Renée Fleming | The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Music is another reason to like Emmanuel Macron, the new President of France

May 12, 2017
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ALERT 1: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the recital TONIGHT by the Ancora String Quartet in Janesville will take place in St. Mary’s Catholic Church, instead of in the Janesville Woman’s Club building.

For more information, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2017/05/05/classical-music-next-week-the-ancora-string-quartet-closes-its-16th-season-with-three-concerts-that-contrast-the-german-romanticism-of-beethoven-and-the-french-impressionism-of-saint-saens/

REMINDER: This Saturday, “Live From the Met in HD” will feature Richard Strauss‘ “Der Rosenkavalier.” The acclaimed Metropolitan Opera production features superstar soprano Renee Fleming in a farewell performance of her signature role of the aging Marshallin.

By Jacob Stockinger

Besides the fact that he decisively defeated the dangerous far right candidate Marine Le Pen to become the new President of France, there is much to like about centrist Emmanuel Macron (below).

PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images

Some people like his background in economics and international banking, and his desire to stay in the European Union.

Some people like that he is a newcomer who has formed his own political party.

Some people like the fact that he married a high school teacher, Brigitte Trogneux, who is 25 years older than he is.

Some people like the fact that he has foregone having his own children in order to be an instant stepfather and step-grandfather through his wife’s family.

But here is another reason to like Macron.

Classical music.

Not only is Macron a winning politician, he is also an avid amateur pianist.

For details – including his training and his favorite composers — see the story on National Public Radio (NPR).

Here is a link:

http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/05/09/527577050/something-you-didnt-know-about-emmanuel-macron-hes-a-pianist

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

April 8, 2017
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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:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/arts/music/the-diva-departs-renee-flemings-farewell-to-opera.html?_r=0

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):

http://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2017/04/06/522876028/hold-up-ren-e-fleming-is-not-retiring-from-opera

Classical music: Former UW-Madison professor and soprano Julia Faulkner is named Director of Vocal Studies at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

January 30, 2015
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By Jacob Stockinger

Many of us remember when, more than a decade ago, soprano Julia Faulkner returned from her noteworthy career in Europe, which included many major opera and orchestral appearances as well as recordings on the Naxos and Deutsche Grammophon labels, to her native Wisconsin.

Then, once settled at home, she started teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music as an instructor, as adjunct academic staff. Eventually, she joined the department as a junior faculty member.

Faulkner gave us many moments of pleasure when she performed at the UW-Madison and also with the Madison Opera and Madison Symphony Orchestra.

Two years ago, Faulkner went to do a guest teaching stint at the Ryan Opera School, an adjunct educational and professional development institution at the famous Lyric Opera of Chicago. Superstar diva Renée Fleming is an advisor to the school.

Now Faulkner is staying.

The gig is permanent and Faulkner is getting promoted.

This past week, Julia Faulkner was named Director of Vocal Studies at the school at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (below).

Here is a link to the story:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwopera/article/Julia-Faulkner-Named-Director-of-Vocal-Studies-at-Ryan-Opera-Center-20150126#

What can The Ear say?

Only: “Brava, bravissima!”

Plus, one can hope that Julia Faulkner’s departure is NOT a harbinger of things to come with other faculty and staff members under Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker‘s newly announced plan to implement huge cuts to the UW-Madison budget in exchange for more independence.

Anyway, listen to Julia Faulkner in her recording of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi‘s gloriously beautiful “Stabat Mater Dolorosa” in the YouTube video at the bottom.

Classical music: Are super-high concert fees morally right or wrong? Do they contribute to the wealth gap and lack of young audiences? What can music consumers do?

October 24, 2014
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By Jacob Stockinger

Are artist concert fees — like those charged by tenor Placido Domingo (below top), soprano Renee Fleming (below middle) and violinist Itzhak Perlman (below bottom) — too high these days and too unaffordable for most American concert-goers?

What would Janet say?

Maybe that refrain could become the economic equivalent of What Would Jesus Say?

I am speaking of Janet Yellen (below), the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve who last week made headlines when she spoke out publicly against the widening wealth gap as being contrary to America’s historic democratic ideals.

