Rite of Spring | The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Leon Fleisher, the inspirational pianist and teacher who died a week ago, had ties to Madison

August 9, 2020
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By Jacob Stockinger

Famed American pianist and teacher Leon Fleisher (below, in a photo by Chris Hartlove), who also conducted, died of cancer at 92 last Sunday, Aug. 2.

Wisconsin Public Radio, like many other media outlets including National Public Radio (NPR) and most major newspapers and television stations, devoted a lot of time to tributes to and remembrances of Fleisher.

That is as it should be. If any musician deserved it, Fleisher did.

Fleisher (1928-2020) was a titan who became, over many years and despite major personal setbacks — stemming from an almost paralyzed right hand — a lot more than a keyboard virtuoso.

But despite lots of air time, less well covered has been his relationship to Madison audiences, who had the pleasure of seeing and hearing him several times in person.

In 2003 and then again in 2016 (below top) — at age 88 — Fleisher performed with the University of Wisconsin’s Pro Arte String Quartet (below bottom).

Both times he played the Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, a masterpiece of chamber music. He and his wife, Katherine Jacobson, also performed a joint recital at the Wisconsin Union Theater in 2009.

Fleisher felt at home in Baroque, Classical, Romantic and even modern music. He was renowned as an interpreter of Brahms. Indeed, his early and widely acclaimed recordings of both Brahms piano concertos as well as of the Waltzes and Handel Variations remain landmarks.

Once he was again playing with both hands, Fleisher also recorded the piano quintet for Deutsche Grammophon with the Emerson String Quartet, another frequent and favorite performer in Madison. (You can hear the finale in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Here is a this blog’s review of his last Madison appearance: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/?s=Leon+Fleisher

Fleisher liked performing with the Pro Arte, and therein lies another historical tale.

His most influential teacher — the famed pianist Artur Schnabel, with whom the San Francisco-born Fleisher went to study in Europe when he was just 9 — also played often with the earlier members of Pro Arte Quartet. Together they recorded Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet by Franz Schubert, and that recording is still in the catalogue and available on Amazon.

Fleisher discusses studying with Schnabel in his entertaining and informative 2010 autobiography “My Nine Lives” (below).

Fleisher was a child prodigy who made his name while still young. Famed French conductor Pierre Monteux – who conducted the world premiere of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” in Paris — called Fleisher the “musical find of the century.” Fleisher made his concerto debut at 16 with the New York Philharmonic under Monteux.

Fleisher was just 36 and preparing for a tour with the Cleveland Orchestra and George Szell – a perfect pairing and a conductor with whom he recorded all the Beethoven and Brahms concertos among may others – when he found he could not uncurl the last three fingers of his right hand.

Various diagnoses and causes were offered, and many cures were tried. In the end, it seems like that it was a case of focal dystonia that was caused by over-practicing, especially octaves. “I pounded ivory six or seven hours a day,” Fleisher later said.

After a period of depression and soul-searching, Fleisher then focused on performing music for the left hand; on conducting; and especially on teaching for more than 60 years at the Peabody Institute, located in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University.

There he helped shaped the career of many other famous pianists, including André Watts, Yefim Bronfman and Jonathan Biss (below, in a photo by Julian Edelstein), who played when Fleisher received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007. (All three have performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.)

Here is an inspiring overview of Fleisher’s life and career from the Peabody Institute: https://peabody.jhu.edu/faculty/leon-fleisher/

And here is another short biography from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Fleisher

Here are three especially noteworthy obituaries:

NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2020/08/02/702978476/leon-fleisher-the-pianist-who-reinvented-himself-dies-at-92

The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/02/arts/music/leon-fleisher-dead.html

The Washington Post, written by critic Anne Midgette who worked with Fleisher on his memoir: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/leon-fleisher-sublime-pianist-with-one-hand-or-two-dies-at-92/2020/08/02/c7c98f90-527d-11e6-b7de-dfe509430c39_story.html

The Ear has always found Fleisher’s playing remarkable for its technical fluency combined with the utmost clarity and exacting but flexible sense of rhythm. He always managed to make a piece of music sound just right, as it was intended to sound. His musicality always seemed innate and perfectly natural.

Sample it for yourself. The Ear thinks the performance of all five Beethoven concertos with George Szell still sets a high standard with its exciting, upbeat tempi, its exemplary balance between piano and orchestra, and its exceptional engineering.

The affable Fleisher will long remain an inspiration not only for his playing and teaching, but also for his determination to overcome personal obstacles and go on to serve music — not just the piano.

Did you ever hear Leon Fleisher play live or in recordings? What did you think?

Do you have a comment to leave about the legacy of Fleisher?

