The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Recitals of Scandinavian art songs and of tuba music are on tap at the UW this Sunday afternoon and Monday night
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By Jacob Stockinger
In the next few days, two noteworthy and free recitals, open to the public, are on tap at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
On this Sunday afternoon Sept. 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Morphy Hall, mezzo-soprano Jessie Wright Martin and pianist John O’Brien (both below) – who have performed together at Carnegie Hall – will give a FREE recital of Nordic art songs. (It includes the Grieg song performed by Anne Sofie von Otter in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Wright (below) will sing in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish.
This week, the two performed the same recital at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s School of Music. Wright spoke to the student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel.
“It started because I have Norwegian heritage and was interested in Norwegian music,” said Martin, a professor of music at Wingate University. “I thought it would be interesting to expand to Swedish and Danish music.”
Composers on the program are Edvard Grieg, Peter Heisse and Gunnar de Frumeri.
For more information about the performers and the program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/jessica-martin-john-obrien-nordic-song-recital/
On Monday night at 7:30 p.m. in Morphy Hall, guest artist Beth Weise (below) will give a FREE tuba recital.
Unfortunately, no program is listed.
For more information about the concert and about Weise, a distinguished and very accomplished musician who did her undergraduate work at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin, go to:
https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/beth-wiese-tuba-guest-artist-recital/
Tags: #AnneSofievonOtter, #AppletonWisconsin, #ArtSongs, #BethWeise, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarnegieHall, #ChapelHill, #DailyTarHeel, #DanishLanguage, #DanishMusic, #EdvardGreig, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #GuestArtist, #GunnardeFumari, #JessieWrightMartin, #JohnO'Brien, #LawrenceUniversity, #LawrenceUniversityConservatoryofMusic, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #MorphyHall, #Musicfaculty, #NordicMusic, #NorwegianLanguage, #PeterHeisse, #PianoAccompanist, #ScandinavianMusic, #SwedishLanguage, #SwedishMusic, #TarHeel, #TubaMusic, #UndergraduateDegree, #UndergraduateStudent, #Undergraduatework, #UniversityofNorthCarolina, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #WingateUniversity, #YaleSchoolofMusic, #YaleUniversity, #YouTubevideo, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Appleton, art songs, Beth Weise, Carnegie Hall, Chapel HIll, composer, Concert, Daily Tar Heel, Danish, Danish music, distinguished, Edvard Grieg, Facebook, faculty, forward, guest artist, Gunnar de Fumari, heritage, information, interesting, Jessie Wright Martin, John O'Brien, language, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, lieder, like, link, Mead Witter School of Music, Mezzo-soprano, Murphy Hall, Music, Musician, Newspaper, Nordic, Nordic music, Norwegian, perform, Peter Heisse, Pianist, Piano, post, posting, professor, program, recital, Scandinavian, Scandinavian music, share, song, Student, Swedish, Swedish music, tag, Tar Heel, together, Tuba, undergraduate, Undergraduate degree, Undergraduate education, undergraduate student, University of North Carolina, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, Wingate University, Wisconsin, Yale, Yale School of Music, Yale University, YouTube, YouTube video
Classical music: A FREE concert of songs and piano music by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg will be given this Saturday afternoon at the UW-Madison
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has always liked Claude Debussy’s quote that the “both strange and delightful taste” of the music by Edvard Grieg is like “a bonbon filled with snow.”
And there is certainly much more to Grieg (1843-1907, below), Norway’s first internationally renowned composer, than the popular Piano Concerto in A minor and “Peer Gynt” Suite.
Here is a link to his biographical entry in Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Grieg
To help spread the word about this original but accessible composer who mastered melody and harmony as he incorporated Norwegian folk songs and folk dances into his work, the Edvard Grieg Society of the Great Lakes was formed last year.
This semester’s meeting will be on Saturday afternoon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
It will start with a master class at 1 p.m. that is FREE and open to the public.
Then at 4 p.m., in Morphy Recital Hall is a FREE recital of piano works, especially many of the Lyric Pieces, and songs by Grieg, whose wife was a singer. (The lyric piece “Evening in the Mountains” will be performed and you can hear Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes play it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The host is UW faculty member soprano Mimmi Fulmer (below), a champion of Scandinavian music who sits on the board of directors of the Grieg Society. She talked about Grieg and the event in an interview this past week with Norman Gilliland on Wisconsin Public Radio’s program “The Midday.” You can hear that interview, with music, here: https://www.wpr.org/shows/mimmi-fulmer-1
Here is a link to more information about the performances and the complete program, which unfortunately doesn’t translate many of the song titles from Norwegian into English.
https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/concert-with-the-edvard-grieg-society-of-the-great-lakes/
And if you wish to know more about or get involved in or support the Grieg Society, here is a link to its home web page:
http://greatlakesgrieg.weebly.com
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Classical music: UW-Madison soprano Mimmi Fulmer discusses and sings Finnish music, which she will perform in a FREE concert this Sunday afternoon
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall, UW-Madison faculty member and soprano Mimmi Fulmer (below) will open the new concert season at the UW-Madison when she performs a recital celebrating the centennial of Finland’s independence.