But let’s localize the issue.

By all accounts superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma, along with pianist Kathryn Stott, turned in a terrific performance — his seventh — at the Wisconsin Union Theater last Saturday night.

The Ear didn’t go, but here is a rave review from the student newspaper The Badger Herald, which agrees with the word-of-mouth reviews I have heard:

http://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2014/10/20/yo-yo-ma-and-kathryn-scott-transcend-classical-music-norms-at-shannon-hall/#.VEfBQYeENUQ

And for those who couldn’t or wouldn’t buy tickets, the Wisconsin Union Theater even webcast the concert live and for free.

Still, with seats that sold for well over $100, The Ear got to wondering: Are really high artist fees morally right or wrong?

We all hear about the widening wealth gap, and especially about the astronomical pay given to CEOs versus their workers as compared to the same ratio several decades ago.

Well, what about well-known and in-demand concert artists?

If The Ear heard correctly, Yo-Yo Ma’s fee for that one-night performance was either $90,000 or $95,000 -– or about $42,500 or $45,000 an hour.

Can Yo-Yo Ma demand and get that extravagant fee in the so-called “free market” society with its corporate welfare and tax loopholes for the wealthy? Of course, he can — and he does. That is why he sold out the Wisconsin Union Theater.

But should he?

It makes one wonder.

Is Yo-Yo Ma really that much better as a cellist and musician -– and not just as a celebrity — than many other cellists, including MacArthur “genius grant” winner Alisa Weilerstein, Alban Gerhardt, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Steven Isserlis, Carter Brey, Joshua Roman and others? (You can hear Yo-Yo Ma’s interpretation of a movement from a solo cello suite by Johann Sebastian Bach in a YouTube video — with over 11 million hits — at the bottom and decide if it is that much better than other cellists play it.)

Now I don’t mean to pick just on Yo-Yo Ma. I have gone to a half-dozen of his other performances here and I have met him and talked with him. He is without doubt a great musician, a fine human being and an exemplary humanitarian.

The problem that I am talking about transcends any single performer and applies to the whole profession.

Maybe at least part of the problem of attracting young audiences to classical music concerts can be placed right in the laps of the performing artists themselves.

When The Ear was young, he got to hear all sorts of great musical artists—including Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Rubinstein (below), Vladimir Horowitz, Van Cliburn, Itzhak Perlman, Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Emanuel Ax and others for quite affordable prices. Not that those artists didn’t live well -– but I doubt that they were paid the equivalent of $45,000 an hour.

Maybe it is time for economic populism in the performing arts.

Fees like that exclude a lot of families from participating. Some fans might find it better and cheaper to hear a CD or download than go to a live concert.

Too many performing artists – opera stars come immediately to mind as a class — seem to have taken the same path toward justifying greed as movie stars, sports figures, rock stars and CEO’s who make out like bandits.

In short, can it be that classical musicians are helping to kill off classical music?

Smaller theaters like the Wisconsin Union Theater and even the Overture Center simply cannot book such well-known artists without charging a ridiculous amount of money for a seat – and at a time when many people of all ages just can’t afford it. It just adds to the Wealth Gap and the One Percent problem.

SO THE EAR WOULD LIKE TO ASK CONCERT ARTISTS: PLEASE ADJUST YOUR CONCERT FEES TO HELP SUSTAIN THE FUTURE OF YOUR ART.

Well, these are just some brain droppings.

The Ear wonders what you think of stratospheric artist fees?

Do they contribute to the wealth gap?

Do they hurt the popularity of the art form, especially younger generations?

Are they contributing to the decline of cultural literacy?

In short, are such high artist fees morally right or wrong?

And if wrong, what can we arts consumers do about it? Boycott certain artists until they become more reasonable in their fees?

Ask artist and management agencies to adjust the fees to make them more affordable?

Go to alternative concerts that are perfectly acceptable without star power and cost less or, like those at the University of Wisconsin School of Music, free?

Tell us what you think in a COMMENT.

The Ear wants to hear.

Classical music: Opera diva Renee Fleming will sing the National Anthem to open the NFL Super Bowl XVIII (48) next Sunday. But WHY and HOW did that happen and WHAT does it mean for professional music and professional sports?

