The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms join beer and brats at the Wisconsin Union Theater’s new FREE Summer Serenades starting this Sunday afternoon at the Union Terrace
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By Jacob Stockinger
Spread the word but get your seat early!
This coming Sunday afternoon, beer and brats are about to mix with Bach, Beethoven and Brahms at Madison’s premier summer watering hole when the new FREE Summer Serenades begin at the landmark Union Terrace (below).
The Ear likes that combination a lot along with classical concerts that last only about an hour. No details on the programs yet, but hey — for an hour you can be a sport and chance it.
“Casual high-brow” increasingly seems the way to go, especially in Madison. And fittingly, a lot of the performers chosen by the Wisconsin Union Theater have ties to the UW-Madison as professors, graduates and students.
All hour-long concerts are FREE and take place on Sundays at 5 p.m., except on July 2, which will begin at 5:30 p.m.
The Willy Street Chamber Players (below)
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Named 2016 Musicians of the Year by The Well-Tempered Ear Blog, their programming is adventurous, combining beloved classics and new music from contemporary composers.
Stephanie Jutt, flute (below top) and Thomas Kasdorf, piano (below bottom)
Sunday, July 2, 2017 at 5:30
Two of Madison’s most esteemed musicians will delight with melodies from their upcoming CD and will celebrate the Fourth of July weekend with patriotic tunes.
Isthmus Brass
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Comprised of the finest professional brass players in the Midwest, Isthmus Brass (below) is Wisconsin’s premiere large brass ensemble. It has performed on concert series and music festivals throughout the Midwest.
An Evening of Arias and Art Songs
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Hear a fun night of comic and classic melodies from your favorite operas. It features extraordinary lead singers from the School of Music and UW Opera Theater. Among them: Katie Anderson, soprano (below top); Courtney Kayser, mezzo-soprano (below middle); José Muñiz, tenor (below bottom); and accompanist Thomas Kasdof, piano.
Sound Out Loud and Lucia String Quartet
Sunday, August 13, 2017
Sound Out Loud (below) specializes in contemporary music from the early 20th century to the present. They expand the realm of possibilities within contemporary chamber music repertoire through the implementation of experimental techniques, the incorporation of a variety of instruments and musical styles from the Middle East and Asia, innovative performance practice, and the use of live electronics.
The Lucia String Quartet (below) has been performing at events throughout the Midwest for over 15 years. The string quartet’s repertoire puts a fresh spin on many favorite rock/pop songs as well as eloquently performing classical pieces.
Summer Serenades are presented by the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Performing Arts Committee with support from the Bill and Char Johnson Classical summer Concert Series Fund.
This is the inaugural season But Ralph Russo, director of the Wisconsin Union Theater, adds: “The 2017 Summer Serenades is a pilot program. The coordinator has put together an excellent program in a very short time and I’m confident we’ll see a good audience response.
“Assuming all goes well I’m hopeful it will continue for many summers to come. But we won’t know for certain until we do a thorough evaluation at the end of summer and determine if the donor is interested and willing to continue funding the program.”
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Classical music: John W. Barker’s book on the history of UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet to be published this fall
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By Jacob Stockinger
Local chamber music fans may recall that five or six years ago, the gala centennial of the Pro Arte Quartet, the string quartet-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was celebrated in many ways.
After all, the Pro Arte Quartet (below in a photo by Rick Langer) had by then become the longest-lived string quartet in the history of music.
Furthermore, the quartet and the UW-Madison established the model for chamber music group affiliations with universities, which has since become standard.
There were six commissions, later recorded in two volumes and three CDs (below) by Albany Records.
There were many free live concerts with the world premieres of the commissions.
There was a tour to Belgium (below is a concert at the Royal Conservatory), the home country of the quartet that was exiled in Madison while on tour in 1941, when Hitler invaded Belgium during World War II.
There was a terrific and impressive Pro Arte Quartet display at Dane County Regional Airport, put together with Tandem Press art publishers at the UW-Madison.
And there was a book, a complete history of the Pro Arte Quartet, commissioned from John W. Barker (below), a professor emeritus of Medieval history at the UW-Madison who is also the premier music critic in Madison. He writes for Isthmus and this blog.
Now his project, full of original research, has come to fruition and will be published in October.