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AndréWatts, #AnneMidgette, #ArturSchnabel, #BaltimoreMaryland, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusician, #ChildProdigy, #CityofMadison, #Classicalera, #ClevelandOrchestra, #CriticalAcclaim, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #CriticalReview, #DeutscheGrammophon, #EmersonStringQuartet, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FocalDystonia, #FranzSchubert, #FrenchConductor, #FrenchMusician, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GeorgeSzell, #HandelVariations, #HighStandard, #IgorStravinsky, #InPerson, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnsHopkinsUniversity, #JohnW.Barker, #JonathanBiss, #KatherineJacobson, #KennedyCenter, #LeonFleisher, #LiveMusic, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisnSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MusicalInterpretation, #Musicfaculty, #MyLi, #MyNineLives, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewYorkPhilharmonic, #ParisFrance, #PeabodyInstitute, #PianoConcerto, #PianoMusic, #PianoQuintet, #PianoVirtuoso, #PierreMonteux, #ProArteQuartet, #RiteofSpring, #RomanticMusic, #SanFrancisco, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #ThemeAndVariations, #TheNewYorkTImes, #TheU.S., #TheUW, #TheWashingtonPost, #TroutQuintet, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #Wikipediabiography, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WorldPremiere, #YefimBronfman, #YouTubevideo, acclaim, affable, air, Amazon, amazon.com, America, American, André Watts, Anne Midgette, appearance, Arts, Artur Schnabel, audience, autobiography, available, balance, Baltimore, Baroque, Beethoven, Biss, blog, Book, born, Brahms, Bronfman, California, cancer, career, catalogue, cause, century, Chamber music, channel, child prodigy, clarity, Classical, Classical music, Cleveland Orchestra, comment, concerto, conductor, critic, critical review, day, dead, death, debut, depression, deserve, determination, Deutsche Grammophon, devite, DG, diagnoses, diagnosis, die, early, Emerson String Quartet, engineering, entertaining, Europe, exacting, exceptional, exemplary, Facebook, faculty, famed, famous, favorite, finale, find, Finger, flexible, fluency, focal dystonia, forward, France, Franz Schubert, French conductor, frequent, George Frideric Handel, George Szell, Handel, Handel Variations, hands, hear, high standard, historical, History, Home, honor, hour, husband, Igor Stravinsky, in person, informative, innate, inspirational, inspire, inspired, interpretation, interpreter, ivory, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, John W. Barker, Johns Hopkins University, joint, Jonathan Biss, Katherine Jacobson, Kennedy Center, Keyboard, landmarks, left hand, legacy, Leon Fleisher, life, like, link, live music, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, manage, masterpiece, media, member, memoir, modern, Music, musical, musicality, Musician, My Nine Lives, name, National Public Radio, natural, New York Philharmonic, New York Times, Newspaper, noteworthy, NPR, obituaries, obituary, obstacle, octave, Orchestra, outlet, overcome, overview]life, paralysis, paralyzed, Paris, Peabody Institute, perform, performer, personal, photo, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, piano music, Piano Quintet, Pierre Monteux, playing, pleasure, post, posting, pound, practice, Pro Arte Quartet, prodigy, Radio, receive, recital, recording, relationship, remarkable, remember, remembering, remembrance, review, rhythm, right hand, Rite of Spring, Romantic, San Francisco, Schubert, see, sense, serve, setback, share, soul, soul-searching, station, Stravinsky, String quartet, study, Sunday, symphony, tag, tale, Teacher, teaher, technical, technique, Television, The Ear, The Rite of Spring, The Washington Post, theme and variations, time, Titan, together, tribute, Trout Quintet, TV, U.S., uncurl, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, various, virtuoso, virtuoso pianist, Waltz, Watts, wife, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Union Theater, work, world premiere, write, writing, years, Yefim Bronfman, young, YouTube

Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Overture Center cancel their fall seasons. Plus, on Saturday cellist Cole Randolph performs a virtual concert for Grace Presents

June 26, 2020
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ALERT: The Saturday at noon, Grace Presents will offer the first in its series of HD Virtual Concerts online. Future performers include organist Mark Brampton Smith and the Willy Street Chamber Players.

The performer this time is the cellist and recent UW-Madison graduate Cole Randolph (below). The program is: the Sonata for Solo Cello by the American composer George Crumb; two of the “Seven Songs Heard in China” by Chinese composer Bright Sheng; and the Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Here is where you can hear the 40-minute concert inside the church on the Capitol Square: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vaOCH53osk

You can also connect with Cole Randolph after the show by joining in a Zoom meet-and-greet immediately following the performance at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88001773181

The meeting ID is: 880 0177 3181

You can hear Randolph (below, in a photo by Michael Anderson) playing in the YouTube video at the bottom.

By Jacob Stockinger

With all the talk of a second wave of coronavirus coming in the fall — complicated by the seasonal flu – concert cancellations don’t come as a surprise, unfortunately.

In fact, The Ear suspects many more cancellations are to come, including those from the UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Union Theater and the Middleton Community Orchestra.

Here is the latest round: the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Opera, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Overture Center have all canceled their fall seasons, with some qualifications.

The announcements came on Thursday morning in the wake of the Overture Center canceling all performances this summer and fall through Nov. 30.

MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Madison Symphony Orchestra has provided a short statement and a more complete and detailed press release.

