The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: University Opera updates and stages Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” on this Friday night, Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night. Plus, here are the winners of the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Final Forte
Leave a 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.
NEWS UPDATE: If you missed it, here are the results of Wednesday’s night Final Forte teenage concerto competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, which was broadcast live from Overture Hall on Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television).
First and second place prizes of a $2,000 scholarship went to pianist Michael Wu and pianist Jessica Jiang, respectively. The two runners-up — violinists Emily Hauer and Jonah Kartman — each received a scholarship of $1,000.
Here is a link to more information, photos and background – including teachers — for each of the four contestants as well as the dates for rebroadcasting the finalists’ concert on radio and TV.
By Jacob Stockinger
The prize-winning University Opera and UW Symphony Orchestra will stage three performances of “Cosi fan tutte” (So Do They All, or Women Are Like That), the late comic and seriously satirical opera by Mozart about love, gender roles and cheating on partners.
The performances are in Old Music Hall on Bascom Hill on this Friday night, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday afternoon, March 1, at 2:30 p.m.; and Tuesday night, March 3, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for general admission with reserved seats, $20 for seniors (62 and up) and $10 for UW students.
As usual, UW students will alternate certain roles during the three performances. (Below is returning singer Anja Pustaver, one of the three Despina’s in the production.)
The stage director is David Ronis, the head of the opera program at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. He has won numerous national awards during his tenure at the UW-Madison for his inventive re-imaginings of well-known operas and musicals.
The student orchestra will be conducted by Oriol Sans, the acclaimed new professor of conducting and director of Orchestral Activities at the UW-Madison. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the Overture to “Cosi” played by the Metropolitan Opera conducted by James Levine.)
Below is a studio photo by radio host Norman Gilliland of members of the production when they appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio. From left are: conductor Oriol Sans, director David Ronis, soprano Julia Urbank and soprano Cayla Rosche.
The opera has been updated to the Roaring Twenties, at a time when the women’s suffrage movement and other women’s rights issues were gaining traction. The re-staging also seems especially timely and contemporary, given the #MeToo and Time’sUp movements.
Here is a link to the full press release with the complete cast and production staff as well as a sketch of the abstract stage set (below) designed by Joseph Varga and other information, including a detailed synopsis and an explanation of the reason for setting the opera by in the Roaring 20s: https://www.music.wisc.edu/2020/02/10/cosi-fan-tutte/
Here is a link to a shortened version – with information about tickets and parking — on the Mead Witter School of Music’s home website under Concerts and Events: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/university-opera-mozarts-cosi-fan-tutte/2020-02-28/
Tags: #BascomHill, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #CaylaRoche, #Classicalera, #CosifanTutte, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DavidRonis, #DukeandDuchessofSussex, #EmilyHauer, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinalForte, #Fridaynight, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #JamesLevine, #JessicaJiang, #JonahKartman, #JosephVarga, #JuliaUrbank, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MetropolitanOpera, #MichaelWu, #MusicHall, #NewsUpdate, #NormanGilliland, #OperaMusic, #OriolSans, #OvertureHall, #PBSWisconsin, #PianoConcerto, #PressRelease, #Prize-Winning, #ProductionStaff, #Roaring20s, #RoaringTwenties, #SeniorCitizen, #SopranoSinger, #Sundayafternoon, #TelevisionBroadcast, #TheEar, #TheMet, #Time'sUp, #Tuesdaynight, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublic Radio, #WisconsinStudio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Women'sRights, #Women'sSuffrage, abstract, acclaim, alternate, audience, award, background, Bascom Hill, blog, Broadcast, cast, Cayla Rosché, cheating, Classical, Classical era, comic, Competition, Concert, concerto, contemporary, contestant, Cosi fan tutte, costume, costumes, date, David Ronis, director, Emily Hauer, era, event, Facebook, Final Forte, finalist, first, forward, Friday, Friday night, gain, gender, head, Home, home website, host, imagine, information, inventive, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, Jessica Jiang, Jonah Kartman, Joseph Varga, Julia Urbank, late, like, link, live, Love, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Orchestra, Michael Wu, miss, movement, Mozart, Music Hall, musical, national, news, night, Norman Gilliland, opera, Orchestra, Oriol Sans, Overture, Overture Hall, parking, partner, PBS, PBS Wisconsin, performer, photo, Pianist, Piano, play, post, posting, press, prize, production, production staff, professor, program, Radio, rebroadcast, results, rights, Roaring 20s, Roaring Twenties, role, satirical, scholarship, second, senior, set, setting, share, shorten, singer, Singing, sketch, soloist, soprano singer, staff\, stage, Student, studio, suffrage, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, synopsis, tag, Teacher, teenage, teenager, Television, tenure, The Ear, the Met, tickets, time, timely, traction, Tuesday, Tuesday night, TV, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, update, UW, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, version, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin Pubic Radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, women's rights, women's suffrage, YouTube
Classical music: Starting Wednesday, the second LunART Festival will again spotlight women in the performing and creative arts. Here is the first of a two-part preview
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received a long and detailed announcement about the upcoming second LunART Festival. Here is Part 1 with background and participants. Tomorrow will be Part 2 with more information about new music and a schedule of events.
The LunART Festival is back for its second season from this Wednesday, June 5, through Sunday, June 9, and will continue its mission of supporting, inspiring, promoting and celebrating women in the arts.
The 2019 season brings 10 events to eight venues in the Madison area, providing accessible, high-quality, engaging concerts and events with diverse programming from various arts fields.
The festival will showcase over 100 artists this season, including many familiar local artists and performers as well as guest artists hailing from Missouri to Texas, Minnesota to Florida and as far away as Peru.