Fulmer will sing a variety of Finnish songs, from folk songs to new music, and will be accompanied by pianist Craig Randal Johnson (below).
This past week, Fulmer gave a preview sampling of the concert on The Midday program of Wisconsin Public Radio. In the studio (below), she talked to host Norman Gilliland about the concert and about Scandinavian music.
She also previewed the concert through her own 2014 CD (below), called “Voyage Home” — for Centaur Records — of Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish songs.
Here is a link to the WPR website where you can listen to Fulmer’s appearance on The Midday:
https://www.wpr.org/shows/mimmi-fulmer-0
And for Sunday’s concert here is the full program – unfortunately without translations of the difficult and even obscure language – that you will NOT find on the UW-Madison website (but which will be provided at the concert):
Illalle Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Soi vienosti murheeni soitto Oskar Merikanto (1868-1924)
Anmutiger Vertrag Yrjö Kilpinen (1892-1959)
Var det en dröm? Jean Sibelius
Syvä ilo Olli Kortekangas (b. 1955)
Maalari; Nuoruuden kaupungissa; Adagio; Illan tullen
Pastorale Tauno Pylkkänen (1918-1980)
Armolaulu Kari Tikka (b. 1946)
INTERMISSION
Kalevala-sävelmä (Runo melody) Arr. Ahti Sonninen (1914-1984)
Sydämeni laulu Kim Borg (1919-2000)
Suomalainen rukous Taneli Kuusisto (1905-1988)
Je chante la chaleur désespérée (solo piano) Jouni Kaipainen (1956-2015)
Tuoll’ on mun kultani Folk song
Kukapa sen saunan Arr. Väinö Hannikainen (1900-1960)
Oravan pesä P.J. Hannikainen (1854-1924)
Three Finnish Folksongs Arr. Ralf Gothóni (b. 1946)
Hilu, hilu; Tule, tule kultani (heard in the YoUTube video below); Minun kultani kaunis on
Tags: Arts, Centaur Records, centennial, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, Concert, contemporary, Craig Randal Johnson, faculty, Finland, Finnish, folk, Folk music, folk song, free, Home, independence, Jacob Stockinger, Kilpinen, Madison, Mimmi Fulmer, Music, New Music, Norman Gilliland, Norway, opera, Piano, recital, Scandinavia, Scandinavian music, Season, Sibelius, song, soprano, studio, Sweden, The Midday, translation, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vocal music, voyage, web, Website, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, WPR, YouTube
Classical music: Want to hear some Beethoven? A lot of Beethoven? The Edgewood College Chamber Orchestra performs an all-Beethoven concert this Sunday afternoon.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Want to hear some Beethoven?
How about a lot of Beethoven?
The Edgewood Chamber Orchestra, led by Blake Walter (below top, in a photo by John Maniaci), will be performing an all-Beethoven concert this Sunday afternoon, November 9, at 2:30 p.m., at Edgewood College in the St. Joseph Chapel, 1000 Edgewood College Drive.
On the program are the dramatic “Coriolan” Overture, the lyrical Romance in F Major for Violin (at bottom in a YouTube video with the famed violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz) with David Huntsman, the group’s concertmaster, as the soloist, and the epic Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, “Eroica.”
People always love to play and hear Beethoven’s music, so The Ear guesses this concert will be well attended eve though it will be competing with the Madison Symphony Orchestra‘s all-Scandinavian program at the same time.
Admission is $5 or free with an Edgewood student ID.
The program is all the more grist for the controversial blog post I did about whether Ludwig van Beethoven’s greatness and enduring popularity has actually harmed classical music. It was written by prize-winning music critic Alex Ross (below) of The New Yorker Magazine, and it drew a lot of passionate reader responses, some pro and many con.
Here is a link. Be sure to check out the reader comments:
Tags: Alex Ross, Arts, Beethoven, Classical music, Coriolan Overture, Edgewood College, Eroica Symphony, Heifetz, Jacob Stockinger, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music, Orchestra, Romance, Scandinavian music, symphony, The New Yorker, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music Q&A: Violinist Sarah Chang explains the popularity of Scandinavian music as a blend of ice and fire. She performs the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius this weekend with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Plus, Overture Hall the MSO hosts a FREE public Hymn Sing with organ on Saturday morning at 11.
