The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Remembering Rudolf Serkin
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By Jacob Stockinger
Among 20th-century pianists, Rudolf Serkin (below, in a photo by Yousuf Karsh) was a giant.
The Ear heard him live only twice.
Once was in New York City when Serkin played the “Emperor” Piano Concerto by Beethoven with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.
The second time was years later in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater, when he played an all-Beethoven program of sonatas during the Beethoven bicentennial.
Then there were his many recordings, no less wondrous and captivating. They set standards hard to equal, let alone surpass.
The Ear especially loved his Beethoven concertos and sonatas, but also his Mozart and Schubert, his Schumann and Brahms. One of The Ear’s favorite recordings was Serkin playing both the Piano Concerto and the Piano Quintet by Robert Schumann. (You can hear the opening of the Piano Quintet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Serkin was a complete musician who excelled in solo music, chamber music and concertos.
Recently, The Ear saw the finest essay he has ever read about Serkin — who often seems overlooked or forgotten these days when the spotlight usually falls on his contemporaries Arthur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz — in The New Yorker magazine.
Richard Brady, who usually writes about movies, captures the special magic that was Serkin’s.
In addition, the story offer 12 carefully chosen samples of Serkin’s playing, taken from solo recordings, concertos and chamber music, from older standard composers and classic works to more modern composers and works.
Here is a link:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2017-in-review/my-favorite-classical-music-release-of-2017
Did you ever hear Rudolf Serkin live?
What did you think?
Do you have a favorite work, live or recorded, played by Rudolf Serkin?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: 20th-century, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Bernstein, bicentennial, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, classic, Classical music, Compact Disc, complete, composer, concerto, Emperor Concerto, film, Franz Schubert, giant, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, magic, Master, movie, Mozart, Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, New Yorker magazine, old, Orchestra, photo, Piano, quintet, recording, repertoire, Rudolf Serkin, Schumann, solo, Sonata, special, standard, story, The New Yorker, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Vladimir Horowitz, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, Yousuf Karsh, YouTube
Classical music: New Yorker magazine music critic Alex Ross names his favorite performances, recordings and book of 2017
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By Jacob Stockinger
Many musicologists, musicians and music fans consider Alex Ross (below), of The New Yorker magazine, to be the best music critic in the U.S.
Besides the major awards his two books – “The Rest Is Noise” and “Listen to This” — have won, Ross has a reputation for emphasizing the new, the unknown and the neglected, and for deeply perceptive judgments and original observations.
Now, a lot of other critics, from The New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR) and Gramophone magazine as well as the Grammy nominations have named their Best of 2017.
Here is a link to a posting that contains other links to those different lists:
Yet it seems particularly important and enlightening to consider what Alex Ross has selected for his recommendations for one book, 10 performances and 20 recordings.
Here is a link to Ross’ list, which has many links to samples and reviews:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2017-in-review/notable-performances-and-recordings-of-2017
Tags: "Music After the Fall", Alex Ross, America, Arts, award, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Björk, Book, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, critic, Daniel Barenboim, Du Yun, Early music, ECM, experimental, fan, Franz Schubert, Grammy, Hollywood, Hollywood Bowl, JACK Quartet, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, John Eliot Gardiner, judgment, Kate Soper, Kurtag, list, Listen to This, Luciano Pavarotti, Ludwig van Beethoven, magazine, Margaret Bonds, Monteverdi, Mozart, Music, musicologist, musicology, New Music, New York City, New York Times, New Yorker, New Yorker magazine, NPR, observation, opera, Orchestra, Orson Welles, performance, Peter Sellars, Piano, recording, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Sibelius, Sonata, symphony, The Rest Is Noise, Thomas Demenga, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wagner, War of the Worlds, William Grant Still, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yo-Yo Ma
Classical music: New Orleans seeks to once again become an American opera capital with an emphasis on diversity
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By Jacob Stockinger
When you think of opera in America, chances are good that you think of New York City with the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Houston Grand Opera; the Santa Fe Opera; and countless other opera companies in many major cities.
And when you think of New Orleans, you understandably think of jazz.
But the truth is that for a long time, New Orleans was an American capital for opera, more important than many of the other cities mentioned above.
Consider the fact that the first opera performed in the United States was performed in New Orleans in 1796. And that at one point, New Orleans was home to five opera companies.
