The Well-Tempered Ear
The eighth annual UW Schubertiade is this Sunday afternoon. It features a FREE online retrospective of the past seven years plus a new four-hand piano performance
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
The University of Wisconsin has posted the following announcement:
For the eighth consecutive year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music will present its annual Schubertiade — a special concert celebrating the music of Franz Schubert (below).
Traditionally these concerts have been held around the composer’s birthday. This year’s concert will in fact occur on his birthday — this Sunday, Jan. 31, at 3-4:30 p.m. CST. The pre-recorded premiere is at: https://youtu.be/7sshhKiFPAg
You can also use the link to prepare for the concert before or during the concert. You will find the program with song titles, the original German texts and English translation, and biographies of the performers by simply clicking on “SHOW MORE” on the YouTube website and follow the links to PDFs.
BECAUSE THERE ARE NO COPYRIGHT ISSUES, ACCORDING TO UW OFFICIALS, THE POST SHOULD BE UP AND AVAILABLE INDEFINITELY AFTER ITS PREMIERE.
As in past years, founders and performers Martha Fischer (below left), professor of piano and head of the collaborative piano program at UW-Madison, and her husband Bill Lutes (below right), an independent piano teacher, and UW emeritus artist-in-residence, will host the program.
These concerts have been presented in the sprit of the first Schubertiades (below, in a painting by Julius Schmid) that took place during the composer’s lifetime (1797-1828) in the homes of his friends and fellow artists, poets and fans.
These were social as well as musical occasions with Schubert himself presiding at the piano, giving his audience a chance to hear his latest songs, piano duets and chamber music, as well as pieces that had already become favorites.
This year’s Schubertiade will be different in response to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be an online look back — or Rückblick — at past concerts, with songs chosen from performances that have been preserved in the audio and video archive.
The featured performers will include faculty members, students and alumni from the Mead Witter School of Music, along with special guests.
In addition, pianists Fischer and Lutes will give a “new” performance recorded for this occasion of the great Fantasie in F minor for piano duet. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear that work, performed by Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen and recorded live in Seoul, South Korea.)
The songs have been chosen to reflect themes that were not only relevant to Schubert and his circle, but also to all of us in the midst of this challenging time: hope for a brighter future; the need for connection with others; remembrance of happier times; and the consolation to be found in nature.
Schubert left a vast and precious legacy of beauty — an enormous output of music that he composed in his short lifetime.
In a sense, each time his music is performed and heard, it is a journey from the past to our own time, the sounds speaking to us today as vividly and consolingly as they did when they were created 200 years ago.
Performers
Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes, pianists
Alumni:
Jamie-Rose Guarrine, soprano (below, in a photo by Peter Konerko)
Emily Birsan, soprano
Michael Roemer, baritone
Jennifer D’Agostino, soprano
Daniel O’Dea, tenor
Wesley Dunnagan, tenor
Sarah Brailey (alumna and current DMA student)
Sara Guttenberg
Guests:
Marie McManama, soprano
Cheryl Bensman-Rowe, mezzo-soprano
Faculty:
Mimmi Fulmer, soprano
Paul Rowe, baritone (below)
Julia Rottmayer, soprano
Staff
David Alcorn, videographer, editor, etc.
Katrin Talbot, images for audio only tracks
Tags: #ArcticCircle, #ArthurJussen, #ArtSong, #AustrianComposer, #BassBaritone, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CentralTime, #ChamberMusic, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #CollaborativePianist, #CollaborativePIano, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DanielO'Dea, #DavidAlcorn, #EmilyBirsan, #EnglishTranslation, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FranzSchubert, #GuestArtist, #husband-and-wife, #JacobStockinger, #Jamie-RoseGuarrine, #JenniferD'Agostino, #JuliaRottmayer, #JussenBrothers, #KatrinTalbot, #LiveMusic, #LiveRecording, #LookBack, #LucasJussen, #MarthaFischer, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MichaelRoemer, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicProfessor, #OnlineConcert, #PaulRowe, #SaraGuttenberg, #SarahBrailey, #SeoulSouthKorea, #SopranoSinger, #SouthEastAsia, #SouthKorea, #SpecialGuest, #Sundayafternoon, #TenorSinger, #TheEar, #TheNetherlands, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSchubertiade, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WesleyDunnagan, #Wife-and-Husband, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, alumni, announcement, archive, art song, Arthur Jussen, artist, artist-in-residence, Arts, Asia, asian, audience, Audio, Austria, bass, bass-baritone, before, Bill Lutes, bio, biography, birthday, blog, brighter, celebrate, Central Time, challenging, Chamber music, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, chosen, circle, Classical music, collaborative, composer, Concert, connections, consolation, copyright, coronavirus, Daniel O'Dea, David Alcorn, different, duet, Dutch, editor, emeritus, Emily Birsan, English, Europe, European, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, fans, Fantasie, fantasy, favorite, forward, found, founder, Franz Schubert, friends, future, German, Germany, good-natured, great, guest artists, happier, Home, hope, host, images, indefinitely, independent, issue, Jacob Stockinger, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Jennifer D'Agostino, Julia Rottmayer, Jussen, Jussen brothers, Katrin Talbot, Korea, lieder, lifetime, like, link, live music, Live Recording, look back, Lucas Jussen, Madison, Martha Fischer, Mead Witter School of Music, Mezzo-soprano, Michael Roemer, Mimmi Fulmer, Music, music professor, nature, occasion, occur, online, original, other, painting, pandemic, past, Paul Rowe, performance, performer, photographer, photographs, Pianist, Piano, piano duets, pieces, poets, post, postih, pre-recorded, premiere, prepare, present, preserved, professor, program, reflect, remembrance, response, restrictions, retrospective, Sara Guttenberg, Sarah Brailey, Schubert, Schubertiade, Seoul, share, sing, singers, Singing, social, song, songs, soprano, South Korea, Southeast Asia, special, special guest, spirit, students, Sunday afternoon, tag, Teacher, tenor, text, The Ear, the Netherlands, theme, time, trabslatio, tradition, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, video, Vienna, virtual, vocal music, Website, Wesley Dunnagan, Wisconsin, year, YouTube
TONIGHT at 7:30 the UW-Madison offers free but conflicting online concerts of opera and percussion music
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.