Here is the statement:

“The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 2020-21 “Beethoven and Beyond” season concerts and Overture Concert Organ performances are now canceled from September 2020 through January 2021.

“The move is due to the Overture Center’s decision to suspend events through Nov. 30, 2020, and the requirements of Dane County’s “Forward Dane” Reopening Plan.

“The 2020-21 season performances in February, March, April and May 2021 are scheduled to take place as planned.

“All subscribers will be sent a refund for the value of their tickets for the September 2020 through January 2021 concerts.”

Here is a list on the five MSO concerts – including the Beyond the Score performance of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” on Jan. 25 — that will be canceled and the four that remain scheduled: https://madisonsymphony.org/concerts-events/2020-2021-symphony-season-concerts/

Here is a link to the full press release about the cancellations by the MSO (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers): https://madisonsymphony.org/press-release-june-2020-concert-events-update/

MADISON OPERA

The Madison Opera is canceling the two in-person performances of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” (The Troubadour) but is planning on offering some kind of large digital event and smaller live events at its center.

Here is statement from the Madison Opera:

“Although the Overture Center for the Arts is closed until the end of November, we will not be going silent.

“We are creating a fall season that lasts from September through December, and includes both digital content and live performances at the Margaret C. Winston Madison Opera Center, our home in downtown Madison.

“Some of our signature engagement activities — such as Opera Novice and Opera Up Close — will have monthly editions that include artists from around the country.

“The Opera Center itself will be the site of “Live from the Opera Center,” a variety of streamed performances with a small live audience.

“Other performances will be created digitally and made available exclusively to subscribers.

“Artists involved include members of the original “Il Trovatore” cast: soprano Karen Slack, baritone Weston Hurt, bass Kenneth Kellogg, and stage director Fenlon Lamb. Other soloists include Wisconsin-based artists Jeni Houser (below), David Blalock, Emily Fons, Emily Secor and Kirsten Larson.

“We are working with our artists to create programming that is chosen from their passions: music they want to share, ideas they want to explore, and conversations they want to start. The challenges facing us will create new art, and new ways to make sure it is accessible to everyone.”

Marketing director Andrew Rogers told The Ear that the opera company is still deciding whether digital performances will be ticketed or free with suggested donations.

The full schedule will be announced in early August, after the digital online Opera in the Park takes place Saturday, July 25. For details, go to: https://www.madisonopera.org/2020/05/06/opera-in-the-park-is-going-digital/

To stay current about the regular opera season, you can sign up for the Madison Opera’s news updates via email by going to this website: https://www.madisonopera.org/fall2020/

WISCONSIN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

The Nov. 20 opening concert with pianist John O’Conor of the Masterworks Series has been POSTPONED with no new date set yet.

Music director Andrew Sewell says the Family Concert on is still on for Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Goodman Community Center but the WCO is looking for an alternative venue.

The concert on Nov. 7 at the Verona Area Performing Arts Center has been CANCELED.

Both performances of Handel’s “Messiah” — on Dec. 9 and Dec. 12 at the Blackhawk Church in Middleton and the UW’s Hamel Music Center on Dec. 12 – have also been CANCELED.

And this season the WCO will not play Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” from Dec. 17-27 because the Madison Ballet has canceled those performances.

For more information about the WCO (below, in photo by Mike Gorski), go to: https://wcoconcerts.org/concerts-tickets/calendar

What do you think?

Do you think the cancellations are warranted?

Do you want to leave a message or comment encouraging and supporting the various groups and their many musicians?

