The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The amateur, acclaimed and affordable Middleton Community Orchestra suspends its new season until further notice
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By Jacob Stockinger
At a time when many concert schedules are getting complicated due to virtual online concerts and other alternatives because of the coronavirus pandemic and Covid-19, the message couldn’t be simpler.
The Middleton Community Orchestra (below) has suspended its new season until further notice.
You can check for additional information by going to the website: https://middletoncommunityorchestra.org
There it says: “Concerts are postponed until further notice. Check back here and join our email list for updates to the season.”
It’s too bad.
The season took a lot of organizing. It was going to take place in alternative venues because the Middleton Performing Arts Center, attached to Middleton High School, is undergoing renovations. (In the YouTube at the bottom, you can hear the MCO performing the Overture to Wagner’s opera “Die Meistersinger.”
It was also to feature new soloists including violinist David Perry of the UW-Madison Pro Arte String Quartet, and two guest conductors from Edgewood College and the UW-Whitewater.
It could also mean another cancellation of the new teenage concerto competition and concert as well as the cancellation of conductor Kyle Knox’s inaugural season as the MCO’s new music director (below).
Here is the largely amateur, well planned, unquestionably ambitious and very affordable season that was scheduled: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/03/30/classical-music-the-middleton-community-orchestra-announces-an-ambitious-2020-21-season-with-new-soloists-and-conductors-but-with-no-middleton-venue-for-the-season/
Do you have comments for the MCO?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Here is how the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) plan to continue lessons and performances this fall despite the coronavirus pandemic
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has just received the following updates from an email newsletter about the upcoming season of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO). Over more than 50 years, WYSO has served tens of thousands of middle school and high school students in southcentral Wisconsin and northern Illinois. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the WYSO Youth Orchestra play a virtual performance from the past season of the famous finale from Rossini’s “William Tell” Overture.)
After many weeks of planning, and in consultation with Public Health Madison and Dane County (PHMDC) and the McFarland School District, WYSO is excited to announce a fall semester plan that will mark a safe return to in-person music-making—and our first season at the McFarland Performing Arts Center (below) https://www.wysomusic.org/the-wyso-weekly-tune-up-april-17-2020-wysos-new-home/
We had a brief delay last Friday when PHMDC released Emergency Statement #9 delaying in-person start dates for all schools in Dane County. We checked in with the Public Health agency and they re-affirmed that WYSO is not a school —and the 15 students maximum-sized groups outlined in this plan are absolutely perfect. It is time to set up the tents!
The WYSO season will begin on the weekend of Sept. 5, when the winds and brass students from all three full orchestras (Youth, Philharmonia and Concert) will begin their fall rehearsals outside under two enormous tents in the McFarland High School parking lot (below). The 60 winds and brass students will be divided into approximately nine or 10 cohorts, who will meet in two-hour blocks on Saturdays and Sundays.
With a single cohort of masked and socially distanced students spread out within the 40′ x 60′ tent, with “bell covers and bags” for their instruments, the season will not look like any previous WYSO Fall.
If you’ve not been involved in the new science of aerosol transmission, this whole scenario might seem very curious. The reasoning is simple: The winds and brass instruments have been singled out as more problematic since you have to blow into them to make music. The blowing releases more “aerosols,” the tiny droplets that can transmit the coronavirus.
However, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have recently released the first results from a five-month study and have found that the following actions bring down the transmission risk considerably:
- Social distancing 9 to 15 feet apart.
- Adding bell covers and bags (below) for the instruments (essentially the instruments have to wear masks as well as the students).
- Playing outside, which reduces risks due to the increased air circulation.
Because we are in Wisconsin, the “outdoor” location shortens the season for the winds and brass players so by beginning the season on Sept. 5 and ending on the weekend of Oct. 24, they can just squeeze in an 8-week cycle.
Meanwhile, the WYSO string and percussion players, approximately 300 in number and representing all five orchestras, will begin their fall season indoors on Oct. 17, after McFarland moves to a hybrid model for the school year.