Plus, the opera that was performed there in the past brought racial, cultural and gender diversity to an art form that often lacked it and was largely Euro-centric. (You can hear the company sing “We’re Goin’ Around” from ragtime great Scott Joplin‘s opera “Treemonisha” in the YouTube video at the bottom,)
Now some singers and others (below) have formed an organization – OperaCreole — with the aim of correcting racism and restoring New Orleans’ reputation for opera, especially that of the many African-American and Creole opera composers who were native to New Orleans.
A fine story, with an illuminating interview, recently appeared on NPR (National Public Radio).
Here is a link:
Another excellent story, with more focus on repertoire and history, appeared in The New Yorker magazine:
And here is a link to OperaCreole’s own website with more information about the company and its productions:
Tags: African American, America, Arts, Baroque, Chicago, choral music, cities, city, Classical music, composer, Creole, cultural, diversity, ethnic, gender, History, Houston, Houston Grand Opera, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Music, New Orleans, New York City, New York City Opera, New Yorker magazine, NPR, opera, Opera Creole, OperaCreole, race, racial, racism, Radio, rag, Ragtime, repertoire, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Opera, Scott Joplin, The New Yorker, Treemonisha, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Meet the Chinese phenom pianist Yuja Wang in a New Yorker profile that has more details than you have ever seen before
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By Jacob Stockinger
Whether you focus on her virtuosic playing or her sensational and controversial use of sexy fashion in performances, the young Chinese-born and American-trained pianist Yuja Wang is a phenomenon that has both audiences and critics talking in superlatives.
True, she is no newcomer to the concert stage and has been in the mass media for years.
Yet the best profile that The Ear has yet seen was written by acclaimed journalist Janet Malcolm and appeared this month in The New Yorker magazine.
It is pegged to Yuja Wang’s recent performance at Carnegie Hall of the famously difficult “Hammerklavier” Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 106, by Ludwig van Beethoven. (You can see and hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is a link to the profile, which is chock full of personal and professional details:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/05/yuja-wang-and-the-art-of-performance
Tags: America, Arts, Beethoven, Carnegie Hall, China, Chinese, Classical music, fashion, Hammerklavier, Jacob Stockinger, Janet Malcolm, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Music, New Yorker, New Yorker magazine, Orchestra, Piano, sex, sexy, The New Yorker, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, YouTube, Yuja Wang
Classical music: Playing musical chairs in The Big Apple: The New Yorker magazine gives you the dirt on who might succeed James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera and Alan Gilbert at the New York Philharmonic.
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By Jacob Stockinger
They are two of the most high-profile jobs in the world of classical music and they are both in New York City: the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the music director of the New York Philharmonic.
And right now candidates are being examined as possible successors to their current heads, James Levine and Alan Gilbert respectively.
According to a story in The New Yorker magazine, one major player reportedly is the acclaimed firebrand and openly gay French-Canadian conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin (below, in a photo by Hiroyuki Ito for Getty Images), who currently heads the Philadelphia Orchestra. Guess which post he is a candidate for?
Another major candidate seems to be the conductor-composer Esa-Pekka Salonen (below). Can you guess for which post?
The Ear asks: Whatever happened to American candidates?
Are we going backwards from the Leonard Bernstein achievement of putting American maestros on a par with European or other foreign conductors?
To be fair, though, some report that Bernstein protégée Marin Alsop, currently music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, could be a contender for the New York Philharmonic post.
Anyway, the recent New Yorker magazine had a very good take on the game of musical chairs being played around the two major vacancies.
The story shows careful research and excellent deep sourcing. But it also reads a bit like an engagingly conversational gossip column.
Maybe that is because it is written not by music critic Alex Ross but by Russell Platt, who is the classical music editor for the Goings On About Town column that starts the magazine.
Here is a link to an excellent read and what seems to be a pretty good crystal ball about the future leaders of the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic.
It’s great reading for a Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/musical-chairs-conductors
Tags: Alex Ross, Arts, Avery Fisher Hall, Baltimore, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Classical music, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Getty Images, Grieg, Jacob Stockinger, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, Marin Alsop, Metropolitan Opera, Music, New York City, New York Philharmonic, New Yorker magazine, opera, Orchestra, Peer Gynt, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Orchestra, pops, United States, vocal music, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
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