The Ear wants to hear.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AndrewSewell, #AsianComposer, #BalletMusic, #BaritoneSinger, #BaroqueComposer, #BaroqueMusic, #BassSinger, #BeethovenYear, #BeyondTheScore, #BlackhawkChurch, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrightSheng, #CapitolSquare, #ChamberMusic, #Chinesecomposer, #ChristianChurch, #ColeRandolph, #CommunityOutreach, #ConcertOrgan, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DaneCounty, #DavidBlalock, #EmailNewsletter, #EmilyFons, #EmilySecor, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FenlonLamb, #ForwardDane, #GeorgeCrumb, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GiuseppeVerdi, #GoodmanCommunityCenter, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #HamelMusicCenter, #Handel'sMessiah, #HomeWebsite, #IgorStravinsky, #IlTrovatore, #JacobStockinger, #JeniHouser, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnO'Conor, #KarenSlack, #KirstenLarson, #LiveMusic, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonBallet, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonOperaCenter, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarkBramptonSmith, #MarketingDirector, #MarkMorrisDanceGroup, #MasterworksConcerts, #MasterworksSeason, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Meet-and-Greet, #MessiahOratorio, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #NewMusic, #NewsUpdate, #OperaInThePark, #OperaUpClose, #OrchestralMusic, #OrganMusic, #OvertureCenter, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PressRelease, #PublicHealth, #RiteofSpring, #SecondWave, #SopranoSinger, #StageDirector, #StreamedLive, #TheEar, #TheNutcracker, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VeronaAreaPerformingArtsCenter, #WestonHurt, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #YouTubevideo, accessible, alternative, American, Andrew Sewell, April, artists, Arts, Asia, asian, audience, August, available, Bach, ballet, baritone, Baroque, bass, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Beyond the Score, Blackhawk Church, blog, Bright Sheng, cancel, canceled, cancellation, Capitol Square, cast, cellist, Cello, center, challenge, Chamber music, China, Chinese, choose, Christian, Christian church, church, Classical music, Cole Randolph, comment, community, company, composer, Concert, concert organ, concerto, conductor, connect, content, conversation, coronavirus, country, create, Creation, Crumb, Dane County, date, David Blalock, December, decision, digital, donation, Early music, edition, email, Emily Fons, Emily Secor, encourage, event, everyone, explore, Facebook, fall, Family, February, Fenlon Lamb, flu, Forward Dane, free, Friday, future, George Crumb, George Frideric Handel, Giuseppe Verdi, Goodman Community Center, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, graduate, group, Hamel Music Center, Handel, HD, hear, heard, ID, idea, Igor Stravinsky, Il Trovatore, in person, influenza, Jacob Stockinger, January, Jeni Houser, Johann Sebastian Bach, John O'Conor, Karen Slack, Kirsten Larson, like, link, live, live music, live-stream, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Ballet, Madison Opera, Madison Opera Center, Madison Symphony Orchestra, march, Mark Brampton Smith, marketing director, Masterworks, Masterworks Season, May, Mead Witter School of Music, meeting, message, Messiah, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, minute, Monday, monthly, morning, move, MSO, Music, Musician, new, New Music, news, night, noon, November, October, online, opera, Opera in the Park, Opera Up Close, Orchestra, orchestral music, organ, organ music, organist, outreach, Overture Center, Overture Concert Organ, pandemic, Passion, performance, performer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano, plan, play, post, posting, postpone, press release, program, programming, public, Public health, qualification, re-schedule, recent, refund, regular, reopen, Rite of Spring, Saturday, schedule, Season, seasonal, second wave, September, sguuest, share, show, silent, solo, soloist, Sonata, song, soprano, stage director, statement, Stravinsky, streamed, subscribers, Suite, summer, Sunday, support, suspend, symphony, tag, Tchaikovsky, The Ear, The Nutcracker, Thursday, tickets, troubadour, Tuesday, unfortunate, unfortunately, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, update, UW, UW-Madison, value, venue, Verdi, Verona, Verona Area Performing Arts Center, video, Viola, Violin, virtual, virus, vocal music, warranted, WCO, Website, Wednesday, Weston Hurt, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube, Zoom

Classical music: It was the best of years and the worst of years. Here is NPR’s year-end national wrap-up of the state of classical music in 2013.

January 4, 2014
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By Jacob Stockinger

As I said in yesterday’s post, even though we are now into 2014 there is some unfinished business to wrap up for 2013 for reasons that I also explained yesterday. Here is a link:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/classical-music-here-are-the-top-six-essays-on-and-writings-about-classical-music-with-runners-up-from-2013-as-chosen-by-famed-radio-station-wqxr-fm-of-new-york-city/

Most media outlets, from old-fashioned newspapers to high-tech blogs, tend to take a year-end look back at the high points and low points of classical music as well as other forms of art and culture. But they tend to favor local performances and trends – even the venerable and first-class New York Times, the national newspaper that sets the media’s agenda, nonetheless generally focuses on The Big Apple as the center of the cultural universe.

So imagine my delight when I found a really good wrap-up of national trends, and even international events, on NPR’s great classical music blog “Deceptive Cadence.” It even opens up your eyes to what The Industry considers to be classical music by revealing the “classical” music that made it onto the Billboard charts of best-sellers.

The post was compiled and documented on by the blog’s director, Tom Huizenga, (below top) with, I suspect, help from the always informed and creative Anastasia Tsioulcas (below bottom).

What is especially praiseworthy is that it is comprehensive with much food for thought; it also seems to The Ear to be fair and balanced, neither boosterish nor alarmist; and it includes a lot of photos and a lot of links to develop any particular story that grabs you even further.

So here it is — from the mixed state of symphony orchestras (the locked out Minnesota Orchestra, which lost its conductor Osmo Vanska to labor strife, is below top) to the demise of the New York City Opera with the world premiere of the new opera “Anna Nicole” (below bottom) to the issue of bullying LGBT teenagers to various anniversaries of works and composers including the centennials of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and of the birth of Benjamin Britten.

It should easily provide you with some fine reading on what promises to be a bitterly cold and mean January weekend and work week.

Enjoy. And now it is onward to the high notes and low points of 2014!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/12/31/258649125/high-notes-and-clams-the-best-and-worst-of-classical-2013

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Anastasia Tsioulcas, Anna Nicole, Benjamin Britten, Big Apple, Billboard, bullying, Deceptive Cadence, Igor Stravinsky, Jacob Stockinger, LGBT, Minnesota Orchestra, New York City Opera, New York Times, NPR, Osmo Vanska, Rite of Spring, Tom Huizenga, WQXR-FM

Classical music: Two FREE concerts Monday night feature wind music by Black Marigold and contemporary music for duo-pianists, including a work by UW-Madison composer Joseph Koykkar.