The string players will be divided into 15-student cohorts by orchestra, with a wonderful mix of violins, violas, cellos and basses in each group, and with the groups spread throughout one wing of the high school in large music rooms and atriums.
The percussionists have been scheduled into the new Black Box Theater and they are excited to begin playing on the brand new marimbas and timpani so recently acquired by WYSO through a gift from an incredibly generous anonymous donor.
Everything has been carefully scheduled so that at any given time there will not be more than 125 students, conductors and staff in the building.
Start and end times have been staggered. The large beautiful spaces at McFarland will easily hold the socially distanced and mask-wearing players. And the orchestras will again be scheduled into Saturday and Sunday mornings and afternoons. Even the WYSO Chamber Music Program (below) has been scheduled into the intricate puzzle.
The rest of this exciting fall story has to do with adding incredibly talented professional musicians to lead some of the cohorts and the amazing repertoire available for groups of 15 musicians, whether they play winds, brass, strings or percussion.
From Mozart’s “Gran Partita” to Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 2 and 6; from Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella Suite” to Bartok’s Divertimento, and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings — there is almost an “embarrassment of riches” of exciting, seldom-played repertoire, to quote WYSO Music Director Kyle Knox (below). And this fall, that repertoire will be right in WYSO’s wheelhouse.
WYSO will video-capture this year’s Fall Concerts of students playing in the beautiful McFarland Performing Arts Center to 800 empty seats and let you know the exact Fall Concert dates as we get closer. Click here for additional information.
While WYSO is incredibly excited about our in-person plan for rehearsals and playing music together, we have also drawn up two alternate plans, and know that not everyone will be able to participate in-person.
WYSO Registration is underway, and we are asking those who cannot participate in the McFarland experience to let us know their needs through the registration process, so that we can create the best virtual experience possible for those involved. Tuition payment is not due at registration.
To register, go to: https://www.wysomusic.org/members/wyso-registration-form/
Tags: #AirCirculation, #BelaBartok, #BellLaboratories, #BlackBoxTheater, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassMusic, #BrassSection, #ChamberMusic, #CheckIn, #CityofMadison, #ConcertSeason, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DaneCounty, #DoubleBassist, #EmptySeats, #EndTime, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FallSemester, #GioachinoRossini, #GranPartita, #HighSchool, #IgorStravinsky, #JacobStockinger, #KyleKnox, #LaborDay, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #McFarlandHighSchool, #McFarlandPerformingArtsCenter, #MiddleSchool, #Music-Making, #MusicDirector, #MusicEducation, #MusicRoom, #OnlineConcert, #OrchestralMusic, #ParkingLot, #PercussionSection, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PhilharmoniaOrchestra, #PublicHealth, #PulcinellaSuite, #RegistrationForm, #SchoolDistrict, #SchoolYear, #SerenadeforStrings, #SetUp, #SocialDistance, #SocialDistancing, #StartTime, #StringMusic, #StringPlayers, #StringSection, #TheEar, #UniversityofColorado-Boulder, #WilliamTell, #WilliamTellOverture, #WindMusic, #WindSection, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WYSOChamberMusicProgram, #WYSOconcerts, #YouthOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, action, actions, additional, aerosol, afternoon, agency, air, air circulation, alternate, amazing, anonymous, approximately, Arts, ATRIUM, audience, bags, Bartok, bass, basses, bassist, Béla Bartók, Beethoven, beginning, Bell, black, Black Box Theater, blocks, blog, blow, blowing, Boulder, Box, brass, brass music, brass section, brief, capture, cellist, Cello, central, Chamber music, check, check in, circulation, Classical music, cohorts, Colorado, composer, Concert, Concert Orchestra, conductor, consultation, coronavirus, covers, curious, cycle, Dane County, dates, delay, divertimento, divide, divided, donor, double bass, droplet, due, email, embarrassment, emergency, empty, empty seats, end, end time, ending, enormous, everyone, excited, experience, Facebook, fall, famous, finale, first, Friday, generous, gift, Gioacchino Rossini, Gran Partita, group, groups, high school, hour, hybrid, Igor Stravinsky, ILLINOIS, in person, increase, increased, incredible, information, instrument, intricate, Jacob Stockinger, Knox, Kyle Knox, Labor