The Well-Tempered Ear
Wisconsin Public Radio needs timely online playlists and other fixes
17 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
March 8 was International Women’s Day.
To its credit, Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) celebrated the event all-day long by airing music composed and performed by women.
The Ear heard some very memorable and noteworthy pieces that were new to him.
But when he went to the WPR website and looked for online listings to find out specifics about the composers, the pieces, the performers and the record labels, he found — nothing.
Today is March 15.
And one week later The Ear still finds nothing — no playlist for the March 8 broadcasts.
In fact, there are no online listings going back more than a month — to February 5.
You will find just a longstanding apology with a promise to fix it and some boilerplate warning about federal regulations that really have nothing to do with such a prolonged delay.
Take a look for yourself: https://www.wpr.org/classical-music-lists
That is disappointing and frustrating. Some might even say unacceptable.
The digital technology fixes that have been promised and, one assumes, already paid for can’t be THAT difficult to implement. WPR used to post the playlist information as soon as the piece started airing. (And, curiously, the non-WPR overnight service still offers that.)
Why not again? Technological updates are supposed to make things work better, not worse.
Fixing the playlist is especially important right now because WPR and its outstanding hosts have taken on the admirable mission of exploring music of women composers and performers; of composers and performers of color; and of neglected composers and works.
But without a playlist to consult, that mission remains unfinished. How else is the unfamiliar supposed to become more familiar?
That is not the only troubling thing at WPR.
The station did a superb job during the pandemic with home broadcasting.
But ever since then, there seems to be more dead air, miscues, interruptions and repeated programs than ever before.
Yet you also hear many more promotions and pleas for public financial support in between quarterly membership drives than ever before.
WPR would be wise to attract and serve its supporters and listeners by focusing on completing the fixes, whether it requires hardware, software or staff training.
And correcting the disservice of not posting daily playlists online seems an excellent place to start. After all, The Ear was told that the problem of incompatible software “would be rectified soon.”
That was over a year ago.
And if it can’t be corrected?
Hope they kept the receipt.
Do you miss WPR’s daily online playlists?
Have you noticed other problems at WPR?
What about WPR would you like to praise? To criticize?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #HighTechnology, #NeglectedComposers, #WomenComposers, admirable, African American, air, apology, Arts, asian, audience, black, blog, Broadcast, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, computer, Concert, connection, criticize, daily, dead air, delay, digital, disappointment, disservice, explore, Facebook, familiar, FCC, federal, financial, fix, frustration, Hardware, hi tech, host, Indian, Indigenous, International Woman's Day, interruption, Jacob Stockinger, Latino, Latinx, march, member, membership, memorable, miscue, mission, Music, Native American, neglected, NPR, online, opera, Orchestra, people of color, performer, Piano, piece, place, playlist, praise, problem, program, promise, promotion, Radio, receipt, regulation, repeat, share, software, Sonata, start, symphony, tag, task, technology, The Ear, training, unfamiliar, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, warning, Website, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, women, WPR, YouTube
Classical music: UW-Madison piano virtuoso Christopher Taylor performs a free virtual recital of impromptus by Schubert and Scriabin this Wednesday afternoon
5 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
A note from The Ear: Thank you to the many blog followers who left a message of encouragement when I had computer troubles last week. The problem seems to be solved, at least temporarily. And I am healthy, despite the fears that some of you expressed that I was covering for coming down with the coronavirus virus or Covid-19.
By Jacob Stockinger
A friend has passed along the following note from Christopher Taylor, the piano virtuoso who won a bronze medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and who has been teaching for many years at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music.
Taylor (below) writes:
“Despite having my performance schedule ravaged, like everyone else, I do actually have one positive morsel of news to relay regarding a “recital” coming up in the near future, which I wanted to you know about.
“It is being hosted by the Chautauqua Institution, where I’ve performed a few times in the past. Unsurprisingly, they’ve had to switch to an online format this summer.
“Just last week I made the actual recording, playing four impromptus by Scriabin, and Four Impromptus, Op. 142, by Schubert in the Mead-Witter Foundation Concert Hall (below, with the UW Choral Union and UW Symphony Orchestra), which seemed like a propitious setting. (Editor’s note: In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the third impromptu in the set by Schubert performed by Vladimir Horowitz during his historic 1986 recital in Moscow.)
“Under the circumstances I think the video turned out pretty well. The actual streaming, which will include the 45 minutes of music plus a little live interview before and afterwards, takes place this Wednesday – Aug. 5 – at 3 p.m. CDT.
You can get there by way of the following link: https://porch.chq.org/ue/event/6518/
“Apparently there is a brief registration form one has to fill out prior to viewing the show, but basically getting in should be a free and painless process for all and sundry.
“Hope you get a chance to join in, and that you enjoy it!”
