The Well-Tempered Ear

Is it pretentious for the NFL to use Roman numerals for the Super Bowl?

February 12, 2023
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By Jacob Stockinger

Today — Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023 — is Super Bowl LVII.

Or as we say in ordinary English — “57.”

(It airs at 5:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Fox.)

The Ear thinks it is pretentious for the NFL to use Roman numerals, which are esoteric and incomprehensible to many members of the public.

Does anyone else think so?

Using the Roman numerals in sports also seems unpractical.

Imagine the NBA using the same antiquated number system to record LeBron James’ new record for a lifetime basketball score —  33,388 points. According to Google, it would be XXXIIICCCLXXXVIII.

How convenient! And silly, no?

It seems the same kind of pretentious authenticity The Ear hears too often in Classical music where authentic foreign pronunciations often seem a sort of status symbol that says “Look at what I know and you don’t, but should.”

Not exactly the kind of effort at reaching out that classical music needs to draw bigger and younger audiences.

It’s like when non-Hungarian, American speakers say “Budapesht” when in English it is simply Budapest. And this often comes from the same people don’t usually say München for Munich, or Roma for Rome, or Paree for Paris. 

Can American speakers just speak plain American English for the sake of clarity and simplicity?

And can the NFL just use either English numbers or, like the Olympics, the year to show which competition it is?

Anyway, despite such preciousness and pretentiousness, we can enjoy today’s 57th or 2023 Super Bowl championship game in Phoenix between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Here’s another easier equivalency: a beautiful long pass and a beautiful javelin throw.

Which why The Eater is offering the classical music piece “Javelin” in the YouTube video at the bottom, played by Yoel Levi conducting the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.

Written on commission for the Atlanta Olympics by the Wisconsin-born composer Michael Torke, it soars with a grace and an energy that is made all the more understandable and moving for its lack of words and numbers.

Whatever quarterback does it, winner or loser, here’s to the thrower of the most beautiful pass today.

What do you think of the music? And of the comparison between passing a football and throwing a javelin?

And what do you think about using Roman numerals is sports and foreign pronunciations in classical music  

The Ear wants to hear.


Beethoven helps LeBron James break a big basketball scoring record

February 5, 2023
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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: 

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.classicfm.com%2Fcomposers%2Fbeethoven%2Flebron-james-listens-before-basketball-game%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7Ceeb2dbf1cde64157f57d08db0397e907%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638107723208686058%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=6NsIo2MJe4LPGtvmevriGoM35znKQ2FPYNEpJ3VNyRk%3D&reserved=0

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.


How will you celebrate World Piano Day today?

March 29, 2022
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By Jacob Stockinger

Today — Tuesday, March 29, 2022 — is World Piano Day.

(Below is a restored vintage concert grand piano at Farley’s House of Pianos used for recitals in the Salon Piano Series.)

How will you mark it? Celebrate it?

It’s a fine occasion to revisit your favorite pianist and favorite piano pieces.

Who is your favorite pianist, and what piano piece would you like to hear today?

If you yourself took piano lessons or continue to play, what piece would you play to mark the occasion? Fo the Ear, it will be either a mazurka by Chopin or a movement from either a French Suite or a Partita by Johann Sebastian Bach. Maybe both!

What piano piece do you wish you could play, but never were able to? For The Ear, it would be the Ballade No. 4 in F minor by Chopin.

One of the best ways to mark the day is to learn about a new younger pianist you might not have heard of.

For The Ear, one outstanding candidate would be the Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson ( below), who has won critical acclaim and who records for Deutsche Grammophon (DG). 

Olafsson has a particular knack for innovative and creative programming, like his CD that alternates works by Claude Debussy and Jean-Philippe Rameau.

He also seems at home at in many different stylistic periods. His records every thing from Baroque masters, to Mozart and his contemporaries in the Classical period — including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach — to Impressionists to the contemporary composer Philip Glass.

But The Ear especially loves his anthology of Bach pieces (below) that include original works and transcriptions, including some arranged by himself. His playing is always precise and convincing, and has the kind of cool water-clear sound that many will identify with Andras Schiff.

You can hear a sample of his beautiful playing for yourself in the YouTube video at the bottom. It is an live-performance encore from his inaugural appearance last August at The Proms in London, where he also played Mozart’s dramatically gorgeous Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor (also available on YouTube.)

Final word: You might find some terrific pianists and performances on the Internet. Record labels, performing venues and other organizations are marking the day with special FREE recitals that you can reach through Google and Instagram.