Day, large, like, link, location, look, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, make, marimba, mask, masked, masks, maximum, McFarland, McFarland High School, McFarland Performing Arts Center, meet, Middle school, mix, model, morning, Mozart, Music, Music director, Music education, music room, needs, newsletter, north, Northern, October, online, Orchestra, orchestral music, outside, Overture, pandemic, parking, parking lot, participant, participate, partita, payment, percussion, percussionist, perfect, perform, performer, person, Peter Tchaikovsky, Philharmonia Orchestra, plan, planning, play, players, playing, post, posting, problematic, process, program, Public health, Pulcinella Suite, puzzle, quite, quote, re-affirm, reasoning, registration, rehearsal, release, repertoire, repertory, research, researchers, return, riches, risk, room, Rossini, safe, safety, Saturday, scenario, schedule, school, school district, school year, science, Season, seats, seldom-played, semester, September, Serenade, Serenade for Strings, set up, share, simple, size, social distance, social distancing, south, Southern, spread, squeeze, staggered, start, start time, statement, Stravinsky, string, string music, string players, string section, Student, study, Suite, Sunday, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, tens, tent, tents, The Ear, theater, theatre, thousands, time, tiny, together, transmission, transmit, tuition, tympani, United States, university, University of Colorado-Boulder, upcoming, video, video-capture, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, week, weekend, whole, William Tell, William Tell Overture, wind music, winds, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wonderful, WYSO, WYSO Chamber Music Program, WYSO concerts, year, years, young people, Youth, Youth Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music: The Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) perform their annual Winterfest concerts this Saturday afternoon — with guest clarinetist Amitai Vardi — and on Saturday, March 2
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO, below is the Youth Orchestra) will present the Diane Ballweg Winterfest Concerts this Saturday, Feb. 16, and Saturday, March 2, in Mills Concert Hall in the Mosse Humanities Building, 455 North Park Street in Madison, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
WYSO orchestras will perform pieces by Carl Maria von Weber, Antonin Dvorak, Georges Bizet, Sergei Prokofiev, Richard Wagner, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Manuel DeFalla, Johann Strauss, Modest Mussorgsky and others. For a complete program listing, go to: https://www.wysomusic.org/diane-ballweg-winterfest-2019-repertoire/
“These are wonderful works and the orchestras are progressing beautifully in rehearsal,” said WYSO music director Kyle Knox (below). “It looks to be a memorable concert series.”
Guest clarinetist Amitai Vardi (below) will perform Weber’s Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 26, with the Youth Orchestra during their Feb. 16 concert. (You can hear Weber’s Concertino in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Amitai Vardi — his father Uri Vardi teaches cello at the UW-Madison — is a WYSO alumnus who grew up in Madison. He performs regularly with the Cleveland Orchestra and is currently a professor at Kent State University in Ohio.
“WYSO was the first orchestra I ever played in,” Vardi said. “The experience developed my listening skills, knowledge about ensemble playing, love for orchestral music, and taught me how to be a well-rounded musician.”
Concert tickets are available 45 minutes prior to each concert, and are $10 for adults and $5 for youth 18 and under.
Visit www.wysomusic.org to learn more about the various orchestras and about the WYSO program.
WYSO students travel from communities throughout southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois each weekend throughout the concert season to rehearse on the UW-Madison campus.
Each orchestra performs three concerts per season, with additional performance opportunities available to students, including ensembles and chamber groups.
Diane Ballweg Winterfest Concerts
Saturday, Feb. 16 in Mills Hall
4 p.m. Youth Orchestra
With guest artist Amitai Vardi, clarinet
Saturday, March 2, 2019, Mills Hall
11:30 a.m. Opus One and Sinfonietta
1:30 p.m. Concert Orchestra
4 p.m. Philharmonia Orchestra and Harp Ensemble
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Classical music: A new recording of Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” captures the Russian qualities the composer prized in this sacred music
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a record 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.
