org

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AmericanBrassQuintet, #AntonTenWolde, #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueRecorder, #BassoonMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CampRandallStadium, #ChamberMusic, #CharlieRasmussen, #ChelsiePropst, #ChristianChurch, #ClarinetMusic, #ClassicalMusician, #ConVivo, #DanielSullivan, #ElisabethJacquetdelaGuerre, #EricMiller, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstCongregationalUnitedChurchofChrist, #FluteMusic, #FrancoisCouperin, #GirolamoFrescobaldi, #GyorgyLigeti, #JacobStockinger, #Jean-BaptisteBarriere, #JesusChrist, #JohannMichaelNicolai, #JordiSavall, #LouisMoreauGottschalk, #LucreziaOrsinaVizzana, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarinMarais, #MusicWithLife, #OboeMusic, #PietroCastrucci, #ProfessionalMusician, #RobertTaylor, #SaintAndrew, #SaturdayNight, #SigrunPaust, #SopranoSinger, #St.Andrew'sEpiscopalChurch, #TheEar, #UnicovanWassenaer, #ValentinesDay, #VioladaGamba, #VocalMusic, #WinterBlues, #WisconsinBaroqueEnsemble, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WoodwindQuintet, Aaron Copland, adagio, adult, Anton TenWolde, aria, Artistic director, Arts, audience, Baroque, Bassoon, Beethoven, blog, blues, Camp Randall Stadium, Cantata, cellist, Cello, chaconne, Chamber music, Charlie Rasmussen, Chelsie Propst, Christ, Christian, church, clarinet, Classical, Classical music, classicalmusic, Con Vivo, Concert, Copland, Couperin, CVQ, Daniel Sullivan, dear, door, Early music, Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, ensemble, Eric Miller, Facebook, First Congregational United Church of Christ, flute, François Couperin, free, French horn, Frescobaldi, genre, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Gottschalk, group, György Ligeti, harpsichord, Horn, inaugural, Jacob, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Baptiste Barrière, Johann Michael Nicolai, Jordi Savall, Ligeti, like, link, Lord, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marin Marais, member, msician, Music, Music With Life, new, newest, noght, Oboe, Orchestra, partita, performance, performer, Piano, pieces, Pietro Castrucci, popular, post, posting, Prelude, professional, program, purchase, quintet, Rachel, recorder, Robert Taylor, Saturday, Season, share, Sigrun Paust, singer, Sonata, soprano, Sound, specific, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Student, Suite, sweet, tag, The Ear, tickets, time, title, toccata, Unico van Wassenaer, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Valentine's Day, viola da gamba, Violin, vocal music, weekend, winter, winter blues, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, woodwind, Woodwind quintet, YouTube

Classical music: This week the UW-Madison hosts a faculty horn recital and two orchestral concerts – one by the visiting and innovative chamber orchestra The Knights and the other by UW students

February 4, 2020
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

This week is a busy one at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music with concerts on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

There are also FREE and PUBLIC master classes on Friday.

Here are details:

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5

At 7:30 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., UW horn professor Daniel Grabois (below, in a photo by James Gill) – a member of the acclaimed Wisconsin Brass Quintet – will perform a FREE faculty recital.

Grabois will be accompanied by pianist Shuk-Ki Wong.

No specific program has been posted. But composers on the program include Eugene Bozza, Charles Gounod, Francis Poulenc, Wolfgang Plagge and a world premiere by Daniel Kessner.

THURSDAY, FEB. 6

At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, also in the Hamel Music Center, the UW Symphony Orchestra (below, with the UW Choral Union in the background) will give a FREE concert.

UW professor Oriol Sans (below), who is new to campus this year, will be the main conductor with Michael Dolan serving as a guest conductor.

The program is the “Appalachian Spring” Suite by Aaron Copland and the Symphony No. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

SATURDAY, FEB. 8

At 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, guest artists The Knights will give a concert that features UW clarinetist Alicia Lee (below), who is a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet and who toured with The Knights chamber orchestra during the decade she lived and worked in New York City.

