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NPR names relevant classical albums in a musical Diary of the Plague Year of the pandemic, racial protests, wildfires and hurricanes

December 29, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

For an unusual and difficult year, NPR (National Public Radio) and critic Tom Huizenga have found a new and unusual way to recommend this past year’s top classical music recordings.

On the “Deceptive Cadence” blog for NPR, Huizenga kept a personal month-by-month diary of “music and mayhem.”

For last February, for example, this ancient image of The Dance of Death inspired contemporary composer Thomas Adès to compose his own “Totentanz” or Dance of Death. (You can hear an excerpt from the work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Some of the thematically-related music is modern or contemporary, some of it is from the Baroque or Classical era.

In June, as protests against the death of George Floyd (below top) flared up and spread worldwide, NPR names a recording of the “Negro Folk Symphony” by African-American composers William Dawson and Ulysses Kay (below bottom), thereby helping to rediscover Black composers whose works have been overlooked and neglected in the concert hall and the recording studio.

Devastating wildfires on the West Coast, Presidential impeachment and hurricanes on the Gulf Coast also found their way into the choices of music to listen to.

It is an unusual approach, but The Ear thinks it works.

See and hear for yourself by going to the sonic diary and listening to the samples provided.

Here is a link to the NPR album diary: https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2020/12/21/947149286/music-and-mayhem-a-diary-of-classical-albums-for-a-troubled-2020

But many roads, if not all, lead to Rome, as they say.

What is also interesting is that a number of the NPR choices overlap with ones listed by music critics of The New York Times as the 25 best classical albums of 2020.

Some choices also are found on the list of the nominations for the Grammy Awards that will be given out at the end of January.

In other words, the NPR diary can also serve as yet another holiday gift guide if you have gift cards or money to buy some new and notable CDs, and are looking for recommendations.

Here is a link to the Times’ choices, which you can also find with commentary and a local angle, in yesterday’s blog post: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/music/best-classical-music.html

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/the-new-york-times-names-the-top-25-classical-recordings-of-2020-and-includes-sample-tracks/

And here is a list to the Grammy nominations: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/11/28/for-holiday-shopping-and-gift-giving-here-are-the-classical-music-nominations-for-the-63rd-grammy-awards-in-2021/

What do you think of the NPR musical diary of the plague year?

Do you find it informative? Accurate? Interesting? Useful?

Would you have different choices of music to express the traumatic events of the past year?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: This summer’s Token Creek Festival is CANCELED. Plus, a teenager’s piano “practice journal” on Instagram is instructive, entertaining and encouraging

July 17, 2020
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NEWS ALERT: This summer’s Token Creek Festival (TCF) — with the chamber music theme of Legacy to run from Aug. 21-Sept. 6 –has been CANCELED. Organizers say they hope to launch a virtual online season of archived performances at the end of the summer. Also, once modestly sized gatherings are safe again, the TCF hopes to hold an off-season event. For more information and an official statement from TCF, go to: https://tokencreekfestival.org

By Jacob Stockinger

Somewhere in New York City is a young Chinese piano prodigy who can help you get through what is often the most challenging and discouraging part of piano lessons: practicing.

His name is Auston (below) – no last name is given – and you can find him, in T-shirts and shorts, on Instagram at Auston.piano.

Auston is quite the prodigy. A 13, he plays difficult and dramatic repertoire: the Nocturne in C minor, the Scherzo No. 1 in B minor and the Ballade No. 1 in G minor, all by Chopin.

You can also hear him play the Prelude and Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, by Johann Sebastian Bach; the fiendish Toccata by Sergei Prokofiev; and the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

One day, The Ear expects, Auston might well be among the impressive amateurs and, later, professionals who compete in international competitions.

But more than listening to him playing, his frequent social media entries – sometimes he posts two or three times a day — allow us to hear him practice. We even hear him practicing scales – so-called Russian scales that combine scales in parallel and contrary motion.

This week, he hit 100 video posts. Just yesterday Auston started sight-reading the “Winter Wind” Etude of Chopin, Op. 25, No. 11, which many consider to be the most technically difficult of all Chopin’s etudes. (You can hear the etude – played by Maurizio Pollini – and see the note-filled score in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Starting out, he often plays hands separately (below) and sight-reads the score very, very slowly, making mistakes and working out fingering. He also uses a metronome at a very slow tempo. He gets frustrated but he never gives up. He just starts over again and provides an excellent role model for aspiring piano students.

But this young man is also fun to read. In his one-minute or less entries of his “practice journal” – which he also calls his “practice journey” — he is witty and self-deprecating in his commentaries about the music and especially about himself when he makes mistakes. As seriously as he takes the piano and practicing, he doesn’t take himself too seriously.

All in all he can even encourage others – including The Ear –to persevere and go through the same frustrations of practicing and learning a new piece.

In this case, it is the piano, but the postings could easily apply to practicing any other instrument or even to singing.

Check it out.

You will be impressed.

You will admire him.