Happy playing!

Happy listening!

Please leave a comment and let The Ear and other readers know what you think of the piano — which seems to be falling out of favor these days — and which pianists and piano pieces you will identify this year with World Piano Day.

The Ear wants to hear.

 


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Music con Brio starts an annual Black Composers project with a FREE virtual concert

July 1, 2021
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following announcement from Carol Carlson, the co-founder and Executive Director of the Madison-based Music con Brio (below), who is a violinist and holds a doctorate in music from the UW-Madison:

Hello friends,

Happy summer! I hope you are able to enjoy some rest, relaxation and fun in the sun.

I am emailing you because Music con Brio embarked on an exciting new project this year, and I want to share it with you.

In an effort to diversify our repertoire and guest artists, we have launched our new “Music by Black Composers” project. Last winter, our staff chose four pieces of music by Black composers and made student-accessible arrangements of them. 

We then taught these new pieces during our online lessons this spring. On May 8, we gathered together outside at the Goodman Community Center, with four phenomenal local Black guest artists, to professionally record all four pieces.

And now, in lieu of our regular Community Concert Series this year, we are thrilled to present our first-ever Virtual Community Concert!

Click on the link to YouTube video at the bottom to watch and hear the 12-minute performance. Once there, click on Show More to see the composers, pieces and performers.

We are incredibly proud of our students and staff for all their hard work making this so successful. I’m sure you will enjoy their performance!

Please do feel free to pass the video along to anyone else you think might be interested in watching it.

And if you feel so inclined, we would really appreciate a donation in support of this work, which we plan to do every year from now on. To support Music con Brio and our Black Composers project by making a secure, tax-deductible donation, go to: https://www.musicconbrio.org/donate/ 

Thank you so much for your support! We hope to see you at a live concert again sometime soon!

If you wish to know more about Music con Brio, go to: https://www.musicconbrio.org


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Pianist John O’Conor plays the sublimely beautiful Impromptu in G-Flat Major by Franz Schubert

March 4, 2021
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear loves Franz Schubert, who wrote supremely beautiful music. And one of his most sublime pieces comes from his first set of Impromptus for solo piano, the one in G-Flat Major, D. 899, No. 3.

This beautiful music was superbly performed here in 2018 by the Irish pianist John O’Conor (below), who specializes in the composers of the Classical era — especially Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart. He also has revived the music of the Irish Romantic composer John Field and appeared in Madison with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.

Here is the introduction from the Salon Piano Series at Farley’s House of Pianos, which booked, hosted and recorded the live solo recital performance (below) on May 12, 2018.

“During these uncertain times, we appreciate remembering time spent together enjoying music.

“Please take a break from your day to see and hear John O’Conor perform Franz  Schubert’s Impromptu in G-flat, D. 899, No. 3, in the YouTube video at the bottom that was recorded live at Farley’s House of Pianos as part of the Salon Piano Series on May 12, 2018.

“To see how the 1908 Chickering concert grand played by John O’Conor was restored, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5RJWeve6R8

“Over the years, you have supported Salon Piano Series with your attendance, individual sponsorships and donations (you can link to https://salonpianoseries.org/donate).

“We look forward to bringing you world-class musical performances in our unique salon setting again soon.

Sincerely,

Salon Piano Series

 


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The UW Symphony Orchestra performs a FREE online concert Thursday night and Friday night the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra debuts its second chamber music concert. But in-person micro-concerts on Sunday by the the Willy Street Chamber Players are sold-out

February 24, 2021
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By Jacob Stockinger

The second half of the music season is well under way, with just about every major group performing online – or in one case even in person.

Here are three selections this week:

THURSDAY

Two of the most musically and technically impressive concerts The Ear heard last semester took place at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. They were by the UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Oriol Sans (below).

First, Sans conducted a socially distanced and virtual all-strings concert (below).

Then, for the second concert, the conductor had the winds and brass – which spray dangerous aerosol droplets – record their parts individually. Then for the live performance, Sans donned earphones and masterfully combined all the forces into a full orchestra performance (below).

You can see similar results – with percussion joining for the strings for the last piece — this Thursday night, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. on YouTube when the UW Symphony Orchestra live-streams a 90-muinute concert from the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the Hamel Music Center. No in-person attendance is allowed.

Here is the program:

I Crisantemi (Chyrsanthemums) by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), with Michael Dolan, guest conductor

“Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout” by contemporary American composer Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972) Coqueteos (Flirtations)

“Carmen” Suite (after the opera by Georges Bizet) by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin (b.1932): Introduction; Dance; Carmen’s entrance and Habanera Torero; Adagio; Fortune-telling; and Finale.