Says Lee: “We are excited to bring a group with a fresh perspective that is run in perhaps a less traditional way,” Lee says of the residency. “This is a group of people with interesting, diverse approaches to a life in music. Many have been making music together for nearly 20 years, so the roots of both friendship and musical values run very deep.”

On Friday, Feb. 7, The Knights (below) will offer a one-day, on-campus residency that is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Opportunities include access to strings, wind, percussion and horn master classes; a workshop on music business; a side-by-side orchestral reading; and attendance at their rehearsal. All activities will take place in the Hamel Music Center. For a day-long schedule, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/the-knights/

You can hear rehearsals and commentaries by The Knights in the YouTube video at the bottom.

According to program notes: “The Knights is a collective of adventurous musicians, dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music.

“Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they inspire listeners with vibrant programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery.

“The orchestra has toured and recorded with renowned soloists including Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Bela Fleck and Gil Shaham, and have performed at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood and the Vienna Musikverein. Read more at: https://theknightsnyc.com”

The program for The Kreutzer Project concert on Saturday night is:

Colin Jacobsen: World premiere of a new work

Ludwig van Beethoven: Kreutzer Concerto  (based on the famous Kreutzer Sonata) arranged by The Knights for solo violin and chamber orchestra

INTERMISSION

Leos Janacek: The “Kreutzer Sonata”  String Quartet arranged by The Knights for chamber orchestra

Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dances  arranged by The Knights for chamber orchestra

General admission tickets are $30 and are available at the Campus Ticketing Office in the Memorial Union and by calling (608) 265-ARTS (2787) or visiting: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=83A6D957-B006-4ABC-AFB2-6485A8C4D94C.

Free rush tickets for UW-Madison students and music faculty are subject to availability. Visit the Hamel box office one hour before the concert.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AliciaLee, #AppalachianSpring, #BandConcert, #BelaFleck, #BrassMusic, #CampusArtsTicketing, #CarnegieHall, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberOrchestra, #CharlesGounod, #ColinJacobsen, #CollaborativePianist, #ConcertoCompetition, #DanielGrabois, #DanielKessner, #DawnUpshaw, #DmitriShostakovich, #EugeneBozza, #FrancisPoulenc, #FrenchHorn, #GeneralAdmission, #GilShaham, #HamelMusicCenter, #HungarianDances, #JohannesBrahms, #KreutzerSonata, #LeosJanacek, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MichaelDolan, #MusicBusiness, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #OrchestralArrangement, #OriolSans, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #Shuk-KiWong, #StringQuartet, #TanglewoodFestival, #TheEar, #TheKnights, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWChoralUnion, #UWProfessor, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViennaAustria, #ViennaMusikverein, #ViolinMusic, #ViolinSonata, #WindQuintet, #WingraWindQuintet, #WisconsinBrassQuintet, #WolfgangPlagge, #WorldPremiere, #Yo-YoMa, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, activity, Alicia Lee, Appalachian Spring, arrange, arrangement, audience, available, Beethoven, Bela Fleck, blog, box office, Brahms, brass, brass music, Business, call, Campus, Campus Arts Ticketing, Carnegie Hall, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, Charles Gounod, choral, clarinet, clarinetist, Colin Jacobsen, commentary, Concert, concerto, conductor, Copland, dance, Daniel Grabois, Daniel Kessner, Dawn Upshaw, day, decade, diverse, Dmitri Shostakovich, Eugene Bozza, event, faculty, forward, France, Francis Poulenc, free, French, French horn, fresh, Friday, friendship, general admission, Gil Shaham, Gounod, group, guest, Hamel Music Center, Horn, hornist, hour, Hungarian, Hungarian Dances, Hungary, inspire, Janacek, Johannes Brahms, Kreutzer, Kreutzer Sonata, Leos Janacek, life, like, link, listener, live, Ludwig van Beethoven, master class, masterclass, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Michael Dolan, Music, music business, new, New Music, New York City, night, online, orchestral, Oriol Sans, People, performer, perspective, phone, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, Poulenc, professor, public, reader, recital, rehearsal, residency, rush, Saturday, schedule, share, Shostakovich, Shuk-Ki Wong, Sonata, specific, String quartet, Student, Suite, symphony, tag, Tanglewood, The Ear, The Knights, Thursday, tickets, tour, traditional, transcription, union, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Choral Union, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, values, Vienna, Vienna Musikverein, Violin, Violin Sonata, Wednesday, Wind quintet, Wingra Wind Quintet, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, Wolfgang Plagge, Wong, work, workshop, world premiere, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube

Classical music: The UW Schubertiade last Sunday afternoon explored the influence of Beethoven on Schubert with insight and beauty

February 2, 2020
3 Comments

ALERT: In early editions of my last post, I mistakenly said that the UW Choral Union and the UW Symphony Orchestra will perform the Verdi Requiem on May 25 and 26. The correct dates are APRIL 25 and 26. The Ear regrets the error.

By Jacob Stockinger

One of the most informative and enjoyable events of the Beethoven Year – 2020 is the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth – came early.

It took place last Sunday afternoon in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center at the UW-Madison.

It was the seventh annual Schubertiade, and its theme was “Schubert and Beethoven: Influences and Homages.” A classic contrast-and-compare examination of two musical giants who lived and worked in Vienna in the early 19th century, the concert took place for almost three hours before a packed house. (Schubert is below top, Beethoven below middle, and the sold-out audience below bottom)

The annual event is organized by co-founders and co-directors UW piano professor Martha Fisher and her pianist husband Bill Lutes (below, greeting the crowd), who also perform frequently, especially as outstandingly sensitive and subtle accompanists.

They make the event, with audience members sitting onstage, look easy and informal. But it takes a lot of hard work.

The two sure know how to choose talent. As usual, all the singers and instrumentalists – UW alumni and faculty members (below) — proved very capable. The concert cohered with consistency.

Nonetheless, The Ear heard highlights worth singling out.

Baritone Michael Roemer (below) sang exceptionally in “An die ferne Geliebte” (To the Distant Beloved) by Beethoven (1770-1827). His voice brought to mind the young Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the inviting tone and direct delivery of the first song cycle ever composed. It was also the one that inspired the younger Schubert (1797-1828) to compose his own song cycles, and you could hear why.

Soprano Jamie Rose Guarrine (below right), accompanied by Bill Lutes and cellist Karl Knapp (below center), brought warmth, ease and confidence to the lyrical beauty of “Auf dem Strom” (On the River).

Tenor Daniel O’Dea (below) showed how Schubert’s setting of Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” – the same Romantic poem made famous in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony “Choral” – ended up much more lighthearted than the more familiar, serious and intense symphonic version.

Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes, who also sang as well as narrated and accompanied, showed complete blending and tightness in Schubert’s first published composition: “Eight Variations on a French Song.” It was for piano, four-hands – a sociable genre that Schubert favored and wrote a lot of.

Soprano Jennifer D’Agostino (below) sang Schubert’s song “Elysium” in which it is unclear whether it is a pastiche or a parody of Beethoven, who remained a mentor until Schubert died at 31. Could that ambiguity point to Schubert’s maturing sense of himself and his own art as compared to Beethoven’s?

One year after Beethoven’s death – Schubert was a pallbearer — Schubert put on his only formal public concert of his own work. That was when he premiered his Piano Trio No. 2, the bravura last movement of which was played by Bill Lutes with cellist Parry Karp and first violinist David Perry (below), of the UW’s Pro Arte Quartet.

Then all four members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below) – with violist Sally Chisholm and second violinist Suzanne Beia – played the last two movements of Beethoven’s late String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131, the work that Schubert requested to hear performed as he lay on his death bed in his brother’s Vienna apartment.