You will laugh along with him.

And you just might practice more.

If this practice journal is a pandemic project, it succeeds way beyond what you — and probably Auston himself — might expect.

Happy listening!

And patient, productive practicing!

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: This Saturday, you can hear and see UW-Madison grad Brenda Rae make her Metropolitan Opera debut in Handel’s “Agrippina.” Read a local interview with her. Plus, the Avanti Piano Trio gives a free concert on Saturday afternoon.

February 28, 2020
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ALERT: The Avanti Piano Trio will perform a FREE concert this Saturday, Feb. 29, at 3 p.m. at Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 East Gorham St. in Madison. The Madison-based trio is pianist Joseph Ross, violinist Wes Luke and cellist Hannah Wolkstein.

The program includes the Piano Trio No. 1 by Claude Debussy, Three Nocturnes by Ernest Bloch and the Tango Trio of Miguel del Aguila.

By Jacob Stockinger

This Saturday, Feb. 29, soprano Brenda Rae (below, in a photo by Harrison Parrott) – an Appleton native and a graduate of the UW-Madison School of Music – makes her worldwide debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Rae appears in the role of the temptress Poppea – below left, in a photo by Marty Sohl, with acclaimed soprano Joyce DiDonato in the title role on the right — in a new production of “Agrippina” by Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Rae sing an excerpt of an Act I aria by Poppea.)

Starting at noon, you can hear it live on Wisconsin Public Radio or see and hear it in “Live in HD From the Met” (below is the poster) in the Point Cinema (608 833-3980) on Madison’s far west side and the Palace Cinema (608 242-2100) in Sun Prairie.

The live broadcast will be seen in 2,200 theaters in 70 countries worldwide. Encore performances on Wednesday are at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the Point Cinema only.

Admission is $24 with $22 for seniors and $18 for children 3 to 11. Encore tickets are $18 for everyone. The tickets no longer include sales tax.

The opera will be sung in Italian with surtitles in English, Italian, German and Spanish.

The running time is 3 hours and 35 minutes with one 25-minute intermission.

Here is a link to the Met’s website about the production with photos of cast members and some videos of the the opera: https://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/2019-20-season/agrippina-live-in-hd/

Here is a link to a list of cast members and production staff: https://www.metopera.org/globalassets/season/in-cinemas/hd-cast-sheets/agrippina_feb20_global.pdf

Here is a synopsis of the plot that takes place in ancient Rome and involves the Emperor Nero (Nerone): https://www.metopera.org/discover/synopses/agrippina/

Finally, here is an email Q&A with Brenda Rae done by Norman Gilliland (below), host of The Midday program on Wisconsin Public Radio: https://www.wpr.org/shows/soprano-brenda-rae-appleton-native-and-uw-alumna-performing-metropolitan-opera

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Classical music: The Token Creek Chamber Music Festival starts this Friday and marks 30 years with jazz plus music by Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Brahms, Ravel, Schoenberg and John Harbison

August 13, 2019
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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

Starting this coming Friday, Aug. 16, and running through Sept. 1, the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival will mark its 30th anniversary with the theme of “Sanctuary.” (The festival takes place in a refurbished barn, below, at 4037 Highway 19 in DeForest.)

Add the festival directors: “The term ‘sanctuary’ attempts to capture in a single word something essential about what the festival has meant to players and listeners over all these years. From the start it aspired to offer something of retreat, an oasis, a place of refreshment and nourishment in art, both for musician participants who find a welcoming environment to “re-charge” their work, and for audience attendees who engage in and become a part of it.”

“In our small country barn,” writes prize-winning composer John Harbison (below top, in a photo by Tom Artin) who co-directs the festival with his violinist wife Rose Mary Harbison (below bottom, in a photo by Tom Artin), “we have always remained devoted to the scale and address of much chamber music, which speaks as often in a whisper as in a shout.

“Where larger musical institutions have been habitually frustrated by trying to live in the business model of growth, we have remained devoted to the intensity of the experience, which explains why the music never goes away, rather than to claims of numbers, which begs the music itself to change its very nature.

“Our conviction is that today’s composers, just like Schubert and Mozart, are still striving to embody daily experience, to connect to the natural world, and to ask philosophically and spiritually unanswerable questions, surrounded and interrupting silence, asking only for our most precious commodity — time. We continue to look for valuable ways to offer this transaction to our listeners, and are grateful for their interest over so many years.”

The first two concerts, at 5 p.m., on Friday and Saturday nights, feature the return of a jazz cabaret featuring standard works in the Great American Songbook. For more information about the program and performers, as well as tickets, go to: www.tokencreekfestival.org or call (608) 241-2525.

Tickets for the two jazz concerts are $40 for the balcony and $45 for cafe seating. Tickets for the other concerts are $32 with a limited number of student tickets available for $12.