LunART’s inaugural 2018 season was a success on numerous fronts. From showcasing a wide variety of artists and arts disciplines to building lasting relationships and collaborations, LunART has distinguished itself from other arts events in Madison.
Both artists and audiences have commented that the LunART atmosphere is one of camaraderie, love and acceptance. Festival directors Iva Ugrcic and Laura Medisky (below right and left, respectively) have set this season to come back even stronger, with expanded dates and more diverse programming.
Like last year, the three ticketed evening gala concerts are centered on classical chamber music. Other art forms — including contemporary and aerial dance, poetry, spoken word and visual arts — are interwoven throughout the programs to create a unique atmosphere for performers, artists and audiences.
This year’s Grammy-nominated composer-in-residence is flutist Valerie Coleman (below), a former member of Imani Winds, who was described as one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” by The Washington Post.
Coleman embodies LunART’s vision by challenging norms and being a strong advocate for diversity in the arts. Her rich compositional output infuses elements of jazz and African secular music into the Western classical tradition, creating a soundscape that honors both worlds. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Valerie Coleman playing her own composition “Fanmi Imen” at the 2018 convention of the National Flute Association.)
Coleman’s music will be featured throughout the festival among the works of other remarkable women who shaped music history, from Baroque composer Barbara Strozzi to Romantic composer Clara Schumann to living composer Missy Mazzoli.
Drawing from Madison’s rich arts scene and community, LunART 2019 features local artists including: former Madison poet laureate Andrea Musher (below); actor and theater artist Deborah Hearst; choreographers and dancers Liz Sexe and Kimi Evelyn; and aerial dancer Linda DiRaimondo.
Also featured are musicians from arts organizations such as Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Fresco Opera Theatre, Arbor Ensemble, Madison New Music Ensemble and Sound Out Loud Contemporary Music Collective. Under the direction of Edgewood College professor Kathleen Otterson, Madison’s only women’s choir ARTemis Ensemble returns in greater numbers and will present a work by LunART 2018 “From Page to Stage” alum Meg Huskin among others.
Visual art will have a stronger presence in the 2019 Festival. From May 11-July 7, Overture’s Playhouse Gallery will house “Women Against Hate United by Love,” a collaborative, traveling art exhibition and multi-step “anti-hate” campaign united against bigotry, intolerance and racism, created by J. Leigh Garcia (below), Rachael Griffin and Kelly Parks Snider.
A gallery reception on Wednesday, June 5, serves as LunART’s opening event, in which Snider will give a talk about the exhibit and her use of art to educate communities about targeted issues in the hopes of shaking up the status quo. This engaging and thought-provoking exhibit is meant to provide a meaningful and hopeful community experience for all who attend.
In collaboration with Studio 84 and ArtWorking, two nonprofit art studios specializing in the creative development of people with disabilities, the final Gala concert at First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, on Saturday, June 8, will showcase 40 artworks. This exhibit will feature 20 women artists whose works will be displayed, flanking the Atrium Auditorium stage as well as in the lobby.
Tomorrow: New music to be premiered, comedy and the full schedule of events
Tags: #AfricanMusic, #AndreaMusher, #ArborEnsemble, #ARTemisEnsemble, #ArtExhibit, #ArtExhibition, #ArtForm, #ArtWorking, #ArtWorks, #AtriumAuditorium, #BarbaraStrozzi, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelebratingWomen, #ChamberMusic, #ClaraSchumann, #Composer-in-Residence, #ContemporaryMusic, #CulturalDiversity, #DeborahHearst, #EdgewoodCollege, #EthnicDiversity, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FemaleComposer, #FeministArt, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FluteMusic, #FrescoOperaTheatre, #FromPagetoStage, #GenderDiversity, #GrammyAward, #GrammyNominations, #GuestArtist, #High-Quality, #ImaniWinds, #J.LeighGarcia, #JazzMusic, #KathleenOtterson, #KellyParksSnider, #KimiEvelyn, #LindaDiRaimondo, #LivingComposer, #LizSexe, #LunARTFestival, #MadisonNewMusicEnsemble, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MegHuskin, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MissyMazzoli, #MusicHistory, #NationalFluteAssociation, #NewMusic, #NonprofitOrganization, #OpeningNight, #OvertureCenter, #PoetLaureate, #RachelGriffin, #RomanticMusic, #SaturdayNight, #SecularMusic, #SoundOutLoud, #SpokenWord, #StatusQuo, #Studio84, #TheEar, #ThePlayhouse, #TheWashingtonPost, #ThoughtProvoking, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ValerieColeman, #VisualArts, #WindMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #Women'sChoir, #WomenArtists, #YouTubevideo, accessible, accpetance, Actor, actress, advocate, aerial, African, all-women, alum, alumna, Andrea Musher, announcement, Arbor Ensemble, area, art exhibition, art form, Art Works, ARTemis Ensemble, artists, Arts, atmosphere, Atrium Auditorium, audience, background, Barbara Strozzi, Baroque, bigotry, blog, camaraderie, campaign, celebrating, Cello, challenging, Chamber music, choral music, choreographer, Clara Schumann, Classical music, classicalmusic, collaborative, comedy, community, composer, Composition, Concert, contemporary, contemporary music, convention, create, dance, dancer, dates, Deborah Hearst, detail, disabilities, disciplines, diverse, diversity, Early music, Edgewood College, educate, engaging, ethnic, evening, event, exhibit, expand, experience, Facebook, female, female composer, feminism, feminist, fina, final gala, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Florida, flute, flutist, forward, Fresco Opera Theatre, From Page to Stage, fronts, gala, gallery, gender, Grammy, Grammy Award, guest artist, hate, History, honor, hope, hopeful, Imani Winds, information, inspiring, intolerance, J. Lee Garcia, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Kathleen Otterson, Kelly Parks Snider, Kimi Evelyn, like, Linda DiRaimondo, link, Living composer, Liz Sexe, lobby, local, Love, LunART Festival, Madison, Madison New Music Ensemble, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Me Too, Mead Witter School of Music, Meg Huskin, Minnesota, mission, Missouri, Missy Mazzoli, Music, music history, National Flute Association, New Music, nominations, nonprofit, norms, numbers, opening, Overture Center, page, part, participants, People, performer, Peru, Piano, Playhouse, Poet laureate, Poetry, professor, programming, race, Rachel Griffin, racism, reception, rich, Romantic, Romanticism, Saturday, scene, schedule, second, secular, shake up, share, showcase, Sound Out Loud, soundscape, spoken word, stage, status quo, strong, studio, Studio 84, success, supporting, tag, talk, target, Texas, The Ear, The Washington Post, thought provoking, ticket, tomorrow, tradition, traveling, united, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, VALERIE COLEMAN, venue, Viola, Violin, vision, visual arts, vocal music, Wednesday, Western, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, women, women artists, women;s choir, world, YouTube
Classical music: The Ancora String Quartet closes out its season with polished, precise and emotionally intense performances of contrasting music by Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Caroline Shaw
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT-FM 89.9. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.