By Jacob Stockinger
Tonight – Tuesday, Nov. 24 – at 7:30 p.m. the University of Wisconsin’s Mead Witter School of Music will offer two FREE but competing events online.
You would think with so many empty spots in the events calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic that such conflicts could be avoided.
In any case, whichever concert you choose to watch – or perhaps to toggle back and forth between the two – here are the details:
OPERA SCENES
The first concert, done by University Opera, is Opera Scenes.
According to the website description: “What was to be Opera Workshop’s Fall Opera Scenes program has morphed in a delightful way.
“This term, each singer undertook an in-depth study of one particular operatic role. We’ll be presenting the fruits of that study – excerpted recitatives and arias from The Coronation of Poppea, Don Giovanni and Orfeo ed Euridice – staged in each student’s adapted habitat, and filmed by the students themselves.”
Here is the program with specifics about the singers and the selections as well as other aspects such as direction and accompaniment:
UW-Madison Opera Workshop: Professors Mimmi Fulmer, Thomas Kasdorf and University Opera head David Ronis (below) are the directors; William Preston and Molly Schumacher are the TAs.
“Batti, batti” and “Vedrai carino” from “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Zerlina: Maria Steigerwald
Directors: Molly Schumacher and David Ronis
Pianist: William Preston
“Chiamo il mio ben così” and “Che farò senza Euridice” from “Orfeo ed Euridice” by Christoph Willibald Gluck
Orfeo: Emily Quartemont
Director: David Ronis
Pianist: Thomas Kasdorf
“Or sai chi l’onore” and “Non mi dir” from “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Donna Anna: Sachie Ueshima
Director: Mimmi Fulmer
Pianist: Thomas Kasdorf
Excerpts from Act I, Scenes 3, 4, and 10 from “L’incoronazione di Poppea”by Claudio Monteverdi. (Below is a photo by Michael R. Anderson of a previous fully staged production in 2018 by University Opera of the Monteverdi opera.)
Poppea: Molly Schumacher
Director: Mimmi Fulmer
Pianist: William Preston
Here is a direct link to the one-hour production: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANcPY9sLGls
UW CHAMBER PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
Also tonight is a concert by the UW-Madison Chamber Percussion Ensemble (below), directed by Anthony Di Sanza and Thomas Ross.
It takes place in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the Hamel Music Center, and will run from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. No in-person attendance is allowed.
The UW-Madison Chamber Percussion Ensemble is dedicated to the performance of significant and engaging works for the Western percussion ensemble tradition. Repertoire from diverse trends in 20th and 21st century chamber composition is explored with an emphasis on new compositions for percussion.
Here is a direct link to the live-streamed concert, with more information about the program and the names of the players if you click on “Show More”: https://youtu.be/iZKO8pZmomA
And here is the program of the mostly new music:
Living Room Music (in the times of Covid) (1940) by John Cage and heard in the YouTube video at the bottom.
I. To Begin
II. Story
III. Melody
IV. End
Spanesque Oscillations (2003) by Steve Riley
For High Hats (2017) by Matt McBane
INTERMISSION
Marimbaireachd (1997) by Matthew Welch
The Lonelyness of Santa Clause (1994) by Fredrik Andersson
Metric Lips (1988) by Bela Fleck (arr. Steinquest)
Tags: #20thCentury, #21stCentury, #AnthonyDiSanza, #BaroqueComposer, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOpera, #BelaFleck, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberPercussionEnsemble, #ChristophWillibaldGluck, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #CollaborativePianist, #ConcertProgram, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DavidRonis, #DonGiovanni, #EmperorNero, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FredrikAndersson, #HamelMusicCenter, #HighHats, #JacobStockinger, #JohnCage, #LivingComposers, #LivingRoom, #LivingRoomMusic, #MarimbaMusic, #MatthewWelch, #MattMcBane, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetricLips, #MimmiFulmer, #ModernComposers, #Musicfaculty, #NewMusic, #OnlineConcert, #OperaAria, #OperaMusic, #OperaScenes, #OperaticRecitative, #OrfeoedEuridice, #PercussionMusic, #PianoAccompanist, #SantaClause, #SopranoSinger, #SteveRiley, #TheCoronationofPoppea, #TheEar, #TheUW, #ThomasKasdorf, #ThomasRoss, #Tuesdaynight, #UniversityOpera, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WilliamPreston, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 2018, 20th-century, 21st century, ;ik, accompany, act, adapted, allow, Anthony Di Sanza, Arts, audience, avoid, Baroque, begin, Bela Fleck, blog, calendar, Chamber music, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Classical music, Claudio Monteverdi, competing, composer, compositions, Concert, conflict, coronation, coronavirus, David Ronis, dedicate, description, details, director, diverse, Don Giovanni, Early music, emphasis, empty, end, engaging, event, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, faculty, fall, forward, Fredrik Andersson, Gluck, habitat, Hamel Music Center, high hats, in person, in-depth, Jacob Stockinger, John Cage, like, lips, living composers, living room, Living Room Music, lonely, Madison, marimba, Matt McBane, Matthew Welch, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, melody, metric, Mimmi Fulmer, modern, Monteverdi, morph, Mozart, Music, music faculty, Nero, new, New Music, online, opera, Opera aria, opera scenes, operatic, Orfeo ed Euridice, oscillations, pandemic, percussion, Percussion music, performer, Pianist, Piano, Piano accompanist, Poppea, post, posting, previous, production, professor, program, recitative, repertoire, repertory, role, run, Santa Clause, scene, selection, share, significant, singer, soprano, specifics, spot, stage, staged, Steve Riley, story, Student, study, tag, The Coronation of Poppea, The Ear, Thomas Kasdorf, Thomas Ross, toggle, tonight, tradition, trend, Tuesday, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW, UW-Madison, virtual, virtual concert, vocal music, watch, Western, William Preston, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, works, YouTube, Zelina
Classical music: This Saturday night, UW pianist Christopher Taylor will perform the virtuosic Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 9
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 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)
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: A FREE concert of stripped down Opera Scenes takes place this Tuesday night at UW-Madison
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
It has been a busy week for students and staff in the opera program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
Last week saw three sold-out and critically acclaimed performances of Benjamin Britten’s opera “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Here is a review: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2019/11/23/classical-music-university-opera-succeeded-brilliantly-by-staging-brittens-a-midsummer-nights-dream-as-a-pop-project-of-andy-warhol-and-the-factory-in-the-1960s/
This week – on Tuesday night, Nov. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Music Hall (below) at the foot of Bascom Hill – the UW-Madison Opera Workshop will present a concert that presents a series of stripped down, quasi-staged opera scenes. There is piano accompaniment instead of an orchestra, and sometimes a prop with the suggestion of a costume instead of full costumes and full sets.