Of course there were other moments that pleased and instructed. There was a set of four songs – one coupling sung by mezzo-soprano Allisanne Apple (below) — in which the same texts were set to music by both Beethoven and Schubert.

We got to hear Beethoven’s final song, “Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel” (Evening Song Beneath the Starry Firmament).

Then there was the heart-wrenching “Nachthymne” (Hymn to the Night) by Schubert, again beautifully performed by Jamie Rose Guarrine. (You can hear “Hymn to the Night,” sung by Elly Ameling, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

So in the end, what were the big lessons, the takeaways from this year’s Schubertiade?

One lesson is that for all his more familiar symphonies and concertos, his string quartets and piano trios, his piano sonatas and his sonatas for cello and violin, Beethoven was also a much more accomplished song composer than the public generally knows.

But for The Ear, the biggest lesson of all is that despite Beethoven’s deep influence, Schubert retained his own special voice, a voice full of unforgettable melodies and harmonies, of lyricism and empathy.

And using a mentor to find, refine and retain one’s own identity is the highest homage any student can pay to a teacher.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #19thCentury, #AllisanneApple, #BaritoneSinger, #BeethovenYear, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralSymphony, #CollinsRecitalHall, #Contrast-and-Compare, #DanceMovement, #DanielO'Dea, #DavidPerry, #DeathBed, #DietrichFischer-Dieskau, #DietrichFischerDieskau, #EllyAmeling, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FranzSchubert, #FriedrichSchiller, #GermanRomanticism, #GiuseppeVerdi, #HamelMusicCenter, #Hard Work, #HardWork, #husband-and-wife, #InstrumentalMusic, #InstrumentalPlayer, #JacobStockinger, #JamieRoseGuarrine, #JenniferD'Agostino, #KarlKnapp, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LyricalMusic, #MarthaFischer, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MichaelRoemer, #MusicalGenre, #OdetoJoy, #OrchestralMusic, #ParryKarp, #PianoConcero, #PianoSonata, #PianoTrio, #ProArteQuartet, #SallyChisholm, #SongCycle, #SopranoSinger, #StringQuartet, #Sundayafternoon, #SuzanneBeia, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #ThemeAndVariations, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWChoralUnion, #UWSchubertiade, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViennaAustria, #Wife-and-Husband, #YouTubevideo, 19th century, accompanist, age, Allisanne Apple, alumni, ambiguity, annual, annversary, April, Art, Arts, audience, beauty, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, beloved, big, Bill Lutes, birth, blending, blog, bravura, brother, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, choose, choral music, Choral Symphony, Choral Union, classic, Classical music, cohere, Collins Recital Hall, compare, composer, Concert, concerto, confidence, consistency, contrast, coupling, cycle, Daniel O'Dea, David Perry, death, death bed, delivery, die, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, direct, director, early, ease, easy, edition, ego, Elly Ameling, enjoyable, error, evening, event, examination, Facebook, faculty member, familar, famous, favor, final, find, firmament, first, Fischer-Dieskau, formal, forward, founder, four-hands, France, Franz Schubert, French, Friedrich Schiller, genre, giant, Giuseppe Verdi, greet, Hamel Music Center, high, highlight, himself, homage, hours, House, husband, hymn, identity, influence, informal, informative, insight, inspire, instruct, intense, invite, inviting, Jacob Stockinger, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Jennifer D'Agostino, Karl Knapp, know, late, lesson, lighthearted, like, link, live, look, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, Madison, Martha Fischer, mature, May, Mead Witter School of Music, mentor, Mezzo-soprano, Michael Roemer, mind, mistake, moment, moments, movement, Music, musical, narrate, night, Ode to Joy, old, older, onstage, Orchestra, packed, pallbearer, parody, Parry Karp, pastiche, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano sonata, Piano Trio, please, poem, post, posting, Pro Arte Quartet, public, publish, recall, refine, request, Requiem, retain, river, Romantic, Romanticism, Sally Chisholm, Schiller, Schubert, Schubertiade, second, sense, sensitive, serious, share, show, sing, singer, single, sociable, Sonata, song, song cycle, soprano, starry, String quartet, Student, subtle, Sunday afternoon, sung, Suzanne Beia, symphonic, symphony, tag, takeaway, talent, Teacher, tenor, text, The Ear, theme and variations, tightness, tone, unclear, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Choral Union, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, variations, Verdi, version, Vienna, Viola, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, vocal, vocal music, voice, warmth, wife, Wisconsin, work, write, year, young, younger, YouTube