November 17, 2013
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By Jacob Stockinger

Just a reminder that there will be two FREE concerts on Monday night that might interest you.

The first is by the wind quintet Black Marigold (below). It will perform in the auditorium at Oakwood Village West, 6201 Mineral Point Road, on Madison’s far west side, on Monday night at 7 p.m.

The program includes: Overture to “Candide” by Leonard Bernstein, transcribed by Don Stewart; “Five Frogs” by Jenni Brandon; “The Rite of Spring” (its centennial is this year) by Igor Stravinsky, as arranged by Jonathan Russell; and “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin, arranged by Ernst-Thilo Kalke.

For more information, visit: www.blackmarigold.com

Then at 7:30 in Morphy Recital Hall on the UW-Madison campus, Duo ARTIA duo-pianists Jeri-Mae Astolfi and Holly Roadfeldt, who have been on a fall concert tour of Minnesota and Wisconsin, will perform a FREE recital.

The program includes some modern and mostly contemporary music including works by Bela Bartok, Witold Lutoslawski, James Wilding, Yehuda Yannay, James Leatherbarrow, Robert Patterson, Ed Martin, Kirk O’Riordan and UW-Madison composer Joseph Koyykar (below).

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Contemporary classical music, George Gershwin, Igor Stravinsky, Jacob Stockinger, Jonathan Russell, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, modern music, New Music, Rhapsody in Blue, Rite of Spring, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin, Yehuda Yannay

Classical music: Season-openers continue this weekend as Fresco Opera Theatre presents the “Paranormal Playhouse” this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Playhouse in the Overture Center. Plus, the Kat Trio plays a FREE concert at Grace Presents at noon on Saturday and the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra performs Rossini, Haydn and Arvo Part on Sunday afternoon.

September 26, 2013
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ALERT: A new season of Grace Presents gets underway this Saturday at noon with a FREE hour-long concert at Grace Episcopal Church, 116 West Washington Avenue, downtown on the Capitol Square. The Kat Trio (below, with a different pianist) has a long history in Madison and consists of violinist Victoria Gorbich, clarinetist Vladislav Gorbich and pianist Justin Snyder. The program includes works by Aram Khachaturian, Johannes Brahms, Alexander Glazunov, Jean Sibelius, Peter Tchaikovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich as well as unique Russian arrangements and transpositions of classical works, well-known inspirational songs, and even American pop standards (from “Fiddler on the Roof”) and rags by Scott Joplin. For more, visit: www.thekattrio.net

Next Up at Grace Presents: On Saturday, October 26, at noon, tenor Daniel O’Dea and soprano Marie McNamara will perform. Support for Grace Presents comes from donations, Dane Arts and the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation.

By Jacob Stockinger

As I said earlier this week, even though the concert season officially started with chamber music many classical music fans wait for big groups, bigger pieces and bigger audiences to see that the season is really underway.

Symphonies orchestras are well represented this weekend, what with three performances by the Madison Symphony Orchestra plus the University of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra’s centennial homage to Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” on Sunday night.

But two other notable events add to the dynamic.

One is the first opera of the new season.

It is “Paranormal Playhouse,” to be presented Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the Playhouse at the Overture Center.

Here is more from an official press release:

“Fresco Opera Theatre has transformed the Overture Center Playhouse into a shell of its former self. The space is haunted by spirits of operas past, including performers who have met untimely deaths, evil spirits who sabotage those who get in their way and mysterious souls who are untraceable.

Patrons are being scared to death. The Overture Center needs help, and who are they going to call?

“Fresco has the answer. A.R.I.A. (Apparition Removal Investigation Association) will find the spirits and the stories behind their inhabiting the Playhouse.

“Fresco knows you will be moved by the stories of these unfortunate souls as they sing to the audience they long for. But be warned. As you are drawn in to these beautiful spiritual voices, something else evil is lurking…

“Opera shouldn’t be scary. No one knows this better than Fresco Opera Theatre.”

Sorry, I have no specifics about arias and other specific works and composers to be sung. For more information about this production and past productions as well as photos of the Fresco Opera Theatre, visit:

http://www.frescooperatheatre.com/paranormal-playhouse.html

The “Paranormal Playhouse” project is made possible with support from the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission (Dane Arts), Madison Arts Commission, and its generous donors.

ALSO: At Edgewood College this Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the St. Joseph Chapel, 1000 Edgewood College Drive, the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra (below top) will perform under the direction of Blake Walter (below bottom).

The program features Rossini’s Overture to “La Cambiale di Matrimonia,” Franz Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 87 and Arvo Pärt’s “If Bach Had Been a Bee-Keeper” (At the bottom in a YouTube video.)

Admission is $5, or free with an Edgewood College ID.