Here is a link to the live-streamed video: https://youtu.be/GSrMLKrjlVg

And here is a link to more information, including program notes and the names of members of the orchestra: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-madison-symphony-orchestra-2/

FRIDAY NIGHT

On Friday night at 7:30 p.m. the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski) will offer the second of its Winter Chamber Series. It will run between 60 and 75 minutes.

There will be string, brass and percussion music by Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Steve Reich, Craig H. Russell and Thomas Siwe. Be aware that three of the works – string quartets by Mozart and Beethoven and a string sonata by Rossini — are presented in excerpts. That is not listed on the webpage.

The cost for one-time access between Friday night and Monday night is $30.

Here is a link to more information, including a link to ticket sales from the Overture Center box office and program notes by WCO music director and conductor Andrew Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz): https://wcoconcerts.org/events/winter-chamber-series-no-ii

SOLD-OUT

The Micro-concerts scheduled for this coming Sunday, Feb. 28, by the esteemed Willy Street Chamber Players (below), are SOLD-OUT.

The 10-minute private concerts for two, which require masks and social distancing for all, are perhaps the most innovative move by any local music group during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ear, who expects concert habits to change after the pandemic, thinks such micro-concerts have a very bright future even after the pandemic is under control and audiences can return safely to mass events.

The concert are pay-what-you can but a $20 donation for two was suggested.

For more information about the micro-concerts, listen to the YouTube video at the bottom and go to: http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org/micro-concerts.html

 


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Pianist Jeremy Denk combines first-rate playing with innovative programs. He performs a virtual online recital this Friday night for the Wisconsin Union Theater

December 9, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

Jeremy Denk (below) is not only one of the top pianists on the concert stage today. He is also one of the most interesting and thoughtful pianists when it comes to original, innovative and eclectic programming.

Denk will display his talents again when he performs his third solo recital in Madison this Friday night, Dec. 11, for the Wisconsin Union Theater.

The concert of music by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Missy Mazzoli is at 7:30 p.m. and will be preceded by a public Q&A at 7 p.m. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, both the discussion and the concert will be virtual and online.

Access to the online posting is $20 for the general public, $17 for Wisconsin Union members, and $10 for students.

Denk’s performance, which is part of the Theater’s 101st Annual Concert Series, will include “Papillons” (Butterflies), Op. 2, by Robert Schumann; Three Romances, Op. 21, by Clara Schumann; “Bolts of Loving Thunder” by the contemporary American composer Missy Mazzoli (below); and Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119, by Johannes Brahms. (You can hear Denk play the lyrically introspective first intermezzo of Brahms’ late Op. 119 in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

To purchase tickets to Denk’s performance, visit https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/jeremy-denk/

Ticket buyers will receive an email from the box office approximately 2 hours before the event begins that will contain their link to view the performance. Anyone who purchases a ticket within 2 hours of the event’s start time will receive their email within 15 minutes of purchase. 

To The Ear, Denk’s well-planned and fascinating program seems like a probing contrast-and-compare, narrative exploration of the musical styles and close personal relationships – a kind of love triangle — between Robert and Clara Schumann (below top); between Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, whom Robert Schumann championed; and between Brahms and Clara Schumann, who also championed Brahms (below bottom) but rejected him as a lover and suitor after the premature death of her husband Robert.

One of America’s foremost pianists, Denk is a winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, and the Avery Fisher Prize, and was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In the United States, Denk has performed with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra and frequently performs at Carnegie Hall. Internationally, he has toured with the world-famous Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and performed at Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. 

Denk’s talents include writing about music. Some of his stories about music have been featured on the front page of The New York Times Book Review as well as in The New Yorker, The New Republic and The Guardian. Many of those writings form the basis for a forthcoming book.

His passion for composing both music and writing compositions is evident in his music-based blog “Think Denk” — “to think” in German is “denizen” — which dates back to 2005.

“Jeremy Denk is one of the greatest pianists of our generation,” says WUT director Elizabeth Snodgrass. “While many pianists specialize in a particular period or composer, Jeremy is a musical omnivore whose wide-ranging interests span centuries and styles, and he is exceptional at playing all of them. As The New York Times said, he is  ‘a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs.’” 

Proof of that can be found in the program “c. 1300-c. 2000” he toured with and recorded last year for Nonesuch, which features a sampling tour of 700 years of keyboard compositions.