By John W. Barker
For reasons, astronomical and cultural, the Western and Eastern Orthodox celebrations of Easter are frequently held at separate dates. But this year they coincide (on this coming Sunday, April 16). That gives good reason to direct attention beyond familiar Western Easter music and instead to that of Eastern Orthodoxy.
A new recording of one of the landmarks of Russian Orthodox music provides further stimulus to this.
Russian Orthodox practice did not encourage extensive new compositions, but stressed elaborate liturgical rituals built around the heritage of medieval monophonic chant, while benefiting from the fabulous style of Russian choral singing—those low basses (“octavists”) in particular.
Most composers who worked to enrich the liturgical literature were professional church musicians, but a number of “secular” Russian composers also made contributions. Notable among them were Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Peter Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff (below).
It is the last of those three who has given us the music at hand, a truly memorable sacred creation. The work is his Op. 37, entitled “The Most Important Hymns of the ‘All-Night Vigil,” and commonly called “The All-Night Vigil” (Vsenoshchnogo Bdeniya) or else, more simplistically the “Vespers.”
It was composed during the early years of World War I, which was to bring about the collapse of the Russia that Rachmaninoff knew. It was performed in 1915, and two years later, amid the upheavals of the two Revolutions, the composer left his native land for good.
Rachmaninoff prized his Op. 37 above his other works; it was his proclamation of Russian identity, and after it he wrote no more sacred music. He even hoped that one section of it could be sung at his funeral. (A moving sample can be heard in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Orthodox Christian celebration of the Resurrection places emphasis on the Saturday night offices of Vespers and Matins, in a prolonged and elaborate ritual. (This Vigil array can also be used for other significant feasts beyond Easter.)
Given the lengths, Rachmaninoff chose to set his selection of “the most important hymns” for his Op. 37, for a total of 15 sections. He did follow working practice by building his settings on or around traditional chant melodies. He expected that individual sections might have liturgical usage; but he understood that the totality was a grand concert work.
The Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil, or “Vespers,” has been recorded many times, often by Russian choirs, which have the musical and liturgical style in their blood. But non-Russian groups and directors have also come to recognize the transcendent beauty of this masterwork.
Noteworthy among those was Robert Shaw, the great American choral master whose recording (on the Telarc label) has been acclaimed by his admirers for its predictably superb choral sound. But Shaw and his singers lack Russian sound or spiritual sensitivity.
Other American performers have joined in: the broadly paced recording with Charles Bruffy and his Phoenix and Kansas City choirs (for Chandos) is notable. Paul Hillier’s recording (for Harmonia Mundi) with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir has earned great respect.
I have just been taken by the brand new release (below) from Paraclete Recordings of Massachusetts, with the Gloria Dei Cantores and members of three other choirs under the direction of Peter Jermihov.
They number 77 singers in all and, as recorded in a church setting, they make a sumptuous sound. Their emphasis is less on clarifying individual voice parts and more on relishing the rich blends that make up the total texture.
While treating the work as a grand concert piece, this performance goes beyond most others by including intonations by clerical celebrants, recalling the liturgical context that was always in the composer’s mind.
One of the striking features of this release is its thick album booklet. This is not only richly illustrated but contains an unusually penetrating background essay. Further, in presenting the Russian texts (in Cyrillic and transliteration) with English translations, it also gives useful comments section by section, for the fullest understanding of the liturgical contexts.
This is a noteworthy addition to the crowded recording picture for this sumptuous and deeply moving sacred music.
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Classical music: Here are this week’s FREE events at the UW-Madison where the spotlight falls on new music
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By Jacob Stockinger
This will be a busy week at the UW-Madison.
Here are the events, concerts and master classes, at the UW-Madison this week. All events are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
As you can see, a lot of new music will be featured.