Here is a link to information, including how to pre-order a copy, about the book and the author from the University of Rochester Press (Boydell and Brewer):
https://boydellandbrewer.com/the-pro-arte-quartet-hb.html
Tags: airport, Albany Records, Art, Arts, author, Beethoven, blog, Book, Cello, centennial, Chamber music, Classical music, commission, Compact Disc, critic, Dane County Regional Airport, History, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mozart, Music, Piano, recording, Tandem Press, United States, University of Rochester, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, world premiere, YouTube
Classical music: A new recording of Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil” captures the Russian qualities the composer prized in this sacred music
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a record review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.
By John W. Barker
For reasons, astronomical and cultural, the Western and Eastern Orthodox celebrations of Easter are frequently held at separate dates. But this year they coincide (on this coming Sunday, April 16). That gives good reason to direct attention beyond familiar Western Easter music and instead to that of Eastern Orthodoxy.
A new recording of one of the landmarks of Russian Orthodox music provides further stimulus to this.
Russian Orthodox practice did not encourage extensive new compositions, but stressed elaborate liturgical rituals built around the heritage of medieval monophonic chant, while benefiting from the fabulous style of Russian choral singing—those low basses (“octavists”) in particular.
Most composers who worked to enrich the liturgical literature were professional church musicians, but a number of “secular” Russian composers also made contributions. Notable among them were Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Peter Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff (below).
It is the last of those three who has given us the music at hand, a truly memorable sacred creation. The work is his Op. 37, entitled “The Most Important Hymns of the ‘All-Night Vigil,” and commonly called “The All-Night Vigil” (Vsenoshchnogo Bdeniya) or else, more simplistically the “Vespers.”
It was composed during the early years of World War I, which was to bring about the collapse of the Russia that Rachmaninoff knew. It was performed in 1915, and two years later, amid the upheavals of the two Revolutions, the composer left his native land for good.
Rachmaninoff prized his Op. 37 above his other works; it was his proclamation of Russian identity, and after it he wrote no more sacred music. He even hoped that one section of it could be sung at his funeral. (A moving sample can be heard in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Orthodox Christian celebration of the Resurrection places emphasis on the Saturday night offices of Vespers and Matins, in a prolonged and elaborate ritual. (This Vigil array can also be used for other significant feasts beyond Easter.)
Given the lengths, Rachmaninoff chose to set his selection of “the most important hymns” for his Op. 37, for a total of 15 sections. He did follow working practice by building his settings on or around traditional chant melodies. He expected that individual sections might have liturgical usage; but he understood that the totality was a grand concert work.
The Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil, or “Vespers,” has been recorded many times, often by Russian choirs, which have the musical and liturgical style in their blood. But non-Russian groups and directors have also come to recognize the transcendent beauty of this masterwork.
Noteworthy among those was Robert Shaw, the great American choral master whose recording (on the Telarc label) has been acclaimed by his admirers for its predictably superb choral sound. But Shaw and his singers lack Russian sound or spiritual sensitivity.
Other American performers have joined in: the broadly paced recording with Charles Bruffy and his Phoenix and Kansas City choirs (for Chandos) is notable. Paul Hillier’s recording (for Harmonia Mundi) with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir has earned great respect.
I have just been taken by the brand new release (below) from Paraclete Recordings of Massachusetts, with the Gloria Dei Cantores and members of three other choirs under the direction of Peter Jermihov.
They number 77 singers in all and, as recorded in a church setting, they make a sumptuous sound. Their emphasis is less on clarifying individual voice parts and more on relishing the rich blends that make up the total texture.
While treating the work as a grand concert piece, this performance goes beyond most others by including intonations by clerical celebrants, recalling the liturgical context that was always in the composer’s mind.
One of the striking features of this release is its thick album booklet. This is not only richly illustrated but contains an unusually penetrating background essay. Further, in presenting the Russian texts (in Cyrillic and transliteration) with English translations, it also gives useful comments section by section, for the fullest understanding of the liturgical contexts.
This is a noteworthy addition to the crowded recording picture for this sumptuous and deeply moving sacred music.