By John W. Barker
The Ancora String Quartet (below) is closing its season with a cluster of concerts around the area, including a central one Tuesday night at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Regent Street in Madison.
Of the three works in the program, the centerpiece was the Entr’acte by the American musician and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw (below, in a photo by Kait Moreno). It was written in 2011 when Shaw was 29, and has won some acclaim over the years.
It is cast roughly in the traditional form of a minuet and trio, but its point is less any musical substance than the invention of new and utterly eccentric ways of string playing for ear-catching sound effects. Many of those effects are, to be sure, intriguing.
Surrounding this was a pair of quartets seemingly very distinct from each other but related.
The first published quartet, in A major, Op. 13, by Felix Mendelssohn (below), was written in the wake of a romantic song he wrote and whose motives he then used in the quartet.
Emotional suggestions aside, however, it is notable as a darker and more intense work than his subsequent ones in this form. It was composed in 1827, when Mendelssohn was 18, but also the year in which Beethoven died. And it is the shadow of Beethoven, and of Beethoven’s innovations in his later quartets, that hangs over the Mendelssohn work.
Clearly the young master was trying to see how he could absorb the older master’s progressive style into his own still emerging one. I think he found in the process that the two could not be reconciled, and so his subsequent quartets were to be in a less stressful vein.
Against that 1827 work, we were then offered a composition from Beethoven’s own earlier years when he was 29 or 30. This was the final quartet in the set of six published as his Op. 18.
This Op. 18, No. 6, by Beethoven (below) in B-flat major — the program had it mistakenly in G major — is a Janus-faced work, its first two movements still rooted in the late 18th-century background, but with a scherzo full of quirks and tricks that point to the future, and a finale that plays on emotional contrasts.
Its opening Malinconia – or melancholic – music is contested by music of rousing joy, somewhat prefiguring Beethoven’s absorption with recovering his health in the Heiliger Dankgesang (Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving) of his late string quartet, Op. 132. (You can hear the two contrasting moods and themes in the last movement, played by the Alban Berg Quartet, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For all three of these scores, a quartet member gave some introductory comments. (Below, first violinist Wes Luke introduces the work by Caroline Shaw.)
Members of the Ancora String Quartet are violinists Wes Luke and Robin Rynan, violist Marika Fischer Hoyt and cellist Benjamin Whitcomb. As a group, the Ancora players displayed intensity and absorption as well as polished precision, in a program of contrasts.
Tags: #AlbanBerg, #AlbanBergQuartet, #AmericanPatriotism, #AmericanRecordGuide, #AncoraStringQuartet, #BenjaminWhitcomb, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarolineShaw, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClassicalStyle, #CriticalAcclaim, #EmeritusProfessor, #EpiscopalChurch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JohnW.Barker, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MedievalHistory, #MeToomovement, #MusicalSubstance, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #MusicScore, #PulitzerPrize, #RadioHost, #RadioShow, #RobinRyan, #SacredHymnofThanksgiving, #SoundEffects, #St.Andrew'sEpiscopalChurch, #StringPlaying, #StringQuartet, #SundayMorning, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WesLuke, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, absorption, acclaim, Alban Berg, Alban Berg Quartet, American, American Record Guide, Ancora String Quartet, Arts, audience, background, Beethoven, Benjamin Whitcomb, blog, Caroline Shaw, catching, cellist, Cello, centerpiece, Chamber music, Christian, Christianity, church, Classical music, classicalmusic, comments, composer, Concert, contrast, critic, dark, darker, death, ear, ear-catching, Early music, eccentric, emeritus professor, emotional, Episcopalian, Facebook, Felix Mendelssohn, final, form, forward, group, Health, History, hymn, innovation, intense, intriguing, introduce, introductory, invention, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Janus, John W. Barker, last, lecture, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marika Fischer Hoyt, Master, Medieval, Medieval history, melancholy, member, minuet, motives, movement, Music, new, performer, precision, process, program, progressive, Pulitzer Prize, quirk, Radio, recovering, review, Robin Ryan, Romantic, sacred, Scherzo, score, Season, shadow, share, show, song, sound effects, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, stress, stressful, string playing, String quartet, style, substance, suggestions, Sunday morning, tag, Thanksgiving, tradition, traditional, trick, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vein, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, wake, Wes Luke, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, works, WORT-FM 89.9, written, year, YouTube
Classical music: Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” meets “The Sopranos” when an all-female mob gets even in Fresco Opera Theatre’s new show this Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights
27 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following information about what promised to be another unusual take, perfect for the age of the MeToo movement, on the standard opera repertoire from Fresco Opera Theatre.