Classical music: This Saturday night, UW pianist Christopher Taylor will perform the virtuosic Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 9

January 28, 2020
1 Comment

ALERT: The first concert by the Verona Area Community Orchestra is set for this Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. in the Verona Area High School’s Performing Arts Center at 300 Richard St. in Verona. A reception, with a sheet cake, will follow the concert. Admission is FREE.

Thirty-five amateur string orchestra musicians will play selections from: Johann Sebastian Bach (Brandenburg Concerto No. 3), Aaron Copland (“Rodeo”), Sir Edward Elgar (“Serenade for Strings”), Eric Whitacre (“October”), Louis Prima (“Sing Sing with a Swing”), and Peter Warlock (“Capriol” Suite).

By Jacob Stockinger

This coming Saturday, Feb. 1, will see what promises to be one of the most interesting and impressive events of The Beethoven Year in Madison.

At 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, in the new Hamel Music Center at 740 University Avenue, the UW-Madison’s virtuoso pianist Christopher Taylor (below) will perform the solo piano transcriptions made by Franz Liszt of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 9.

When he was just 12, the young Liszt — often considered the greatest pianist who ever lived — performed for and met Beethoven, who gave the boy his blessing.

For the rest of his life, Liszt (below top) promoted Beethoven’s piano sonatas and symphonies through the keyboard. Liszt also studied with Carl Czerny, who studied with Beethoven (below bottom).

These performances mark Taylor’s completion of the ambitious and monumental cycle of Liszt’s Beethoven symphony transcriptions.

The Ninth or “Choral” Symphony – with the famous “Ode to Joy” finale – will also have five singers to perform the solo and choral parts. They are: Mead Witter School of Music faculty members Mimmi Fulmer and Paul Rowe (below top); and graduate students Sarah Brailey (below bottom), Thore Dosdall and Benjamin Liupaogo.

(You can hear the famous Scherzo movement played by Cyprien Katsaris and see the note-filled score for it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Tickets are $20, except for music school faculty and students who will be admitted free on the night of the performance if space allows.

For more information about the tickets, parking, the performers and the program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/christopher-taylor-and-friends-beethoven-symphony-extravaganza/

To just purchase tickets, go to the Campus Arts Ticketing box office in the Memorial Union, call (608) 265-ARTS (2787) or go to: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=79084672-5D75-4981-B0A3-B135EDB97FF1

For more information about the extraordinary keyboard transcriptions, go to the Wikipedia entry and be sure to read the section on History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven_Symphonies_(Liszt)