Admission is FREE to the public and no tickets are required.
David Ronis (below top, in a photo by Luke Delalio) and Mimmi Fulmer (below bottom) are the directors, and Ben Hopkins is the Teaching Assistant
No specific roles, arias or works are listed.
But the program features scenes from: “Werther” by the French composer Jules Massenet; “Fidelio” by Ludwig van Beethoven; “Little Women” by American composer Mark Adamo (below top); “Eugene Onegin” by Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky; “A Little Night Music” by American Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim; “Dead Man Walking” by American composer Jake Heggie (below bottom); and “Hansel and Gretel” by German composer Engelbert Humperdinck.
Tags: #ALittleNightMusic, #AmericanComposer, #AMIdsummerNight'sDream, #BascomHill, #BenHopkins, #BenjaminBritten, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BroadwayMusical, #BroadwayShows, #CriticalAcclaim, #DeadManWalking, #EngelbertHumperdinck, #EugeneOnegin, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Frenchcomposer, #GermanComposer, #HanselandGretel, #JakeHeggie, #JulesMassenet, #LittleWomen, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarkAdamo, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicHall, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #OperaArias, #OperaMusic, #OperaScenes, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PianoAccompaniment, #RussianComposer, #StephenSondheim, #StrippedDown, #TeachingAssistant, #TheEar, #Tuesdaynight, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #VocalMusic, A Little Night Music, A Midsummer Night's Dream, admission, American, aria, Arts, audience, Bascom Hill, Beethoven, Ben Hopkins, Benjamin Britten, blog, Broadway, busy, Classical music, composer, Concert, costume, critical acclaim, Dead Man Walking, director, dream, Englebert Humperdinck, Eugene Onegin, Facebook, faculty, Fidelio, forward, France, free, French, German, Germany, Hansel and Gretel, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Heggie, Jules Massenet, like, link, Little Women, Living composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mark Adamo, Mead Witter School of Music, midsummer, Mimmi Fulmer, Music, Music Hall, music review, musical, New Music, night, opera, opera music, opera scenes, Orchestra, oublic, performance, performer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Pianist, Piano, piano accompaniment, post, posting, professor, program, prop, review, role, Russia, Russian, scene, set, share, show, sing, singer, Singing, sold-out, specific, staff\, stage, Stephen Sondheim, strip, stripped down, Student, suggestion, TA, tag, teaching assistant, The Ear, ticket, Tuesday, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW-Madison, vocal music, week, Werther, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Two noteworthy baroque concerts by Just Bach and the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble are on tap this Wednesday afternoon and Saturday night
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. 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
Fans of Baroque music have two noteworthy events this week to look forward to.
Both concerts feature period instruments and historically informed performance practices.
WEDNESDAY AT NOON
This coming Wednesday, Oct. 16, from noon to 12:30 p.m. at Luther Memorial Church, 1021 University Avenue, the second FREE Just Bach concert of the semester will take place.
The concerts by Just Bach (below, in a photo by John W. Barker) are now a regular feature of the Music at Midday at Luther Memorial Church.
Organist Mark Brampton Smith opens the program with a brief Fantasia on the melody of “Christ lag in Todesbanden” (Christ Lay in Death’s Bonds). That tune will reappear at the very end of the program, in the final chorale of Cantata 158.
The next piece on the program was also written for solo organ, but will be heard in an arrangement for violin, viola, cello and organ. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote six organ trio sonatas, apparently for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann.
The C Minor Sonata, the second in the set, is full of fiery drama in the outer movements, framing a dreamy, peaceful Largo.
UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe will lead the chorale sing-along, a beloved audience-participation feature of these programs.
The program closes with Cantata 158, “Der Friede sei mit dir” (Peace Be with You), with solo bass-baritone Jake Elfner. Elisheva Pront provides the luminous “cantus firmus” (an existing melody used in a polyphonic composition) in the second movement, which also features a beautiful violin solo played by Kangwon Kim. The Cantata ends with a chorale on the tune of “Christ lag in Todesbanden.”
You may bring your lunch and beverage.
The concert is FREE and open to the public, with a goodwill offering collected.
Other Just Bach concerts this fall, all Wednesdays at Noon, are: Nov. 20 and Dec. 18.
Performers this week are: Jake Elfner, bass-baritone; Elisheva Pront, soprano; Kangwon Kim, violin; Leanne League, violin; Marika Fischer Hoyt, viola; James Waldo, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
For more information, go to: https://justbach.org or https://www.facebook.com/JustBachSeries/
SATURDAY NIGHT
This Saturday night, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1833 Regent Street in Madison, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble (below) will perform a concert of varied chamber music.
Performers include: Mimmi Fulmer, UW-Madison soprano; Nathan Giblierano, baroque violin; Eric Miller, viola da gamba and baroque cello; Chelsie Propst, soprano; Charlie Rasmussen, viola da gamba and baroque cello; Consuelo Sañudo, mezzo-soprano; Anton TenWolde, baroque cello; and Max Yount, harpsichord.
Tickets are at the door only: $20 for the public, $10 students. After the concert, a reception will be held at 2422 Kendall Ave, second floor.