The show takes place on this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in Promenade Hall of the Overture Center. Dinner table seats are $50 and other seats are $35.
We are doing a production called the “The Sopranos: Don Giovanni’s Demise,” which is our re-imagining of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.”
We feature an all female-mob, who put a hit on “The Don.” And who can blame them? “The Sopranos” is the story of a score settled, and a scoundrel silenced. Don Giovanni is a rat, who has pushed the family too far. And the family has put out a hit on him.
“This is a fun production, which retains the music of “Giovanni,” but with a slightly different take using 20th-century Mafia imagery. (You can hear the dark and ominous Overture to the “Don Giovanni” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
“We have a strong cast, featuring Ryan White as Don Giovanni, Erin Sura as Donna Elvira, Katie Anderson as Donna Anna, Ashley McHugh as Zerlina and Diana Eiler as Leporello. We are excited to have Vincent Fuh as our piano accompanist, and Melanie Cain will be directing.
“We will have limited seating on stage, which will be tables on which meals will be served, adding to the ambiance. Fresco is very excited to present our interpretation of this classic tale, including the timeless music.”
Adds director Melanie Cain:
“I’ve always been intrigued with the way Mozart portrayed female characters in his operas. They are daring, courageous and bold. He also was not afraid to give the women who were from the non-privileged classes, such as his spunky maids, the task of fixing all their bosses messes and oftentimes saving the day.
“Don Giovanni” resonates so well in today’s social landscape. The idea of women uniting to take down the males who take advantage, suffocate and demoralize the female gender runs through the core of this opera.
“What better way to portray a bunch of strong women than to have them run the male dominant world of the mob? As I was thinking about the look of this show, I came across the art of Tamara de Lempicka, a painter of the Art Deco era, best known for her portraits of powerful women. She was a brave, strong-willed openly bisexual artist who wasn’t afraid to be herself at a time that wasn’t accepted.
“Not only will you hear some vivacious female singers, you will see many of Lempicka’s works displayed throughout the production, which really resonates not only with this show, but in the way I like to create opera: “I live life in the margins of society and the rules of normal society don’t apply to those who live on the fringe.””
For tickets and a plot summary, here is the link to Overture Center:
And for more information about Fresco Opera Theatre, here is link to its home page:
Tags: #All-Female, #ArtDeco, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ClassicTale, #DinnerTable, #DonGiovanni, #DonJuan, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrescoOperaTheatre, #Fridaynight, #MelanieCain, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MusicalInterpretation, #OperaMusic, #OrganizedCrime, #OvertureCenter, #PianoAccompaniment, #PianoAccompanist, #PlotSummary, #PrivilegedLife, #PromenadeHall, #SaturdayNight, #TamaradeLempicka, #TheEar, #TheFamily, #TheMafia, #TheMob, #TheSopranos, #Thursdaynight, #VincentFuh, #VocalMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, accompaniment, accompanist, ambiance, art deco, artist, Arts, bisexual, blame, blog, bold, Boss, bosses, brave, bunch, cast, character, class, classes, classic, Classical music, composer, Concert, core, courage, courageous, create, daring, dark, demise, demoralize, dinner, dinner table, directing, director, Don Giovanni, Don JUan, era, Facebook, Family, female, Fresco Opera Theatre, Friday, fringe, fun, gender, hit, idea, imagery, imagine, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, landscape, life, like, link, live, Madison, Mafia, maid, maids, male, males, margin, meal, Melanie Cain, mob, Mozart, Music, new, night, normal, ominous, opera, organized crime, Overture, Overture Center, painter, Pianist, Piano, plot, portrait, post, privilege, production, Promenade Hall, rat, resonate, rules, Saturday, score, scoundrel, seat, seating, settle, share, silence, singer, singers, social, stage, story, strong, strong-willed, suffocate, summary, table, tag, tale, Tamara de Lempicka, The Ear, The Sopranos, theater, theatre, Thursday, ticket, time, timeless, United States, Vincent Fuh, vocal music, will, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, word, YouTube
Classical music: The LunART Festival of women musicians will perform chamber music by all-female composers this Saturday night
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event
By Jacob Stockinger
The LunART Festival will be part of the Arts @ First Series when it performs “A Wintry Mix Chamber Music Collective” on this Saturday night, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Avenue.
The concert will features the Arbor Ensemble (below) and Black Marigold.
Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for students and free for children under 12. Advance tickets are $12 at: lunartwintrymix.brownpapertickets.com
The LunART Festival is dedicated to promoting and celebrating women in the arts through public performances, exhibitions, workshops and interdisciplinary collaboration. After a very successful inaugural season, the second LunART festival will take place in Madison, from June 6 through June 9.
While the main focus of LunART is a summer festival, LunART also presents events throughout the year, such as this midwinter collaborative concert.
The Madison-based ensembles Arbor Ensemble and Black Marigold (below, in a photo by Vincent Fuh) will perform an array of works for strings, winds and piano from the past 100 years, showcasing both historically notable women composers and introducing less familiar female pioneers of today.
The Arbor Ensemble will premiere their newly commissioned “Trio Cerulean” by Cherise Leiter (below top), in addition to their arrangement of the Piano Trio for flute, viola and piano by Germaine Tailleferre (below bottom).
Arbor members Berlinda Lopez (flute), Marie Pauls (viola) and Stacy Fehr-Regehr (piano) seek to connect with audiences through their personal sound and colorful instrumentation. Their innovative programming highlights lesser known chamber works, and the group has developed a niche promoting music of women composers.
The highly regarded, award-winning Quintet for Wind Instruments of Grazyna Bacewicz (below top) will be performed by Black Marigold (below bottom), a dynamic wind quintet known for their captivating and energetic performances. Members are Iva Ugrcic (flute), Laura Medisky (oboe), Bethany Schultz (clarinet), Juliana Mesa (bassoon) and Kia Karlen (horn).
Advocates of new music and living composers, Black Marigold fosters fresh perceptions of new music by programming pieces that are equally enjoyable for performers and audiences.
The ensembles will collaborate by mixing members and instrumentation, rounding out the program with Duo for Oboe and Viola by Hilary Tann (below top); “Doppler Effect” for flute, clarinet and piano by Adrienne Albert; “D’un Matin de Printemps” (From A Morning in Spring) by Lili Boulanger; and the Quartet for Strings, Op. 89, by Amy Beach (below bottom). You can hear the piece by Lili Boulanger in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Guest artists Laura Mericle (violin), Shannon Farley (violin) and Samantha Sinai (cello) will join Arbor violist Marie Pauls for the performance of the Beach. The quartet was a featured ensemble at the inaugural season of the LunART Festival this past summer.
For more information, go to:
firstunitedmethodistmadison.org/artsatfirst
Tags: #AdrienneAlbert, #All-Female, #AmyBeach, #ArborEnsemble, #AudienceMembers, #BassoonMusic, #BlackMarigold, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrownPaperTickets, #ChamberMusic, #CheriseLeiter, #ChristianChurch, #CommissionedMusic, #DopplerEffect, #FemaleComposers, #FemaleMusicians, #FeministArt, #FirstUnitedMethodistChurch, #GermaineTailleferre, #GrazynaBacewicz, #HilaryTann, #IvaUgrcic, #LauraMedisky, #LiliBoulanger, #LivingComposers, #LunARTFestival, #MariePauls, #MethodistReligion, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #NewMusic, #PianoTrio, #ShannonFarley, #StringQuartet, #WindQuintet, #WomenArtists, #WomenComposers, #YouTubevideo, admission, Adrienne Albert, all-women, Any Beach, Arbor Ensemble, arrangement, Arts, audience, Bassoon, Black Marigold, blog, Brown Paper Tickets, Cello, Chamber music, Cherise Leiter, children, Christian, Christian church, church, clarinet, Classical music, collaborative, commission, composer, Doppler Effect, enjoyable, exhibition, female, female composers, feminism, feminist, festival, First United Methodist Church, flute, forward, free, Germaine Tailleferre, Grazyna Bacewicz, Hilary Tann, Horn, inaugural, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Laura Medisky, like, Lili Boulanger, link, living composers, LunART Festival, Madison, Marie Pauls, Methodist, midwinter, mix, New Music, Oboe, performer, Piano, Piano Trio, piece, pioneers, post, posting, Quartet, Religion, Sexism, Shannon Farley, share, String quartet, strings, Student, summer, summer festival, tag, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Wind quintet, winds, wintry, Wisconsin, women, women composers, workshop, YouTube
Classical music: Flutist and activist Iva Ugrcic is Musician of the Year for 2018
3 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
The classical music scene in Madison is so rich that it is always a challenge to name a Musician of the Year.
There are just so many deserving candidates. One obvious example is conductor John DeMain, who is completing his 25th year of outstanding stewardship in directing the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Opera.
But part of the intent behind such an honor is not just to recognize well-known figures. It is to encourage a broader awareness of those people who do a lot for local classical music but who often fly under the radar for many people.
That is why The Ear is naming flutist and activist Iva Ugrcic (below) as the Musician of the Year for 2018.
As both a performer and entrepreneur, Ugrcic is always very busy broadening her varied career. Being both a player and an activist, she is making a difference, musically and socially, that deserves to be recognized and supported.
Serbian by birth and educated in Belgrade and Paris, she came to Madison where she completed her doctorate in flute performance and also took business courses at the UW-Madison Business School.
She is a first-rate performer who has won a national prize for performing. While at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, she won both the concerto competition (below) and the Irving Shain competition for wind instruments in duets. (You can hear her amazing technique in the YouTube video at the bottom. In it Ugrcic performs “Voice” for solo flute by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.)
She now plays with the Black Marigold Wind Quintet and Sound Out Loud, both of which are based in Madison and both of which devote themselves to contemporary composers and new music.
This year, Urgcic also soloed with the Middleton Community Orchestra (below, in a photo by John W. Barker), performing to critical acclaim a relatively unknown concerto by 19th-century composer Carl Reinecke.
This year, Urgcic also took over as artistic director of the Rural Musicians Forum, which brings classical music, jazz, world music and ethnic music, played by outstanding performers to the Spring Green area, often at the Taliesin compound of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
But perhaps her most long-lasting contribution is her founding and now directing the LunART Festival that, in the same year of the Me Too movement, sought to present an all-women event that featured composers, performers, visual artists and writers.
Such was its inaugural success in 2018 that it won a national prize from the National Flute Association and a second festival will take place from June 9 through June 9, 2019.
2019 will also see the release of her second solo recording devoted to the music of the contemporary Romanian composer Doina Rotaru, even while she is working on a recording of “Beer Music” by contemporary American composer Brian DuFord.
And all that is just the beginning for such a promising talent. We will be hearing much more from her and about her in years to come.