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AmateurMusician, #BeethovenYear, #BenjaminLiupaogo, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #BrandenburgConcerto, #CampusArtsTicketing, #CarlCzerny, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralSymphony, #ConcertPianist, #EdwardElgar, #EricWhitacre, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzLiszt, #GraduateStudent, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #LouisPrima, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemorialUnion, #MimmiFulmer, #NinthSymphony, #OdetoJoy, #PaulRowe, #PerformingArtsCenter, #PeterWarlock, #PianoSonata, #PianoVirtuoso, #SarahBrailey, #SoloPiano, #SoloPianoMusic, #StringMusic, #TheEar, #ThoreDosdall, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VeronaAreaCommunityOrchestra, #VeronaWisconsin, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediaentry, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, amateur, ambitious, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Benjamin Liupaogo, blessing, blog, Box, boy, Brandenburg Concerto, call, Campus Arts Ticketing, Carl Czerny, choral music, Choral Symphony, Classical music, community, complete, composer, Concert, concerto, Copland, cycle, Edward Elgar, Elgar, entry, Eric Whitacre, event, Facebook, faculty, faculty member, forward, Franz Liszt, free, graduate student, great, Hamel Music Center, hear, History, impressive, interesting, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joy, Keyboard, life, like, link, Liszt, Louis Prima, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Memorial Union, Mimmi Fulmer, monumental, Music, music faculty, Musician, Ninth Symphony, note, October, ode, Ode to Joy, office, Orchestra, parking, Paul Rowe, performer, Performing Arts Center, Peter Warlock, phone, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, program, promise, purchase, Rodeo, Sarah Brailey, Saturday, Scherzo, score, section, see, Serenade, share, sing, singer, Singing, solo, Sonata, string music, strings, students, study, Suite, swing, symphony, tag, Teacher, The Ear, Thore Dosdall, ticket, transcription, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Verona, Verona Area Community Orchestra, virtuoso, virtuoso pianist, vocal music, Whitacre, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, young, YouTube

Classical music: The 7th annual Schubertiade at the UW-Madison is this Sunday afternoon and will explore the influence of Beethoven on Schubert

January 23, 2020
3 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

This coming Sunday afternoon, Jan. 26, is the seventh annual UW Schubertiade – named after the evening gatherings of friends (below) where the composer Franz Schubert performed and premiered his own music.

This year’s theme, given that 2020 is the Beethoven Year, is the immense influence that the older Beethoven (below top) 1770-1827) had on the younger Schubert (below bottom, 1797-1828).

The event will begin with a pre-concert lecture by UW-Madison Professor of Musicology Margaret Butler at 2:15 p.m. in the Rehearsal Hall at the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, next to the Chazen Museum of Art.

Then at 3 p.m. in the 330-seat Collins Recital Hall in the same building, the two-hour concert will take place.

The concert will close with the usual custom. The audience and performers will join in singing “An die Musik” (To Music). (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear it sung by legendary German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and legendary British accompanist Gerald Moore.)

A reception will follow the concert in the main lobby.

For more description of the event plus a complete program and list of performers – who consist of UW-Madison graduates and musicians including soprano Jamie Rose Guarrine (below top) and mezzo-soprano Alisanne Apple (below middle) as well as the Pro Arte Quartet (below bottom, in a photo by Rick Langer) – go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/our-annual-schubertiade/

At the site, you will also find information about buying tickets – general admission is $20 with free student tickets on the day of the concert is space is available – and about parking.

The event was founded by and continues to be directed by wife-and-husband pianists Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes (below) who also sing, accompany and play works for piano, four hands.

Lutes sent the following introductory remarks: “Ever since Martha and I presented the first of our annual Schubertiades back in January 2014, we’ve looked for ways to keep our all-Schubert birthday parties fresh and interesting for our audience.

“From time to time we contemplated introducing another composer – maybe even switching our allegiance from the immortal Franz to another of our favorites: perhaps a “Schumanniade.”

“This time, with six years of all-Schubert behind us, we thought we would do the obvious and finally unite Schubert with the composer who probably meant more to him than almost any other – Beethoven, whose 250th birthday is being celebrated this year.

“Once Beethoven moved permanently to Vienna at age 22, he soon became famous and eventually was regarded as the greatest of the city’s composers.

“Schubert, who was born in Vienna five years after Beethoven’s arrival, grew up hearing the older master’s works, often at their premieres. As his genius flowered early, Schubert was often challenged and inspired by Beethoven’s music.

“We bring together these two giants who lived in the same city, knew the same people, attended the same musical events, perhaps met or quite possibly didn’t.