Tags: All-Night Vigil, American, American Record Guide, Arts, astronomy, bass, booklet, Chandos, chant, Charles Bruffy, choral music, Christian, Christianity, church, Classical music, Compact Disc, Concert, culture, Cyrillic, Early music, Easter, Eastern, Eastern Orthodox Church, English, essay, Estonia, funeral, Gloria Dei Cantores, Harmonia Mundi, History, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, John W. Barker, Kansas City, lecture, liturgy, Madison, Massachusetts, matins, Medieval, monophonic, Music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, octavist, Orthodox, Paraclete Recordings, Paul Hillier, Peter Tchaikovsky, Phoenix, professor, Rachmaninoff, recording, Resurrection, revolution, ritual, Robert Shaw, Russia, Russian Orthodox, Russian Revolution, secular, singer, Tchaikovsky, Telarc, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vesper, vespers, vocal music, Western, Wisconsin, World War I, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: Is she or isn’t she retiring from opera? Here is everything you want to know about superstar soprano Renée Fleming and the confusion over her future plans
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By Jacob Stockinger
Three recent stories tell you just about everything you could want to know about superstar soprano Renée Fleming (below), now 58, as she prepares to retire — at least partly retire — from the opera stage but still devote herself to music on and off the concert stage.
The first story came in The New York Times in a preview profile before her upcoming appearance as the aging Marschallin in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.” (You can hear some of her singing in that role in the YouTube link at the bottom.)
Here is a link to that story:
But just to eliminate any doubt about her leaving music altogether when she retires from singing and acting opera, Fleming also gave a long interview to Vanity Fair magazine in which she discusses her plans to still pursue music full-time as a recitalist, recording artist and someone working offstage to benefit opera and music, much as the famed Beverly Sills once did.
Here is a link to that story:
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/04/opera-legend-renee-fleming
And then Fleming also clarified some confusion in the Times story about her future plans in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR):
Tags: acting, age, aging, Arts, Beverly Sills, Classical music, Compact Disc, Concert, Der Rosenkavalier, diva, Fleming, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Music, National Public Radio, New York City, New York Times, NPR, opera, recital, recording, Renée Fleming, retire, Retirement, Richard Strauss, soprano, stage, superstar, The New York Times, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vanity Fair, vocal music, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: After this year’s success, “Bach Around the Clock” will return next year on March 10, 2018
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By Jacob Stockinger
The revival of “Bach Around the Clock” (below) this past Saturday proved so successful to listeners, performers and organizers that it will return again next year in March 2018. (Below are violist Stan Weldy and his mandolinist son Alex.)
“It went so well, we will do it again,” said the chief organizer, violist Marika Fisher Hoyt (below), who plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Ancora String Quartet. She not only was the main host for BATC, she also played in more than half-dozen performances.
As you may recall, the marathon event to mark the 332nd birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) took place from noon to midnight, wisely revised to 9:30 p.m. after too few performers signed up, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (below), 1833 Regent Street.
Plans for next year are already being made and meetings have already been held. And next year will bring major some changes, Fischer Hoyt told The Ear.
For one, the date will be March 10, 2018 – not March 17 or March 24 – which means it will come well before the usual timing of the Saturday nearest to Bach’s birthday of March 21. But, unlike what happened this year, this earlier date avoids the UW-Madison spring break plus the Easter break for public schools. That could reap big benefits in terms of audience and performers.
Because of the immense amount of work involved, Fischer Hoyt said, a non-profit organization will also be formed and more volunteers will be recruited to help spread out the workload of lining up performers and donors, and of organizing and hosting the event.
As for lining up performers, Fischer Hoyt is extremely optimistic.
“There’s a lot of talent in this town I’ve never heard of,” she told The Ear. (Below is impressive pianist Tim Adrianson performing three Preludes and Fugues from “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” Book II.)
The Ear, who spent an enjoyable six hours or so attending the event, has to agree. He took a lot of photos and will be posting more about the event in the coming days.
Right now, he wants to give a big shout-out to Fischer Hoyt for some of the innovations she brought to this year’s revival of a traditional event that was held for three years, and then abandoned, by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Here are a few of the changes she made, which The Ear thinks proved all for the better, for BATC 4.
1) There were multiple hosts, which breaks up the event and helps avoid monotony.
