The Well-Tempered Ear

Meet and hear piano phenom Yunchan Lim

April 24, 2024
Leave a Comment

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

He is looks like a young, mop-topped Beatle, but he plays the piano with the lyricism of Arthur Rubinstein and the technical virtuosity of Vladimir Horowitz or Maurizio Pollini.  

He is the South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim (seen below, during his winning performances at the last Van Cliburn Competition two years ago). If you haven’t yet heard of him or listened to him, you really  should. Otherwise you are missing out of a phenomenal talent who is just 20 years old and offer sublimely beautiful interpretations.

Just listen to his superb and subtle performance of the “Aeolian Harp” etude, Op. 25, No. 1, by Chopin in the YouTube video  at the bottom.

Recently, the British radio classical music radio station Classic FM offered a complete primer on Lim. It includes his personal and professional background and history as well as links to many of his special performances that have been acclaimed by his fellow musicians, the critics and the public.

Here is a link:

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/piano/yunchan-lim-age-albums-performances-competition

Do you know about Yunchan Lim?

Have you heard his playing?

What do you think of him?

The Ear wants to hear.


Posted in Classical music
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

From beginner to maestro — for the Final Forte, John DeMain reflects on a life in music

March 5, 2024
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.

By Jacob Stockinger

This Wednesday night, March 6 at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall, is the “Final Forte” — the annual high school concerto competition with the Madison Symphony Orchestra under its longtime music director and conductor John DeMain (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers).

You can attend the concert in person for FREE or watch it live on PBS Wisconsin or listen to it live on Wisconsin Public Radio.

For more details, go online to: https://madisonsymphony.org/education-community/education-programs/young-artist-competitions/the-final-forte/

As usual you can see and hear summary biographies of and impressive interviews with this year’s four teenage participants (below, in a photo by James Gill) and what they think of the competition. You can also read about the three judges and about past compeiutitons and the winners.

But this year, DeMain opened up about himself to PBS Wisconsin. He talks about why he likes and looks forward to directing the performances by young artists and what he thinks about starting a career in music.

DeMain — who will retire at the end of next season — also draws on his own award-winning career from his first piano lessons though his education at the Juilliard School, his lessons with Leonard Bernstein and his 30-year tenure at the MSO.

Trust The Ear — it is an engaging interview well worth reading for many reasons.

Here is a link to that interview:

Do you anything to say about how DeMain sees working with and encouraging young artists?

About his own career?

The Ear wants to hear.


Is the math-music link real?

February 27, 2024
4 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

The blog post before the last one was about solving the “beautiful mathematics” in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Here is a link: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2024/02/18/solving-the-beautiful-math-in-bach/

But does a link between math and music really exist?

And if such a link does exist, how strong is it?

Can one discipline be used to teach the other?

Many readers have no doubt heard of how devoted Albert Einstein (below) was to his violin, even playing string quartets at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. He said he thought about physics in musical terms and found his greatest joy in music. He also played duets with physicist Max Planck, who was an accomplished pianist as were Werner Heisenberg and Edward Teller. 

Dr. Francis Collins, the well-known geneticist and former head of the National Institutes for Health, is known for playing the guitar. As the 2020 winner of the Templeton Prize for scientific and spiritual curiosity, Collins accompanies  superstar soprano Renée Fleming in the Stephen Foster song “Hard Times, Come Again No More” in the YouTube video at the button.)

Locally, the late pioneering University of Wisconsin-Madison geneticist Jim Crow (below) played the viola, even sitting in with the Pro Arte Quartet.

The Ear also knows of many middle schoolers, high schoolers and UW students, especially undergraduates, who pursue dual majors in music and math, science or medicine — often to pursue a more practical and better paying career than being a professional musician.

Personal anecdotes can be dramatic and convincing.

But anecdotes and evidence are not the same thing.

Here is a more formal study:

https://www.iflscience.com/is-there-really-a-link-between-math-skills-and-musical-skills-73069

What do you think?

Are math and music linked?

Do you know of other famous examples?

What has been your own experience with math and music?

If you are a music, math or science teacher, have you noticed such a link among your students?

What do students themselves — for example, those in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) — say about such a math-music link?

The Ear wants to hear.


This year’s Handel Aria Competition is now available on YouTube 

September 20, 2023
Leave a Comment

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

This summer marked the 10th anniversary of the Handel Aria Competition.

From modest beginnings, the competition — founded by local business owners and longtime classical music supporters Orange and Dean Schroeder — has grown into an international professional-level event. For 2023, more than 125 singers from around the world applied and those selected as finalists received a travel allowance.

Now with former first-prize winner and Grammy-winning soprano Sarah Brailey as its artistic director, the competition took place on Aug. 18 in the historic Grace Episcopal Church on the Capitol Square. (Photographs are by Lewis Photography.)

The competition, where singers are accompanied by the early-music, period-instrument ensemble Madison Bach Musicians (below, with soprano Olivia Doig) under Trevor Stephenson at the harpsichord, has also had an impact on the local scene.

You can see the participants’ names and backgrounds as well as bios of\ the judges, along with the history of the competition, at: https://handelariacompetition.org/

The Ear has learned that next year’s competition will see a return to the high school version of the competition, which was suspended during the covid pandemic along with the competition itself.

The Handel Aria Competition is working with Mike Ross and  the Madison Youth Choirs to bring back the competition’s High School Singers Showcase. The 2024 high school event will be a master class open to the public on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 24, 2024 at the MYArts building, 1055 E. Mifflin St. (The website is madisonyoutharts.org)

Orange Schroeder, who is pleased by and proud of the competition over its 10 years, writes:

Emily Donato, who took third prize last year, won first prize this year. All five of our finalists (below with Donato in the center), were great! You can judge for yourself now that all their performances are on YouTube.

“We were down from seven finalists due to covid and other unforeseen circumstances, but it was still a full evening of amazing performances.

“Our two tenors took second prize (Andrew Reardon Brown, far right) and third prize (Fran Daniel Laucerica, second from right). Coincidentally they both sang the same aria from “Messiah” as their second piece, but their performances were different in the very way that Handel hoped singers would vary his works.

“The PDF of the program in on our home page. Chea Kang is still listed but was unable to come.”

Here is a link to the 1 hour, 11-minute competition concert on the YouTube channel, where you can also watch and listen to full performances from the past decade of the Handel Aria Competition and decide whether you agree with the judges:

 


Get a peek at “Maestro” — the upcoming biopic about Leonard Bernstein in love

August 19, 2023
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.

By Jacob Stockinger

It sure is shaping up as a year for movies about symphony orchestra conductors.

First there was the film “Tár” — now playing on Amazon Prime — about a woman composer-conductor, played by Cate Blanchett, that won a Golden Globe, BAFTA  and Critics Choice awards but has also been harshly questioned and criticized as unfactual, biased, unfair.

Also in the works is a much-anticipated documentary about conductor Marin Alsop — a student and protegee of Leonard Bernstein (below) who became the first globally know female conductor and is reportedly the inspiration for “Tár.” (John DeMain, the music director and conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, also worked with Bernstein.)

And now there is the movie “Maestro” about the biggest conductor of them all, the larger-than-life Leonard Bernstein (below, in a photo by Jack Mitchell).

The official trailer-teaser for the movie has just been released. You can get a sneak peek at it in the YouTube video at the bottom.

The movie is a biopic of the famously popular American conductor, composer, pianist and educator and his wife, the Chilean-Costa Rican actress and social activist Felicia Montealegre (played by Carey Mulligan), shown with Lenny below in s photo from The Sun.

The clip is only about 1-½ minutes long. But even that is enough to prove telling in many ways.

Bernstein is played by actor Bradley Cooper, who also wrote and directed the film, which is being produced by cinema titan Martin Scorsese — a hard-to-beat pedigree when it comes to backers.

The Ear also finds that Cooper has an uncanny resemblance to Lenny not only in how he looks — even with the prosthetic nose that some criticize but Bernstein’s children defend. He also speaks like Lenny, laughs like Lenny, smokes like Lenny and conducts like Lenny, who was perhaps the most documented figures ever to exist in classical music.

And of course to express the romantic yearning and hints of tragedy the soundtrack relies heavily the famous Adagietto movement from Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, which was used decades ago for similar reasons in the movie version of Thomas Mann’s novella “Death in Venice.” 

No surprise there. Mahler and Bernstein fans know that the rediscovery of Mahler’s music in the mid-20th century was championed and led by Bernstein, who succeeded in making the neglected Mahler mainstream. So the music is more than appropriate in carping Bernstein’s passionate view of life and music.

One puzzling feature is that none of the preview materials The Ear has seen mentions Bernstein’s bisexuality. It led to many personal and professional conflicts and dramatic moments throughout their lives, and one must assume that it is not avoided in the movie.

Maybe they just don’t want too give away a major plot point.

But it makes The Ear wonder if the current cultural hostility to things LGBTQ+ is leading the moviemakers to back away from a reveal that comes too early and gives the hateful right-wing, fact-denying homophobes more time to martial their forces for a harmful boycott like they did with Bud Light beer and Target’s collection of Pride Month clothing. 