HERE IS THE LINEUP FOR THE REST OF THE FESTIVAL

Program 2: Music of Brahms at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, and Sunday, Aug. 25

Johannes Brahms is the only composer whose complete catalogue of chamber music is still in constant use. This is due to his fastidious high standards, and to his ideal temperament for music played by smaller groups of players. His music is universally admired for the astounding combination of sheer craft and deep emotional impact.

The program includes the Regenlied (Rain Song), Op. 57 no. 3; Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 78; the Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 38; and the Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 60. (The “Rain Song” is used as the theme of the last movement of the violin sonata. You can hear it performed by violinist Leonidas Kavakos and pianist Yuja Wang in the YouTube video at the bottom, which also features the score so that you can follow along.)

Performers are Edgewood College mezzo-soprano Kathleen Otterson (below top); violinist Rose Mary Harbison; violist Lila Brown (below second); cellist Rhonda Rider (below third, in a photo by Liz Linder); and pianist Janice Weber (below bottom).

Program 3: Then and Now, Words and Music – An 80th Birthday Tribute to John Harbison. Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m.

Last February, when Madison launched a citywide celebration of co-artistic director John Harbison’s 80th birthday, bitter cold and deep snow made it impossible for the festival to open up The Barn and join in the festivities.

The Wednesday program – an intimate concert of words and music curated by the Harbisons — is the festival’s belated birthday tribute. Harbison will read from his new book about Johann Sebastian Bach, and Boston poet Lloyd Schwartz (below top) will offer a reading of his poems that are the basis of a song cycle to presented by baritone Simon Barrad (below bottom). The evening will include a discussion on setting text, “Poem to Song,” and the world premiere of new Harbison songs, still in progress, on poems of Gary Snyder.

The program includes: Selections from the Violin Sonata in B minor, with violinist Rose Mary Harbison, and “The Art of Fugue” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Four Songs of Solitude” and “Nocturne” by John Harbison; the Violin Sonata in G Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the “Phantasy” for violin and piano by Arnold Schoenberg; the “SchwartzSongs” and “Four Poems for Robin” by John Harbison.

Program 4: The Piano , at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1.

The closing program welcomes back husband-and-wife pianists Robert Levin and Ya-Fei Chuang, playing together and as soloists.

Chuang (below top) is acclaimed by critics in the U.S. and abroad for performances of stunning virtuosity, refinement and communicative power. Levin (below bottom, in a photo by Clive Barda), who teaches at Harvard University, is revered for his Mozart completions and classical period improvisations.

Their program explores the question of the composer-performer — that is, composers who were also formidable pianists: Mozart, Ravel and Liszt.

Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto, arranged by the composer for chamber ensemble, and excerpts of Harbison’s Piano Sonata No. 2, written for Levin, will be performed. Also on the program are Mozart’s Allegro in G Major, K. 357 (completion by Robert Levin); Maurice Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit”; and Franz Liszt’s “Reminiscences of Don Juan.”

Other performers are: violinists Rose Mary Harbison and Laura Burns, of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Rhapsodie String Quartet; violists Jen Paulson and Kaleigh Acord; cellist Karl Lavine, who is principal cello of both the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra as well as the Chamber Music Director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO); and double bassist Ross Gilliland.

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: YOU MUST HEAR THIS – Ernest Bloch’s Nocturne No. 2 for piano trio

August 9, 2019
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Suddenly, in August, you sense fall coming.

The Ear has noticed how the sun is setting sooner and rising later.

And it brought to mind a wonderful performance of a memorable and moving work he heard a couple of weeks ago at the last concert by The Willy Street Chamber Players with University of Wisconsin-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor (below).

In fact, the group says the program – which also included Jessie Montgomery’s “Voodoo Dolls” and the Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major by Antonin Dvorak – drew a record-setting audience for the group that marked its fifth anniversary this July.

The piece of music in question is the Nocturne No. 2 – the slow and most quiet one — from Three Nocturnes for Piano Trio by Ernest Bloch (below).

It sounds right and feels right with the right touch of autumnal bittersweetness to the evocation of darkness.

Listen for yourself on YouTube (below) and let The Ear know if you like it and agree:

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Classical music: A veteran reviewer bids farewell with a rave review of this summer’s last concert by the Willy Street Chamber Players and UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor

July 29, 2019
18 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Here is a very special posting, the final review that will be written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker.

Barker (below), who is dealing with medical issues, is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who wrote for The Capital Times, Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who, until two weeks ago, hosted an early music show once a month on a Sunday morning on WORT-FM 89.9. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gave pre-concert lectures in Madison.

Please use the comment section to join The Ear in thanking Barker for his many years of public service and wishing him well.

By John W. Barker

I had to miss the first concert this summer by the Willy Street Chamber Players (below) on July 12; and the next one, on July 19, was cancelled because of power failures. But the final one, last Friday night, was well worth waiting for — one of the really memorable events of the year, I think.

The program, performed at the usual near East Side venue of the Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight Street, began with some short items.

First, there was a set of Three Nocturnes (1924) for piano trio — violin, cello and piano — by Ernest Bloch. They contain elements of the Hebraic sound that Bloch cultivated but also had their own individualities, the first two contemplative and the third marked “tempestuoso.” Interesting was Bloch’s alternating uses of muting the strings.