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ALERT: This Saturday at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall, the Madison Symphony Orchestra is holding a FREE 45-minute public Hymn Sing with organist Deborah Krauss Smith (below) of Monroe, Wisconsin.
By Jacob Stockinger
This season the Madison Symphony Orchestra seems to be emphasizing thematic programs. Last time, it was all Russian music with pianist Olga Kern; this coming weekend, it will be all-Scandinavian music with violinist Sarah Chang as the guest artist.
The formula seems to work well for the MSO. From what The Ear has seen and heard, the programs are drawing very good houses and the orchestra is playing very tightly and very expressively.
It all bodes well for this coning weekend. Not only does American-Korean violinist Sarah Chang (below) play Scandinavian music superbly, along with so much other of the violin repertoire, she speaks about it just as well.
Witness her remarks below.
Those remarks serve as an introduction to Chang, who will return to Madison to solo this weekend with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below) under longtime music director and conductor John DeMain.
The all-Scandinavian or Nordic program includes the Lyric Suite by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg; the Violin Concerto in D Minor by Finnish composer by Jean Sibelius; and the Symphony No. 4 “Inextinguishable” by Danish composer Carl Nielsen.
Performances are in Overture Hall on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets cost $16-$84 with student rush tickets available. Call the Overture Center box office at (608) 258-4141.
Here is link to the MSO’s webpage about the concert, which includes biographical information about Sarah Chang, program notes and some audiovisual clips and sound samples.
http://www.madisonsymphony.org/chang
And here is a link to the always comprehensive and informative but accessible program notes by MSO trombonist and UW-Whitewater professor Michael Allsen (below).
http://facstaff.uww.edu/allsenj/MSO/NOTES/1415/3.Nov14.html
The half-hour, pre-concert talk will be given by Randal Swiggum (below), the education coordinator of the Elgin (Illinois) Symphony Orchestra. The FREE talk starts in Overture Hall one hour before the start of the concert.
Here is the email interview that Sarah Chang (below) graciously granted to The Ear:
How would you place the dramatic and lyrical Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius (below, in a famously granitic photo portrait by Yousuf Karsh) among the great violin concertos in the repertoire? What would you like audiences to pay special attention to in the work?
The Sibelius is a spectacular concerto. It is one of my personal favorites and has been a good friend for a very long time! (You can hear Sarah Chang is the opening of the Sibelius concerto in a live performance in a YouTube video at the bottom. Be sure to read the reader comments.)
The Sibelius Violin Concerto is part of an all-Nordic program of Finnish, Danish and Norwegian composers that also features the Symphony No. 4 “The Inextinguishable” by Carl Nielsen (below top) and Lyric Suite by Edvard Greig (below bottom). What characteristics do you identify with Scandinavian music?
There’s something very special about Scandinavian music. There’s an amazing blend of Nordic iciness and incredible passion.
This is a return concert to Madison and the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson)? Do you have comments about the city or the symphony you care to share?
The Madison Symphony Orchestra is absolutely wonderful! I remember the audience being amazingly warm and the people in Madison are so kind and welcoming. I’m so happy to be going back!
What are your current plans and projects?
I spend about half the year in the USA performing and the rest of the year touring Europe and Asia. My schedule is planned at least 2 years in advance so the challenge is always trying to find some personal time in between all the concerts. I also recently got a new puppy who is, unapologetically, the center of my universe, and he makes it very difficult to leave home!
Was there an Aha! Moment when you knew you wanted to be a professional violinist? How old were you and what was it – a particular piece or performer, recording or live concert?
I started playing at the age of 4 (below) and started attending the Juilliard School when I was 6, so I was always surrounded by phenomenally talented musicians and engulfed in the music world. I could never imagine my life without music.
How do you think we can attract more young people to classical music?
I think repertoire and artists are key. Musical exposure is also important. The U.S. Embassy gave me the honor of becoming an Artistic Ambassador and I focus on bringing music into schools, playing for students, giving master classes and Q-and-A’s, inviting them to dress rehearsals to get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on backstage before a concert, etc.
Is there anything else you would like to say or add?
I’m looking forward to returning to Madison! Thank you!
Tags: Arts, Classical music, concerto, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Finland, Finnish, Grieg, hymn, hymn sing, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Music of Norway, Nielsen, Nordic, Norway, organ, Overture Center, Sarah Chang, Scandinavia, Scandinavian music, Sibelius, Suite, symphony, The Inextinguishable, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, YouTube
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