“Yet Beethoven’s presence and example guided Schubert in his own road toward the Ultimate Sublime in music. Our concert of “Influences and Homages” features works where the musical, if not the personal, relationship is there for all to hear.”

Lutes also supplied a list of the song titles in English translation:

“Ich liebe dich” – I love you

“Der Atlas” – Atlas

“Auf dem Strom” – On the River

“Der Zufriedene” – The Contented Man

“Der Wachtelschlag” – The Quail’s Cry

“Wonne der Wehmut” – Joy in Melancholy

“Kennst du das Land?” – Do You Know the Land?

“An die ferne Geliebte” – To the Distant Beloved

“An die Freude” – Ode to Joy

“Gruppe aus dem Tartarus” – Scene from Hades

“Elysium”

“Nachthymne” – Hymn to the Night

“Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel” – Evening Song Beneath the Starry Firmament

Have you attended a past Schubertiade (below, in Mills Hall)?

What did you think?

Would you recommend it to others?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AlisanneApple, #AndieMusik, #BeethovenYear, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #CollaborativePianist, #CollinsRecitalHall, #ElisabethSchwarzkopf, #EnglishTranslation, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzSchubert, #GeneralAdmission, #GeraldMoore, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #JamieRoseGuarrine, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MargaretButler, #MarthaFischer, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MillsHall, #OdetoJoy, #PersonalRelationship, #PianoAccompanist, #Pre-concertLecture, #ProArteQuartet, #RehearsalHall, #RobertSchumann, #Schubertiadeconcert, #SopranoSinger, #Sundayafternoon, #TheEar, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UW-MadisonMusician, #UWProfessor, #UWSchubertiade, #ViennaAustria, #YouTubevideo, accompanist, accompany, Alisanne Apple, allegiance, An die Musik, annual, attend, audience, available, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, beloved, Bill Lutes, birthday, blog, building, buy, challenge, Chazen Museum of Art, city, close, Collins Recital Hall, composer, contemplate, contented, Cry, custom, distant, early, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, English, English translation, evening, event, example, Facebook, famous, firmament, flower, forward, four-hands, Franz Schubert, freind, fresh, gathering, general admission, genius, Gerald Moore, giants, graduates, greatest, guide, Hades, Hamel Music Center, hear, homage, hymn, immortal, influence, inspire, interesting, Jacob Stockinger, Jamie Guarrine, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, join, Joy, know, land, lecture, legendary, like, link, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, man, Margaret Butler, Martha Fischer, Master, Mead Witter School of Music, mean, meet, melancholy, Mezzo-soprano, Mills Hall, Music, Musician, musicology, night, ode, Ode to Joy, old, older, online, other, PAQ, parking, parties, party, People, performer, personal, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, pre-concert lecture, premiere, presence, Pro Arte Quartet, professor, quail, reception lobby, recommend, rehearsal hall, relationship, river, road, Robert Schumann, scene, Schubert, Schubertiade, Schumann, seat, share, sing, song, soprano, space, starry, students, sublime, subscriber, Sunday afternoon, switch, tag, The Ear, ticket, translation, ultimate, unite, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, UW, UW-Madison, Vienna, Website, work, young, younger, YouTube

Classical music: This Saturday night brings both the Escher String Quartet to the Wisconsin Union Theater and the UW-Madison Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra to the Hamel Music Center

January 22, 2020
1 Comment

CORRECTION: The Ear received the following correction to the story he posted yesterday about the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and apologizes for the error:

“There was a change to our rollout in Brookfield. We are only repeating the fifth Masterworks concert on Saturday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. We are NOT repeating this Friday’s concert in Brookfield.

“We will perform a Family Series concert of “Beethoven Lives Next Door” on Sunday, March 29, at 3 p.m. at the same Brookfield venue.”

By Jacob Stockinger

The upcoming weekend is a busy one for classical music.

The busiest night is Saturday night when two major concerts will take place: a performance by the Escher String Quartet and the postponed concert by the UW Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra with soloists.