TUESDAY
At noon in Morphy Recital Hall, oboist Courtney Miller (below), of the University of Iowa, will give a master class.
At 7:30 p.m.in Mills Hall, Mike Leckrone (below top) will lead the UW Concert Band (below bottom) in a FREE concert. Sorry, no word on the program.
WEDNESDAY
At 7:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, pianist Emile Naoumoff (below), from Indiana University, will give a recital.
Sorry, no word about the program. But there is a lot of background about the acclaimed French pianist who once studied at age 10 with the legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger and then later took over for her. (You can see him and Boulanger in the YouTube video at the bottom.) For information, go to http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/guest-artist-emile-naoumoff-pianist/
Naoumoff will also give a master class on Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon in Morphy Recital Hall.
THURSDAY
From 10 a.m. to noon in Morphy Recital Hall, guest pianist Emile Naoumoff will give a master class. See Wednesday’s listings for information about him and his recital.
FRIDAY
At 7 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, a concert of new music will be performed by Sound Out Loud (below) in conjunction with a two-day conference. For the complete program and more information, go to:
At 7:30 in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble (below top) will give a FREE concert under conductor Scott Teeple (below bottom).
The program includes “The Leaves Are Falling” by Warren Benson as well as two Wisconsin premieres: “Across the Graining Continent” by Jonathan Newman; and Suite in E-Flat by Gustav Holst, edited by Matthews.
SATURDAY
At 1:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, the UW-Madison Trombone Quartet performs music by Tchaikovsky,Webern, Shostakovich, Tull and Bozza among others. Members of the quartet are Thomas Macaluso, Kevin Schoeller, Matthew Bragstad and Nicolas Lawrence.
At 8 p.m. the wife-and husband piano-percussion duo Sole Nero (below), consisting of Jessica Johnson (piano) and Anthony DiSanza (percussion), will perform a faculty concert of new music.
For the complete program and program notes, plus biographies, go to:
http://www.music.wisc.edu/event/sole-nero-with-jessica-johnson-and-anthony-disanza/
It is also that time of the academic year when there are a lot of student recitals and lecture-recitals, especially ones by graduate students, that might interest the public. This week, The Ear sees at least half a dozen listed including those by a cellist, violinist, hornist, trumpeter and flutist.
For more information, go to: http://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
Tags: Anton Webern, Arts, band, Baroque, Bozza, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Concert Band, Dmitri Shostakovich, Emile Naoumoff, flute, graduate students, Gustav Holst, Holst, Horn, Indiana University, Jacob Stockinger, Jacobs School of Music, Jonathan Newman, Madison, master class, Mike Leckrone, Music, Nadia Boulanger, New Music, Oboe, percussion, Peter Tchaikovsky, Piano, premiere, program, program notes, Quartet, Scott Teeple, Sonata, Sound Out Loud, students, Trombone, Tull, United States, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Warren Benson, Webern, winds, Wisconsin, woodwinds, YouTube
Classical music education: Watch it on public television, hear it on public radio, stream it live or see it in person – “The Final Forte” teenage finalists’ FREE concert with the Madison Symphony Orchestra is this Wednesday night at 7
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, four teenage finalists will perform the final round of the Bolz Young Artist Competition in a free live concert with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO).
It will be broadcast live on Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) and Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), and available via live streaming on wpt.org, at 7 p.m.
The public can also reserve FREE tickets to attend the concert in person.
The Final Forte finalists are selected from a group of young artists who competed in the Bolz Young Artist Competition’s two preliminary rounds.
This year’s Final Forte features (below, in a photo by Amandalynn Jones, from left): violinist Julian Rhee of Brookfield, who will play the first movement of the Violin Concerto in D Major by Peter Tchaikovsky; harpist Naomi Sutherland of Viroqua, who will play the “Sacred and Profane Dances” by Maurice Ravel; pianist Michael Wu of Sun Prairie, who will play the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor by Camille Saint-Saens; and violinist Yaoyao Chen of Menasha, who will play the first movement of the Violin Concerto in D minor by Jean Sibelius.