2) Prior to playing, performers, some of whom traveled from as far away as Dubuque, Milwaukee, Chicago and Waupun, were briefly interviewed and asked what they liked about Bach’s music and why they chose a particular piece to perform. (Below, flutist Casey Oelkers, left, talks with Hoyt.) That adds personal interest.
3) Free quality snacks of fresh fruit and cheese, not just delicious sweet things like cookies and kringle, were available, as were bottled water, tea and coffee. Good food translates into longer and more comfortable attendance.
4) The church’s venue, especially its woody interior (below), seemed much more suited to Bach’s music and friendly to the audience than the Pres House. And thanks to donations, in addition to a fine church organ there were fine instruments to play, including a Kawai grand piano and a hand-built clavichord from Farley’s House of Pianos. There were also birthday cakes donated by Clasen’s European Bakery of Middleton.
5) The entire event was recorded by Rich Samuels (below) — Madison’s chronicler of live music. He is from WORT-FM 89.9 and he will air BATC in increments on his “Anything Goes” program on Thursday mornings. In fact the broadcasts started this past week with a performance of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 on Thursday morning.
6) The event was streamed live via four different places or portals: the St. Andrew’s website, the Bach Around the Clock website, the Audio for the Arts website and WORT website.
7) There was an impressive variety of performers on all levels and of repertoire. It ranged from student to amateur to professional; from solo and small chamber groups to larger choral and orchestral ensembles, plus faculty members from the UW-Madison, UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh as well as the Milwaukee Conservatory of Music. The Ear expects the lineup will get even better as word of next year gets out and spreads. (Below are students from the Suzuki Strings of Madison.) Time to get out the music and start practicing!
8) There might a 9-CD boxed set from Audio for the Arts, depending on getting authorization from all the performers.
In short, Bach Around the Clock 4 was a remarkable community event to honor both a remarkable composer and a town with a remarkable commitment to and a remarkable amount of classical music.
To keep current with BATC news, check the event’s website: https://bacharoundtheclock.wordpress.com
Cheers to Bach Around the Clock.
And special cheers to Marika Fischer Hoyt.
Bravissimo tutti!
Did you go?
What did you think?
Do you have something to say that you can leave in the COMMENT section?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Ancora String Quartet, Arts, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, Baroque, birthday, boxed set, Brandenburg Concerto, Cello, Chamber music, cheese, Chicago, choral music, church, Clasen's European Bakery, Classical music, clavichord, coffee, community, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, conservatory, cookies, Early music, Easter, Episcopal, Farley's House of Pianos, flute, food, fruit, fugue, hand-made, instrument, interview, Iowa, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kawai, kringle, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee, Music, Orchestra, organ, performer, Piano, Prelude, public schools, Radio, recording, Rich Samuels, school, Sonata, Spring, Spring Break, String quartet, Suzuki, Suzuki Strings of Madison, talent, tea, The Well-Tempered Clavier, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater, Viola, Violin, water, Waupun, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, WORT-FM 89.9
Classical music: Native daughter violist Vicki Powell returns from her globe-trotting career to solo this Friday night in music by Vaughan Williams with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
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By Jacob Stockinger
Madison has produced its share of important classical musicians who have gone on to achieve international reputations.
Among them was the composer Lee Hoiby (1926-2011).
More recently, there are the Naughton Twins, sister-duo pianists Christina and Michelle, who perform around the world.
And there is violist Vicki Powell (below), who was born in Chicago but started music lessons in Madison where she studied with the husband-and-wife team of violinist Eugene Purdue and Pro Arte Quartet violist Sally Chisholm, both of whom have taught at the UW-Madison.
She then attended the Juilliard School in New York and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. (You can see her typical day at Curtis in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Powell, who recently finished a tour of Asia and whose playing has garnered rave reviews internationally, returns to Madison this Friday night to perform with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. in the Capitol Theater of the Overture Center.
WCO music director Andrew Sewell will conduct. Unlike Sewell’s typical eclectic programming that mixes music from different eras, this concert feature music from a single period – the mid-20th century.
It offers “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge” by British composer Benjamin Britten, who studied with Bridge. Also included are two other British works: the Suite for Viola and Chamber Orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with Vicki Powell, and “Benedictus” by Sir Alexander Mackenzie. All three works are rarely performed.