Classical music: Black Marigold, the Madison-based woodwind quintet, will perform three FREE PUBLIC concerts in the second half of August, starting this Friday.

August 13, 2013
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By Jacob Stockinger

Word has come of three very appealing FREE and PUBLIC performances by a notable local chamber music group. Here is the press release:

“Black Marigold (below) welcomes the dog days of August with a free concert series of chamber works hot enough to fry an egg on the stage. (You can hear Black Marigold in a lively performance of the “William Tell” Overture by Rossini in a YouTube video at the bottom.)

“Join the members of this local woodwind quintet as they perform arrangements some of their favorite orchestral works, including a 100th anniversary celebration of the notorious premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.” Any riotous reactions to this challenging quintet adaptation will hopefully come in the form of applause.

“All performances are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

“Members of Black Marigold are: Elizabeth Marshall, flute; Laura Medisky, oboe; Bethany Schultz, clarinet; Kia Karlen, horn; and Cynthia Cameron Fix, bassoon.

For more information about the group, here is a link to a website and also the group’s email address:

www.blackmarigold.com

blackmarigoldwinds@gmail.com

Here is the line-up of upcoming appearances with programs and links to details:

Friday, August 16, 6 p.m ., Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Lecture Hall (below), first floor, 227 State St., Madison, Wisconsin

Saturday, August 17, 7 p.m. , Capitol Lakes Retirement Community, Grand Hall (below), 333 W Main St., Madison, Wisconsin

Program: Overture to “Candide” – by Leonard Bernstein, trans. Don Stewart; “Le Tombeau de Couperin” – by Maurice Ravel, arr. Mason Jones; “The Rite of Spring” – by Igor Stravinsky, arr. Jonathan Russell; “Rhapsody in Blue” – by George Gershwin, arr. Ernst-Thilo Kalke

Orton Park Festival, Main Stage (below top), Sunday, August 25, noon, Orton Park, 1200 Spaight St., Madison, Wisconsin, with a special guest, the local well known recording engineer, amateur musician and all-round enthusiastic and amiable good sport Buzz Kemper (below bottom) as narrator.

The Orton Park program inc;ludes: Overture to “Candide” – by Leonard Bernstein, trans. Don Stewart; “Peter and the Wolf” – by Sergei Prokofiev, arr. Earl C. North; “The Rite of Spring” – by Igor Stravinsky, arr. Jonathan Russell; “Rhapsody in Blue” – by George Gershwin, arr. Ernst-Thilo Kalke

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Black Marigold, Capitol Lakes Retirement Community, George Gershwin, Igor Stravinsky, Jonathan Russell, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison Wisconsin, Maurice Ravel, MMOCA, Orton Park Festival, Overture Center, Rite of Spring, Sergei Prokofiev, Wisconsin, YouTube

Classical music: Was composer Igor Stravinsky gay or bisexual, as a new book by Robert Craft claims? And if he was, how much does it matter? Did it affect his music? Were New York Times critic Zachary Woolfe and other writers even-handed and fair in exploring the “issue”?

July 28, 2013
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

With the rising social and political acceptance of marriage equality, or same-sex marriage, it is hard not to imagine that there will also be even more interest in gay history and whether great and important figures from the past will be “outed” as gay, lesbian and bisexual.

That is especially true of the pioneering 20th-century Russian modernist composer Igor Stravinsky (1881-1972, below top) -– 2013 is the centennial of his landmark ballet score “Rite of Spring” – who has been “outed” in the new book “Stravinsky: Discoveries and Memories” by 90-year-old Robert Craft (below bottom, on the right with Stravinsky on the left), who was the composer’s longtime friend and assistant.

Specifically, Craft says, Stravinsky – who was married to women three times and was said to have been proud or even boastful of his heterosexuality — had affairs with Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov (below top), the oldest son of Stravinsky’s teacher, the famous Russian composer and orchestrator Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; with French composer Maurice Ravel (below middle, with Ravel on the left and Stravinsky on the right); and with Belgian composer Maurice Delage (below bottom).

Perhaps the most comprehensive and careful or even conservative treatment of the questions raised by Craft and his book (below), which was published by the thriving Naxos Records, came in The New York Times through the treatment by reporter and critic Zachary Woolfe.

Here is a link to that story by Zachary Woolfe (below):

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/arts/music/doubts-greet-claims-about-stravinskys-sexuality.html?_r=0

Other writers and media outlets also covered the controversial story, which was bound to get attention, given the “virility” of Stravinsky’s most famous scores and the wide influence he had on modern music. Be sure to read the Comments sections, since you will there find many other points of view and debate from the “consumers.”