Tags: #AlexanderScriabin, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BronzeMedal, #ChautauquaInstitution, #ChristopherTaylor, #ClassicalRecording, #ConcertPianist, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FillOut, #FranzSchubert, #HamelMusicCenter, #JacobStockinger, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MoscowRussia, #Musicfaculty, #MusicTeacher, #OnlineConcert, #PerformingArts, #PianoMusic, #PianoVirtuoso, #RecordedMusic, #RegistrationForm, #StreamingService, #ThankYou, #TheCliburn, #TheEar, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWChoralUnion, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #VirtualConcert, #VladimirHorowitz, #YouTubevideo, Alexander Scriabin, all, Arts, audience, basic, blog, bronze medal, bronze medalist, case, chance, Chautauqua Institution, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, composer, computer, coronavirus, encouragement, enjoy, everyone, express, Facebook, fear, fill out, follower, form, forward, Franz Schubert, free, friend, future, Hamel Music Center, healthy, historic, host, hosted, impromptu, interview, Jacob Stockinger, like, link, live, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, message, morsel, Moscow, Music, music faculty, news, not, online, operformer, Orchestra, pandemic, past, perform, performance, Performing arts, Pianist, Piano, piano music, positive, posting, posy, prior, problem, process, propitious, recital, recorded music, recording, registration, relay, Russia, schedule, Schubert, Scriabin, setting, share, show, solve, stream, streaming, sundry, swith, symphony, tag, teach, temporarily, thank you, The Cliburn, The Ear, trouble, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Choral Union, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, video, view'viewing, virtual, virtuoso, Vladimir Horowitz, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: This Friday night, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra closes its season with a dark and unorthodox symphony by Shostakovich as well as lighter suites by Bizet and Debussy
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below top) ends its winter Masterworks season this coming Friday night, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
And it is going out in a big, eclectic way.
The WCO will perform under the baton of music director Andrew Sewell (below).
Sewell and the WCO will be joined by two guest singers: soprano Mary Mackenzie, a former Madison resident and member of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO); (below top); and the Grammy-nominated bass Timothy Jones (below bottom).
Both critically acclaimed singers are familiar to Madison audiences from past appearances with the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Madison Opera, the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and previous appearances with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
They will all join in the major work that opens the concert, the Symphony No. 14, Op. 135, by Dmitri Shostakovich (below), his penultimate symphony that runs about 50 minutes and is highly unorthodox in its form.
Shostakovich wrote his symphony in 1969, and dedicated it to the British composer Benjamin Britten.
Perhaps to avoid more confrontations with the government of the USSR and perhaps to critique global events such as war, the composer gave it a very international flavor.
Written for strings and percussion with vocal soloists, the symphony is composed in 11 movements. It is also set to poetry by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire (below top), the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca (below middle) and the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (below bottom). In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a live recording of the first movement from the work’s world premiere in Moscow in 1969.
In the late work, Shostakovich (below, in 1950) – always suspect by the Soviet state and in danger during the Stalinist Terror — seeks to portray the idea of unjust and premature death that aroused deep feelings of protest in him. Shostakovich emphasized, however, that it was not out of pessimism that he turned to the problem of mortality but in the name of life on this earth.
The concert concludes on a lighter, more upbeat note by celebrating the innocence and joy of youth in two charming suites: “Jeux d’enfants” (Children’s Games), Op. 22, by Georges Bizet and the “Petite Suite” (Little Suite) by Claude Debussy.
Tickets are $12-$80. To buy tickets and to see more information about the program and detailed biographies of the performers, go to:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-v-4/
Tags: #AndrewSewell, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BassVoice, #BenjaminBritten, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BritishComposer, #CapitolTheater, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberSymphony, #Children'sGames, #ClaudeDebussy, #CriticalAcclaim, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DmitriShostakovich, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FedericoGarciaLorca, #FrenchPoetry, #Fridaynight, #GeorgesBizet, #GermanPoetry, #GrammyAward, #GuillaumeApollinaire, #InstrumentalMusic, #Jeuxd'enfants, #JohannSebastianBach, #JosefStalin, #LittleSuite, #LiveRecording, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MaryMackenzie, #MasterworksSeason, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MoscowRussia, #MusicDirector, #OvertureCenter, #PercussionSection, #PetiteSuite, #RainerMariaRilke, #SopranoSinger, #Sovietcomposer, #SovietUnion, #SpanishPoetry, #StalinistTerror, #StringSection, #TimothyJones, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WorldPremiere, #WorldWarI, #WorldWarII, #YouTubevideo, acclaim, Andrew Sewell, appearance, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, bass, baton, Benjamin Britten, big, biographies, blog, British, Capitol Theater, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Chamber Symphony, charm, charming, children, Children's Games, Classical music, Claude Debussy, composer, Concert, conductor, critical, critically acclaimed, danger, dark, death, dedication, deep, Dmitri Shostakovich, Earth, eclectic, Facebook, Federico Garcia Lorca, feelings, form, forward, French, French poetry, Friday, game, Georges Bizet, German, German poetry, global, government, Grammy, Guillaume Apollinaire, hour, innocence, instrumental music, international, Jacob Stockinger, Jeux d'enfants, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Stalin, Joy, life, light, lighter, like, link, little, live, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mary Mackenzie, masterwork, Mead Witter School of Music, member, mortality, Moscow, Music, Music director, name, New York City, night, nominated, note, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, penultimate, percussion, performer, pessimism, poem, poet, Poetry, premature, problem, protest, Rainer Maria Rilke, recording, share, sing, singer, soprano, Soviet, Soviet Union, Spanish, Spanish poetry, Stalin, Stalinist Terror, strings, Suite, symphony, tag, terror, text, ticket, Timothy Jones, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unjust, unorthodox, upbeat, USSR, Viola, Violin, vocal music, war, WCO, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, word, world premiere, World War I, World War II, WYSO, Youth, YouTube
Classical music: We should hear more operas sung in English translation – like Wisconsin Public Radio’s live broadcast TODAY at noon of the Metropolitan Opera’s shortened version of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”
6 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear thinks that we in English-speaking countries should hear more operas sung in our native language.
Yes, sung in English – not the original Italian, French or German.
You can see how you’d like it for yourself if you listen at noon TODAY– Saturday, Dec. 29 — to Wisconsin Public Radio. That’s when you can hear the Metropolitan Opera’s live broadcast of its family-friendly production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”
The Ear did so and – except for deleting the wonderful overture — loved it.
So, apparently, did a lot others. (You can hear Nathan Gunn in a sample in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
After many years, the production has now become a holiday tradition for the Met to offer children while school is out for the holidays.
And one suspects it is developing new audiences – especially with the colorful staging and costumes by Julie Taymor, who won such acclaim for her staging of “The Lion King” on both the stage and film.
Sure, a lot of purists will probably object to substituting English for the original Italian, French, German and Russian. But it is so freeing and feels so good to understand what you are hearing without the distraction of constantly going back and forth trying to look at both the supertitles and the stage.
It also seems worth a try, given the problems that many opera companies are having competing with the “Live from the Met in HD” productions that you can see in movie theaters for far less money, and the decline of both season subscribers and single tickets.
To be honest, of course even in English you will miss some of the words. That’s the nature of singing. But excellent diction helps. And if you are lucky enough to see the production in person, supertitles in Italian, French German and Spanish and, yes, English are still provided.
It is not a completely new idea. After all, Great Britain has the English National Opera, which performs standard operas by Verdi and Puccini, Monteverdi and Handel, Mozart and Wagner, in English. So, many of the very great operas have already been translated into English and could be staged in English elsewhere.
Here are links where you can learn more about the English National Opera:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_National_Opera
Do you question how the text is hurt in translation?
It’s worth remembering that Mozart himself used the vernacular German instead of his usual opera house Italian so that he would reach the general public. Why not do the same today? Translation could make opera much more accessible, less pretentious and more populist.
The same is true for cutting the show down to 100 minutes from almost 3 hours. Let’s just admit that the attention span of the general public is much shorter than it used to be.
Orchestra and chamber music concerts as well as solo recitals are trimming their running times often down to 90 minutes or less, and meet with great approval from the public. Why not try the same approach with opera? Indeed, both the Madison Opera and the University Opera have limited but successful experiences with editing operas and using English.
It is also worth recalling that in translation we read greater words than an opera libretto. If we can translate Homer and Shakespeare, Dostoevsky and Proust, why can’t we translate opera librettos? One just has to be sure to find a great translator with a sensitive musical ear– such as American poet Richard Wilbur is with his award-winning, rhyming translations of Moliere’s comedies and Racine’s tragedies. Similarly, American poet J.D. McClatchy has done a fine job with The Met’s “Magic Flute.”
Here is a link to more information about the production, including a synopsis:
https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/the-magic-flute/
And here is a review of the Met’s “Magic Flute” by Tommasini:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/arts/music/review-mozart-magic-flute-met-opera.html
What do you think?
Should more operas be staged in English?
Should long operas be edited?
Why or why not?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AmericanPoet, #AttentionSpan, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #Children'sOpera, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #EnglishLanguage, #EnglishNationalOpera, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FrenchLanguage, #FyodorDostoevsky, #GeneralPublic, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GermanLanguage, #GreatBritain, #HolidayTradition, #ItalianLanguage, #JulieTaymor, #LiveFrom the MetinHD, #MadisonOpera, #MarcelProust, #MetropolitanOpera, #MetropolitanOperaLiveinHD, #MusicalEar, #MusicReview, #NathanGunn, #NewYorkCity, #OperaMusic, #OperaReview, #RichardWilbur, #RussianLanguage, #SatelliteBroadcast, #SingleTickets, #SpanishLanguage, #TheEar, #TheLIonKing, #TheMagicFlute, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #UnitedKingdom, #UnitedStates, #UniversityOpera, #VocalMusic, #WilliamShakespeare, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, abridge, abridged, accessible, American, Arts, attention span, award, award-winning, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, Broadcast, Chamber music, children, cinema, Classical music, colorful, comedies, comedy, composer, costumes, cut, diction, distraction, Dostoevsky, Early music, edit, England, English language, English National Opera, Facebook, family-friendly, feel, film, film'theater', forward, French, George Frideric Handel, German, Great Britain, Handel, hear, holiday tradition, Homer, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, Julie Taymor, language, like, link, live, Live From The Met in HD, look, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Marcel Proust, Metropolitan Opera, Moliere, money, Monteverdi, movie, Music, music review, musical ear, Nathan Gunn, New York City, New York Times, NPR, opera, Opera review, Orchestra, Overture, poet, Poetry, popular, populist, post, posting, pretentious, problem, production, Proust, public, Racine, Radio, read, recital, rhyme, Richard Wilbur, Russian, Saturday, school, Shakespeare, share, shorten, sing, singer, Singing, single tickets, Spanish, stage, staging, students, subscribers, sung, supertitles, tag, The Ear, The Lion King, the Met, theatre, today, tragedies, tragedy, translation, trouble, UK, understand, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, vernacular, version, vocal music, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Classical music: This Saturday the acclaimed German tenor Jonas Kaufmann returns to the Metropolitan Opera in Puccini’s “Girl of the Golden West. It’s the second “Live from The Met in HD” production this season
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE”) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
This Saturday, Oct. 27, the second production of this season’s “Live From the Met” in HD series will be broadcast worldwide: It is Puccini’s “La Fanciulla del West” (Girl of the Golden West), his last work that, for some reason, has never achieved the popularity of “La Boheme,” “Tosca,” “Madama Butterfly” and “Turandot.”
The production features acclaimed superstar German tenor Jonas Kaufmann (below top), who is returning to the Met stage after four years. Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek (below bottom) plays the gun-slinging title role.
The hi-definition broadcast of a live performance from the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City starts at 11:55 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m. with two intermissions.
The encore showings are next Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The opera will be sung in Italian with supertitles in English, German, Spanish and Italian. (You can see the trailer preview in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Tickets are for Saturday broadcasts are $24 for adults and $22 for seniors and children under 13. For encore showings, all tickets are $18.
The cinemas where the opera can be screened are two Marcus Cinemas: the Point Cinema on the west side of Madison (608 833-3980) and the Palace Cinema (608 242-2100) in Sun Prairie.
Here is a link to the Marcus website for addresses and more information. You can also use them to purchase tickets:
http://www.marcustheatres.com/movies/met-aida-live
Here is a link to the Metropolitan Opera’s web site where you can find the titles, dates, casts, production information and video clips of all 10 productions this season, which includes operas by Bizet, Wagner, Donizetti, Saint-Saens, Puccini, Cilea and Poulenc plus a new work, “Marnie,” by Nico Muhly:
https://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/
Here is a review from The New York Times, which right now has a technical glitch that makes loading it difficult (the Times said the problem should be fixed soon):
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/arts/music/review-jonas-kaufmann-met-opera-puccini-fanciulla.html
And here is a more positive review from Opera Wire:
http://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-2018-19-review-la-fanciulla-del-west-jonas-kaufmann-edition/
Here is a link to a synopsis and cast list:
Here is a link to other information about the production of “Girl of the Golden West,” including photos and audiovisual clips:
https://www.metopera.org/season/2018-19-season/la-fanciulla-del-west/
And here is a Wikipedia history of the broadcast series that gives you more information about how many cinemas it uses, the size of the worldwide audience – now including Russia, China and Israel — and how much money it makes for The Met.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Opera_Live_in_HD
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #ConcertSeason, #EnglishLanguage, #Eva-MariaWestbroek, #FacebookPost, #FrancisPoulenc, #GaetanoDonizetti, #GeorgesBizet, #GermanLanguage, #GiacomoPuccini, #GirloftheGoldenWest, #Hi-Definition, #ItalianLanguage, #JonasKaufmann, #LaBoheme, #LaFanciulladelWest, #LiveFromtheMetinHD, #MadamaButterfly, #MarcusTheatres, #MetropolitanOpera, #MetropolitanOperaLiveinHD, #MusicReview, #NewYorkCity, #NicoMuhly, #OperaCast, #OperaMusic, #OperaWire, #PalaceCinema, #PointCinema, #RichardWagner, #SpanishLanguage, #SunPrairieWisconsin, #SuperstarTenor, #TechnicalGlitch, #TheMet, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheWest, #TitleRole, #Wikipediaentry, #YouTubevideo, admission, adult, Arts, Baroque, Bizet, Broadcast, cast, Cello, children, China, choral music, Cilea, cinemas, Classical music, composer, date, Donizetti, encore, English, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Facebook, fix, Francis Poulenc, German, Girl of the Golden West, gun, hi def, History, intermission, Israel, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, Jonas Kaufmann, La bohème, La Fanciulla del West, Live From The Met in HD, Madama Butterfly, Madison, Marcus Theatres, Metropolitan Opera, Music, music review, new, New York City, New York Times, Nico Muhly, notes, opera, Opera Wire, Orchestra, Palace Cinema, performer, Point Cinema, Poulenc, problem, production, Puccini, Russia, Saint-Saens, Saturday, Season, senior, showing, singer, Singing, soprano, Spanish, stage, star, stars, Sun Prairie, superstar, synopsis, tenor, the Met, The New York Times, title, title role, Tosca, Turandot, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wagner, web site, Website, Wednesday, west, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, worldwide, YouTube
Classical music: The FREE one-hour, monthly midday concert series “Just Bach” debuts with excellent playing and outstanding singing as well as practical problems such as downtown parking and timing
6 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like It”) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
Marika Fischer Hoyt is becoming ever more ubiquitous, not only as a performing violist in orchestral, string quartet and period-instrument ensembles, but also as organizer of musical activities, especially as devoted to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (below).
Hoyt (below) has already revived the annual “Bach around the Clock” spectacular each spring to mark Bach’s birthday, but now she has established a monthly series of FREE midday concerts at Luther Memorial Church called “Just Bach.”
The first of this series was held last Thursday afternoon, Sept. 27, at 1 p.m. in the church sanctuary at 1021 University Avenue. Ten musicians participated.
The singers were UW-Madison alumna Sarah Brailey, soprano (below); mezzo-soprano Cheryl Bensman Rowe; tenor Wesley Dunnagan; UW-Madison bass-baritone Paul Rowe.
The players were Kangwon Lee Kim and Leanne League, violins; Fischer Hoyt, viola; James Waldo, cello; and Luke Conklin, oboe. All played on period instruments, with Mark Brampton Smith playing the organ.
The hour-long program offered Bach’s “Little” Organ Fugue in G minor, and two full cantatas: BWV 165, “O heiliges Geist- und Wasserbad” (O Bath of Holy Spirit and Water) for Trinity, and BWV 32, “Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen” (Dearest Jesus, My Desire), a dialogue cantata. (You can hear the opening aria of Cantata BWV 32 in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Both set the type of Pietistic Lutheran German texts standard for such church compositions of the day, and each built around pairs of arias and recitatives for different solo singers.
BWV 32, which adds an oboist (below, second from right) to the string players in some of the movements, is particularly interesting in representing a series of exchanges between the Soul (Seele) and Jesus Himself, culminating in direct duos between them.
Each cantata ends with a harmonization of a traditional Lutheran chorale. In the spirit of the program’s venue, the audience was asked to sing them, in German, from prepared sheets. In these, and in an English hymn from this church’s hymnal, the audience was prepped by Brailey, who served as general hostess.
In purely musical terms, the performances were really excellent, with both vocalists and instrumental players of established talents. And certainly the very atmosphere of a church setting evoked the composer’s original purposes. (The church’s ample acoustics enriched the musical performances, though they badly undermined spoken material on the microphone.)
Previously, the Madison Bach Musicians has been a rare group giving us specimens of the generally neglected cantatas, but now this “Just Bach” series will augment the works’ availability.
Subsequent concerts in this series will be switched to 1 p.m. on WEDNESDAY afternoons on Oct. 31, Nov. 28 and Dec. 12.
For more background, including the addresses of Facebook and Instagram sites of “Just Bach,” go to:
But prospective attendees should be warned of practical problems. The early afternoon time is difficult for most people, there is no parking facility, and access to the venue will likely be limited to those already in the vicinity.
For all that, I reckoned some 40 or so people in the audience – with no one eating lunch, even thought that is permitted. So artistic merits might still surmount obstacles.