The concluding work, on the other hand, is the popular and well-loved “Appalachian Spring” – a timely work for the coming of spring yesterday morning — by the American composer Aaron Copland.
For more information about the program, about how to get tickets ($10-$80) and about Vicki Powell, go to:
https://wisconsinchamberorchestra.org/performances/masterworks-iv-2/
And here is a link to Vicki Powell’s website with a biography, concert bookings, recordings, reviews and her community outreach projects:
http://www.vickipowellviola.com
Tags: Aaron Copland, Alexander Mackenzie, Andrew Sewell, Appalachian Spring, Arts, Asia, Benjamin Britten, Britain, Chamber music, Christina and Michelle Naughton, Classical music, community, Concert, concerto, Curtis Institute of Music, England, English, Frank Bridge, Jacob Stockinger, Juilliard School, Madison, Music, Naughton, New York City, Orchestra, outreach, Overture Center, Philadelphia, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, Ralph Vaughan Williams, recording, Suite, symphony, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vicki Powell, Viola, Violin, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music: Pianist Stephen Hough returns to solo with the Madison Symphony Orchestra this weekend in a program of “firsts” that includes music by Barber and Saint-Saens as well as Tchaikovsky’s famous “Pathétique” Symphony
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By Jacob Stockinger
This coming weekend, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) offers one of the best must-hear programs of the season – or so thinks The Ear.
Pianist Stephen Hough (below, in a photo by Sim Canetty-Clarke) returns for his fourth appearance with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO), led by music director and conductor John DeMain.
The concert will open with Samuel Barber’s Second Essay, a dramatic piece written in the midst of World War II, followed by a performance of the exotic Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Egyptian”) featuring soloist Stephen Hough, who won major awards for his recordings of the complete works for piano and orchestra by Saint-Saëns. The concert will close with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s emotional Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”).
The concerts are Friday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall of the Overture Center, 201 State Street. (Ticket information is below.)
Samuel Barber (below) was one of the new generation of mid-20th century American composers with contemporaries Howard Hanson, Aaron Copland, David Diamond and, later, Leonard Bernstein.
His Second Essay was written in 1942, in the middle of the Second World War. Barber once wrote: “Although it has no program, one perhaps hears that it was written in a war-time.” This will be the first time this piece is performed by the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Egyptian”) by Camille Saint-Saëns (below) was composed while he was on a winter vacation in the Egyptian temple city of Luxor, in 1895-96. The location of this piece is important because it helped give the piece its nickname, and also influenced the sound of the score. This will be the first time this piece is performed by the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (below) wrote his final piece between February and August 1893. The Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) was then performed in Oct. 1893 and was conducted by Tchaikovsky himself. Nine days later he was dead.
Tchaikovsky’s late symphonies are autobiographical, and the sixth being “the best, and certainly the most open-hearted,” according to Tchaikovsky himself. Seeing that he was a troubled man, dealing with a dark depression, Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) is filled with poignancy and deep sorrow, as you can hear in the finale in the YouTube video at the bottom.
One hour before each performance, Randal Swiggum (below), artistic director of the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra Artistic Director and the newly appointed Interim Music Director of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience.
For more background on the music, read the program notes by MSO trombonist and UW-Whitewater professor Michael Allsen (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) at: http://www.allsenmusic.com/NOTES/1617/5.Feb17.html
Single Tickets are $16 to $87 each, and are available at madisonsymphony.org/hough and through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.
Groups of 15 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information visit, madisonsymphony.org/groups
Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $12 or $15 tickets. More information is at: madisonsymphony.org/studentrush. Students can receive 20% savings on seats in select areas of the hall on advance ticket purchases.
Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Find more information at madisonsymphony.org
Major funding for the February concerts is provided by: Irving and Dorothy Levy Family Foundation, Inc., Stephen Morton, and BMO Wealth Management. Additional funding is provided by: Boardman & Clark LLP, Forte Research Systems & Nimblify, James and Joan Johnston, and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tags: Aaron Copland, Arts, autobiography, Barber, Camille Saint-Saëns, Cello, Classical music, Compact Disc, concerto, conductor, David Diamond, death, depression, discount, discussion, Egypt, Egyptian, Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, essay, Howard Hanson, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Leonard Bernstein, Luxor, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, Music director, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, nickname, Orchestra, Overture Center, Pathetique Symphony, photo, Piano, Piano concerto, Prelude, professor, program, program notes, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Randal Swiggum, recording, Second World War, senior, State of Wisconsin, Stephen Hough, Student, Tchaikovsky, ticket, Trombone, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Whitewater, Viola, Violin, war, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Youth Symhony Orchestras, World War II, YouTube
Classical music: Which piece of music did you first connect with emotionally and how old were you?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Another weekend, another reader survey.