After this came an example of the short pieces for string quartet by the contemporary composer Jessie Montgomery, her “Voodoo Dolls” (2008). Much is packed into this five-minute piece. A few lyrical touches aside, it sounded like a hoedown gone crazy, full of quite novel sounds, including rhythmic thumping on the wood of the instruments.

All that was a curtain-raiser to the big event of the program: the Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, by Antonin Dvorak. This 40-minute work is one of the composer’s best-known chamber music compositions, and one of the standouts in the whole chamber music literature.

The very opening notes of the first movement bring a flood of warm well-being. (After hearing just that, I commented, “I haven’t felt such happiness in months.”)

The fecundity and richness of invention pervaded the entire work. For me, its high point is the second movement, in which Dvorak (below) used the Czech formula of the dumka, a kind of folk music lament that is paced slow-fast-slow-fast. (You can hear the Dumka movement, played by the Jerusalem Quartet and pianist Stefan Vladar, in the YouTube video below.)

Dvorak liked to play viola in chamber music, and so he always wrote some good things for himself. The sublime passages for viola in this movement were played with such transcendent beauty by Rachael Hauser (below) – who is leaving Madison for New York City — that I felt I was hearing the composer’s voice directly. Put simply, this was one of the greatest examples of chamber-music performance that I have ever heard.

All of the players, many of whom play in the Madison Symphony Orchestra, of course matched remarkable skill with humane vitality and vibrancy.

And a measure of the Willys’ standards was the fact that they were able to draw as a partner no less than that magnificent UW-Madison music school pianist, Christopher Taylor (below), who also performed the same Dvorak Piano Quintet in the 1993 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he won a bronze medal. Much of his excellence here was demonstrated by the fact that he did not play the star, but joined with the Willys in perfect collegial integration.

This ends the Willy Street group’s fifth summer season. As a symbol of vibrancy and fresh spirit, they are among the most important of Madison’s classical music world today. They have drawn steadily growing audiences, and the house was truly packed for this concert. We can only hope that they will continue to brighten that world in the years ahead.

I am now ending my time as a music critic. I can think of no more satisfying a final review to write than of the Willy Street Chamber Players.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AmericanRecordGuide, #AntoninDvorak, #AudienceMembers, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #BronzeMedal, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristopherTaylor, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #Curtain-Raiser, #CzechMusic, #EastSide, #EmeritusProfessor, #ErnestBloch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FolkMusic, #HebraicMusic, #HighPoint, #ImmanuelLutheranChurch, #InstrumentalMusic, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JacobStockinger, #JerusalemQuartet, #JessieMontgomery, #JohnW.Barker, #LivingComposer, #LyricalMusic, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MedievalHistory, #ModernMusic, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #MusicSchool, #NewYorkCity, #PianoQuintet, #PianoTrio, #PowerFailure, #PublicService, #RachelHauser, #RadioHost, #RadioShow, #RadioStation, #StefanVladar, #StringQuartet, #SundayMorning, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheEar, #TheWillys, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #VoodooDolls, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, advisor, ahead, alternating, American Record Guide, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, audience, beauty, best-known, bid, blog, board, brighten, bronze, bronze medal, bronze medalist, cancel, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Christian, Christopher Taylor, church, Classical music, classicalmusic, collegial, comment, composer, Concert, contemplative, contemporary, crazy, cultivate, Czech, dance, demonstrate, directly, doll, dumka, Early music, earlymusic, east side, emeritus professor, end, Ernest Bloch, event, example, excellence, Facebook, fact, farewell, fecundity, feel, felt, final, flood, folk, folk dance, Folk music, formula, forward, frequent, fresh, great, group, growing, guest, happiness, hearing, Hebraic, high point, History, hoedown, House, humane, Immanuel Lutheran Church, important, individualities, instrument, instrumental music, integration, interesting, invention, items, Jacob Stockinger, Jerusalem, Jerusalem Quartet, Jessie Montgomery, John W. Barker, known, lament, lecture, like, literature, living, Living composer, lyrical, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Symphony Orchestra, match, Mead Witter School of Music, measure, medal, medical issues, Medieval, memorable, modern, months, morning, movement, Music, music school, muting, New York City, Newspaper, nocturne, novel, packed, partner, passage, perfect, performer, pervade, Pianist, Piano, Piano Quintet, Piano Trio, pieces, players, post, posting, power, power failure, public service, quintet, Rachel Hauser, Radio, radio show, radio station, rave, reader, recording, remarkable, review, reviewer, rhythmic, rich, richness, satisfying, service, set, share, short, skill, Sound, special, spirit, spread, standards, standout, star, Stefan Vladar, String quartet, strings, sublime, subscriber, summer, Sunday, Sunday morning, symbol, tag, thank, The Capital Times, The Ear, The Willys, three, thump, thumping, time, touch, transcendent, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, use, UW-Madison, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, venue, Veteran, vibrancy, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, vitality, voice, Voodoo, Voodoo Dolls, warm, well-being, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wiscosnin, wood, work, world, WORT-FM 89.9, worth, Writer, year, YouTube

Classical music: Is a local Dvorak revival in the making? This Friday night, Christopher Taylor joins the Willy Street Chamber Players to perform the famed Piano Quintet

July 25, 2019
6 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Is a major local revival of music by Antonin Dvorak (below) in the making?