The program is:
Henry Purcell: Three Fantasias
Giacomo Carissimi: “Scrivete, occhi dolente” (Write, Sore Eyes)
George Frideric Handel: Violin Sonata, HWV 372 (heard in an animated graphic depiction the YouTube video at the bottom)
Claudio Monteverdi: “Baci soave e cari” (Soft and Dear Kisses)
INTERMISSION
Luzzasco Luzzaschi: “O dolcezze amarissime” (O Bitter Sweetness)
Martin Berteau: Trio for violoncellos
Giulio Caccini: Excerpts from “La liberazione di Ruggiero” (The Liberation of Ruggiero)
For more information, go to: www.wisconsinbaroque.org
Tags: #AntonTenWolde, #BachCantata, #BaritoneSinger, #BaroqueMusic, #BassBaritone, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #CharlieRasmussen, #ChelsiePropst, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #ConsueloSañudo, #ElishevaPront, #EricMiller, #FacebookPage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GiacomoCarissimi, #GiulioCaccini, #HarpsichordMusic, #HenryPurcell, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #JakeElfner, #James Waldo, #JamesWaldo, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnW.Barker, #JustBach, #KangwonKim, #LeanneLeague, #LutherMemorialChurch, #LuzzascoLuzzaschi, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MarkBramptonSmith, #MartinBerteau, #MaxYount, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicatMidday, #Musicfaculty, #NathanGiblierano, #OrganMusic, #PaulRowe, #PeriodInstruments, #PolyphonicMusic, #SaturdayNight, #SingAlong, #SopranoSinger, #St.Andrew'sEpiscopalChurch, #TheEar, #TrioSonata, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VioladaGamba, #ViolaMusic, #ViolinMusic, #ViolinSonata, #VocalMusic, #WandererFantasy", #WilhelmFriedemannBach, #WisconsinBaroqueEnsemble, #YouTubevideo, afternoon, Anton TenWolde, arrangement, Arts, audience, Bach, baritone, Baroque, Baroque music, bass-baritone, beloved, beverage, blog, bonds, Caccini, Cantata, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Charlie Rasmussen, Chelsie Propst, choral music, Chorale, Christ, Christian, church, Classical music, classicalmusic, Claudio Monteverdi, composer, Concert, conductor, Consuelo Sañudo, dear, death, depiction, door, drama, dream, dreamy, Early music, Elisheva Pront, ensemble, Episcopalian, Eric Miller, event, Facebook, Facebook page, fan, Fantasia, fantasy, father, forward, free, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Carissimi, graphic, Handel, harpsichord, help, Henry Purcell, historically informed performance practices, Jacob Stockinger, Jake Elfner, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johh W. Barker, Just Bach, kisses, Leanne League, liberation, like, link, lunch, Luther Memorial Church, Lutheran, Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Madison, Marika Fischer Hoyt, Mark Brampton Smith, Martin Berteau, Max Yount, Mead Witter School of Music, melody, Mezzo-soprano, Mimmi Fulmer, Monteverdi, movements, Music, Music at Midday, music faculty, Nathan Giblierano, night, noon, noteworthy, offering, organ, organist, Paul Rowe, peace, peaceful, performer, period instruments, polyphonic, polyphony, post, posting, program, public, Purcell, reception, Saturday, semester, share, sing, sing-along, soft, solo, son, Sonata, soprano, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, students, tag, The Ear, tickets, trio, trio sonata, tune, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Viola, viola da gamba, Violin, Violin Sonata, violinist, violist, vocal music, Wednesday, week, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, YouTube
Classical music: UW-Madison’s first countertenor Gerrod Pagenkopf returns to perform on Sunday night as a member of the acclaimed choral group Chanticleer. Here’s how he got from here to there. Part 1 of 2
1 Comment
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.
ALERT: Madison Symphony Orchestra organist Greg Zelek did not announce his encore after he received a standing ovation at the MSO concert Sunday afternoon. It was the final movement from the Organ Symphony No. 1 by Louis Vierne.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Sunday night, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the inaugural concert in the new Hamel Music Center’s main concert hall, the critically acclaimed a cappella singing group Chanticleer (below) will kick off the centennial anniversary celebration of the Concert Series at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
Tickets are $45 for the public; $40 for faculty staff and Union members; and $10 for students. For more information about the performers and the “Trade Winds” program, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/chanticleer/
Among the 12 members of the San-Francisco-based Chanticleer is Gerrod Pagenkopf, who is in his fifth year with the group as both a countertenor and the assistant music director. (You can hear Pagenkopf singing music by Henry Purcell in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For a biography of Gerrod Pagenkopf, go to: https://www.chanticleer.org/gerrod-pagenkopf
Pagenkopf (below) is a graduate of the UW-Madison. When he performed here as a student, his high, clear countertenor voice was a new experience and made those of us who heard him sit bolt upright and take notice. “He is going places,” we said to each other. And so he has.
But Pagenkopf’s story is not only about him. It is also about the rediscovery of countertenors, about the changing public acceptance of them, and about the challenges that young musicians often face in establishing a professional performing career. So today and tomorrow, The Ear is offering a longer-than-usual, two-part interview with Pagenkopf.
Here is Part 1:
When were you at the UW-Madison?
I was a student at the UW-Madison from the fall of 1997 until I graduated in May of 2002. Although I received a bachelor’s degree in music education, performing ended up being a huge part of my last few semesters.
Growing up in rural Wisconsin about 30 miles north of Green Bay, I always thought that if you liked music and were good at it, you were supposed to be a teacher. It wasn’t until I was a junior that my voice teacher, the late Ilona Kombrink, and I discovered that I had a viable solo voice. Although I received the music education degree, embarking on a solo career became more important to me.
What did you do and how well did your studies and performances here prepare you for the life of a professional musician?
I was very lucky to have ample opportunities for performing during my time at the UW. Singing in choirs was very important to me. For many years I sang in the Concert Choir under Beverly Taylor (below top) as well as in the Madrigal Singers under Bruce Gladstone (below bottom,, in a photo by Katrin Talbot). I think there was one semester where I sang in just about every auditioned choir.
Beverly Taylor also gave me a lot of solo opportunities in the large-scale works that the Choral Union performed: Bach’s “St. John” and “St. Matthew” Passions, and Handel’s “Israel in Egypt.” For a 23-year-old to have those masterworks, along with the B Minor Mass and “Messiah,” on his resume was very impressive.
I was also lucky enough to perform with University Opera, singing in the chorus at first, but then singing a solo role in Handel’s “Xerxes” my final semester, and then returning as an alumni artist to sing Public Opinion in Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” and several years later Polinesso in Handel’s “Ariodante.” Director Bill Farlow took a lot of chances on my young, “raw” countertenor voice and gave me several opportunities to succeed.