Here are details:

ESCHER STRING QUARTET and DAVID FINCKEL

The concert by the Escher String Quartet (below) with cellist David Finckel (below bottom. formerly of the critically acclaimed Emerson String Quartet) takes place on this Saturday night, Jan. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Shannon Hall of the Wisconsin Union Theater.

The performance is part of the special season celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Concert Series.

The program includes the sublime Quintet in C Major, D. 956, with two cellos, by Franz Schubert and the String Quartet in A minor by the great early 20th-century Viennese violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler (below).

Tickets are $30-$50. For more information and to reserve tickets, go to: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=CFC3765F-5F1D-4663-BCA0-985BE3049CF5

For more information about the Escher String Quartet, including a video performance and detailed background, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/escher-string-quartet-with-david-finckel/

UW CHORAL UNION

Also on this Saturday night at 8 p.m., in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the new Hamel Music Center at 740 University Avenue, the UW Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra (below top), along with two vocal soloists – soprano Chelsie Propst (below middle) and baritone James Harrington (below bottom) — will perform a concert originally scheduled for Dec. 7 and then postponed.

The program, without intermission, is one 80-minute work: the epic and influential “A Sea Symphony” by the great 20th-century British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (below).

General admission tickets are $18 for the general public and faculty or staff; and $10 for UW students. To reserve tickets, go to Campus Arts Ticketing at: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=412623A4-4FB9-40D6-BC23-A425360713EA

Beverly Taylor (below), the longtime director of choral activities at the UW who will retire this spring, sent the following note:

“The text by American poet Walt Whitman presents four symphonic scenes of great breadth and imagination, with lush harmonies and constantly varying tempos and dynamics.” (You can hear the Waves section, or third movement, from “A Sea Symphony” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #20thCentury, #ASeaSymphony, #BaritoneSinger, #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrookfieldWisconsin, #ChamberMusic, #ChelsiePropst, #ChoralMusic, #ConcertSeries, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DavidFinckel, #EmersonStringQuartet, #EscherStringQuartet, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FritzKreisler, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #JamesHarrington, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MusicReview, #RalphVaughanWilliams, #SaturdayNight, #ShannonHall, #SharonLynneWilsonCenterfortheArts, #SopranoSinger, #StringQuartet, #StringQuintet, #TheEar, #TheU.K., #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWChoralUnion, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #ViolinistVirtuoso, #VocalMusic, #WaltWhitman, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, A Sea Symphony, acclaimed, activity, American, American poetry, anniversary, Arts, audience, background, baritone, Beethoven, Beverly Taylor, blog, breadth, British, Brookfield, busy, celebrate, cellist, Cello, centennial, Chamber music, Chelsie Propst, choral, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, concert hall, concert series, conductor, correction, critically acclaimed, David Finckel, details, director, dynamics, Emerson String Quartet, English, epic, error, Escher String Quartet, Facebook, Family, forward, Franz Schubert, Fritz Kreisler, great, Hamel Music Center, harmony, imagination, influence, influential, information, Jacob Stockinger, James Harrington, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, lush, Madison, major, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Music, music critic, music review, night, online, Orchestra, performer, poet, Poetry, post, posting, postpone, quintet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, retire, Retirement, Saturday night, scene, sea, Season, Second Viennese School, series, Shannon Hall, share, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, soloist, soprano, Spring, String quartet, string quintet, sublime, symphonic, symphony, tag, Tempo, text, The Ear, ticket, U.K., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Choral Union, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, venue, Vienna, Viennese, Viola, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Walt Whitman, waves, Website, weekend, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube

	fflambeau on Classical music: The Madison S…
	welltemperedear on Classical music: This Friday b…
	Philip Wissbeck on Classical music: This Friday b…
	andrewsewellblog on Classical music: This Friday b…
	fflambeau on Classical music: This Friday b…

February 2020
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Jan
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: