The Well-Tempered Ear
What classical music is good for studying, reading and writing?
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By Jacob Stockinger
It is about to be Finals Week here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in many other places.
Little wonder, then, that The Ear recently read a good story about the role of of music in studying.
It was written by a student journalist for The State Press at Arizona State University in Tempe. It covered more kinds of music than classical, but it had some good comments about the ability of music and its various components — melody, rhythm, tempo, text — to focus one’s attention or to distract from the necessary focus.
Here is a link to the story, which also includes 100 music selections from mixed genres:
It got me to wondering what classical music do you readers like for studying, reading and writing — if you like it at all for such serious and intense tasks.
The Ear tends to love listening to Baroque music — especially Vivaldi violin concertos and Bach harpsichord concertos such as the one in the YouTube video at the bottom — and to chamber music and solo piano music.
So, what music do you like to listen to when you are: studying? reading? writing?
Do you have a favorite style, or favorite composer, or favorite pieces?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Beethoven helps LeBron James break a big basketball scoring record
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By Jacob Stockinger
Sometime this coming week — maybe even by the time you read this — basketball superstar LeBron James (below) will break the all-time scoring record for the NBA.
The current record of 38,387 points is held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known earlier in his career as Lew Alcindor) who he broke the previous record held by Wilt Chamberlain on April 5, 1984. Abdul-Jabbar, who is famous for his “skyhook,” retired at 42 in 1989 and is now 75.
At 38, James — who is just 63 points away from the record as of this writing — still has many years to play and score.
Based on what the James (below, in action) — who is also the first player to become a billionaire while playing in the NBA — usually scores each game, professional sports watchers expect he will surpass Abdul-Jabbar at a game against the Milwaukee Bucks this coming Thursday night, Feb. 9, in Milwaukee.
When he does, you will no doubt hear about it. It will be big news since the previous NBA scoring record has lasted for almost 34 years.
James, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, is known as a very disciplined, even obsessive, player who even follows a special diet to stay in shape.
What’s more, according to reports, James — who took his first piano lesson from the famous Chinese pianist Lang Lang — also listens to classical music. He especially likes to listen to Beethoven (below) after he listens to hip-hop while in the weight room, and then leaves to get ready and “calm down” before a game and heading out to the court.
Here is a link to that story on ClassicFM:
What Beethoven pieces do you think LeBron James listens to in order to calm down before a game? Symphonies? Concertos? Chamber music? A lot of Beethoven seems more aggressive than relaxing to The Ear. But the slow middle movement of the Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” (played by Lang Lang in the YouTube video at the bottom) seems like a good choice.
Maybe James will even somehow read this and let us know his favorite works by Beethoven and other classical composers.
Do any other readers or athletes listen to classical music as part of their athletic training, preparation and activity? Do a lot of the runners who are listening to something through ear buds listen too classical music?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Ukraine’s most famous living composer is now a war refugee in Germany
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By Jacob Stockinger
He fights and defends his native country with beautiful sounds.
Ukraine’s most famous living composer has had to flee his war-torn country and — like some 3 million fellow Ukrainians in various other countries — is now living as a a war refugee in Germany.
He is Valentin Sylvestrov (below), 84, and has survived both World War II and the Nazi occupation as well as the Soviet rule experiencing democracy and freedom after the fall of the USSR and now the devastating Russian invasion five weeks ago.
The irony is that his music, which The Ear can’t recall ever hearing performed live in Madison — although Wisconsin Public Radio recently featured a beautiful choral work — seems calming and peaceful, even consoling.(Please correct me if I am mistaken.) Many people compare him to the style of Arvo Pärt, his Eastern European contemporary and colleague in Estonia.
Little wonder that his works have found a new popularity in worldwide concerts as the world hopes for the survival and victory of Ukraine — below is Ukraine’s flag — over Vladimir’s Putin’s army and war crimes.
His works have been particularly popular at fundraisers and memorials. They underscore the long history and importance of Ukraine’s tradition of making music, which has been recounted in the news features you find in the press, on TV, on radio and elsewhere in the media including live streams and recorded videos other media, especially the Internet.