I should also note the importance of the guidance and mentorship of Professor Mimmi Fulmer (below, performing at Frank Loyd Wright’s Hillside Theater at Taliesin in Spring Green) after I graduated from UW. She afforded me the opportunity to sing in recital with her numerous times — usually Brahms and Mendelssohn duets. But she also was a catalyst in bringing me back to Madison several years later to sing with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble. Our continued relationship is actually the primary reason Chanticleer is singing in Madison this fall.
How do you feel about returning to perform at your alma mater with Chanticleer?
I’m over the moon about it. It still feels like a dream that I’m singing in Chanticleer. To be able to bring a group that I’m so proud to be a part of back to Madison feels like a great personal triumph. And to be the opening performance in the new Hamel Center (below) is such an honor!
Throughout my studies at UW-Madison, I was torn between the solo performance track and the choral career. I managed to straddle both, but my dream was always to make ensemble singing my career. Way back in the early 2000s, I heard Chanticleer sing at Luther Memorial Church, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do!”
I went down several other paths since that concert — mostly in the realm of solo, operatic singing — but it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to say I achieved my dream, and I’m coming back to place where the seed of that dream was planted almost 20 years ago.
Tomorrow: How countertenors re-emerged and were treated, the “Trade Winds” program and Pagenkopf’s future plans
Tags: #ACappella, #ACappellaMusic, #AlmaMater, #AppletonWisconsin, #Bachelor'sDegree, #BaroqueMusic, #BeverlyTaylor, #BillFarlow, #BlogInterview, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BMinorMass, #BruceGladstone, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralUnion, #ChristianChurch, #ConcertChoir, #CriticalAcclaim, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FrankLloydWright, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GerrodPagenkopf, #GreenBay, #GregZelek, #GrowningUp, #HamelMusicCenter, #Handel'sMessiah, #HandelOpera, #HenryPurcell, #HillsideTheater, #IlonaKombrink, #IsraelinEgypt, #JacquesOffenbach, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #Large-scale, #LouisVierne, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadrigalSingers, #MessiahOratorio, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicCritic, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #OperaChorus, #OperaMusic, #OrpheusintheUnderworld, #PublicOpinion, #SanFrancisco, #SchoolofMusic, #SpringGreen, #St.JohnPassion, #St.MatthewPassion, #StandingOvation, #Sundayafternoon, #SundayNight, #Taliesincompound, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinBaroqueEnsemble, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, a cappella, acceptance, acclaim, achieve, alma mater, alumni, alumnus, anniversary, artist, Arts, assistant, audience, audition, B Minor Mass, Bach, Bachelor's degree, Baroque, Beverly Taylor, Bill Farlow, biography, blog, Brahms, Bruce Gladstone, career, catalyst, celebration, centennial, cetennial, challenges, chance, chances, Chanticleer, Choir, choral music, Choral Union, chorus, Christian, church, Classical music, clear, composer, Concert, Concert Choir, concert series, countertenor, critically acclaimed, dream, duet, Early music, encore, experience, face, Facebook, faculty, fall, Felix Mendelssohn, final, forward, Frank Lloyd Wright, future, George Frideric Handel, Gerrod Pagenkopf, graduate, Green Bay, Greg Zelek, growing up, guidance, Hamel Music Center, Handel, Handel opera, Henry Purcell, high, Hillside Theater, Ilona Kombrink, impressive, interview, Israel in Egypt, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Offenbach, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, like, link, Lord, Louis Vierne, luck, lucky, Luther Memorial Church, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, madrigal, Madrigal Singers, mass, masterwork, member, Mendelssohn, mentor, Messiah, Mimmi Fulmer, moon, movement, Music, music critic, Music director, Music education, new, night, Offenbach, opera, opinion, opportunities, oratorio, organ, organist, Orpheus in the Underworld, ovation, part, Passion, perform, performances, performer, performing, personal, plan, prepare, primary, program, public, public opinion, Purcell, raw, reason, reception, recital, rediscovery, relationship, resume, role, rural, Saint Matthew Passion, San Francisco, School of Music, seed, semester, share, sing, singer, Singing, solo, song, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, St Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, standing ovation, Student, studies, succeed, success, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, tag, Taliesin, Teacher, time, today, tomorrow, TradeWinds, triumph, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW Choral Union, UW-Madison, UW-Madison School of Music, viable, vocal music, voice, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Barque Ensemble, Wisconsin Union Theater, work, Xerxes, young, YouTube
Classical music: Music from Schubert’s last year of life is the focus of this year’s UW-Madison’s Schubertiade this Sunday afternoon when a world-famous Schubert scholar will share her insights
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.
NEWS UPDATE: The UW-Madison is offering FREE ADMISSION to Sunday afternoon’s Schubertiade, discussed below, to furloughed federal workers, who just have to show their federal identification to an usher.
By Jacob Stockinger
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s sixth annual Schubertiade – a re-creation of the historical and informal celebration of his music that Franz Schubert (1797-1828) used to hold with friends – will take place this Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27, at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
The focus this year is the music composed in the last year of Schubert’s life, before his death at 31.
A schedule of events and information about tickets are below.
This Schubertiade will feature a world-famous Schubert scholar. Susan Youens, recently retired from the University of Notre Dame, has one of the most impressive musicology resumes in the world, and will share her insights about the late style of Franz Schubert (below) in her pre-concert lecture.
Youens has won four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as fellowships from the National Humanities Center, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. She has published eight books, hundreds of articles, essays and chapters, and lectured all over the world.
“Dr. Youens (below) will explore the rich relationship of Schubert’s music to the poems he chose to set and the emergence of new directions in Schubert’s style,” says co-organizer William Lutes. “The influence of Beethoven had loomed large throughout Schubert’s music, and in the year following Beethoven’s death, the 31-year-old composer wrote works of homage to this great master, as he saw his own music becoming more widely recognized, published and performed.”
Highlights of the Schubertiade will be a complete performance of Schubert’s 14 final songs, published after his death as Schwanengesang, or “Swan Songs” — among the composer’s richest and most forward-looking works. (You can hear the famous “Serenade” from “Swan Songs” sung by Angela Gheorghiu in the YouTube video at the bottom,)
Also on the program are the humorous and risqué Refrain-Lieder; the slow movement of the great Piano Trio in E-flat major; the enchanting Rondo in A major for piano four-hands; and the beautiful song Auf den Strom for voice, horn and piano, composed for a concert commemorating the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death, and filled with subtly haunting references to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.”