For The Ear, music was and remains much more an emotional experience than an intellectual one.
So he was intrigued when he came across a survey question on the Internet earlier this week.
The question was simple: When did you first connect emotionally with a piece of classical music and how old were you? And what was the piece and composer of the piece that you first connected with emotionally?
It sounds so easy. But The Ear found himself going back through time and really straining to choose the right answer.
Early on, The Ear loved the sound and drama of Smetana’s tone poem “The Moldau.” And he loved some works by Johann Sebastian Bach that he heard in church. During piano lessons, there was some pieces by Chopin.
But then at about age 11, the Great Emotional Awakening to Music came in a way that reminded him of the famous madeleine memory episode in Marcel Proust’s novel “Remembrance of Things Past,” translated more accurately, if less poetically, these days as “In Search of Lost Time.”
Since he himself was a young and aspiring pianist, The Ear has realized, he no doubt first connected with the powerful recording by Arthur Rubinstein (below top) of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, by Sergei Rachmaninoff (below bottom). That recording also featured Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and you can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.
The answer really isn’t a surprise — young people love the sweep of Romantic music. After all, on a lesser emotional level, Rachmaninoff had also moved The Ear with the famous Prelude in C-Sharp Minor — the “Bells of Moscow” — which spurred The Ear into starting piano lessons when he heard it played live and right in front of him by a babysitter.
How intently he listened to the concerto, with a friend in the basement of his friend’s house, over and over again. How it moved him and never failed to move him – and still moves him today.
And then, maybe at 12 or 13, he rushed out and bought the Schirmer score tot he concerto when he was old enough and skilled enough to try to play some of it – the famous opening chords and excerpts from the beautiful and lyrical slow second movement. That experience of playing even excerpts also proved very emotional.
Now, there is also a practical purpose to this question. The answer just might give adults an idea about how to attract young children and new audiences to classical music.
Anyway, that’s what The Ear wants to know this weekend:
How old were you when you first connected EMOTIONALLY to classical music?
And who was the composer, the piece and the performer that you connected with emotionally?
The Ear hopes you have just as much poignant fun recollecting the answer as he did.
Let us know the answer in the COMMENT section with a YouTube link if possible.
The Ear wants to ear.
Tags: Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, babysitter, Bach, Bells of Moscow, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chopin, church, Classical music, Compact Disc, concerto, conductor, Fritz Reiner, In Search of Time Lost, intellect, Internet, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, lessons, Madison, Marcel Proust, Music, Orchestra, Piano, Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff), piano lessons, poem, Prelude, Proust, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, recording, Remembrance of Things Past, Romantic, Schirmer, score, Smetana, The Moldau, tone, tone poem, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: After six years of success, “Grace Presents” — a series of monthly FREE concerts at noon on Saturday — has been suspended indefinitely
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By Jacob Stockinger
The “Grace Presents” series of FREE monthly Saturday noon concerts has been suspended indefinitely.
The series presented folk music, jazz, ethnic, country and other genres in addition to classical music.
The Ear feels sorry about the unfortunate move, but offers kudos and thanks for a job well done. (At bottom is a YouTube video of the Liebeslieder Waltzes by Johannes Brahms sung at Grace Presents.)
Over several years, he has heard memorable performances of sonatas and suites, cantatas and preludes, of vocal, string and piano music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms and other composers. Included here are some photos of past events.
The concerts – held in the wonderful interior (below) of Grace Episcopal Church on the downtown Capitol Square — always attracted a large, friendly and appreciative crowd, and the series became a showcase to spotlight some performers who have a lower profile, including graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
No specific reason for the action was given, and The Ear wonders if it had to do with finding financial sponsors or perhaps with the difficulty of booking performers in a city with such competitive programming of music.