To see her impressive biography, as well as updated activities, video and audio clips, photographs and other information, go to: https://www.ivaugrcic.com/bio
Here is one more thing that speaks to The Ear. It feels important, even necessary, to recognize the positive contributions of an immigrant at a time when the current “America First” administration under President Donald Trump seems so paranoid and negative, so xenophobic and afraid of foreigners.
The U.S government should be less intent on condemning or stigmatizing immigrants, whether legal or undocumented, and should put more emphasis on their contributions and on the long and distinguished history they have in the United States.
Iva Urgcic is yet another example of the talent we Americans stand to lose if we do not accept and encourage the gifts that immigrants bring in so many ways — from the arts, medicine, education and technology to everyday life and work.
Please join The Ear is expressing gratitude and congratulations to Iva Urgcic.
Tags: #All-Female, #AmericaFirst, #AmericanComposer, #AmericanImmigration, #ArtisticDirector, #BeerMusic, #BelgradeSerbia, #BelgradeYugoslavia, #BlackMarigold, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrianDuFord, #BusinessSchool, #CarlReinecke, #ConcertoCompetition, #ContemporaryComposers, #ContemporaryMusic, #DoinaRotaru, #DonaldTrump, #DuetMusic, #EthnicMusic, #EverydayLife, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FluteConcerto, #FluteMusic, #FrankLloydWright, #IrvingShain, #IvaUgrcic, #JapaneseComposer, #JazzMusic, #JohnDeMain, #JohnW.Barker, #LivingComposers, #LunARTFestival, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonWisconsin, #MusicianoftheYear, #NationalFluteAssociation, #NewMusic, #ParisFrance, #RomanianComposer, #RuralMusiciansForum, #SocialActivism, #SocialActivist, #SoundOutLoud, #SpringGreen, #Taliesincompound, #TheEar, #ThePresident, #ToruTakemitsu, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VisualArtist, #WindMusic, #WomenPerformers, #WorldMusic, #YouTubevideo, 2018, 2019, activist, administration, all-women, America First, architect, architecture, Artistic director, Arts, Audio, awareness, Bach, Baroque, Beer, Belgrade, biography, Black Marigold, blog, Brian DuFord, Business, business school, Carl Reinecke, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, Competition, composer, concerto, condemn, congratulations, courses, doctorate, Doina Rotaru, Donald Trump, duet, Early music, Education, entrepreneur, ethnic music, everyday life, Facebook, feminism, feminist, flute, flying, foreigner, forward, France, Frank Lloyd Wright, gender, gratitude, Home, immigrant, immigration, inaugural, Irving Shain, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, John W. Barker, labor, legal, life, like, link, LunART Festival, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Me Too, Mead Witter School of Music, medicine, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, Mozart, Music, Musician, Musician of the Year, national, National Flute Association, New Music, opera, Orchestra, paranoia, paranoid, Paris, People, performer, photographs, pictures, player, poet, post, posting, President Donald Trump, prize, radar, recording, Romania, Romanian, Rural Musicians Forum, Serbia, Serbian, share, shelter, solo, Sound Out Loud, Spring Green, stewardship, stigmatize, Student, tag, Taliesin, technique, technology, The Ear, U.S., undocumented, United States, University of Belgrade, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, varied, video, voice, Website, winds, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, Woodwind quintet, work, World music, Writer, xenophobia, xenophobic, year, YouTube
Classical music: Singer David Daniels is accused of drugging and raping a young opera singer
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
More allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault keep emerging from the world of classical music, even as the #MeToo movement is again in the headlines with accusations and denials about the movie star Asia Argento having sex with a minor.
The latest allegation is an accusation by a young opera singer who says that in 2010 he was drugged and raped by David Daniels (below), who is world-famous as a countertenor and who teaches at the University of Michigan, where he is now on leave.
Included in the allegation is Daniels’ husband Scott Walters, who is a conductor and who is accused of participating in the drug and rape incident.
Here is a well-researched and well-reported story from National Public Radio (NPR):
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/22/640945881/opera-singer-david-daniels-accused-of-rape
And here is a link to the story in The New York Daily News, the newspaper that first broke the story. That version also has photos of the accuser and Scott Walters.
Tags: #AsiaArgento, #DavidDaniels, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MetropolitanOpera, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewYorkCity, #OperaMusic, #OperaSinger, #OperaStar, #OrchestraConductor, #Same-sexmarriage, #samesexmarriage, #SantaFeOpera, #ScottWalters, #SexualAbuse, #SexualAssault, #SexualHarassment, #SexualMisconduct, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkDailyNews, #UniversityOfMichigan, #World-famous, accusation, allegation, Arts, Asia Argento, Baroque, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, conductor, countertenor, denial, drug, drugged, Early music, film, George Frideric Handel, headlines, husband, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, minor, movie, Mozart, Music, New York City, Newspaper, NPR, opera, photo, rape, raped, reporting, research, Same-sex marriage, Santa Fe Opera, sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, singer, star, symphony, the Met, The New York Daily News, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, Wisconsin, world
Classical music: Why do symphony orchestras program so few women composers – and often none?
8 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
The summer is rolling along.
Soon August will be here, and then September with the new concert season.
Looking over the programs, which feature new music and living composers, for the next season at the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO), The Ear was reminded of a recent story.
It came from National Public Radio (NPR) and was about why so few women composers – or even no women composers – are being programmed at major national and regional symphony orchestras.
One major exception is Jennifer Higdon (below), the Curtis Institute teacher who has won a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Award, who has been performed by the MSO and who is quoted in the story.
Here is a link to the story:
Now, The Ear likes the 2018-19 season at the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) for many reasons he will go into another time. He thinks it is a big improvement over last year, probably because it also celebrates the 25th anniversary of John DeMain’s tenure as the artistic director. And it does open with the “Fanfare Ritmico” by Jennifer Higdon. But you still won’t find major works by Higdon or other women composers.