In addition to pianists and singers Martha Fischer and William Lutes (below), guest performers will include voice faculty members Mimmi Fulmer, Julia Rottmayer and Paul Rowe, voice students Sarah Brailey, Wesley Dunnagan, and Benjamin Hopkins, graduate hornist Joanna Schulz, and guest singer Cheryl Bensman-Rowe.
Also participating is the Perlman Trio (Mercedes Cullen, violin; Micah Cheng, cello; and Kangwoo Jin, piano).
The School of Music also thanks donors Ann Boyer and Kato Perlman for their longtime support of the Schubertiades, the Perlman Trio and other musicians and events.
2019 SCHUBERTIADE SCHEDULE
Pre-concert lecture: 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 27, Morphy Hall. (Free.)
Concert: 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 27, Mills Hall. (Ticketed.)
Post-concert reception, included with ticket purchase: Sunday, Jan. 27, at the nearby University Club, 5:30 p.m.
TICKETS: $17 for adults, $7 for all age students/children; free to music majors, faculty and staff. To avoid long lines, we suggest arriving 30 minutes early or buying tickets ahead of time, either in person or online. Please see the link below.
Purchase options (online, by telephone and in person) here: https://www.music.wisc.edu/about-us/tickets/
To buy tickets directly online, click here.
Tags: #AngelaGheorghiu, #BenjaminHopkins, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #EroicaSymphony, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FederalGovernment, #FederalWorkers, #FranzSchubert, #FreeAdmission, #FurloughedWorker, #GovernmentShutdown, #GuggenheimFoundation, #HornMusic, #InstituteforAdvancedStudy, #JoannaSchultz, #JoannaSchulz, #JuliaRottmayer, #KatoPerlman, #LateStyle, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarthaFischer, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicalStyle, #Musicfaculty, #NationalEndowmentfortheHumanities, #NewsUpdate, #PaulRowe, #PerlmanTrio, #PianoTrio, #PrincetonUniversity, #SarahBrailey, #SeniorCitizen, #SlowMovement, #SusanYouens, #SwanSongs, #UniversityClub, #UniversityofNotreDame, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSchubertiade, #WesleyDunnagan, #WilliamLutes, #World-famous, #YouTubevideo, Angela Gheorghiu, anniversary, article, Arts, beautiful, Beethoven, Benjamin Hopkins, Bill Lutes, blog, Book, celebration, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chapter, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, children, Classical music, composer, Concert, death, Eroica Symphony, essay, events, Facebook, faculty, faculty member, federal, federal government, forward, four-hands, Franz Schubert, free admission, friend, furlough, government, government shutdown, guest, Guggenheim Foundation, haunting, History, homage, Horn, humorous, influence, informal, Institute for Advanced Study, Jacob Stockinger, Joanna Schultz, Joanna Schulz, Julia Rottmayer, Kato Perlman, late style, lecture, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Martha Fischer, Master, Mead Witter School of Music, Mimmi Fulmer, Music, musicology, National Endowment for the Humanities, NEH, news, Paul Rowe, performer, Perlman Trio, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, post, posting, Princeton University, publish, re-creation, reception, risqué, rondo, Sarah Brailey, scholar, Schubertiade, Schwanengesang, senior citizen, Serenade, share, singer, Singing, Slow movement, song, staff\, Student, style, Susan Youens, Swan Songs, tag, ticket, United States, University Club, University of Notre Dame, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW-Madison, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Wesley Dunnagan, William Lutes, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: University Opera’s “Poppea” proves engaging, satisfying and timely. Performances remain this afternoon at 2 and Tuesday night at 7:30
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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
Larry Wells – who is The Opera Guy for The Well-Tempered Ear blog – went to the recent production of the University Opera and filed this review, with rehearsal photos of students, who alternate roles in different performances, by Michael R. Anderson.
By Larry Wells
The only other time I attended a performance of Claudio Monteverdi’s “The Coronation of Poppea” (1643) was in the early 1980s at The San Francisco Opera. Despite the appearance of Tatiana Troyanos as Poppea, I remember being baffled by both the static nature of the music and the grandness of the production of what seemed should be an intimate opera.
That memory, in addition to my being a fan of 20th-century music, made attending the opening performance of University Opera’s performance Friday evening fraught with foreboding.
Despite the production being a lengthy three hours, I must praise the ensemble and director David Ronis — who never disappoints — for keeping my attention throughout the evening as I witnessed an intimate retelling of the passion between Nero and Poppea (portrayed below by Benjamin Hopkins and Anja Pustaver).
The opera was staged in Music Hall on a semicircular platform with the small instrumental ensemble directly to the front side of the audience. Stunning lighting and beautiful costumes made up for the minimal set. I was seated in the center of the first row of the balcony and must say that the sightlines and the sound were superb, even though it was very hot up there. (Below is the coronation scene with Hopkins and Pustaver in the center.)
The ensemble was conducted by Chad Hutchinson (below) whom I had heard conduct the UW Symphony Orchestra the night before in a rousing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. The plucked instruments – harp, guitars, theorbo (I had to look it up, too) and harpsichords – were the backbone of the accompaniment. Strings and recorders completed the orchestra, and they were a delight to the ear – totally delicate and restrained.
The plot of the opera involves love triangles and political intrigue. The supertitles created by David Ronis (below, in a photo by Luke Dalalio) were amusing and colloquial. So much of the political posturing by Nero, whose main motivation is consistently self-interest, seemed to be pertinent to our time.
Nero was sung by countertenor Thomas Aláan who has a voice of great agility and expressiveness. His lover, Poppea, who yearns to be his empress, was sung by Talia Engstrom. Hers is a voice of great suppleness and flexibility. Throughout the evening she acted and sang with great subtlety, and I admired her performance very much.
I had been primed for the opera’s very final duet (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom) to be the most sublime moment of the opera, but I was much more aroused by the farewell duet between Nero and Poppea toward the end of the first act. It was highly charged vocally and erotic in its beauty and delivery.
