Ottorino Respighi | The Well-Tempered Ear

UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra gives a FREE hybrid online concert this Thursday night by mixing both recorded and live performances

November 18, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

One of the most interesting and innovative responses to the limitations imposed on live concerts by the coronavirus can be heard this Thursday night, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m.

That is when the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra – playing under the baton of director Oriol Sans in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the Hamel Music Center — will perform a short concert that features both live performances and pre-recorded performances in the same piece.

The reason for the hybrid is public health precautions, the same reason why no in-person audience will be allowed.

String players can play with masks and social distancing, as the same orchestra showed in a previous virtual concert (below) this semester.

But brass and woodwinds prohibit wearing masks and involve the spraying or draining of saliva – an obvious risk for the spread of COVID-19.

So, presenting the full symphonic experience of the Beethoven piece will be accomplished by a combination of pre-recorded and live music, all performed by UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra musicians.

The concert will last about 90 minutes with no intermission.

Here is a direct link to the YouTube channel of the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music: https://youtu.be/af6hjmW1cQw

The program is:

“Fuga con Pajarillo” (Fugue with Pajarillo Dance) by the Venezuelan composer Aldemaro Romero (below, 1928-2007), who was known for blending folk songs and dances with classical music. You can hear the string version of the orchestral piece in the YouTube video at the bottom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldemaro_Romero

The famous Allegretto second movement from Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

“Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite III” by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (below, 1879-1936)

I. Anon.: Italiana

II. Jean-Baptiste Besard: Arie di corte

III. Anon.: Siciliana

IV. Lodovico Roncalli: Passacaglia

For more information about the program and the names of the student performers, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra-3/

Posted in Classical music
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New York Times music critics pick 10 MUST-HEAR online virtual classical concerts to stream for October

October 3, 2020
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ALERT: Tonight’s concert by the choral group Roomful of Teeth for the Wisconsin Union Theater at the UW-Madison’s Hamel Music Center has been canceled and postponed indefinitely.

By Jacob Stockinger

Increasingly the coronavirus pandemic seems surging out of control. So it comes as no surprise that also more and more concerts of classical music are taking place virtually and online.

There are many ways to choose among local, regional, national and international concerts.

But one good guide was published this last week and featured the choice of must-hear classical concerts by critics for The New York Times.

It is an interesting and varied selection, and includes times, links and brief descriptions.

It features concerts that emphasize Black composers such as Florence Price (below top) and women composers. It covers many genres from a solo piano recital by Jeremy Denk (below bottom) – who is supposed to perform here on Dec. 11 at the Wisconsin Union Theater – to chamber music, vocal music, orchestral concerts and operas.

Curiously, there is quite bit of new music but little early music, either Renaissance or Baroque. Perhaps more will appear around the holiday times, when that music is part of the traditional holiday celebrations.

You will find contemporary composers but also lots of certified, tried-and-true classics and masterworks.

Some are one-day only events but many run from a week through a month.

Here is a link to the story. PLEASE NOTE THAT TIMES ARE ALL EASTERN: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/arts/music/classical-music-stream.html

Please let The Ear know if you like this kind of listing and find it useful.

And please feel free to leave in the comment section other guides or events that the public should know about.

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: Thursday night brings FREE concerts of orchestral, wind and piano music at the UW-Madison – including recognition of construction workers who built the new Hamel Music Center

December 4, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

This is an extraordinarily busy week for classical music, as the past week of postings has demonstrated.

But there is always room for more, especially at the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music as the semester winds down.

Take the concerts on this Thursday, Dec. 5.

UW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and UW WIND ENSEMBLE

At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra (below top, in Mills Hall) and the UW Wind Ensemble (below bottom) will join forces for a FREE concert.

The concert will be under the two groups’ directors and main conductors — Oriol Sans (below top) and Scott Teeple (below bottom), respectively.

The program features the Symphony “Circus Maximus” – which ends with a blank gunshot — by the contemporary American composer John Corigliano (below top); “Fratres” (Brothers) by the popular 84-year-old Estonian composer Arvo Pärt with UW violin professor Soh-Hyun Park Altino (below bottom, in a photo by Caroline Bittencourt) as soloist; and “The Pines of Rome” by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi.