It was not an easy job to set it up and keep it running. So The Ear offers congratulations and thanks to the many people who made the series successful for many years. (Below are violinist Laura Burns, who plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Rhapsodie Quartet, and pianist Jess Salek, who teaches and performs with the Mosaic Chamber Players and the Madison Youth Choirs.)
Here is the official statement:
Dear Grace Presents Community:
After six seasons of offering free community concert programming monthly at the historic Grace Episcopal Church, the Grace Presents Concert Series has been suspended indefinitely.
From performers such as Yid Vicious, Kenn Lonquist, The Dang-It’s, the Madison Bach Musicians (below) and so many others we have enjoyed presenting these concerts free of charge to the Madison community and the thousands of downtown Madison visitors.
It is our hope that this concert series may find a champion in the near future, but until then, the red doors will no longer be open on Saturdays for free concerts to the public.
Thank you for your support of this series and local musicians. (Below is pianist Yana Groves who played music by Bach and Rachmaninoff at Grace Presents).
Most Sincerely,
Grace Presents Board Members
PS: Thank you to the following:
– Bruce Kasprzyk for recording dozens of our concerts and providing his services free of charge
– Oakwood University Woods for printing our programs each month
– Bruce Croushore for initiating the Grace Presents Concert Series seven years ago
– folks who have served on the Grace Presents board
– over 100 musicians who performed for a Grace Presents concert
– all of you who have attended and supported live music at Grace Church
We especially thank our many donors and supporters over the years, and in particular Dane Arts, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, the Madison Arts Commission, and the Wisconsin Arts Board
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Cantata, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, concerto, country, dance, Dane Arts, Early music, ethnic, Folk music, free, Grace Episcopal, Grace Presents, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Kenn Lonquist, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Mosaic Chamber Players, Mozart, Music, Piano, Prelude, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, recording, Sonata, String quartet, Suite, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, vocal music, Waltz, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Yid Vicious, YouTube
Classical music: You can hear the fabulous Willy Street Chamber Players perform music by Mozart on WORT radio this Thursday morning and in the coming year
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By Jacob Stockinger
You may recall that several days ago, The Ear named the Willy Street Chamber Players (below) as Musicians of the Year for 2016.
He also mentioned that although there were not yet any YouTube videos of the group, which will have its third season this summer, the alternative radio station WORT-FM 89.9 has broadcast recordings of live performances.
Here is a link to that posting:
If you haven’t yet heard the Willy Street Chamber Players live, you can hear them this Thursday morning on WORT FM 89.9.
Here is what Rich Samuels, radio host and friend of the Willys, writes:
“Thursday morning, Jan. 5, at 7:28 a.m. on my WORT “Anything Goes” broadcast, I’ll be airing the Willy Street Chamber Players performing the Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which I recorded last July 29 at Madison’s Immanuel Lutheran Church.
(In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the opening movement of Mozart’s beautiful Clarinet Quintet performed by the Emerson String Quartet with clarinetist David Shifrin of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Players in New York City.)
“Michael Maccaferri is the clarinet soloist (below). He’s a member of the eighth blackbird ensemble of Chicago. He’s participated in four eighth blackbird Grammy-winning releases on the Cedille label, the local nonprofit recording label that is also in Chicago and that recently turned 25.
“Violinist Eleanor Bartsch (below), who presently freelances in Chicago, recruited Maccaferri for this event. In addition to Eleanor, this performance features Willy Street violinist Beth Larson, violist Rachel Hauser and cellist Lindsay Crabb.
“It was my privilege to record most of the first two seasons of the Willy Street Chamber Players for broadcast on WORT.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to continue that tradition in 2017.”
Here is a link about upcoming strong quartet concert on Jan. 21 and 22 and about the Willy Street Chamber Players in general:
http://www.willystreetchamberplayers.org
Tags: Arts, Broadcast, Cedille, Cedille Records, Cello, Chamber music, Chicago, clarinet, Classical era, Classical music, Compact Disc, David Shifren, eighth blackbird, Emerson String Quartet, freelance, Grammy, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Jacob Stockinger, LIncoln Center, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Michael Maccaferri, Mozart, Music, New York City, performance, Piano, quintet, Radio, recording, Season, soloist, String quartet, summer, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
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