Other characters included Seneca, portrayed by bass Benjamin Galvin (below left front, surrounded, from left to right, by Eliav Goldman, Jack Innes, Jiabao Zhang, Jake Elfner and Noah Bossert.) The lower range of his voice is profound and impressive.
Kevin Green (below right with Pustaver) portrayed the hapless Ottone, and his baritone voice shows promise.
It was, however, a night for the female singers. Cayla Rosché’s Ottavia was beautifully sung. She was completely believable as the spurned wife of Nero. Likewise Kelsey Wang’s Drusilla, Ottone’s second choice, was also wonderfully sung.
In the first scene we were introduced to Fortuna, Virtù and Amore who shone vocally. Throughout the remainder of the opera they silently hovered in the background as visual reminders of the forces driving the plots. Love, portrayed by Emily Vandenberg, eventually triumphed and got to sing a bit more.
There were moments of humor sprinkled throughout the production. I do not know how historically informed they were, but they did help to lighten the heaviness of the political intrigue and amorous complexities.
Some were perhaps unintentional – particularly the absurdly amusing wig that Fortuna wore. But Professor Mimmi Fulmer, in the small role as Nutrice, had a moment of complete hilarity. Her performance – both vocally and as an actress – underlined the contrast between earnestly serious, focused students and a relaxed, confident professional. (Below is the final scene with Nero and Poppea).
Altogether, it was a surprisingly engaging evening. There remain chances to see it this afternoon and Tuesday evening. It is not a brief or light evening of entertainment, but it is wholly engaging, thought provoking, timely and certainly something out of the ordinary.
Two more performances take place in Music Hall: today at 2 p.m. and Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. For more information including how to get tickets – adults are $25, seniors are $20 and students are $10 — go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/university-opera-monteverdis-the-coronation-of-poppea/
Tags: #20thCentury, #AncientRome, #BaroqueComposer, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOpera, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChadHutchinson, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #DavidRonis, #EarlyBaroque, #EmperorNero, #FacebookPost, #FacultyMember, #FemaleSingers, #FirstAct, #GuitarMusic, #HarpMusic, #HarpsichordContinuo, #LarryWells, #LoveTriangle, #MichaelR.Anderson, #MimmiFulmer, #ModernMusic, #MusicHall, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #OperaReview, #OurTime, #OutoftheOrdinary, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PluckedInstruments, #PoliticalIntrigue, #RecorderMusic, #SanFrancisco, #SanFranciscoOpera, #SightLines, #StringMusic, #Sundayafternoon, #TatianaTroyanos, #TheCoronationofPoppea, #TheOperaGuy, #theorbomusic, #TheWell-TemperedEar, #ThoughtProvoking, #Tuesdaynight, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #VocalMusic, #YouTubevideo, accompaniment, actress, afternoon, agility, amorous, amusing, Ancient Rome, Arts, backbone, balcony, baritone, Baroque, bass, beauty, brief, California, Chad Hutchinson, Chamber music, Classical music, Claudio Monteverdi, colloquial, composer, conductor, contrast, coronation, costumes, countertenor, David Ronis, delicate, delight, delivery, director, duet, ear, early Baroque, Early music, earlymusic, earnest, Emperor Nero, empress, engaged, engaging, ensmeble, Entertainment, erotic, evening, expressiveness, Facebook, faculty, faculty member, female, female singers, first act, flexibility, foreboding, fortune, grandness, guitar, harp, harp music, harpsichord, hilarity, historical, Historically informed performance, historically informed performance practices, hot, Humor, impressive, informed, intimate, Jacob Stockinger, Larry Wells, lengthy, light, lighting, link, Love, love triangle, lover, Madison, Michael R. Anderson, Mimmi Fulmer, minimal, modern, modern music, moment'duet, motivation, Music Hall, music review, nature, Nero, New Music, opera, Opera review, Orchestra, ordinary, out of the ordinary, Passion, performance, pertinent, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, photo, plot, plucked instruments, political, political intrigue, Poppea, production, professional, professor, profound, provocative, recorder, rehearsal, restrained, rousing, scene, self-interest, Seneca, serious, set, share, sing, singer, Sound, stage, staged, static, strings, students, subime, Sunday, sung, superb, supertitles, suppleness, symphony, tag, The Coronation of Poppea, The Opera Guy, The Well-Tempered Ear, theorbo, thought provoking, time, Tuesday, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, virtue, vocal, vocal music, voice, wife, wig, Wisconsin, witness, YouTube
Classical music: The veteran Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble opens its season with a variety of vocal and instrumental works
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE 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 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
The new season’s first concert by the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble opened in Madison on Saturday evening, Oct. 13, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. It offered, as always, a program of wide range and variety.
There were nine performers involved this time, two of them singers — the familiar UW-Madison soprano Mimi Fulmer and mezzo-soprano Consuelo Sañudo.
Fulmer sang an Italian cantata of contested authorship, with Sigrun Paust on recorder (below). Later, Sañudo sang a Latin motet by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, with helpers (violinist Nathan Giglierano, Monica Steger on recorder, Eric Miller on gamba and Max Yount on harpsichord).
The two joined in three items from Claudio Monteverdi’s Third Book of Madrigals (below). They were a bit of a twist, for they were meant for five singers. So the other three parts were taken by three viola da gamba players (Anton TenWolde, Miller, Charlie Rasmussen) — which actually proved not the best way to project the madrigal textures.
The bulk of the program was instrumental.
Variations, or “divisions” made two appearances. From the obscure August Kuehnel, there was an aria given long elaborations by two gambas (Miller, Rasmussen). Another set of variations, from a collection published by John Playford, was dashed off by violinist Giglierano, with gamba (Miller) and harpsichord (Steger) for continuo (below).
The duo form was also represented by such a piece for two cellos (below), by Tommaso Giordani, played by TenWolde and Rasmussen. A cello sonata by a certain Franceso Alborea was the solo spot for TenWolde, with Rasmussen and Steger on continuo.
With a more conventional ensemble, we heard a Trio Sonata in A minor by Georg Phiipp Telemann, with Giglierano and Faust, plus TenWolde and Steger as the continuo. (You can hear the Telemann Trio Sonata in the YouTube video at the bottom)
It was for the final item, as a grand finale (below), that all seven of the instrumentalists joined in a little ballet suite by Boismortier.