January 26, 2014
3 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

What is THIS all about?

Next Sunday -– a week from today – is Superbowl XVLIII (that’s 48 in plain English numerals — does the NFL think Latin adds class to football?)) between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. It will be held in bad cold weather in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands. That’s the football game where the best seats are going for more than $25,000. (Where are you now, Tony Soprano?) Not that a wealth gap exists between professional sports like football (below) and the rest of America. Oh, no — never that.

And guess who will sing the national anthem, the tricky “The Star-Spangled Banner,” to open the show – and it is a show. None other than superstar soprano Renee Fleming (below).

Yep, the lovely and gifted opera diva herself.

Now, I am not about to complain about a classical music star getting a chance for such exposure. But it does makes you wonder how it happened.

Did her agent approach the NFL?

Or did the billionaire-packed NFL decide on its own — somewhere in its posh 280 Fifth Avenue headquarters (below top is the exterior, below bottom is the interview its tacky half-Football Desk) that are tax-exempt – that it would buy some highbrow class and at the same time help the cause of classical music and maybe build a new audience?

The Ear can’t imagine it was done by popular choice, under pressure from the fans.

And WHY was it done?

Did a lot of classical music presenters, who already realize that it is commercial suicide to hold a concert on Super Bowl Day, think to put some class into the Super Bowl and not risk bad attendance?

Was it just out of a taste for variety?

Fleming, who has a deep background in jazz and popular music, will probably nail it of course.

But will Renee Fleming create the same kind of rowdy, over-the-top atmosphere that is appropriate to the occasion as some bluesy-gospel, pop-rock or hip-hop star rendition would? Sure, Fleming sells a lot of records and tickets — but nowhere near as much as the superstars in those others genres of music do.

I guess we will see.

If she goes over well, maybe they can book her for the half-time act in a couple of years. But someone like superstar pianist Lang Lang (below), who will perform with metal rockers Metallica at this year’s Grammy Awards to be broadcast live tonight, seems a more likely candidate. Why book Rubinstein when you can get Liberace?

Well, at least folks at the Super Bowl can feel as classy as the Metropolitan Opera folks for a couple of minutes –- until the concussions start.

I don’t know if we will ever get the back story about the why and the how. But here is a link to the story that NPR’s excellent Deceptive Cadence blog had about Renee Fleming and the Super Bowl.

It is good, short and to the point, even if it doesn’t move beyond the headlines.

See what you think.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2014/01/21/264553311/guess-whos-singing-the-national-anthem-at-the-super-bowl

And for True Fans, here is a link to the official NFL Super Bowl 48 site, loaded with information and complete with a clock counting down to the coin toss and kickoff:

http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/48

What would be a good, an appropriate opera aria to mark the Super Bowl? How about Puccini’s “Nessum dorma” (“No one sleeps”) from “Turandot,” below in a popular YouTube video with almost 9 million hits. It features tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who made it his signature aria, and it shows the last time he sang it in 2006 at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Look at the sets. Listen to the crowd going wild. It seems in keeping with the Super Bowl, no?

But if you can suggest another choice, The Ear wants to hear it.

Classical music Q&A: Founder Dean Schroeder talks about the inaugural Handel Aria Competition at this year’s Madison Early Music Festival on Monday night, July 8.

July 5, 2013
11 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

Dean Schroeder is known primarily as a knowledgeable, helpful and amiable local businessman who, with his wife Carol “Orange” Schroeder, owns and runs Orange Tree Imports on Monroe Street.

But the Schroeders are also serious fans of classical music. They attend, participate in and sponsor many events, including the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society and the Madison Bach Musicians.

Their latest venture, though, is especially interesting: they founded the first annual Handel Aria Competition, which they hope will become an annual event at the Madison Early Music Festival that starts tomorrow, on Saturday, and runs through Friday, July 12. Given the global Handel revival in the past decade, the timing couldn’t be more perfect to build audiences for Handel and audiences for the festival.

The final round of the competition will be held on Monday night, July 8, at 7 p.m. in Mills Hall as part of the 14th annual Madison Early Music Festival. Admission is FREE and open to the public.