Each of the finalists will perform with music director John DeMain and the MSO as they complete for top honors and scholarships that will be awarded at the end of the broadcast. WPR’s Lori Skelton and Jim Fleming will co-host the event.
More information, biographies and video profiles (also available on YouTube) for each finalist can be found at: http://madisonsymphony.org/finalforte
To reserve free seats at The Final Forte, call (608) 257-3734 or register online at: http://madisonsymphony.org/finalforte
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a live concert broadcast. All audience members must be seated by 6:45 p.m. in Overture Hall, prior to the start of the concert.
The Final Forte broadcast on WPT and WPR has won numerous honors including an Emmy nomination, and has reached several hundred thousand viewers and listeners in the area Madison and statewide.
REBROADCASTS
“The Final Forte” will be rebroadcast at the following times:
The Wisconsin Channel (WPT-2): Saturday, April 1, at 3:30 p.m.
Wisconsin Public Radio: Sunday, April 2, at noon
Milwaukee Public Television (Channel 36.1): Sunday, April 2, at 1 p.m.
Wisconsin Public Television (WPT-1): Sunday, April 2, at 2 p.m.
BACKGROUND AND SPONSORS
“Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte” is a partnership among the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television.
The even is part of WPT’s multiyear Young Performers Initiative, a statewide effort to raise the visibility of the arts, celebrate the creative achievements of Wisconsin’s young people and support the arts in education.
The Bolz Young Artist Competition is made possible by a generous endowment from The Eugenie Mayer Bolz Family Foundation.
Major funding for “Wisconsin Young Artists Compete: The Final Forte” is provided by Diane Ballweg, Julie and Larry Midtbo, Fred and Mary Mohs, Stephen Morton, Joe and Maryellyn Sensenbrenner, and The Boldt Company. With additional funds from A. Paul Jones Charitable Trust, James Dahlberg and Elsebet Lund, W. Jerome Frautschi, Ann and Roger Hauck, Elaine and Nicholas Mischler, Kato Perlman, Sentry Insurance Company, The Estate of Norene A. Smith, Paul Guthrie in memory of Ella Guthrie, Judith and Nick Topitzes, and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.
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Classical music: The Willy Street Chamber Players open their second promising season with another dazzling concert of music by Mascagni, Tchaikovsky and Caroline Shaw.
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By Jacob Stockinger
You had to be there to believe it.
That’s just how good the Willy Street Chamber Players are. (Actually, this season the music is being streamed live, so you don’t have to be there, and Rich Samuels of WORT-FM 89.9 recorded this concert for later airing.)
The Willys, as critic John W. Barker of Isthmus likes to call them, set themselves a high bar to clear, given the spectacular debut they made last summer in a series of July concerts that propelled them to the top of the list of classical music news in the area for the entire season.
The Ear is happy to report that in last Friday night’s opening concert of their second season, the Willy Street Chamber Players (below) met and surpassed that bar.
There was really only one small disappointment: Despite promises to bring the concert in with enough time to allow people to get over the fourth annual Handel Aria Competition at the UW-Madison, they ran late.
But at least they tried. And an effort at cooperation seems in perfect keeping with the nature of this outstanding ensemble. So do the local post-concert treats of food and sweets they offer.
The concert started with a piece that reminds one how a beautiful melody sticks in the ear and is never out of date, no matter what some modernists say.
In this case, it was the Intermezzo from the Romantic opera “Cavalleria Rusticana” (1880) by Italian composer Pietro Mascagni, as arranged for string sextet by Beth Larson (below, front left), the group’s own violist and violinist. As a welcoming opener and mood-setter, it proved a sheer delight.
Let’s jump to the end, which was a stupendous reading of the Big Work: the “Souvenir de Florence” (Memory of Florence) by Peter Tchaikovsky that featured guest violinist Suzanne Beia (below, front left).