Music lovers who attend concerts such as these should remember that the works presented were, by and large, not intended for presentation to a “public.” This is mostly “parlor” music (“chamber,” you recall), meant for the players to exercise their playing skills for themselves and any friends.
There are masterpieces in this literature, but seeking them out is not the primary goal of the WBE. Rather, that is to allow performers to test and show off their skills in music they find challenging and satisfying. The pleasures which that gives to an audience are the bonus.
The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble has been around as a performing group in Madison since 1997. As such, it is the oldest surviving ensemble in town devoted to early music, and might be said to have inaugurated the taste and audience for that literature.
Such taste and audience have now expanded extensively, but the WBE continues to make its own chamber contributions with unfailing devotion.
For more information, about the WBE and its upcoming season, go to: https://wisconsinbaroque.weebly.com
Tags: #AmericanRecordGuide, #AugustKuehnel, #balletsuite, #BaroqueCello, #BaroqueEra, #BaroqueFlute, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueRecorder, #BaroqueViolin, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #EmeritusProfessor, #EpiscopalChurch, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GrandFinale, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #InstrumentalMusic, #IsthmusNewspaper, #italianComposer, #ItalianMusic, #JohnPlayford, #JohnW.Barker, #JosephBodindeBoismortier, #LatinMotet, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MimmiFulmer, #MusicCritic, #MusicLover, #MusicReview, #PeriodInstrument, #SopranoSinger, #St.Andrew'sEpiscopalChurch, #ThemeAndVariations, #TrioSonata, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VioladaGamba, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinBaroqueEnsemble, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, Arts, audience, August Kuehnel, ballet, Baroque, Book, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, composer, continuo, devotion, duet, duo, Early music, Episcopal, Episcopalian, finale, flute, Georg Philipp Telemann, harpsichord, host, instrumental music, Isthmus, item, Jacob Stockinger, John Playford, John W. Barker, Latin, lectyre, literature, Madison, madrigal, masterpeice, Mezzo-soprano, Monteverdi, motet, Music, music critic, music lover, music review, part, performance, photo, player, pleasure, program, Radio, recorder, singer, skill, Sonata, soprano, St. Andrew's, Suite, Sunday morning, taste, Telemann, texture, theme and variations, trio, trio sonata, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: The veteran Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble opens its new season this Saturday night with a program of rarely heard works and composers
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE 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 announcement from one of the pioneering groups in Madison for playing Baroque music with period instruments and historically informed performance practices:
The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble (below) invites you to a concert of baroque chamber music.
The concert is this coming Saturday night, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1833 Regent Street on Madison’s near west side.
Tickets at the door only: $20 general admission and $10 students
Members of the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble are: UW-Madison professor Mimmi Fulmer, soprano; Nathan Giglierano, baroque violin; Eric Miller, viola da gamba; Sigrun Paust, recorder; Charlie Rasmussen, baroque cello and viola da gamba; Consuelo Sañudo, mezzo-soprano; Monica Steger, traverso, harpsichord and recorder; Anton TenWolde, baroque cello and viola da gamba; and Max Yount, harpsichord.
The program includes:
- Giovanni Bononcini/Johann Jakob Greber – “Fuori di sua capanna” (Outside in Front of Her Hut) – Cantata for mezzo-soprano, alto recorder and basso continuo
- August Kuehnel – Sonate ò Partite for viola da gamba, Aria Solo “Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut” (Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Greatest Good)
- Claudio Monteverdi – Madrigals, Book 3
O Rossignol (O Nightingale)
Rimanti in Pace (Remain in Peace)
Ond’ei di Morte (Whereupon Death Marked on His Face)
- John Playford – Divisions for the violin, “Paul’s Steeple”
- Georg Philipp Telemann – Trio sonata for violin, recorder and basso continuo TWV 42:a4
INTERMISSION
- Francesco Alborea – Sonata in G Major for cello and basso continuo
- Joseph de Bodin Boismortier – Motet for the Holy Virgin, Op. 23
- Giuseppe Tommaso Giovanni Giordani – Duo No. 1 for Two Cellos, Op. 18 (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom)
- Boismortier – Ballet de Village No. 4, Op. 52
For more information: 608 238-5126, email: info@wisconsinbaroque.org or visit www.wisconsinbaroque.org
A post-concert reception will be held on the second floor at 2422 Kendall Avenue.
Tags: #AugustKuehnel, #BaroqueComposers, #BaroqueContinuo, #BaroqueMusic, #BassoContinuo, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicians, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #EpiscopalChurch, #FacebookPost, #FrancescoAlborea, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GiovanniBononcini, #GiuseppeTommasoGiovanniGiordani, #HarpsichordContinuo, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #JesusChrist, #JohannJakobGreber, #JohnPlayford, #JosephdeBodinBoismortier, #MimmiFulmer, #NeglectedComposers, #NeglectedMusic, #NeglectedWorks, #PeriodInstruments, #St.Andrew'sEpiscopalChurch, #TheEar, #TheWell-TemperedEar, #TrioSonata, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VioladaGamba, #WisconsinBaroqueEnsemble, #YouTubevideo, admission, Andrew, Arts, August Kuehnel, ballet, Baroque, basso continuo, blog, Blog post, blog posting, Boismortier, Cantata, Cello, Chamber music, Christ, Christianity, church, Classical music, Claudio Monteverdi, composer, death, duo, Early music, face, Facebook, flute, Giordani, Giovanni Bononcini, good, harpsichord, historically informed performance practices, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Johann Jakob Greber, John Playford, Madison, madrigal, Mezzo-soprano, motet, Music, neglected, nightingale, partita, peace, period instruments, pioneer, professor, reception, recorder, Religion, saint, Season, singer, Singing, Sonata, soprano, St. Andrew's, steeple, Telemann, ticket, traverso, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Veteran, village, viola da gamba, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | bdunn9997bc8734 on What do you think of the… |
| bdunn9997bc8734 on What do you think of the… |
 | welltemperedear on What do you think of the… |
| welltemperedear on What do you think of the… |
| welltemperedear on What do you think of the… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 