As far as The Ear can tell, his most popular work in the concert hall these days is his hauntingly beautiful 1937 “Prayer for Ukraine.” You can hear it, in an orchestra version, in a YouTube video at the bottom.
As background here are two different interviews with the distressed and saddened Sylvestrov in exile.
The first interview, from The New York Times, is by a professor at Arizona State University who has published a book on postwar Eastern European composers and offers links to more works: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/arts/music/valentin-silvestrov-ukraine-war.html
The other interview is from the German media outlet Deutsche Welle, translated into English and featuring current photos: https://www.dw.com/en/ukrainian-composer-valentin-silvestrov-what-are-you-kremlin-devils-doing/a-61158308
The tragic occasion of the war in Ukraine could be the event that brings the soul-stirring music of Sylvestrov to a larger global public.
He certainly deserves it — along with some live performances here — and The Ear certainly plans on posting more of his music.
Have you heard the music of Valentin Sylvestrov?
Do you have favorite works from his piano music, chamber music, choral music and many symphonies?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Ear is back
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear is back!
For the first time since the May 18 posting about the season’s last concert by Just Bach, The Ear can post a new entry.
For three weeks, The Ear struggled to correct the situation, but to no avail. But then yesterday everything suddenly seemed to fall into place and new postings became possible.
Some readers and subscribers have contacted The Ear to ask if he was ill or something disabling had happened. Thank you for your concern.
But let me reassure you. The absence and silence were due simply to the technological glitch on the WordPress.com platform.
In some ways, though, the involuntary sabbatical was welcome. It provided The Ear with an opportunity to consider whether he wanted to continue the blog after the past 13 years.
After much consideration, The Ear has decided to continue, at least for the time being.
But the blog will see some changes.
Stay tuned and The Ear will explain more in detail.
In the mean time, thank you for continuing to subscribe and read the blog. It has been gratifying to see both the loyalty of the readers, many of whom used the hiatus to explore the archives.
And if you have any comments or suggestions to make about the blog, please leave them in the Comment section.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Today is Day 2 of the online Bach Around the Clock festival. It starts at 8 a.m. and features keyboard, wind, string and vocal music. WPR’s Jonathan Overby will discuss Bridges to Bach tonight at 7
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is the schedule for Day 2 of the 2021 virtual, online Bach Around the Clock festival, which is today — Thursday, March 18:
Today’s program will be available starting at 8 a.m. and then throughout the festival.
Click here to view more.
For an overview and background, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2021/03/17/todays-just-bach-concert-starts-the-10-day-bach-around-the-clock-festival-that-runs-through-march-26-all-events-are-free-and-online-here-are-the-lineups/
PERFORMERS and PROGRAMS
• Musette (from Suzuki Book 2); Ossian Rogers, violin; Faolan Rogers, harp; Kara Rogers, piano
• Sheep May Safely Graze, from Cantata 208; Gift Akere, piano
• Sonata No. 3, BWV 1005: Largo; Rebekah May, viola
• Cello Suite V in C minor, BWV 1011: Prelude, Gavottes I and II, Gigue; Cindy Cameron-Fix, bassoon
• Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook: Menuet, BWV anh 114; Tim Farley, clavichord
• Chorale: Now God be with us; Katie Bultman, soprano, and Kenneth Stancer, organ
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Live Evening Keynote Discussion at 7 p.m. Jonathan Øverby, (below) distinguished Wisconsin Public Radio host of “The Road to Higher Ground,” will discuss building The Bridge To and Through Bach with BATC Artistic Director Marika Fischer Hoyt.
Click here to join the Zoom call, starting at 7 p.m. tonight, Thursday, March 18. Viewers are encouraged to submit questions in the chat for Overby to address. |
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The New York Times names the top 25 classical recordings of 2020 and includes sample tracks
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By Jacob Stockinger
What did the holidays bring you?
Did Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa bring you a gift card?
A subscription to a streaming service?
Maybe some cash?
Or maybe you just want to hear some new music or new musicians or new interpretations of old classics?