You can hear “Fratres” in the YouTube video at the bottom.

Billed as a “Builder Appreciation Concert” for those men and women who worked on constructing the new Hamel Music Center, there is also a pre-concert reception starting at 6:30 p.m.

Admission is free and no tickets are required.

PIANO DEPARTMENT RECITAL

Also on this Thursday, the UW-Madison piano department with present a collective recital.

It takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the smaller Collins Recital Hall of the Hamel Music Center.

So far, no performers or pieces on the program have been listed on the School of Music’s website.

Posted in Classical music
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Classical music: Tuesday night brings concerts of band music as well as organ and violin duets

October 21, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

This Tuesday night, Oct. 22, will see concerts of band music and organ-violin duets.

Here are details:

ORGAN AND VIOLIN CONCERT

At 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall, the Overture Concert Organ Series, sponsored by the Madison Symphony Orchestra and organized by MSO principal organist Greg Zelek, offers a concert of music for organ and violin.

The organist is Michael Hey (below right), a Wisconsin native who won first prize at an organ competition in Shanghai, China, and is the organist at the famed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

The violinist is Christiana Liberis (below left) who recently toured with the rock band The Eagles.

Tickets are $20.

The program includes music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Sir Edward Elgar, Maurice Ravel, Charles-Marie Widor, Giovanni Battista Vitali, Naji Hakim and Fritz Kreisler.

In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the duo perform a haunting version of the popular “Gymnopedie No. 1” by Erik Satie

For information, including specific works on the program and detailed biographies about the performers, go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/organ-michael-hey-christiana-liberis/

UW-MADISON CONCERT BAND

At 7:30 p.m. in the new Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall of the Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, the UW-Madison Concert Band (below) will perform a FREE concert.

The band will perform under director Scott Teeple (below) and guest conductor Ross Wolf.

The program includes:

“Lux Arumque” by Eric Whitacre
“Firefly” by Ryan George
“Colonial Song” by Percy Grainger/ed. Mark Rogers
“Huntington Tower Ballad” by Ottorino Respighi
“George Washington Bridge” by William Schuman

For information, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-concert-band-and-winds-of-wisconsin/

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Classical music: This Tuesday night, May 21, at 7:30 the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras perform an impressive Side-by-Side concert that is FREE and UNTICKETED in Overture Hall

May 19, 2019
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By Jacob Stockinger

This coming Tuesday night, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 201 State Street, is another event that can’t help but build audiences and generate good will for classical music.

That is when, once again, the professional musicians of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the student musicians of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will play side-by-side (below, in a rehearsal), under the baton of WCO music director Andrew Sewell, in an inspiring example of apprenticeship and cooperation.

The Ear has been to the concert before, and loved the experience, which he found moving and excellent. He highly recommends it.

The ensemble repertoire to be played is ambitious and impressive.

In addition, soloists on the program are winners of the WYSO Concerto Competition: flutist Brian Liebau and violinist Benjamin Davies Hudson (below).

Says the WCO website: “Supporting young musicians in our community is essential to the future of music and the arts in Madison. We welcome all in the community to join us at this FREE concert.”

TICKETS
There is no charge for this concert, and no ticket is necessary to enter. Seating is general admission. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

REPERTOIRE
Antonin Dvorak, “Slavonic Dances,” Op. 46, Nos. 1, 3 and 8 (1878)

Hamilton Harty, “In Ireland,” a fantasy for flute, harp and orchestra (1935)

Camille Saint-Saens, “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso,” Op. 28 (1863), for violin and orchestra. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you hear the catchy, tuneful and virtuosic work performed by violinist Itzhak Perlman.)

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (1877-78), movements 3 and 4

Modest Mussorgsky, selections from “Pictures at an Exhibition” (1874; arranged by Maurice Ravel in 1922)

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Classical music education: This Thursday morning, WORT-FM 89.9 will air a lengthy tribute to retiring UW-Madison and Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras conductor Jim Smith

May 16, 2017
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By Jacob Stockinger

Rich Samuels hosts the radio show “Anything Goes” every Thursday morning on WORT-FM 89.9.