Said a critic for the Boston Globe: “Denk has “an unerring sense of the music’s dramatic structure and a great actor’s intuition for timing.” 


This performance was made possible by the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Endowment Fund.

Learn more about Jeremy Denk at: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website

For more information and a video clip of Denk playing different Brahms, go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/jeremy-denk/

 


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The Pro Arte Quartet plays the fourth installment of its FREE Beethoven string quartet cycle online TONIGHT at 7:30 CDT

October 23, 2020
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PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.

By Jacob Stockinger

The historic Pro Arte Quartet, in residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, will perform the fourth installment of its FREE Beethoven string quartet cycle TONIGHT — Friday, Oct. 23 — at 7:30 p.m. CDT. (It should be posted for about a day, but will not be archived due to copyright considerations.)

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the live concert will take place online and will be live-streamed without an audience from the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall in the new Hamel Music Center.

You can stream it live from https://youtu.be/IhmNRNiI3RM

The whole series of concerts are part of the Pro Arte Quartet’s yearlong retrospective to celebrate the Beethoven Year. This December marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer (below).

Members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below, in a photo by Rick Langer) are: David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violins; Sally Chisholm, viola; and Parry Karp, cello.

A pre-concert lecture by UW-Madison musicology Professor Charles Dill (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) starts at 7:30 p.m. CDT.

The program consists of one early and one late quartet: the string Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4 (1798-1800), and you can hear the first movement played by the Dover Quartet in the YouTube video at the bottom; and the String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 127 (1825).

The Pro Arte Quartet is one of the world’s most distinguished string quartets. Founded by conservatory students in Brussels in 1912, it became one of the most celebrated ensembles in Europe in the first half of the 20th century and was named Court Quartet to the Queen of Belgium.

Its world reputation blossomed in 1919 when the quartet (below, in 1928) began the first of many tours that enticed notable composers such as Bartok, Barber, Milhaud, Honegger, Martin and Casella to write new works for the ensemble.

The Pro Arte Quartet performs throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia and continues to champion both standard repertoire and new music.

Since being stranded in the U.S. when Belgium was invaded by Hitler and the Nazis in World War II, the group is an ensemble-in-residence at the Mead Witter School of Music and resident quartet of the Chazen Museum of Art.

The quartet, the longest active string quartet in the history of music, has performed at the White House and, during the centennial celebration, played for the King’s Counselor in Belgium.

Recent projects include the complete quartets of Bartok and Shostakovich and, in collaboration with the Orion and Emerson String Quartets, the complete quartets of Beethoven.

Regular chamber music collaborators that perform with Pro Arte include Samuel Rhodes and Nobuko Imai, viola; Bonnie Hampton, cello; and the late Leon Fleischer and Christopher Taylor, piano. 

Together since 1995, the quartet has recorded works of Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Rhodes, Shapey, Sessions, Fennelly, Diesendruck, Lehrdahl and the centennial commissions.

For more information and background, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/pro-arte-quartet-beethoven-string-quartet-cycle-program-iv/

For more about the challenges and modifications – including wearing masks and social distancing — of doing the Beethoven cycle for the virtual online performances and about the other dates and programs in the cycle, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/09/29/classical-music-uw-madisons-pro-arte-quartet-to-resume-its-free-beethoven-cycle-virtual-and-online-this-friday-night-with-two-other-programs-this-semester/

 


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Salon Piano Series offers a free video of pianist Maxim Lando playing quiet Beethoven to ease the burden of the pandemic

October 15, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

The Ear has received the following note from the Salon Piano Series to post:

During these uncertain times, we appreciate remembering time spent together enjoying music.

Please take a break from your day to see and hear the young, prize-winning pianist Maxim Lando (below) perform the theme-and-variations third movement of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109, “Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo” (Slowly, very singing and expressive).

The 15-minute video – posted and viewable now- — was recorded live at Farley’s House of Pianos, as part of the Salon Piano Series, on Nov. 17, 2019.

Over the years, you have supported Salon Piano Series with your attendance, individual sponsorships and donations. We look forward to bringing you world-class musical performances in our unique salon setting again soon.

For updates and more information, go to: https://salonpianoseries.org

Here is the Lando video: 

Editor’s note: Here is a Wikipedia entry with more impressive information about Maxim Lando’s biography and many concert performances around the world including China and Russia as well as the U.S.: https://maximlando.com

If you want to hear the entire Beethoven Sonata, you can hear a performance by Richard Goode in the YouTube video below.


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