Here are links to a previous blog post about the festival overall, and to the festival’s own website and to a special website about the Handel aria competition:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/classical-music-qa-co-artistic-directors-paul-rowe-and-cheryl-bensman-rowe-discuss-the-14th-annual-madison-early-music-festival-that-begins-this-saturday-and-ends-next-friday-it-will-explore-th/

http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/lsa/memf/

http://www.handelariacompetition.com/Handel_Aria_Competition/Welcome_to_the_Handel_Aria_Competition.html

Dean Schroeder (seen below with his wife Orange) recently talked with The Ear in an e-mail about the Handel aria contest:

How and when did you come up with the idea for the Handel aria competition?

Over the past few years, I have realized my strong affinity to Handel’s vocal music, especially the arias and duets from his many operas and oratorios.

I previously had no appreciation for opera, but one day I was driving down Monroe Street and heard, on Wisconisn Public Radio’s WERN (88.7 FM), an aria that was so delightfully melodic and lively that I had to pull over and listen. It was “Tornami a vagheggiar,” sung by Natalie Dessay (below in a different live performance in a YouTube video) on William Christie’s recording of “Alcina,” also featuring Renee Fleming and Susan Graham.

In that life-changing moment I knew I had to seek it out, and eventually found great pleasure in discovering dozens of other arias from Handel’s works. We are lucky to be in a period of revival of Handel’s music, and I’d recommend YouTube for its countless selection of arias to explore.

How will the contest be run and judged?

The judges will be tenor William Hudson (below top), soprano Ellen Hargis (below middle) and the local music critic, retired UW-Madison medieval history professor and choral singer John W. Barker (below bottom).

The first two are regulars on the Madison Early Music Festival’s faculty, and will be performing in the week’s concerts as well.

The three will have to coordinate on the criteria, applying their expertise to determine the standards they will use to judge. They will determine the top three prizes, which are cash.

The audience will get to vote via ballot for their favorite. This winner will get a free ticket for tuition to the Early Music Festival next year.

Why did you want to create such a contest? Do you think it will expand the audience for the Madison Early music Festival?

About a year ago, I learned of the annual Handel aria competition in London, which is part of a month-long celebration of Handel (below). Thanks to Paul and Cheryl Rowe, we have been able to create our own competition to encourage young singers as part of the annual Madison Early Music Festival.

They have generously welcomed the idea and worked to make it happen, and I believe it will result in additional interest and enthusiasm for the Festival in the coming years. We were delighted to have almost 50 singers audition this year, and anticipate an increase in future years.

Do you yourselves have a favorite Handel aria or favorite Handel arias? Do you have favorite performers of those arias you could recommend recordings of?

A few years back I was lucky to attend the Lyric Opera’s production of Handel’s “Hercules,” conducted by Harry Bicket. He brought with him a soprano, for a supporting role, who stunned the audience with her gorgeous voice: Lucy Crowe (below).

Her latest recording project, Handel’s “Il pastor fido,” is one that I am highly recommending for the talent of the young singers and musicians, as well as the sonic beauty of the performance space: the Temple Church in London. (There is also an interesting YouTube video of the making of the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVRZzt90SNw

In addition to those singers mentioned, I really enjoy hearing Joyce DiDonato, David Daniels (below), Ian Bostridge, Andreas Scholl, Mark Padmore, Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson, Sandrine Piau, Maite Beaumont … the list is long and growing larger! A good starting CD might be Harmonia Mundi’s CD box “Handel: Famous Arias.”

Is there anything else you would like to say or add?

I’ve been taking singing lessons from Ben Luedcke (below) for about four years, and have been in all three of his choirs: Madison Choral Arts Society, UW Men’s Choir and Madison Summer Choir (the latter two he founded).

I’m a tenor, and the Handel I’ve attempted includes: “As Steals the Morn” (a gorgeous duet, sung by Ian Bostridge and Lynne Dawson in a YouTube video at the bottom); “Waft Her, Angels” (a plaintive aria from the oratorio “Jeptha,” which we just saw in Boston by the Handel and Haydn Society and which will be sung by our tenor on Monday); AND I’ve sung the soprano part an octave down in these duets: “Io t’abbraccio” and “Son nata a lagrimar” (the lament from “Giulio Cesare”) … I love the duets, and it works surprisingly well to “flip” parts!