Here is a link to an excellent story on the radio website for the New York City radio station WQXR-FM. Be sure to read the many reader comments:

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/blogs/wqxr-blog/2013/jun/25/was-stravinsky-bisexual-if-he-was-so-what/

Here is another fine story from the Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-stravinksy-craft-20130721,0,6906602.story

And here is how famed critic Norman Lebrecht (below) first treated the matter:

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2013/06/was-stravinsky-ambisexual-while-writing-rite-of-spring.html

And then here is how Lebrecht later got pretty dour about Woolfe and the Times as well other critics or questioners of Craft’s claims:

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2013/07/the-new-york-times-gets-sniffy-about-stravinskys-retrosexuality.html

One thing is for sure: Craft’s contentions and the validity of his proof as well as the effect of the claim will surely be analyzed and talked about a lot at the special Stravinsky festival in August at Bard College near New York City.

What do you think of the claim? True or false?

And if true, how much do you think it matters?

The Ear — who thinks almost all great art and great artists involve a real or symbolic transgression of sexual taboos — wants to hear.

So check out the sheer transgressive sensuality and even sexuality of the music and dance, with choreography by the famed PIna Bausch, and the dancers’ bodies in the YouTube video below:

Classical music: A century later, is “The Rite of Spring” still new and edgy? Was Igor Stravinsky the Pablo Picasso of modern music? It’s a good question to consider as “The Rite” turns 100 this Wednesday, May 29, and NPR devotes several worthy stories to Stravinsky and his music.

May 26, 2013
1 Comment

By Jacob Stockinger

This coming Wednesday, May 29, marks the 100th anniversary of the premiere of “The Rite of Spring” by the 20th century master Igor Stravinsky (below at about the time of “The Rite.”).

You may remember that its sensational premiere in Paris in 1913, which also ushered in modern dance as well as modern music, was conducted by Pierre Monteux, caused a literal riot in the concert hall at the Theatre of the Champs Elysees. (Below are the dancers of the Ballets Russes who performed the original 1913 choreography by the famed Nijinsky and a video of the opening from the Joffrey Ballet‘s recreation of the original production.)

A century later, the ballet score remains a shockingly visceral, raw, convulsive and heart-pounding work that has lost none of its impact. It is, like late Beethoven string quartets — I believe it was Stravinsky himself who made the observation about Beethoven’s “Grosse Fuge” — forever modern.

Miles Hoffman recently discussed “The Rite” on NPR within the very varied and very long career of Stravinsky, and how Stravinsky (below, in a photo by Richard Avedon) was musical chameleon who constantly pushed his art and evolved his sense of style in different directions.

Hoffman, himself a performing musician (a violist) and a fine writer, compared Stravinsky to Pablo Picasso for the range and diversity of his experimentation and the masterful results.

Certain, the range of Stravinsky (1882-1971) is worth considering even as record labels are issuing special centennial editions and performances of “The Rite of Spring.”

What, one wants to ask, about the neo-Classical Stravinsky? Or the 12-tone Stravinsky? The contrasting styles are all so central to understanding his career. (I love the earlier Stravinsky of “Rite” and “The Firebird” but I adore the Neo-Classical Stravinsky and admire the courage that it took for the ever-morphing composer to buck his modernist colleagues.)

And the often repeated comparison to Picasso is especially appropriate given that the two prolific and protean ever-changing artists knew each other and even had a bet on who would live the longest. (Picasso, who lived from 1881 to 1973, won the bet.)

Here is a link to the NPR piece, which features audio samples and which I highly recommend you listen to and not just read:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/05/24/186296467/igor-stravinskys-rite-of-spring-counterrevolution

Here is a piece to another NPR piece, “A Cocktail Party Guide to Stravinsky,” complete with audio and video samples, from Tom Huizenga.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/05/24/186443524/the-cocktail-party-guide-to-igor-stravinsky

And here is a third NPR piece that features sound clips and the 48-year-old Leonard Bernstein (below) in an electrifying and thrilling performance of the difficult but thrilling score to “Le Sacre du Printemps” with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1966:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/05/25/186489566/leonard-bernsteins-rite-of-spring-thrill-ride

Finally, here is anther comprehensive NPR piece done by Tom Vitale that aired Saturday on Weekend Edition host Scott Simon:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/05/25/186497792/then-the-curtain-opened-the-bracing-impact-of-stravinskys-rite

Meanwhile here in a YouTube video is the part of “The Rite of Spring” that always seems my ears like the soundtrack to an Aztec heart sacrifice — well, it is about pagan Russia — with its incredible use of slashing strings, pounding percussion, spooky winds and brass, and propulsive off-beats.

What careful mastery, craft and precision went into something so physical, so visceral, so emotive! There is a lesson there for advocates of passionate art who mistake sincere confession for careful craft!

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Ballet Russe, Deceptive Cadence, Grosse Fuge, Igor Stravinsky, Jacob Stockinger, Joffrey Ballet, Leonard Bernstein, London Symphony Orchestra, Ludwig van Beethoven, neo-Classical, neoclassical, NPR, Pablo Picasso, Paris, Rite of Spring, Stravinsky, String quartet, YouTube

Classical music: What are your favorite warhorses? The Ear says warhorses need defending and performing, and also thinks Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto is far superior to his Second.