Tags: #AmericanRecordGuide, #AncoraStringQuartet, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachCantata, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ContrapuntalMusic, #EmeritusProfessor, #FacebookPost, #GermanLanguage, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #HolyTrinity, #InstagramVideo, #InstrumentalPlayer, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnW.Barker, #JustBach, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MedievalHistory, #MusicCritic, #OrchestralMusic, #OrchestraPlayer, #OrganFugue, #OrganMusic, #PaulRowe, #PeriodInstrument, #SacredMusic, #SarahBrailey, #StringQuartet, #SundayMorning, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolaMusic, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, acoustic, activity, alumna, American Record Guide, Ancora String Quartet, aria, Arts, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, baritone, Baroque, bass, bass-baritone, birthday, blog, Cantata, Cello, Chamber music, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, choral music, Chorale, Christian, church, Classical music, composer, Concert, counterpoint, desire, devoted, dialogue, Early music, earlymusic, emeritus professor, English, Facebook, fugue, German, graduate, harmony, historically informed performance practices, History, holy, hymn, hymnal, Instagram, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, John W. Barker, Just Bach, language, lecture, Luther, Luther Memorial Church, Lutheranism, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marika Fischer Hoyt, Mezzo-soprano, microphone, Midday, month, monthly, morning, Music, New York City, Oboe, Orchestra, organ, organize, parking, Paul Rowe, performance, period instruments, photo, photography, Pietism, piety, practical, problem, recitative, sacred, sacred music, sanctuary, Sarah Brailey, series, singer, solo, soprano, soul, spirit, Spring, String quartet, Sunday, tenor, text, time, timing, Trinity, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, violist, vocal music, vocalist, Wisconsin, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: The Token Creek Festival will “harvest” gardens of music from next Saturday through Sept. 2
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
The summer season for classical music in Madison has gotten busier and busier. But the summer still ends on the same high note — the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival that is co-directed by John Harbison and Rose Mary Harbison.
Here is the announcement about this year’s festival, the 29th, that begins this coming weekend:
“The late-summer garden inspires the 2018 season theme of “Harvest” at this year’s Token Creek Chamber Music Festival.
“Both garden and festival share much in common: risk, patience, experimentation, disappointment, and finally amazement that a piece —whether a piece of ground or a piece of music — is capable of such nourishment, abundance and variety.
“In the musicians’ garden, with its unpredictability and surprise, there is always the hope of reducing the variables — but they persist, and the richness of choice, the endlessness of the resources we inherit drive us to continue to create.
“One of the advantages of our season title is that it implies a summing up, a reaping of things planted, but of a kind that can occur each year,” writes co-artistic director and composer John Harbison (below). “Each planting retains certain elements and adjusts others with the hope of increased productivity. But so many of the adjustments made in hope of improvement do not work, but create new problems, require new approaches. What a fine analogy for the making of art.”
Here are this year’s Concert Programs. Please note something new this year: All weekend concerts start at 4 p.m.
Program I: ROOTS – Music of Bach and Primosch. On Saturday, Aug. 25, at 4 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 26, at 4 p.m.
“Continuing our ongoing exploration of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (below top) in cantatas and instrumental works, and its reflection in the music of James Primosch (below bottom), one of the few composers in our time able to grasp both the possibilities and responsibilities available in sacred music in a tradition inherited from Bach.”
Program II: NEW GROWTH – The Kepler Quartet (below, with composer Ben Johnston, and playing Johnston’s String Quartet No. 7 in the YouTube video at the bottom) on Wednesday, Aug. 29, at 7:30 p.m.
“A recital of beautifully alluring micro-tonal music “in between the notes.” The attractive and intelligible musical surface, and our experience hearing it, belies the at-times complex compositional methods.
“We are impressed by the pure pleasure of hearing tones combining differently but convincingly. The recital will be augmented with a demonstration and discussion by the Keplers.
Works are by Ben Johnston, Stefano Scodanibbio (below top), Henry Cowell (below middle) and Harry Partch (below bottom).”
Program III: CORNUCOPIA – Saturday, Sept. 1, at 4 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 2, at 4 p.m.
“Schumann’s beloved and timeless song cycle “Dichterliebe” (A Poet’s Love) with tenor Frank Kelley (below) and his impassioned, enigmatic and exuberant Piano Trio in D minor anchor this program.
“The program also includes the Violin Sonata in G Major, K. 301, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Piano Sonata in E Major by Franz Joseph Haydn sonatas and the world premiere of John Harbison’s new song cycle, “In Early Evening,” to poems by Louise Gluck.”
The ARTISTS are Mark Bridges, cello; Laura Burns, violin; Ryne Cherry, baritone; Ross Gilliland, bass; John Harbison, portative organ and piano; Rose Mary Harbison, violin; Frank Kelley, tenor; The Kepler Quartet; Karl Lavine, cello; Sharan Leventhal, violin; Jennifer Paulson, viola; James Primosch, piano; Brek Renzelman, viola; Eric Segnitz, violin; Janice Weber, piano; and Sarah Yanovitch, soprano.