Handel was a master of every voice range and expresses a wide range of emotions. His arias are very approachable and engaging, and many are extremely moving. It is so good to see the increase in appreciation for Handel’s genius, beyond just “Messiah,” (which everyone knows and loves). I loved the Madison Opera’s and John DeMain’s production of “Acis and Galatea,” and look forward to more local productions of Handel, including the University Opera’s upcoming presentation of “Ariodante” on October 25–29.

http://www.music.wisc.edu/opera

Along with hearing more Handel, I hope more people will try singing his gorgeous arias and duets. I’ve only been singing a few years, but have attempted a few of them with credible results. They are not beyond the average singer, and they are greatly satisfying to sing.

Classical music Q&A: University Opera director William Farlow talks about why he likes Mascagni’s rarely staged opera “L’Amico Fritz,” which will get three performances on Friday night, Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night. Plus, the acclaimed Wisconsin Brass Quintet marks 40 years with a LIVE-STREAMED concert on Friday night.

March 14, 2013
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ALERT: The 40th Anniversary Season Finale Concert by the UW-Madison‘s Wisconsin Brass Quintet will take place Friday night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall. Admission is FREE and open to the public. (Members of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, shown below in a photo by Katrin Talbot, are, from left, Jessica Jensen on trumpet, Daniel Grabois on horn, John Stevens on tuba, John Aley on trumpet, and Mark Hetzler on trombone.) The program is a serious and challenging one. As trombonist Mark Hetzler told the Wisconsin State Journal, “This [brass] music, while it is virtuosic and exciting, is also quite intellectual and cerebral. Imagine modern music for string quartet. This kind of music branches into those deeper places like that sort of music would.” On the program are: “Gravikord,” written for the quintet’s 40th birthday by UW horn professor Daniel Grabois; “Magnum Mysterium,” by local celebrity composer John Harbison; “Suite of Madrigals,” by Carlo Gesualdo, arranged for brass quintet by Mark Hetzler; and “Adam’s Rib,” by James MacMillan. And here is another first: If you cannot attend in person, consider watching it LIVE on your computer via streaming! It starts at 8 p.m. CDT; subtract or add hours as your time zone requires.

Livestream webcast link

Read a story by Gayle Worland in last Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal:

“A milestone of note for Wisconsin Brass Quintet”

By Jacob Stockinger

William Farlow, the director of University Opera at the UW-Madison, has done it again: He is offering listeners the chance to see and hear a rarely staged opera.

This time it is “L’Amico Fritz” (My Friend Fritz) by Pietro Mascagni (below), best known for the popular “Cavalleria rusticana.”

The UW Symphony Orchestra will accompany the student singers and be conducted by James Smith.

The opera will be sung in Italian with English surtitles by Christine Seitz.

The opera, according to director Farlow, “is a vibrant, youthful love story.” The opera takes place in the idyllic pastoral setting of Alsace-Lorraine, and Farlow has elected to set it in 1891, the year the opera premiered.

Three performances will be given in Music Hall (below): Friday night at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.; and Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.

Farlow’s casts include undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.

Most roles are multiple cast for this opera. The title role of wealthy landowner Fritz will be shared by Alex Gmeinder (March 15 and 19) and Aldo Perelli (March 17). Cassie Glaeser (15) and Shannon Prickett (17 and 19) will sing opposite them as Suzel, the peasant girl Fritz comes to love. The rabbi David, Fritz’s matchmaking friend, will be sung by Jordan Wilson at all three performances. Bethany Hickman (15) and Lindsay Metzger (17 and 19) will share the role of Beppe, a gypsy. Erik Larson in the role of Hanezò, Josh Sanders as Federico, and Catie Leigh Laszewski as Catarina complete the cast. (Below is a photo by Brent nicastro of Shannon Prickett, Also Perelli and Lindsay Metzger.)