We will soon see as the unveiling schedule unfolds. 

On Sept. 2 “Maestro” makes its debut at the 80th Venice Film Festival, where critics, actors and industry people will get a first view.

The movie hits selected cinemas on Nov. 22.

Finally, it will premiere via streaming on Netflix on Dec. 22.

It should be fun — and perhaps alarming — to follow it as its audience grows.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry for the film. It includes background and the current controversy about the “Jewface” stereotypes created by Cooper using a prosthetic nose. It will be updated often, one expects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maestro_(2023_film)

What do you think about Bernstein and the biopic from what you have seen and heard?

What do you think of the trailer-teaser?

Do you plan to see the film?

The Ear wants to hear


Posted in Classical music
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Do classical music streaming services have too many flaws?

August 4, 2023
2 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

Are classical music streaming services a good development and a good deal? A good way to listen to classical music? Recommended for listeners and performers?

Not according to Alex Ross (below).

But then his standards may not be yours.

Ross is the prize-winning music critic for The New Yorker magazine. He may be the most respected and familiar name in classical music criticism in the U.S., perhaps even the world.

Ross has been undertaking a pretty exhaustive comparison of various classical music streaming services such as Apple Music and Apple Music Classical; Idagio; Spotify; Presto Music; and Qobuz.

While he finds some things to praise, and finds some improvements have been made, he also finds that all of the services come up short and distort the listening experience. (Illustration for The New Yorker by Lan Truong.)

Of course, one might argue that a professional critic makes different demands and has more specific, rarified needs than most classic music fans.

He is more mainstream and convincing with his disapproving comments about the way such streaming services cheat performers out of earning a livelihood.

The Ear also wondered if Ross would consider serving as an advisor or consultant to Apple Music or any off the other classical streaming services.

Decide for yourself.

Here is a link to Alex Ross’ comparative report: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/apple-again-fails-to-save-classical-music

Do you use a classical music streaming service?

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with it?

Why?

How could it improve?

The Ear wants to hear.


The new Apple Music Classical app is now available for Android users

June 3, 2023
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.

By Jacob Stockinger

The new Apple Music Classical app (logo is below) — before now available exclusively for Apple Music subscribers and the Apple OS operating system — is now available for Android operating systems and PCs through the Google Play store.

The streaming app, which costs about $10 a month (you need just a subscription to one of the music apps to get both), has been generally praised and highly rated by both professional critics and ordinary consumers. Most point out the wide variety of repertoire, performers and recordings, both current and historic or out-of-print; the quality of the sound; and the use of background documents about the music, the composers and the performers.

Here are links to two stories about Apple Music Classical for Android.

The first one, from TechCrunch, is the more general and comprehensive article.

The second story, briefer and written more for audiophiles, is from The Verge and contains more specific background information and technical specifications.

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2023%2F05%2F30%2Fapple-music-classical-is-now-available-on-android%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C8c1fcb276cd04ef93b1e08db61e1f5cb%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638211395333941896%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ju4MOSG9gJNCHFG3pB0%2F%2FgNIU%2BxUm7%2FNdKj8GpZzSA0%3D&reserved=0

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2023%2F5%2F30%2F23742365%2Fapple-classical-music-app-android&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cea7895fc09c1432e646b08db61e1e2dc%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638211395026618829%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=bJXDA44Y0uENanEZhmmAZse6%2FY0eGzJqbpnjux%2BHzHI%3D&reserved=0

The Ear uses both  Apple Music and  Apple Music Classical, and will share his reactions to them in a future posting.

In the meantime, he wants to know:

Do you subscribe to Apple Music or Apple Music Classical?

Do you like it?

Dislike it?

Why?

Would you recommend Apple Music Classical or Apple Music to other listeners?

What do you think of other classical music apps such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, Idagio, Presto — if you use them?

The Ear wants to hear.


Meet the Met’s’Mighty Mouse’ — Yannick Nézet-Ségiun

May 20, 2023
Leave a Comment

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

You might think you already know the famous, high-profile musician and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin (below).

The Ear certainly did.

But then I saw the profile and comprehensive interview with the 48-year-old on CBS’ “60 Minutes” last Sunday. And I learned many new things, including how enjoyable and humorous the native French-Canadian can be as well as how he plans to breathe new life and bring new audience into the Met.

I learned how extremely busy he is being the music director of three major artistic organizations: the Metropolitan Opera in New York; the Philadelphia Orchestra; and the Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal. In addition, he is a prolific recording artist.