Many signs point to: Yes!

At the end of the past season, maestro John DeMain of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, which has also performed the Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” announced that he was on board as a fan when he told the audiences about the upcoming season, which features the MSO performing Dvorak’s dramatic Symphony No. 7 in D Minor and the large-scale Requiem.

In recent seasons, we have also seen the Madison Opera stage the opera “Rusalka”; the Middleton Community Orchestra perform the Symphony No. 6; the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte String Quartet and the Ancora String Quartet perform the miniatures “Cypresses”; the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra play some “Slavonic Dances”; and more.

What’s not to like about Dvorak? He was one of music’s greatest melodists, something that Johannes Brahms envied and a reason why Brahms helped promote his music. And his use of folk music – Czech, Native American and African-American – is captivating as well as multicultural.

Here is a link to more about Dvorak in his Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvořák

As audience responses prove, there is so much Dvorak to be fond of.

But one of the greatest works will be performed this Friday night, July 26, at 6 p.m. in the Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight Street.

That is when the Willy Street Chamber Players, in the final concert of their fifth summer series, will perform the famed Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81 (1887). (You can hear the engaging opening movement, played by pianist Evgeny Kissin and the Emerson String Quartet, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The Willys will team up with the acclaimed UW-Madison virtuoso pianist and Van Cliburn Competition bronze medalist Christopher Taylor, who is a gifted chamber musician as well as a superb soloist.

Filling out the program are Three Nocturnes (1924) by Ernest Bloch and “Voodoo Dolls” (2008) by Jessie Montgomery.

Admission is $15 with a reception afterwards.

Dvorak, who has never fallen out of favor but who seems to have sparked a new enthusiasm, composed a lot.

In addition to the nine symphonies, the string serenade and the piano quintet, there is a lot of chamber music, including string quartets, piano trios, piano quartets; concertos for the violin, cello and piano; and many miniatures, including the lovely “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” There is also some solo piano music that has largely been neglected.

Do you love Dvorak’s music?

What about it do you especially like?

Do you have a favorite Dvorak work?

Let us know what it is, with a YouTube link if possible, in the Comment section.

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: The critically acclaimed and popular Willy Street Chamber Players start their fifth summer series with a FREE community concert this Friday

July 2, 2019
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement for a remarkable and must-hear summer series of chamber music concerts that from its very beginning seems to have found a successful formula that resonated with the public It relies on informality, affordable tickets, first-rate musicianship, short concerts, eclectic programs that mix classics with sure-fire new music, support for their local community.

Now in their fifth year, the Willy Street Chamber Players (WSCP, below) have become an established part of the Williamson Street neighborhood.

Recently awarded the silver medal in Madison Magazine’s prestigious “Best of Madison” reader poll in the category of “Best Classical Music Group,” WSCP has received numerous accolades for its accessible and exciting performances, intelligent and fun programming, and dedication to community partnerships.

The group has also been named “Musician of the Year”for 2016 by this blog.

The Summer Series concerts are on Friday evenings at 6 p.m. in the sanctuary of the beautiful Immanuel Lutheran Church (below) at 1021 Spaight St. The church is right on Lake Monona in the Williamson Street neighborhood. Enjoy 60-90 minutes of inspiring and unforgettable live music, then go explore the neighborhood with the remaining daylight hours.

Following the performance, enjoy a reception provided by one of our Willy Street restaurant partners. (Past contributors have been the Underground Butcher, Let It Ride Cold Brew Coffee, Madison Sourdough, the Willy Street Co-Op, Festival Foods, Roman Candle Pizza and more.)

While you enjoy your snacks, chat with the friendly musicians and ask them about the performance, the pieces and the group. We love interacting with our awesome audience.

A season pass is $40. Admission to individual concerts is $15. For tickets and more infomation, got to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/2019-summer-series.html

COMMUNITY CONNECT – This is a FREE and family-friendly concert with all ages welcome for music, interactive learning, conversation and connections.

It takes place this Friday, July 5, at 6 p.m. at the Goodman Community Center (149 Waubesa Street on the east side), as is posted on the home website — NOT at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center, which is listed in the printed brochure but is undergoing construction.

The program – “Growing Sound: A Sonic Exploration” – features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Corigliano, Antonin Dvorak, Friedrich August Kummer and Alberto Ginastera.