Here is a link:
https://www.madisonsymphony.org/18-19
And the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below) also has an interesting and appealing season that includes some unusual features, including a recorder soloist and a repeat performance of a two-piano concerto that the WCO commissioned and premiered a couple of seasons ago. But, again, there are no women composers:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performance-listing/category/2018-19-season
The UW Symphony Orchestra, which last year performed a work by Caroline Shaw (below), hasn’t yet released its new schedule of programs.
If The Ear’s memory is correct, certain local chamber music and vocal groups — the Willy Street Chamber Players and the Oakwood Chamber Players come to mind — do a better job at programming works by women and composers of color, although there is still room to improve.
And it sure seems to The Ear that Wisconsin Public Radio has started to make a concerted effort to program more works by women.
What do you make of the lack of women composers?
Would you like to see more works by women composers programmed — say, Higdon’s violin and viola concertos? (You can hear the slow second movement of the Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Do you think programming more women composers would boost, lessen or not affect attendance?
Do you have suggestions for specific composers and specific works?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #ArtisticDirector, #CarolineShaw, #CurtisInstitute, #GrammyAward, #HilaryHahn, #JenniferHigdon, #JohnDeMain, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewMusic, #OakwoodChamberPlayers, #PianoConcerto, #PulitzerPrize, #SilverAnniversary, #TwoPiano, #ViolaConcerto, #ViolinConcerto, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WomanComposer, #Women'sMarch, #WomenComposers, #WorldPremiere, anniversary, Arts, attendance, August, Baroque, Caroline Shaw, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, commission, composer, concerto, Early music, feminism, Grammy Award, Hilary Hahn, improvement, Jacob Stockinger, Jennifer Higdon, John DeMain, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Me Too, movement, Music, national, National Public Radio, New Music, NPR, Oakwood Chamber Players, Orchestra, premiere, Pulitzer Prize, recorder, regional, Season, September, Sexism, slow, soloist, story, summer, symphony, tenure, two pianos, two-piano, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, women, Women's March, work, YouTube
Classical music: The inaugural LunART Festival — celebrating women creators and performers — will take place this coming Thursday through Saturday
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
The timing couldn’t be better or more relevant, given the rise of the #MeToo movement and the increased attention being paid to the role of women in the creative and performing arts.
So The Ear is pleased to post the following announcement about the inaugural LunART Festival, which will take place this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The announcement comes from festival co-directors flutist Iva Ugrcic (below top) and oboist Laura Medisky (below bottom). Both women are doctoral graduates from the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, and both are members of the Black Marigold woodwind quintet and have played with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
The first-ever LunART Festival will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, from this Thursday through Saturday, June 28-30, with the mission to support, inspire, promote and celebrate women in the arts through pubic performances, exhibitions, workshops and interdisciplinary collaboration.
The festival — showcasing 40 international women artists — will provide accessible, high-quality, engaging concerts and events with diverse programming through various arts fields. All artistic creators represented at LunART (composers, visual artists, writers, speakers) will be women.
To showcase women in the arts and bring their work into the spotlight, this three-day event includes a variety of FREE and ticketed concerts, outreach events and educational programs.
The artistic goal is to share works of women artists, and ensure the progress women have made will continue to flourish and grow, overcoming issues of gender inequity in the Arts. LunART supports artistic development of all aspiring regional, national, and international artists, whether emerging or established in their fields.
“This festival will raise awareness of the position of women in the arts through engaging, accessible concerts and events,” says founder and executive director Ugrcic. “The LunART Festival offers diverse programs representing current and relevant women in the arts,and we are committed to expanding and strengthening community ties through public performances and exhibitions. As we establish the festival’s reach into our local community and beyond, we see tremendous potential for growth in future years, with opportunities to expand our vision to theater, dance, opera and the visual arts, creating an interdisciplinary festival dedicated to women in all the arts.”
Through LunART’s mission and vision, the greater Madison community, audiences, festival musicians, artists, and the global music community will be directly impacted by:
- Raising awareness of the position of women in the arts
- Empowering women artists and creating a sense of unity and community
- Establishing artistic relationships and opening doors for future collaborations
- Creating lines for global connections rooted in Madison
- Introducing underrepresented artists to Wisconsin audiences
- Reaching diverse audiences, and drawing from underserved populations
- Providing opportunity for local businesses to be involved in the arts, supporting an organization with a specific social cause. The inaugural festival includes three ticketed evening Gala concerts of contemporary classical music and two “Starry Night” late-night performances featuring a local woman hip-hop artist, singer-songwriter, and a rock band.
Also on the schedule is an outreach concert featuring emerging women composers, a lecture about the influence of women in the arts, and a panel discussion about collaboration in the arts.
The festival’s 2018 Artist-in-Residence is award-winning composer Jenni Brandon from Long Beach, California. Brandon’s instrumental and vocal works will be showcased at the Gala concerts, including one world premiere. (You can hear a sample of her work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
To connect with women composers globally, the festival held a call for scores, from December to March, that was open to women composers of all ages and nationalities, and received scores from over 90 applicants from more than 20 countries.
- LunART Festival has partnered with area art organizations including Overture Center for the Arts, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, First United Methodist Church, Madison Public Library, Capitol Lakes Retirement Center, and First Unitarian Society of Madison, as well as local businesses Robinia Courtyard, Bos Meadery, and Field Table. LunART is supported by Dane Arts and Madison Arts Commission, won second place at the 2018 UW Arts Business Competition, and is a finalist for the 2018 National Flute Association’s C.R.E.A.T.E. Project Competition.