But Samuels is also a documenter extraordinaire of the local classical music scene. Chances are you have seen him operating his computer and microphones at a recent concert.

Most recently, he brought the revival of Bach Around the Clock to his listeners.

Now he has done it again.

Here is what he wrote to The Ear, who is grateful for his many efforts:

“I just finished editing a 52-minute tribute to Maestro James Smith (below, rehearsing at the UW-Madison) who conducts his final Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra concert this coming Sunday at the Overture Center in a joint appearance, called “Side by Side,” with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

“This segment will air this week at 7:08 a.m. on my Thursday WORT broadcast.

“Listeners will hear Maestro Smith (below, conducting WYSO students) prepare his young musicians for the Sunday event and hear him reflect on his 32 years on the WYSO podium.

“Also contributing to the segment are WYSO alumni violist Vicki Powell (now based in Berlin), violinist David Cao (a joint music and pre-med major at Northwestern University) and Beth Larson (of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Willy Street Chamber Players, to name a few of her many affiliations).”

Smith’s final WYSO concert is in Overture Hall of the Overture Center on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The concert is FREE and open to the public. No tickets are required and seating is general admission. Doors open at 3:45 p.m. (You can hear a short sample of a 2015 Side by Side in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The program includes music by Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov, Georges Bizet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Niccolo Paganini, Ottorino Respighi and Dmitri Shostakovich.

For more information about the Side-by-Side concert by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and WYSO, go to:

https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/side-by-side-1/

Classical music: Edgewood College’s FREE Fall choral concert is this Sunday afternoon. Plus, three sopranos sing for FREE this Friday at noon

October 20, 2016
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ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features sopranos Susan Savage Day, Rebekah Demure and Arianna Day in music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Corigliano, Ottorino Respighi, Richard Strauss and others. It runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.

By Jacob Stockinger

Edgewood College will present its Fall Choral Concert at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday in the St. Joseph Chapel, 1000 Edgewood College Drive.

Admission is FREE.

The Women’s Choir and the Chamber Singers, under the direction of Kathleen Otterson (below top) and Sergei Pavlov (below bottom), will feature a wide variety of musical selections.

The eclectic program includes the Johann Sebastian Bach-Charles Gounod setting of “Ave Maria,” heard in the YouTube video at the bottom; Sydney Carter’s beautiful arrangement of “Lord of the Dance”; and music of Pentatonix.

The Chamber Singers is the College’s premier a cappella choral ensemble, open to students of all majors. The choir performs literature from the medieval period to the 21st century, participating in multiple concerts throughout the school year.

The Women’s Choir performs a wide variety of traditional and modern music specifically for women’s voices.

Classical music: Concerts on the Square start this Wednesday and feature a lot of classical music. Plus, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra announces its impressive 2016-17 indoors Masterworks season

June 27, 2016
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By Jacob Stockinger

This coming Wednesday night at 7 p.m., on the downtown Capitol Square, marks the opening of what has been billed as “The Biggest Picnic of Summer” — the six annual outdoor summer Concerts on the Square (below) by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and guest soloists.

They are big because each concert, under the baton of WCO artistic director Andrew Sewell, last year averaged a weekly crowd of more than 42,000 people, up from 35,000 the previous year, according to the Capitol Police. (The highest was 50,000; the lowest 28,000.)

You should also know that this year the Concerts on The Square will include a generous — maybe, The Ear suspects, even an unprecedented — amount of classical music on June 29, July 6, July 17, July 27 and Aug. 3.

On the programs you will find music by Felix Mendelssohn, Joaquin Turina, Aaron Copland and Ottorino Resphighi (this Wednesday); by Leo Delibes, Peter Tchaikovsky (including the annual and traditional Fourth of July or Independence Day performance of his “1812 Overture”) and Jules Massenet (with famed local Metropolitan Opera singer, mezzo-soprano Kitt Reuter-Foss on July 6); by Paul Dukas, Jean Sibelius, Niels Gade and Antonin Dvorak (on July 13); Ludwig van Beethoven (July 27); Arthur Honegger and Peter Tchaikovsky (Aug. 3).