SUMMER SERIES 1

Friday, July 12, at 6 p.m. – Mozart and Mendelssohn

Prize-winning UW-Madison graduate Danny Kim, viola (below)

PROGRAM:

Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 1 in A major, Op. 18 (1826)

Simon Steen-Andersen: Study for String Instrument No. 1 (2007)

Mozart: String Quintet No. 2 in C minor, K. 406/516b (1787)

SUMMER SERIES 2

Friday, July 19, at 6 p.m. – Bassoon and Strings

UW-Madison Professor Marc Vallon, bassoon (below)

PROGRAM:

Beethoven: Allegretto for Piano Trio in B-flat major, WoO. 39 (1812)

Jennifer Higdon: “Dark Wood” (2001)

Franz Danzi: Bassoon Quartet in D minor, Op. 40, No. 2 (ca. 1820)

Alberto Ginastera: String Quartet No.1, Op. 20 (1948)

SUMMER SERIES 3

Friday, July 26, at 6 p.m. – Christopher Taylor, piano (below)

PROGRAM:

Ernest Bloch: Three Nocturnes (1924)

Jessie Montgomery: “Voodoo Dolls” (2008)

Dvorak: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 (1887) with UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor. (You can hear the first movement of Dvorak’s beautiful and melodic Piano Quintet in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

For more information, including background, biographies of the musicians, critics’ reviews, photos and how to support the Willy Street Chamber Players, go to:

http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: Looking for serious fun? The thoroughly successful opening concerts by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society bode well for the upcoming second weekend

June 19, 2019
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

After 28 summers, going to a concert by the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society still feels like attending a family reunion – the best kind of family reunion where everyone is familiar and friendly, where everything is fun, and where you always leave glad that you went.

That’s not by chance.

The first thing that co-founders and co-artistic directors Stephanie Jutt and Jeffrey Sykes did last Friday and Saturday nights was to thank the loyal audience. And the audience, full of longtime fans, returned the favor by being attentive to and appreciative of the first-rate music-making as well as responsive to the horseplay and antics – such as the surreal scene of virtuoso Axel Strauss playing “The Skater’s Waltz” on his violin while rollerblading around the stage (below).

BDDS players really mean it when they say that their audiences are in for something different, something they won’t find elsewhere and won’t forget.

Last weekend that meant the return of two longtime guest performers: San Francisco cellist Jean-Michael Fonteneau and Montreal violinist Axel Strauss (below, with pianist Jeffrey Sykes). Neither disappointed as they performed very varied music by Franz Joseph Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Faure, Lili Boulanger, Maurice Ravel and Ned Rorem. And as always, the amazing pianist Jeffrey Sykes proved a chameleon who blended masterfully into the style of each period and each composer.

But for The Ear, the unexpected standout last weekend was guest accordion player Stas Venglevski from Milwaukee. Born in Russia and trained at the Moscow Conservatory, he is a virtuoso player, a sensitive arranger and a convincing composer – all done with good humor and a charismatic stage presence.

The Ear never thought of the accordion – the Russian bayan, to be specific – as an instrument for chamber music. But he does now, after hearing Venglevski play serious Russian, French and Latin American music that ran the gamut from a graceful waltz and a sprightly polka to torchy tangos. And then there were his flying fingers punching out “The Flight of the Bumblebee,” a real crowd-pleaser.

The large audience responded on both nights with wild applause and a standing ovation every time that Venglevski (below) played, and Jutt promised the audience that he will be back.

“As you can see, we have fun here,” Jutt deadpanned.

She is not exaggerating.

Which bodes well for the second weekend of three that will happen this coming weekend.

The second weekend — two programs in three venues — celebrates Jutt and Sykes, plus two of BDDS’ favorite guest artists: violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio and Madison pianist Thomas Kasdorf.

Kasdorf (below) and Sykes are both featured in a program called “Rock the Sykes-o-delic Kas-bah.” Kasdorf is featured in Brahms’ Horn Trio with guest horn player Karl Kramer Johansen, and in the appealing and accessible Café Concertino by the contemporary Australian composer Carl Vine.

Sykes will perform another chamber transcription of a Classical-era symphonic work, which over the years has become a welcome specialty of BDDS. In this case it is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s snappy and appealing Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271, the “Jeunehomme” concerto. (You can hear the irresistible last movement of the piano concerto, used in the film “Amadeus,” in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Sykes will also perform in Robert Schumann’s “Fairy Tales” for clarinet and viola.

A Madison native, cellist Alison Rowe (below) — an artist from the Dynamite Factory, which is BDDS’ program for emerging talent — will be featured in the Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Major by Johann Sebastian Bach.

“Rock the Sykes-o-delic Kas-bah” will be performed at the Stoughton Opera House on Friday, June 21, at 7:30 p.m. Braisin’ Hussies Food Cart will be parked outside the Opera House prior to the performance. The program will also be performed in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater, Sunday, June 23, at 2:30 p.m.