Beia, you may recall, is a concertmaster with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra as well as member of the Pro Arte Quartet at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. And this summer, she sizzled in her virtuosic reading of “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi for the closing concerts of the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society. And boy, can she fiddle!
In the Tchaikovsky, there was plenty of lyricism. But the force and energy of the brisk, upbeat tempi kept the work from becoming the kind syrupy and repetitive sentimentalism that inferior Tchaikovsky playing can produce.
It was an exciting and dynamic, even thrilling, performance. The audience leapt to its feet with good reason.
But for The Ear, the standout piece was the centerpiece: the “Entr’acte” for string quartet (below) by the young American composer Caroline Shaw.
This is The Ear’s kind of new music. Inspired by a minuet from an Op. 77 string quartet by Franz Joseph Haydn, Shaw’s work quietly pulsed and throbbed with a hypnotic rhythm. (You can hear a different performance of the work in a the YouTube video at the bottom.)
There were some dissonances and some strange sounds made by rubbing strings as well as plucking and snapping strings. But overall this was new music that had melody, rhythm and harmony, and it proved accessible on the first hearing. Plus it was short and possessed both emotion and elegance. Eat your hearts out, Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen!
The Ear hopes that the Willy Street Chamber Players continue their exploration of works by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Shaw (below) in future summer seasons and prove to be her ambassador to Madison audiences.
In any case, based on last season and now this concert the Ear has no reluctance in recommending the four concerts by the Willys that remain, three on Friday nights at 6 p.m. and one at noon.
NOTE: A word of warning is in order. Give yourself extra time to get there. Construction downtown plus major construction and street repairs on the streets around the Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight St., pose obstacles.
Here is a link to the rest of the season:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
All The Ear can add is that last summer’s success was no fluke.
So let’s hear a Big Bravo for the fact that the Willys are Winners!
Tags: Arts, Caroline Shaw, Cavalleria Rusticana, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Early music, George Frideric Handel, Isthmus, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, John W. Barker, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mascagni, Music, opera, Peter Tchaikovsky, Pierre Boulez, Pro Arte Quartet, Pulitzer Prize, Souvenir de Florence, String quartet, string sextet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: Next Friday night starts the second season of the acclaimed Willy Street Chamber Players. This afternoon you can hear Norwegian music performed live at the Chazen Museum of Art
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ALERT: The Ear reminds you that TODAY is the monthly “Sunday Live From the Chazen” chamber music concert. The program today features UW-Madison soprano Mimmi Fulmer, violinist Tyrone Greive (retired concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra) and pianist Michael Keller in music by Edvard Grieg and other Norwegian composers, including songs and sonatas. The live concert starts at 12:30 p.m. in Brittingham Gallery 3. Admission is FREE. You can also stream it live by using this link:
By Jacob Stockinger
Probably the premiere musical event of 2015 was the summer debut of the new group the Willy Street Chamber Players (below).
The critics and audiences agreed: The programs and performances were simply outstanding. Many of the players perform with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, there Middleton Community Orchestra, the Madison Bach Musicians and other acclaimed local groups.
Now the second season of five concerts – including one noontime lunch concert — will begin on this coming Friday night, July 8, at 6 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1021 Spaight Street, on Madison’s near east side.
The first program features regular members and guest violinist Suzanne Beia (below).
Beia plays second violin in the Pro Arte Quartet at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, and also serves at concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and assistant concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she performs in the Rhapsodie Quartet of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The program includes the lovely “Souvenir of Florence” (1892) by Peter Tchaikovsky and the haunting Entr’acte for String Quartet (2011) by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw (below, in a photo by Dashon Burton). You can hear the Entr’acte in the YouTube video at the bottom. (The Ear hopes one day the group will do Shaw’s “By and By” with strings and a vocalist.)
It’s too bad that the fourth annual Handel Aria Competition is on the same night. You would hope that such conflicts could be avoided in the summer.
Theoretically you can make it to both concerts since the aria competition starts at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall. But it will probably be a hectic scurry from one to the other.