September 30, 2012
9 Comments

ALERT: Phenom conductor Gustavo Dudamel (below) leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Stravinsky‘s “The Rite of Spring” LIVE on an NPR webcast today at 5 p.m. EDT on www.npr.org. Here he discusses the landmark work with “All Things Considered” host Robert Siegel: http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/09/28/161964987/gustavo-dudamel-on-the-magic-of-stravinskys-crazy-music

By Jacob Stockinger

Just a week ago, last Sunday afternoon, I heard a stunningly good concert by the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

It was the perfect season opener and featured an all-Russian program plus a tribute to two MSO figures who died recently, principal tuba player Paul Haugan (below top) and longtime conductor and music director Roland Johnson (below bottom).

I agree with just about all my critic colleagues, who wrote very positive reviews. It was an extremely impressive and satisfying concert in so many ways.

The “Adagio for Strings” by UW composer John Stevens (below) was less emotionally wrenching than Samuel Barber’s well-known work of the same name. But that only made it more suited to the occasion. It held loss in a level gaze and didn’t sentimentalize the inevitability of death and loss. Plus, the MSO strings sounded so beautiful and so precise.

Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 “Classical” was performed with all the wit and spark that the neo-Classical pastiche requires. All sections showed the energetic snap the piece calls for.

And who wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the drama and fierce rhythms, the masterful orchestration and sonic beauty of The “Firebird” Suite, which showcased the entire orchestra, by Stravinsky (below).

But as for the finale, the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major, Op. 44, by Tchaikovsky – well I guess I find myself in the role of the dissenter filing a minority report.

MSO music director and conductor John DeMain (below, in a photo by James Gill), now entering his 19^th season in Madison, programmed it at the suggestion of the soloist pianist Garrick Ohlsson. It proved to be a premiere performance in the almost century-long history of the MSO.

And I think for good reason.

One critic praised it as a deserving work and a wonderful piece. And it is true that the performance received an enthusiastic standing ovation.

But I think that reception was largely NOT for the music.

I think the audience’s reaction came from hearing a first-rate performance of a second-rate piece.

It is good once a while to hear this rarely performed work. But let’s not overdo it. It is true that the concerto does have some beautiful moments. But overall, it is ponderously long, especially in the first movement.

The second movement, a piano trio with less piano than cello and violin, was performed exceptionally well by principal cellist Karl Lavine (below top, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) and concertmaster Naha Greenholtz (tomorrow bottom). But it really can’t compare for me with the beauty of the Piano Trio in A minor by the same composer. And the final movement was disjointed, albeit virtuosic.

The virtuosic Ohlsson (below) played the treacherously difficult piano part with aplomb, confidence and conviction.

But too much of the concerto just sounded to The Ear like a reworking of passages from the more famous Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, which has made so many careers including those of Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter, Van Cliburn, Emil Gilels, Lang-Lang and many others.

What drive and what lyricism that earlier concerto has. It is irresistible. It changes your world. It shakes you up. It stirs you deeply. And makes you hum or sing along.

If it is a warhorse – and it truly is – it is for a good reason. Its magic never fails. It is indisputably great. It is reliable. It never fails to deliver the goods.

It was good to hear the Second Piano Concerto by Tchaikovsky (below), but more as a curiosity than as a great listening experience. The audience would really have gone wild the First Concerto, especially the hands of such a fluent and powerful player as Ohlsson. I also bet it would have meant sellouts for all three performances at a time when symphonies can use all the attendance they can muster.

Perhaps the concert could have concluded with a Rachmaninoff or Prokofiev concerto, or even the Shostakovich Second. Or the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, which like the same composer’s great symphonies, stands up to the First Piano Concerto and surpasses the Second Piano Concerto.

So I’ll be anxious to hear what other audience members have to say about Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto? Was it a great work that you liked? Or the great performance that enthralled you?

The Ear wants to hear. You be the critic.

I also want to hear what your own favorite “warhorses” are: J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins or Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”? Beethoven’s Fifth or Ninth symphonies, or maybe his “Emperor” piano concerto? Rachmaninoff’s Second or Third Piano Concertos or his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini? Mozart’s G minor and “Jupiter” Symphonies, or perhaps his Piano Concerto in D Minor? Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony? Grieg’s Piano Concerto or Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”? Puccini’s opera “La Boheme”? Or maybe Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (at bottom)?

Some very experienced or even jaded listeners will call them “warhorses” and dismiss them.

But so-called warhorses get their name precisely because they are tough and reliable, and because they work. It is laudable to program beyond them, but not to ignore or dismiss them

Warhorses are usually great music that should be performed live more often, great music that will help attract new and younger audiences who might not even know them at all because, unfortunately, “warhorses” aren’t supposed to be played – and, at the risk of seeming unsophisticated, often aren’t.

Posted in Classical music
Tags: Adagio for Strings, Emil Gilels, Garrick Ohlsson, Gustavo Dudamel, Igor Stravinsky, John DeMain, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Madison Symphony Orchestra, NPR, Piano concerto, Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky), Piano Trio, Rite of Spring, Samuel Barber, Van Cliburn

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