Here is a link with more information including links to tickets, rules about behavior and seating, and food options:

http://www.wcoconcerts.org/performance-listing/category/concerts-on-the-square

Even as it prepares for this summer’s six Concerts on the Square, which start Wednesday night, June 26, and run through August 3, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra has announced its 2016-27 indoor Masterworks season of five classical concerts. It is an impressive lineup that features a local violist who has made it big, Vicki Powell, and the very young violin sensation Julian Rhee, who won the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Final Forte with a jaw-dropping reading of the Violin Concerto by Johannes Brahms, as well as a guitarist and duo-pianists.

Here is a link to more information:

http://www.wcoconcerts.org/performance-listing/category/masterworks

Classical music: NPR discusses famous composers and well-known works that were inspired by real birds.

July 18, 2015
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By Jacob Stockinger

Recently, NPR or National Public Radio featured a story that The Ear found very interesting and engaging.

Reporter Wade Goodwin spoke to a bird expert — Roy Brown, the host of “Talkin’ Birds” — who also possesses a fine knowledge of classical music.

The subject was how certain composers took inspirations from bird songs and even tried to imitate specific bird songs — such as that of the Ceti’s warbler (below) — in certain compositions including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2.

And when the connection wasn’t specific, the composers still tried to evoke the bird sonically.

The composers cited in the four-minute story were Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ralph Vaughan Williams (listen to the YouTube video at the bottom with Hillary Hahn and Sir Colin Davis conducting the London Symphony Orchestra) and Ottorino Respighi.

The Ear is sure there are many other examples of composers, works and specific bird species that are all linked. Antonin Dvorak comes to mind immediately.

If you know of any, please leave the names in the COMMENT section.

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/11/422008465/classical-composers-feathered-influences

Classical music: Pianists Emanuel Ax and Garrick Ohlsson plus Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Carl Orff’s cantata “Carmina Burana” highlight the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s new 2015-16 season.

March 11, 2015
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

The Madison Symphony Orchestra has just announced its next season for 2015-16. It is the 90th season for the MSO, and marks the 22nd season of music director and conductor John DeMain’s tenure.

Here is the press release that The Ear received.

More news and comments from music director and conductor John DeMain, who will conduct seven of the eight concerts, will follow.

Concerts are in Overture Hall on Fridays at 7:30 p.m; Saturdays at 8 p.m.; and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 p.m.

Single tickets for the Season 2015-16 will range from $16 to $85. (They are currently $16 to $84.)

Subscriptions to five or more concerts in Season 2015-16 are on sale now at www. madisonsymphony.org or by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. New subscribers can receive up to 50 percent off.

Single tickets from $16 to $85 will go on sale on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, at the Overture Center Box Office. You can also call (608) 258-4141 or go to http://www.madisonsymphony.org

Madison Symphony Orchestra Announces 2015-2016 Season

The incomparable pianist Emanuel Ax and the soul-stirring orchestral/choral music of “Carmina Burana” are just two of the exciting highlights of John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) and the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s (MSO) 2015-2016 Season.

MSO Music Director DeMain said, “We want audiences to be moved with great classical music as we excite their imaginations, lift their spirits, and stir their emotions.”

Beginning with a September program that focuses on the highly talented musicians in the orchestra, DeMain will lead the audience through an exhilarating variety of themes and cultures throughout the season. France and Scotland are just two of the sound worlds the MSO will explore, while monumental works central to the repertoire, such as Orff’s Carmina Burana and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, will anchor the year.

A world-class roster of guest artists will also join the season’s performances, including pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist James Ehnes, cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio, violinist Alina Ibragimova, and pianist Garrick Ohlsson.

The MSO’s own Principal Clarinet Joseph Morris will play a pivotal role in the September concert also.

The immeasurable talent set to perform in Overture Hall ensures that the coming season is not to be missed!

(* below denote first-time performances for the MSO under Conductor John DeMain.)