Here is a link to more information about the Handel Aria Competition:
In any case, here is the schedule of the entire second season of the Willy Street Chamber Players.
It is varied and impressive, especially in how it combines old masterpieces with modern and contemporary works. It features pieces by Philip Glass, Arnold Schoenberg, UW-Madison composer Laura Schwendinger, George Crumb, Dmitri Shostakovich, Franz Schubert, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Arcangelo Corelli and Georges Enescu :
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/events1.html
A season subscription is $50. Individual concerts are $15 except for the Black Angels video art concert, which is $20.
Tags: Arnold Schoenberg, Arts, Baroque, Beethoven, Caroline Shaw, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, composer, contemporary, Corelli, Dmitri Shostakovich, Early music, Enescu, Franz Schubert, George Crumb, Jacob Stockinger, Laura Schwendinger, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Middleton Community Orchestra, modern, Mozart, Music, New Music, Norway, Norwegian music, Orchestra, Peter Tchaikovsky, Philip Glass, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, Pulitzer Prize, Schubert, singer, Sonata, song, soprano, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocalist, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: Meet Dame Ethel Smyth –- a Victorian feminist and forceful composer as well as an advocate of women’s rights and same-sex relations.
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By Jacob Stockinger
You probably don’t know the name Ethel Smyth (pronounced smaith, below).
The Ear certainly didn’t.
But then he came across this fascinating account of her life and work.
Smythe was friends with Peter Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms.
An early feminist leader for same-sex equality, she fell in love with the much younger writer Virginia Woolf.
And her muscular music and politically charged operas reminded people of Richard Wagner.
Now she has been resurrected thanks to Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College who also directs the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bard Music Festival. He staged her 1904 opera “The Wreckers.” (At bottom, you can hear a YouTube performance of the Overture to “The Wreckers.”)
Tom Huizenga, of the outstanding Deceptive Cadence blog, wrote this profile and appreciation for NPR, or National Public radio:
Tags: American Symphony Orchestra, Arts, Bard College, Bard Music Festival, blog, choral music, Classical music, Deceptive Cadence, England, Ethel Smyth, feminism, feminist, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Leon Botstein, lesbian, LGBT, Music, New York City, NPR, opera, Orchestra, Overture, Peter Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner, same-sex, The Wreckers, Tom Huizenga, UK, United Kingdom, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Victorian, Virginia Woolf, vocal music, women's rights, YouTube
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Today is the Winter Solstice. Here is a piece to make you look forward to longer days, warmth and the Summer Solstice next year
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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
Today – Monday, Dec. 21 — is the Winter Solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It arrives at 4:02 a.m. CST.
The Ear expects that Wisconsin Public Radio, among other media outlets, will be marking the event with traditional, often austere, winter music. That includes “Winter” from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”; maybe some songs from Schubert’s “Winterreise” (Winter Journey); Peter Tchaikovsky’s “The Seasons” and “The Nutcracker”; and, of course, plenty of winter holiday music, including carols and the Baroque oratorios, cantatas and concertos by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Corelli and others.
But many people – strained by the coronavirus pandemic –are already eagerly looking forward to the days growing longer, which will culminate in the Summer Solstice at 10:31 p.m. CST on Sunday, June 21, 2021.
Who needs to celebrate the season’s cold and darkness? So The Ear thought that we could all use a little sonic sunlight, tonal warmth and musical hope, especially at the end of this Plague Year.
There are standards and favorites such as Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” and Vivaldi’s “Summer.”
But to The Ear that work that really lifts one’s spirits, and captures the kind of joyful abandon and youthful energy of the mid-summer event, complete with animal noises and romance, is the “Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream” by a 17-year-old Felix Mendelssohn (below).
You can hear it below in a YouTube performance by the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig conducted by the late, great German conductor Kurt Masur, whose son, Ken-David Masur, is the new music director and conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
The Ear hopes you enjoy it.
What music would you like to hear or play to mark the Winter Solstice?
Leave a suggestion with your reason and, if possible, YouTube link in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
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