I also learned much about his personal life (below, on vacation) and his professional career. You meet his parents and his longtime violist husband.

Not for nothing has the renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato affectionately dubbed this openly gay man with the nickname of the cartoon character Mighty Mouse (below) because of his small size but muscular physique, his cheerful and expressive face, and his ambitious rescue mission as the third music director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Here is a link to the wide-ranging and candid interview, both amusingly serious and seriously amusing, which you can read it or watch and listen to it:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fconductor-yannick-nezet-seguin-wants-to-open-world-of-classical-music-opera-to-new-audiences-60-minutes-transcript-2023-05-14%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C6f0a0db68fb8435a0b5e08db554fba32%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638197573130968583%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=INvy0cRdPFLMJZXngDkYvrfh1LHKl0bCGe3Q2%2BAqzT8%3D&reserved=0

What do you think of Yannick Nézet-Séguin and his plans to revitalize the Metropolitan Opera with contemporary works and younger audiences?

What did you think of the “60 Minutes” interview?

The Ear wants to hear.


ALL Bach Around the Clock 2023 concerts are now online. Here are the links and some stats

April 4, 2023
1 Comment

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 especially new SUBSCRIBERS to the blog.

By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following news from Bach Around the Clock 2023 (BATC). Please note that there is no time limit or expiration date on viewing and listening to the online postings (see the example video of a string quartet arrangement from “The Art of Fugue” at the bottom):

BATC 2023 Festival video recordings are now available at BachClock.com and on YouTube

BATC 2023 recordings have been organized into playlists: Guest Artist Lawrence Quinnett; String SoloistsKeyboard soloistsEnsembles and StudiosFestival FinaleVirtual Performances

Recordings for Just Bach’s Concert and Bach on Marimba lecture/performance are also available.

Thank you to BATC 2023 performers! True to our mission, Bach Around The Clock welcomed the participation of over 115 performers (below in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church), including amateurs and professionals of all ages and experience levels, sharing their love of Bach’s music with the community.

85 musicians performed at St. Andrew’s on Saturday, March 11.
30 musicians submitted recordings from their homes and studios.
28 hours of Bach Around The Clock performances are available.

Thank you to our audience members (below in Grace Episcopal Church)! In-person and online — BATC 2023 performances have been enjoyed by record-setting numbers of Bach enthusiasts.

Thank you to our BATC Donors, acknowledged here. With the generous support of over 40 BATC fans and business sponsors, we achieved our fundraising goal of covering all 2023 festival expenses! New contributions will help us with planning for the future of Bach Around The Clock.

New contributions will help us with planning for the future of Bach Around The Clock.

You can donate here: https://bachclock.com/donate


Bach Around the Clock 2023 is now streaming live and virtual performances

March 19, 2023
Leave a Comment

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

Perhaps you’ll recall the cold weather and heavy snow that greeted the seventh annual celebration of Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday with — Bach Around the Clock — in Madison a few weeks ago.

The bad winter weather even caused performances to be cancelled during the March 8-12 event.

But the free and public festival was planned to be both live and virtual, and now BATC has started to stream globally both public and private performances with more in the offing. It is a testament to the vision and unending hard work of the late director Marika Fischer Hoyt, who died just weeks before it began, that the festival remains on such a solid footing and seems certain to survive without her. 

For complete details about programs and performers, go to the website’s home page: https://bachclock.com/

And here is a previous blog post with more background: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2023/03/08/remember-marika-with-bach-around-the-clock-2023-the-free-celebration-begins-today-and-runs-through-saturday-in-person-and-online/

The variety is astounding. You will find professionals, amateurs and young students. You will find choral music and instrumental music. You will find well-known pieces and less common repertoire. In short, you should find something to please you and perhaps even something that you or someone you know took part in.

Here is a link to the first batch of recorded and streamed performances:

Watch on YouTube the BATC 2023 virtual performances recorded in the homes and studios of Jim Burkholder; Tim Farley; Jeffery Rowley; Linda Clifford; Kieran Foltz; students of Shannon Farley; Marjasana Kay with Mark Bramptom Smith and Carol Carlson; Glenwood Moravian Trombone Choir; and The Neighborly Consort.

Also available now are: Just Bach’s Wednesday, March 8, concert of a motet; and Sean Kleve’s Thursday, March 9, marimba lecture/performance.

Recordings of performances from the all-day Saturday concert at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church will be posted soon.

Stay tuned! And spread the word!


Next Page »

    Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,232 other subscribers

    Blog Stats

    • 2,491,187 hits
    May 2024
    M T W T F S S
     12345
    6789101112
    13141516171819
    20212223242526
    2728293031