For a complete schedule of the varied events, go to this website and click on Learn More: https://www.lunartfestival.org/events
The main concluding event is the gala concert of “Women’s Voices” on Saturday, June 30, at 7 p.m. in the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $10 for students. They can be purchased in advance by going to the website for the concert, which is below.
The website also has the full list of performers and the full program – including works by Hildegard von Bingen, Fanny Mendelssohn and Amy Beach and many contemporary women composers.
Go to: https://www.lunartfestival.org/womens-voices
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AmericanMusic, #AmyBeach, #BlackMarigold, #BosMeadery, #CapitolLakes, #CapitolLakesRetirementCenter, #ContemporaryComposers, #CreativeArts, #CulturalDiversity, #DaneArts, #FannyMendelssohn, #FieldTable, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FirstUnitedMethodistChurch, #GenderDiversity, #GenderInequality, #GenderInequity, #HildgardvonBingen, #JenniBrandon, #LivingComposers, #LongBeach, #LunARTFestival, #MadisonArtsCommission, #MadisonMuseumofContemporaryArt, #MadisonPublicLibrary, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalMusic, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #NationalFluteAssociation, #OboeMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PerformingArts, #RobiniaCourtyard, #RockBand, #RockMusic, #RomanticMusic, #SongWriter, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VisualArtist, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WomenArtists, #WomenComposers, #WomenPerformers, #WoodwindQuintet, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, age, Arts, California, Capitol Lakes Retirement Center, community, dance, diversity, empower, exhibition, flute, free, gender inequity, hip-hop, international, Madison, master class, masterclass, MMOCA, national, nationality, Oboe, opera, performance, poet, regional, Retirement, rock band, rock music, singer, song writer, speaker, theater, ticketed, U.S., Wisconsin, workshop, Writer, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Bill Lane on The new Apple Music Classical… |
 | Augustine on The new Apple Music Classical… |
 | samanthacrownoversbc… on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: The opera world is divided over accusations of sexual harassment against superstar tenor Placido Domingo. Here is how John DeMain reacted. How do you react and what do you believe?
4 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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
By now, you have probably heard about the allegations of sexual harassment recently made anonymously against the still-active superstar Spanish tenor Placido Domingo (below), 78, who holds the record for the most opening-night appearances at the Metropolitan Opera.
What you might not have heard is how divided the opera world is over those accusations, which are now being formally and independently investigated.
Much of that division falls along lines of Europe versus the United States. The former has so far not cancelled upcoming appearances while the latter was quick to. And Domingo has been defended by famed Russian soprano Anna Netrebko (below, with Domingo).
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, sexual misconduct and sexual assault continue to be perhaps the most controversial issues amid many similar or more serious criminal allegations against conductors James Levine, Charles Dutoit and Daniele Gatti as well as many teachers and orchestra players.
Perhaps the best account of the divided reactions came in a story from The New York Times. Here it is:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/18/arts/music/placido-domingo-opera-harassment.html
One sign of the difficulty in dealing with the situation can be found in the carefully worded, balanced and empathetic Facebook comment by maestro John DeMain, the music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the artistic director of the Madison Opera.
DeMain has often worked with Domingo, perhaps most notably in the famous 1992 Concert for Planet Earth in Rio de Janeiro, which DeMain conducted. (You can hear Domingo singing an aria by Puccini and see DeMain conducting the orchestra in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Says DeMain (below in a photo by Prasad): “Thinking about the Placido Domingo controversy. While I’m not in a position to take sides in this very sad situation, I would just like to say that in my many interactions with this great tenor over many decades, I personally never witnessed him do anything that was inappropriate. He was always a kind and gentle person to me and my family. I wish him and his family well through this difficult time.”
Here is a link to DeMain’s Facebook page if you would like to read comments from others or leave one of your own: https://www.facebook.com/jldemain
How do you react to the accusations?
What do you believe should happen to Domingo?
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #AnnaNetrebko, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CharlesDutoit, #ConcertforPlanetEarth, #CriminalBehavior, #DanielGatti, #FacebookPage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GiacomoPuccini, #JamesLevine, #JohnDeMain, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MetropolitanOpera, #OpeningNight, #OperaMusic, #OperaWorld, #OrchestralPlayers, #PlacidoDomingo, #RiodeJaniero, #RussianArtist, #SexualAssault, #SexualHarassment, #SexualMisconduct, #SopranoSinger, #SuperstarSoprano, #SuperstarTenor, #TenorSinger, #TheEnvironment, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheU.S., #UnitedStates, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, accusation, allegation, Anna Netrebko, anonymous, appearance, aria, Arts, audience, balance, balanced, blog, Brazil, cancel, cancellation, Charles Dutoit, Classical music, comment, Concert, Concert for Planet Earth, conduct, conductor, controversial, crime, criminal, criminal behavior, criminal justice, Daniele Gatti, decades, defend, difficult, divided, Earth, empathetic, empathy, environment, environmentalism, Europe, event, Facebook, Facebook page, fame, Family, formal, gentle, Giacomo Puccini, great, hear, inappropriate, independent, interaction, investigate, investigation, issue, Jacob Stockinger, James Levine, John DeMain, kind, law, legal, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maestro, me, Me Too, Me Too movement, Metropolitan Opera, movement, Music, opening night, opera, opera world, Orchestra, page, person, personal, planet, player, Plácido Domingo, post, posting, Puccini, reaction, record, Rio de Janiero, Russian, sad, see, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, side, sing, Singing, situation, soprano, Spain, Spanish, story, subscriber, superstar tenor, tenor, The New York Times, time, U.S., United States, vocal music, witness, word, worded, work, world, YouTube