Every year, the music critics of The New York Times list their top 25 recordings of the past year. Plus at the end of the story, the newspaper offers a sample track from each recording to give you even more guidance.
This year is no exception (below).
In fact, the listing might be even more welcome this year, given the coronavirus pandemic with the lack of live concerts and the isolation and self-quarantine that have ensued.
The Ear hasn’t heard all of the picks or even the majority of them. But the ones he has heard are indeed outstanding. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a sample of the outstanding Rameau-Debussy recital by the acclaimed Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafssen, who scored major successes with recent albums of Philip Glass and Johann Sebastian Bach.)
Here is a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/music/best-classical-music.html
Of course not all critics agree.
The Ear has already listed the nominations for the Grammy Awards (a link is below), and more critics’ picks will be featured in coming days.
You should also notice that a recording of Ethel Smyth’s “The Prison” — featuring soprano Sarah Brailey (below), a graduate student at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and a co-founder of Just Bach — is on the Times’ list as well as on the list of Grammy nominations.
What new recordings – or even old recordings — would you recommend?
The Ear wants to hear.
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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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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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Cellist Camille Thomas makes her Madison debut online from Paris for the Wisconsin Union Theater this Saturday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Union Theater’s fall virtual Concert Series performances will begin this Saturday night, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. CST with a live online performance from Paris by the acclaimed cellist Camille Thomas (below).
The “Midnight in Paris” recital – performed in Paris and streamed — features music by Claude Debussy, Nadia Boulanger, Maurice Ravel and Frederic Chopin. The performance will be preceded by a live 30-40 minute online Q&A with Thomas and pianist Julien Brocal on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. CST.
Here are the specific works on the program, which will last about 75 minutes with no intermission:
Debussy, “Clair de Lune” (arr. Roelens)
Nadia Boulanger, “Three Pieces” for cello and piano
Ravel, Kaddish
Chopin, Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65; and Introduction et Polonaise brillante, Op. 3
Tickets for this online event are $10 for UW-Madison students, $18 for Wisconsin Union members, and $20 for all other patrons.
For more information about the Thomas’ performance – including a video and how to purchase tickets — visit union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/camille-thomas.
Thomas (below), a Franco-Belgian cellist, says she uses her music to bring people together from a range of cultures and backgrounds. Thomas released her second album, called “Voice of Hope,” with the exclusive Deutsche Grammophon this past June. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear Thomas play a solo version from the album of Gluck’s “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” from his opera “Orfeo ed Euridice.”)
Thomas plays the Feuermann Stradivarius cello (1730, below) — named for the famous 20th-century cellist Emanuel Feuermann who played it — with a bow by Eugene Sartory, who is regarded as one of the finest bow makers in history. Joining her for this performance will be pianist Julien Brocal.
“Camille Thomas’s extraordinary talent makes her one of the most captivating artists of our time, as evidenced by being the first cellist in several decades to be signed by the major record label Deutsche Grammophon,” says Wisconsin Union Theater director Elizabeth Snodgrass. “Her ‘Midnight in Paris’ program brings us closer to her roots and reflects the beauty and charm of her personality as well as her musicality.”
The Ear has listened to some of Thomas’ performances on YouTube and finds her tone, intonation and phrasing outstanding.
The performance by Camille Thomas is the start of the fall Concert Series events, which includes a concert with pianist Jeremy Denk (below, in a photo by Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times) on Friday, Dec. 11.
In its 101st year, the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series is one of the oldest uninterrupted series of its kind in the United States.
The Wisconsin Union Theater (WUT) has served as a cultural center for community members and visitors for more than 75 years. The WUD Performing Arts Committee plans many of the Theater’s events, including the Concert Series.
While usually held in-person and most often in Shannon Hall, the Wisconsin Union Theater team will hold this fall’s theater events in a virtual format for the health and safety of patrons, artists and team members in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team aims for all of its spaces, including online ones, to be accessible. Those that need accommodations can reach out to the Wisconsin Union Theater team at wisconsinuniontheater@union.wisc.edu.