Jutt (below top) and Sant’Ambrogio (below bottom, in a photo by Stephanie Ann Boyd) worm their musical way into the most unexpected places in the other program, “Steph Infection.” The Nocturne for flute, violin, horn and piano of Franz Doppler opens the program, which continues with Jutt’s own arrangement of Antonin Dvorak’s popular “American” String Quartet, with a flute substituting for one of the two violins.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s Five Pieces for flute, clarinet and piano add spice to the program, and the evening concludes with Ernst von Dohnanyi’s epic Sextet for clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello and piano. A work that ranges from stormy and turbulent to tender and funny, it features an all-star cast including audience favorite clarinetist Alan Kay, horn player Karl Kramer Johansen, violist Carol Cook (principal at the Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Madison’s own cellist of the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet, Parry Karp (below).

“Steph Infection” will be performed at The Playhouse, Overture Center for the Arts, Saturday, June 22, at 7:30 p.m.; and in Spring Green at the Hillside Theater, Sunday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m.

And of course there could also be some unannounced surprises – more door prizes, perhaps a mystery guest, or more shenanigans and antics that correspond to the “Name Dropping” pun theme of the programs.

For tickets ($43-$49) and more information, go to: https://bachdancing.org

Posted in Classical music
Tags: "Amadeus", #AlanKay, #AlisonRowe, #AmadeusFilm, #AntoninDvorak, #ArtisticDirector, #AustralianComposer, #AxelStrauss, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #CarlVine, #CarolCook, #CastList, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #Classicalera, #ContemporaryComposer, #CPEBach, #DmitriShostakovich, #ErnstvonDohnanyi, #FamilyReunion, #FilmSoundtrack, #FlightoftheBumblebee, #FluteMusic, #FoodCart, #FrankLloydWright, #FranzDoppler, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FrenchMusic, #Fridaynight, #GabrielFaure, #HillsideTheater, #HornTrio, #Jean-MichelFonteneau, #JeffreySykes, #JeunehommeConcerto, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #KarlKramerJohansen, #LatinAmerica, #LatinAmerican, #LatinAmericanmusic, #LiliBoulanger, #LivingComposer, #LyricOperaofChicago, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MauriceRavel, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #MontrealCanada, #MoscowConservatory, #MoscowRussia, #MovieSoundtrack, #Music-Making, #MusicReview, #NedRorem, #NewTango, #NuevoTango, #OvertureCenter, #ParryKarp, #PianoConcerto, #ProArteQuartet, #RobertSchumann, #RussianMusic, #SanFrancisco, #SaturdayNight, #SpringGreen, #StagePresence, #StandingOvation, #StasVenglevski, #StephanieJutt, #StephanieSant'Ambrogio, #StoughtonOperaHouse, #StoughtonWisconsin, #StringQuartet, #Sundayafternoon, #SymphonicMusic, #Taliesincompound, #TheEar, #ThePlayhouse, #TheSkater'sWaltz, #ThomasKasdorf, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolaMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, accordion, afternoon, Alan Kay, Alison Rowe, all-star, American, Antonín Dvořák, applause, appreciative, arrangement, arranger, Artistic director, Arts, attentive, audience, Australia, Axel Stauss, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Baroque, BDDS, blend, blog, born, cafe, California, Canada, Carl Vine, Carol Cook, cart, cast, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, chameleon, charismatic, clarinet, clarinetist, Classical, Classical music, composer, Concert, concertino, contemporary, CPE Bach, critic, Dmitri Shostakovich, Dvorak, dynamite, Early music, era, Ernst von Dohnanyi, everyone, everything, factory, familiar, Family, favor, fi ger, film, first-rate, Flight of the Bumblebee, flute, flutist, food, forward, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Doppler, Franz Joseph Haydn, French, Friday, friendly, fun, Gabriel Fauré, graceful, guest, Hillside Theater, Horn, horseplay, House, Humor, infection, irresistible, Jacob Stockinger, Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Jeffrey Sykes, Jeunehomme, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Karl Kramer Johansen, Latin America, Latin American music, like, Lili Boulanger, link, Living composer, longtime, loyal, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, masterful, masterfully, Maurice Ravel, Milwaukee, Montreal, Moscow, Moscow Conservatory, movie, Mozart, Music, name, native, New Rorem, new tango, night, nocturne, opening, opera, Orchestra, ovation, Overture Center, Parry Karp, performer, period, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, player, please, polka, popular, presence, principal, Pro Arte Quartet, program, promise, psychedelic, pun, reunion, review, Robert Schumann, rollerblading, Russia, Russian, San Francisco, Saturday, sensitive, serious, sextet, share, Sonata, soundtrack, spectacular, spice, sprightly, Spring Green, Spring Green Wisconsin, stage, standout, Stas Venglevski, Stephanie Jutt, Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio, stormy, Stoughton, Stoughton Opera House, String quartet, style, successful, summer, Sunday, surreal, symphonic, tag, talent, Taliesin, tango, tender, The Ear, The Playhouse, The Skater's Waltz, Thomas Kasdorf, torch, torchy, trained, transcription, trio, turbulent, unexpected, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtuoso, Waltz, weekend, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, YouTube

Classical music: Acclaimed pianist Ya-Fei Chuang plays works by Schubert, Liszt and Ravel this Saturday night at Farley’s House of Pianos

April 4, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

The critically acclaimed pianist Ya-Fei Chuang (below) will return to Madison this weekend to perform a solo recital and give a master class for the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos, 6522 Seybold Road, on Madison’s far west side near West Towne Mall.