Sept. 25, 26, 27, 2015: Tchaikovsky’s Fourth. John DeMain, Conductor. Joseph Morris, Clarinet (below)

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Leonore Overture No. 3

AARON COPLAND Clarinet Concerto*

PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

The most popular of the four overtures Beethoven penned for his opera Fidelio, Leonore Overture No. 3 packs more than its share of heroic energy into 13 minutes.
Commissioned by the clarinetist and legendary bandleader Benny Goodman, Copland’s jazz-infused Clarinet Concerto uses slapping basses and thwacking harp sounds to simulate a rhythm section.
Tchaikovsky’s monumental Symphony No. 4 unites blazing brass fanfares, dance-like passages, and aching melodies to explore ideas of fate, happiness, and longing.

Oct. 16, 17, 18, 2015: Scottish Fantasy

John DeMain, Conductor, James Ehnes, Violin (below)

JOSEPH HAYDN Symphony No. 85 (La Reine)*

MAX BRUCH Scottish Fantasy*

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances

Nicknamed “La Reine” because it was the favorite of French Queen Marie Antoinette, Haydn’s spirited Symphony No. 85 is one of six symphonies commissioned by the private concert society Les Concerts de la Loge Olympique in Paris.
Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra blends rustic folk tunes and tender themes to convey the stark Scottish landscape. Droning tones imitate bagpipes, while the violins mimic the sound of a country fiddle.
Written during World War II, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances features an extended saxophone solo, as well as quotes from Russian Orthodox chant and the Mass of the Dead. The piece was the composer’s final score, and he died believing that it would never be as popular as his earlier music.

Nov. 20, 21, 22, 2015: French Fantastique. John DeMain, Conductor. Sara Sant’Ambrogio, Cello (below bottom)

MAURICE RAVEL Valses Nobles et Sentimentales*

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No.1*

HECTOR BERLIOZ Symphonie Fantastique

Inspired by Schubert and originally written for piano, Ravel’s sensuous Valses Nobles et Sentimentales combines the classical simplicity of the waltz with the colorful aural array of the sounds of all the instruments in the orchestra.
Saint-Saëns eschewed standard concerto form in his Cello Concerto No.1 by interlinking the piece’s three movements into one continuous musical expanse, held together by the rich lyrical power of the cello.
Meant to depict the haunted hallucinations of an opium trip, Berlioz’s grand and imaginative Symphonie Fantastique is marked by an obsessive return to a striking theme symbolizing Berlioz’s beloved, Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, who did not return his affections.

Dec. 4, 5, 6, 2015. A Madison Symphony Christmas. John DeMain (below top), Conductor. Emily Fons, Mezzo-soprano. David Govertsen, Bass-Baritone. Madison Symphony Chorus, Beverly Taylor, Director. Madison Youth Choirs (below middle), Michael Ross, Artistic Director. Mt. Zion Gospel Choir (below bottom), Tamera and Leotha Stanley, Directors.

John DeMain and the Madison Symphony Orchestra don their Santa hats for this signature Christmas celebration. This concert is filled with traditions, from caroling in the lobby with the Madison Symphony Chorus to vocal performances by hundreds of members of Madison’s musical community. Christmas classics are interwoven with enchanting new holiday music. The culminating sing-along is Madison’s unofficial start of the holiday season!

Feb. 12, 13, 14, 2016: Music, the food of love…

Daniel Hege, Guest Conductor (below top). Alina Ibragimova, Violin (below bottom)

PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY “Romeo and Juliet” Fantasy Overture

MAURICE RAVEL “Daphnis and Chloe” Suite No. 2

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto

Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture tells the story of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers through thunderous passages portraying the conflict between the Montagues and the Capulets and a rapturous love theme.

With music from a ballet premiered by the Ballet Russes in Paris in 1912, Ravel’s lush Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2 depicts lovers Daphnis and Chloe reuniting at daybreak, followed by a Bacchanalian dance.
Beethoven’s technically challenging Violin Concerto premiered in 1806. The composer’s only violin concerto, this work paved the way for the great 19th-century German violin concertos by Mendelssohn, Bruch, and Brahms.