Production staff includes costume designers Sydney Krieger and Hyewon Park, technical director/set designer Greg Silver, lighting designer Steven M. Peterson, scenic artist/set designer Liz Rathke, guest vocal coach Thomas Kasdorf and chorus master Susan Goeres. This production is made possible by a gift from an anonymous donor, as well as additional funding from Opera Props.

Single tickets are $22 general, $18 senior/student and $10 UW-Madison students. Tickets can be ordered at www.uniontheater.wisc.edu/boxoffice or by calling (608) 265-ARTS.

Director William Farlow recently gave an email Q&A to The Ear:

Can you briefly tell us something about the origin and story of “L’amico Fritz” and why it is so rarely performed or heard?

It is based on the novel “L’ami Fritz” by Emile Erkmann and Alexandre Chatrian. I believe that most companies are reluctant to produce the opera because they feel, wrongly, that is must be coupled with another short opera.

Why did you pick it for the University Opera

For the same reason I pick all my operas at UW –- to give my singers the best roles suited to their individual voices.

What do you think of Mascagni as a composer? How do you compare this music and libretto to his much more famous opera “Cavalleria rusticana”?

Mascagni is an excellent composer. As much as I love “Cavalleria,” “Fritz” shows many other dimensions of his talent -– lyricism and inventive orchestration.

Is the opera’s libretto metaphorically relevant to the world situation today? Or is it just a simple rustic love story?

Yes, a simple love story, but very relevant. It concerns our response to feeling love for another person.

What else would you like to say or have the public know about either the opera or this production?

Such a lovely, sadly neglected piece – with so much gorgeous music! (Listen to the YouTube video of the famous “Cherry Duet” with Luciano Pavarotti and Renee Fleming at the bottom.)

Classical music: One musician’s cancellation can make another musician’s career. Just ask conductors Leonard Bernstein, Fabio Luisi and Michael Tilson Thomas; pianists Lang-Lang, Yuja Wang, Jonathan Biss and Jeremy Denk; and singer Renee Fleming among many others.

April 28, 2012
2 Comments

By Jacob Stockinger

We are all disappointed when we buy a ticket to hear a well-known musician perform a great piece of music, only to find out that the artist is “indisposed” and has cancelled.

In some cases, of course, it can be downright ludicrous.

For example, whenever pianist Martha Argerich (below) – who was notorious for cancelling concerts – used to release a schedule of her upcoming concerts for the next seasons, some waggish critics would joke about her releasing her list of upcoming cancellations for the next season.

Sometimes it is something as simple as a scheduling conflict. That is how the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra gave us the local debut of the terrific young Israeli-American pianist Shai Wosner (below) last spring when Anne Marie McDermott had to cancel. (She will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C Minor with the WCO next March.)

But most often, I suspect it is genuine. Still, there is an upside when a performer becomes ill or sick or otherwise indisposed.

It often marks the beginning of another stellar career and gives a break to a promising artist who needs a break to advance their career or have a major debut. Just ask conductors Leonard Bernstein, Michael Tilson Thomas and Fabio Luisi; pianists Lang-Lang, Yuja Wang, Jonathan Boss and Jeremy Denk; and superstar singer Renee Fleming among many others who got their big break through someone else’s illness.

In fact, you have to wonder if sometimes the famous artist who cancelled wasn’t really sick at all but instead cancelled deliberately to give a younger talented colleague they admired a break in such a competitive profession. Why not? I say. Whatever works.

For example, that’s how soprano Renee Fleming (below) got to make her Metropolitan Opera debut a year earlier than scheduled, much like Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic. And there are many such stories and examples. Just look up musicians’ biographies in Wikipedia and check out their early careers.

Here is a link to a fine in-depth story, which also talks about repertoire complications and how the right substitutes are found, in the Wall Street Journal about that phenomenon:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903927204576570651872866710.html

Have you ever heard a great musician by chance and because he or she was a substitute for the scheduled “indisposed”performer who had to cancel?

Who was it and what did you think?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Anne Marie McDermott, Fabio Luisi, Jeremy Denk, Leonard Bernstein, Martha Argerich, Michael Tilson Thomas, New York Philharmonic, Renée Fleming, Shai Wosner, Wall Street Journal, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Yuja Wang

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