Advance tickets are $45 (students $10) or $50 at the door

You can purchase tickets at: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3499200

Service fees may apply. Tickets are also for sale at Farley’s House of Pianos by calling 608 271-2626. Student tickets can only be purchased online and are not available the day of the event.

An artist’s reception will follow the concert.

For more information, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org

RECITAL

The recital by Chuang, who appears at festivals and concert halls around the world, is this Saturday night, April 6, 7:30 p.m. at Farley’s House of Pianos.

She comes with high praise from the famed Alfred Brendel, who said: “If you want to listen to Chopin and Liszt with different ears, Ya-Fei Chuang’s ecstatic performances cannot leave you cold, and her pianism is staggering.”

The program will include:

Maurice Ravel – Sonatine (1905) – Moderate; Menuet; Animated

Franz Schubert – “Moments Musicaux” (Musical Moments), D. 780/Op. 94

No. 2 in A-flat Major (1827); No. 3 in F Minor (1823) – played by Vladimir Horowitz in the YouTube video at the bottom; No. 6 in A-flat Major (1824)

Franz Liszt – “Reminiscences of Bellini’s ‘Norma,’” S. 394 (1831)

INTERMISSION

Maurice Ravel – “Jeux d’eau” (Fountain, or Play of Water) (1901)

Franz Liszt – “Reminiscences of Mozart’s ‘Don Juan,’” S. 418 (1841)

MASTER CLASS

On this Sunday afternoon, April 7, at 2 p.m., Ya-Fei Chuang will teach a master class at Farley’s House of Pianos, where she will instruct local students.

This is a FREE event that the public is invited to observe.

The master class program will include:

Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor (”Pathetique”), Op. 13, Third Movement; performed by Angelina Chang whose teacher is Julie Chang
Franz Liszt – “Liebestraum” (Dream of Love) No. 3 in A-flat Major “Notturno” (Nocturne); performed by Antonio Wu whose teacher is Shu-Ching Chuang
Sergei Rachmaninov – Prelude Op. 3 No. 2, in C-sharp Minor; performed by Alexander Henderson whose teacher is Vlada Henderson

The master classes for the 2018-19 season are supported by the law firm of Boardman and Clark LLP.

This concert is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from Jun and Sandra Lee.

Another year of exceptional artists is planned for the 2019-20 season. Subscribe to the series’ e-newsletter, and check the website and social media sites Instagram and Facebook for the season announcement in June.

For more information, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org

To become a sponsor of Salon Piano Series, contact Renee Farley. Salon Piano Series is a nonprofit organization founded to continue the tradition of intimate salon concerts, including solo recitals and chamber music with piano, featuring exceptional artists.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AlexanderHenderson, #AlfredBrendel, #AngeliaChang, #AntonioWu, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoardmanandClark, #ChamberMusic, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DonJuan, #DreamofLove, #EmailNewsletter, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Farley'sHouseofPianos, #FranzLiszt, #FredericChopin, #InstagramPost, #InstagramVideo, #IntimateSetting, #Jeuxd'eau, #JulieChang, #LawFirm, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MauriceRavel, #MomentsMusicaux, #MusicEducation, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NonprofitOrganization, #OpentothePublic, #OperaMusic, #SalonPIanoSeries, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #Shu-ChingChuang, #StateOfWisconsin, #VincenzoBellini, #VladaHenderson, #VladimirHorowitz, #WestTowneMall, #WineReception, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #Ya-FeiChuang, #YouTubevideo, Alexander Henderson, Alfred Brendel, Angelina Chang, Antonio Wu, artist, Arts, Beethoven, Bellini, blog, Boardman and Clark, Chamber music, Chopin, Classical music, composer, Concert, critically acclaimed, Don JUan, Dream of Love, ear, Facebook, Farley's House of Pianos, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, free, funds, hear, information, Instagram, instruct, international, intimate, Jacob Stockinger, Jeux d'eau, Julie Chang, law form, Liebestraum, like, LLP, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, master class, masterclass, Maurice Ravel, media, menuet, Moments Musicaux, Mozart, Music, Musical Moments, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, new, newsletter, nocturne, nonprofit, Norma, open, opera, Pathetique Sonata, performer, pianism, Pianist, Piano, public, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, reception, recital, reminiscence, sale, Salon Piano Series, Season, share, Shu-Ching Chuang, Sonata, Sonatine, sponsor, State of Wisconsin, Student, support, tag, Teacher, tradition, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vlada Henderson, Vlady Henderson, Website, West Towne Mall, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, world, Ya-Fei Chuang, YouTube

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