Performances take place in the Festival Barn (below top and bottom), on Highway 19 near the hamlet of Token Creek (10 minutes north of Madison, near Sun Prairie).
The charming and rustic venue — indoors and air-conditioned, with modern comforts — is invitingly small; early reservations are recommended, and casual dress is suggested. Ample parking is available.
Tickets are $12-$32, and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/token-creek-festival-2018-harvest-tickets-47217166817
For more information about the performers and specific works on programs, call (608) 241-2525 or go to www.tokencreekfestival.org
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The Token Creek Festival has been called “ferociously interesting and important, an ideal musical experience, a treasure nestled in the heart of Wisconsin cornfields.” (Photo below is by Jess Anderson.)
“Now in its 29th season, this late-summer series near Madison is known for its artistic excellence, diverse and imaginative programming; a deep engagement with the audience; and a surprising, enchanting and intimate performance venue in a comfortable refurbished barn.”
Tags: #AirConditioning, #APoet'sLove, #APoet'sLoves, #ArtisticDirector, #Bassmusic, #BenJohnston, #CelloMusic, #ChamberEnsemble, #ChamberMusic, #CreatingArt, #DMinor, #FrankKelley, #FranzJosephHaydn, #HarryPartch, #HenryCowell, #HighNote, #InstrumentalMusic, #JamesPrimosch, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #KeplerQuartet, #LateSummer, #LivingComposer, #MicroTonalMusic, #NewMusic, #PianoSonata, #PianoTrio, #PieceofMusic, #PortativeOrgan, #RobertSchumann, #RoseMaryHarbison, #SacredMusic, #SongCycle, #StefanoScodanibbio, #StringQuartet, #SummerGarden, #SummerSeason, #SunPrairie, #TokenCreek, #TokenCreekChamberMusicFestival, #TokenCreekFestival, #ViolinMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, A Poet's Love, A Poet's Loves, abundance, afternoon, air conditioning, amazement, Art, Arts, August, Bach, baritone, barn, Baroque, Ben Johnston, Cantata, Cello, Chamber music, charm, charming, choice, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, Compact Disc, complex, composer, Composition, cornfield, create, creating art, Creation, D minor, demonstration, Dichterliebe, discussion, elements, enchanting, experience, experiment, experimentation, festival, Frank Kelley, Franz Joseph Haydn, Garden, ground, grou[, growth, harvest, Henry Cowell, hope, indoors, instrumental, intimate, Jacob Stockinger, James Primosch, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Harbison, Kepler Quartet, late summer, Living composer, living composers, Louise Gluck, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, making, method, micro-tonal, microtonality, Mozart, Music, Musician, new, New Music, night, note, nourishment, patience, performance, Piano, Piano sonata, Piano Trio, piece, planting, poem, Poetry, possibility, premiere, problem, reaping, resources, responsibility, risk, Robert Schumann, roots, Rose Mary Harbison, rustic, sacred, sacred music, Saturday, September, singer, Singing, Sonata, soprano, Stefano Scodanibbio, String quartet, summer, Sun Prairie, Sunday, surpising, tenor, theme, ticket, Token Creek, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Token Creek Festival, tradition, treasure, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unpredictability, unpredictable, variables, variety, venue, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wednesday, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, works, world, world premiere, YouTube
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: With live concerts cancelled, what will you do for music? The Ear has some suggestions but wants to hear your ideas
6 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
ALERT 1: It’s official. The Madison Symphony Orchestra has cancelled its performances of Dvorak’s Requiem on April 3, 4 and 5. Sometime this week, according to the MSO website, the administration will inform ticket holders about what they can do.
ALERT 2: The Mosaic Chamber Players have cancelled their performance of Beethoven Piano Trios on March 21 at the First Unitarian Society of Madison.
By Jacob Stockinger
Now that live concerts and performances have been cancelled for the near future – thanks to the threat of the pandemic of the coronavirus and COVID-19 — music-lovers are faced with a problem:
What will we – especially those of us who are isolated at home for long periods of time — do to continue to listen to music?
Perhaps you have a large CD collection you can turn to. Or perhaps you subscribe to a streaming service such as Apple Music, SoundCloud, Amazon Music or another one.
Don’t forget local sources such as Wisconsin Public Radio and WORT-FM 89.9, both of which generously broadcast classical music, from the Renaissance to contemporary music, and often feature local performers.
Here is a link to Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR): https://www.wpr.org
Here is a link to WORT 88.9 FM: https://www.wortfm.org
There are also many other choices.
Happily, there is YouTube with its mammoth collection of free musical performances and videos. You can surf YouTube for new music and classic music, contemporary performers and historic performers, excerpts and complete works.
Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com
Those who are students or amateurs might use the time to sing – like those marvelous, uplifting Italians making music from their balconies during the crisis – or practice and play an instrument at home.
But other organizations – solo performers, chamber music ensembles, symphony orchestras, opera houses – are also trying to meet the challenge by providing FREE public access to their archives.
And it’s a good time for that.
Music can bring us together in this crisis.
Music can help us relax, and fight against the current panic and anxiety.
It’s also a good time to have a music project. Maybe you want to explore all the many symphonies or string quartets of Haydn, or perhaps the 550 keyboard sonatas by Scarlatti, or perhaps the many, many songs of Franz Schubert.
Here are some suggestions offered as possible guidance:
Here is what critics for The New York Times, including senior critic Anthony Tommasini (below) who likes Van Cliburn playing a Rachmaninoff concerto, will do: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/arts/music/coronavirus-classical-music.html
If you are an opera lover, you might want to know that, starting today, the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City will be streaming for FREE a different opera every day or night.
The productions are video recordings of operas that have been broadcast over past years in the “Live in HD” program. The titles are listed by the week and here is a link:
https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-to-offer-up-nightly-met-opera-streams/
If you like orchestral music, it is hard to beat the Berlin Philharmonic – considered by many critics to be the best symphony orchestra in the world — which is also opening up its archives for FREE.
Here is a background story with a link: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/coronavirus-concerts-the-music-world-contends-with-the-pandemic
Here is another link, from Norman Lebrecht’s blog “Slipped Disc,” to the Berlin Philharmonic along with some other suggestions, including the Vienna State Opera: https://slippedisc.com/2020/03/your-guide-to-the-new-world-of-free-streaming/
And if you like chamber music, you can’t beat the FREE performances being offered by the acclaimed Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, some of whom recently performed in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater and with the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra: https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/watch-and-listen/
But what about you?
What will you listen to?
Where will you go to find classical music to listen to?
Do you have certain projects, perhaps even one to recommend?
How will you cope with the absence of live concerts?
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #AmazonMusic, #AnthonyTommasini, #AntoninDvorak, #AppleMusic, #BaroqueMusic, #BerlinGermany, #BerlinPhilharmonic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicSocietyofLIncolnCenter, #ChoralMusic, #ClassicMusic, #CompactDisc, #ContemporaryMusic, #COVID-19, #DomenicoScarlatti, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #HistoricRecording, #HomeWebsite, #JacobStockinger, #KeyboardSonata, #LincolnCenter, #LiveConcert, #LiveinHD, #LiveMusic, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MetropolitanOpera, #MosaicChamberPlayers, #MusicCritic, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NormanLebrecht, #OperaAria, #OperaHouse, #OperaLover, #OperaWire, #OrchestralMusic, #PianoTrio, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #SlippedDisc, #StreamingService, #StringQuartet, #SymphonyOrchestra, #TheEar, #TheMet, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TicketHolder, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VanCliburn, #ViennaAustria, #ViennaStateOpera, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, absence, access, administration, amateur, Amazon Music, amazon.com, Anthony Tommasini, Antonín Dvořák, anxiety, Apple, Apple Music, archive, Arts, audience, balcony, Baroque, Baroque music, Beethoven, Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic, blog, Broadcast, cancel, CD, cellist, Cello, challenge, Chamber music, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, choral music, classic, Classical, Classical music, classicalmusic, Cliburn, collection, comment, Compact Disc, complete, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, contemporary, cope, coronavirus, crisis, critic, day, Domenico Scarlatti, Dvorak, Early music, ensemble, excerpt, Facebook, fear, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, free, future, generous, Haydn, HD, hear, historic, Home, home website, idea, instruments, isolation, Italians, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Keyboard, keyboard sonata, like, LIncoln Center, link, listen, live concert, Live in HD, live music, long, lover, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Baroque Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, marvelous, Mead Witter School of Music, Metropolitan Opera, Mosaic Chamber Players, Mozart, MSO, Music, music critic, music lover, New Music, New York City, night, Norman Lebrecht, official, opera, Opera house, Orchestra, orchestral music, Overture Center, pandemic, panic, perform, performer, period, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, play, post, posting, practice, problem, production, project, provide, public, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Radio, recommend, recording, Recordings, relx, Renaissance, Requiem, Scarlatti, Schubert, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, share, sing, Singing, Slipped Disc, solo, Sonata, song, SoundCloud, state, streaming, Streaming media, String quartet, Student, subscribers, surf, symphony, symphony orchestra, tag, The Ear, the Met, The New York Times, The New Yorker, threat, ticket holder, time, title, today, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, uplifting, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, Van Cliburn, video, Vienna, Vienna State Opera, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Website, week, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, works, world, worry, WORT-FM 89.9, year, you, your, YouTube