The WUT team says it continues to evaluate what changes may need to occur related to the spring Concert Series events as well as other spring Theater season performances.
The Wisconsin Union Theater has made multiple commitments to take a stand against racial injustice, including being more than allies, being activists; using the arts to create social justice; remembering students are future leaders and must be part of the change; using its voice to influence leadership and being firm in its resolve; and making space, stepping back and learning how to give up undeserved or unnecessary power and privilege.
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The Metropolitan Opera has canceled the rest of this season and announced the following season of Live in HD. How will the cancellation affect concert seasons here and elsewhere?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Unfortunately, it seems like The Ear’s prediction on Monday is coming true.
Given the coronavirus spikes and complications of vaccine production, testing, distribution and administration, The Ear said, it looks like live concerts are likely to be canceled for the rest of this season and perhaps even for the fall of 2021.
Here is that post:
Then yesterday the Metropolitan Opera (below) in New York City announced exactly that: It is going to cancel the whole season, and not just the fall productions, as originally planned. (You can hear general manager Peter Gelb discuss the plans for this season and the next season in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Given that the Met is the largest performing arts organization in the United States, it promises to be a Big Domino with a lot of influence and side effects.
Here is the Met story, with more quotes, details and information, from The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-cancels-coronavirus.html
Perhaps to provide some reassurance and attenuate the negative news of the decision to cancel, the Met also announced its Live in HD season for the 2021-22 season, which is based on live productions.
Here it is on the website Opera Wire: https://operawire.com/met-opera-2021-22-season-here-is-all-the-information-for-this-seasons-live-in-hd-performances/
And if you want to know what the Met (below, from the stage) is planning to offer instead, here is a link to the Met’s own website: https://www.metopera.org.
What do you think will be the local effects of the Met decision to cancel the entire season?
Will other musical organizations follow suit, cancel the entire new season of in-person events and go safely online with virtual events?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Memorial Union cancels the popular Tudor holiday dinners
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By Jacob Stockinger
It looks like the University of Wisconsin-Madison has done it again.
In June, the Mead Witter School of Music quietly posted an announcement that the campus-and-community UW Choral Union, which dated back 130 years, would be permanently disbanded. It shut down the Choral Union site on Facebook to comments and has never replied to critics. It waited until the summer and it did not contact participants to announce the decision.
Now it seems a similar thing is being done with the 90-year-old Tudor Dinner celebrations of the year-end holidays held at the Memorial Union.
The dinner features entertainment by the community Philharmonic Chorus of Madison (below):
The feasts and festivities are a popular and long-standing tradition at many universities and colleges.
And it has been at the UW-Madison, where since 1938 it has filled the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, as you can see in the 2018 promotional video on YouTube at the bottom.
But apparently no longer.
No reason has been given — not even if it is a permanent cancellation or a one-time postponement,
The lack of public transparency and common courtesy seems ironic at a campus where the music school boasts, “THE WISCONSIN IDEA AT ITS MOST AUDIBLE.”
The Ear just heard about this matter yesterday, thanks to a comment by a surprised and disappointed reader of the blog.
Here is that comment:
“Have you heard that the Union Tudor Holiday Dinner Concerts have been cancelled? I just heard today via a friend of a friend. Philharmonic Chorus members heard earlier this year that the Union cancelled them.
“I’m on the email lists for both the Tudor Dinner Concerts and the Philharmonic Chorus, and neither sent an email about the cancellation.
“The Union’s website still has information about the 2022 dinner, and no mention of future ones being cancelled.
“I made travel plans that can’t be changed based on needing to be home in Madison to attend the 2023 dinner with my elderly parents, as we’ve done for 20 years.
“Given that the dinners have been held for something like 90 years, it seemed like a safe bet to plan my trip around the dinner.
“Between this and the demise of Choral Union with an even longer tradition, plus hiding both facts and not communicating them, I’m very angry at the university.”
Everything seems to confirm this reader’s story.
And if you want to see what transpired with the dissolution of the Choral Union — including more than 40 strongly worded comments from those who attended or participated in the Choral Union concerts — here are links to previous postings on this blog:
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