Mar. 11, 12, 13, 2016. John DeMain, Conductor. Emanuel Ax (below top), Piano. Alisa Jordheim, Soprano (below bottom)

DMITRY KABALEVSKY Colas Breugnon Overture*

CÉSAR FRANCK Symphonic Variations*

RICHARD STRAUSS Burleske

GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 4

Composed in 1938 in Russia, Dmitry Kabalevsky’s dynamic Colas Breugnon Overture preceded the opera glorifying a working man’s struggle against a corrupt aristocracy—an unsurprising theme in the time of Stalin.
Knit together by themes presented in the introduction, Franck’s tightly polished Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra became better known after his death due to the efforts of the composer’s adoring students.
Richard Strauss wrote his showy and seductive Burleske for piano and orchestra at the age of 21. When the composer presented it as a thank-you gift to his mentor, Hans von Bülow, the prominent conductor and pianist pronounced the work “unplayable”!
Sometimes referred to as Mahler’s pastoral symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 is light, sunny, and childlike. The finale features a soprano singing a text based on folk poetry.

Apr. 1, 2, 3, 2016. John DeMain, Conductor. Garrick Ohlsson, Piano (below)

STEVEN STUCKY Symphony No. 1*

RICHARD STRAUSS Don Juan

JOHANNES BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1

Described by the composer as “a single expanse of music that travels through a series of emotional landscapes”, Steven Stucky’s Symphony No. 1 is one of the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer’s most recent works.
Richard Strauss’ tone poem Don Juan recounts the life, and death, of the eponymous fictional character through brazenly virtuosic flair matched by tender romantic melodies.
Brahms’ first major orchestral work, Piano Concerto No. 1, casts the piano and orchestra as equal partners working together to develop musical ideas. Written in D minor, this piece captures the composer’s grief over his friend Robert Schumann’s breakdown and eventual death in a mental asylum.

Apr. 29, 30, May 1, 2016. John DeMain, Conductor. Jeni Houser, Soprano. Thomas Leighton, Tenor. Keith Phares, Baritone. Madison Symphony Chorus (below), Beverly Taylor, Director.

OTTORINO RESPIGHI Pines of Rome

CARL ORFF Carmina Burana

Respighi’s moving tone poem Pines of Rome illustrates four distinct scenes through music, and features one of the most stunningly beautiful melodies of the classical repertoire.

The epitome of “epic” music, Carl Orff’s spellbinding cantata Carmina Burana unites chorus and orchestra with rhythmic velocity and evocative lyrics. John DeMain calls it a “soul-stirring experience you’ll never forget” and “one of classical music’s most popular treasures.”

The Madison Symphony Orchestra starts its 90th season with the 2015-16 concerts. The MSO engages audiences of all ages and backgrounds in live classical music through a full season of concerts with established and emerging soloists of international renown, an organ series that includes free concerts, and widely respected education and community engagement programs. Find more information at www.madisonsymphony.org.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Alina Ibragimova, Antonín Dvořák, Arts, ballet, Ballets Russes, bass-baritone, Beethoven, Benny Goodman, Brahms, brass, Bruch, Cantata, Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Cello, choral music, Christmas, clarinet, Classical music, concerto, conductor, Copland, Don JUan, Emanuel Ax, folk, Franck, gospel, Haydn, Hyadn, Jacob Stockinger, James Ehnes, Jazz, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, Kabalevsky, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Mahler, Marie-Antoinette, Mendelssohn, Mezzo-soprano, Mt. Zion Gospel Choir, Music, Music director, Orchestra, Ottorino Respighi, Overture Center, Paris, Piano, Piano concerto, Pines of Rome, Poetry, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Richard Strauss, Romeo and Juliet, Russian Orthodox Church, Saint-Saens, Sara Sant'Ambrogio, sing-along, soloist, soprano, Steven Stucky, Symphonie Fantastique, symphony, Tchaikovsky, tenor, tone poem, Valentine's Day, Valses nobles et sentimentales, variations, Violin, Violin concerto, vocal music, Wisconsin, World War II, youth choir

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