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By Jacob Stockinger
The University of Wisconsin has posted the following announcement:
For the eighth consecutive year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music will present its annual Schubertiade — a special concert celebrating the music of Franz Schubert (below).
Traditionally these concerts have been held around the composer’s birthday. This year’s concert will in fact occur on his birthday — this Sunday, Jan. 31, at 3-4:30 p.m. CST. The pre-recorded premiere is at: https://youtu.be/7sshhKiFPAg
You can also use the link to prepare for the concert before or during the concert. You will find the program with song titles, the original German texts and English translation, and biographies of the performers by simply clicking on “SHOW MORE” on the YouTube website and follow the links to PDFs.
BECAUSE THERE ARE NO COPYRIGHT ISSUES, ACCORDING TO UW OFFICIALS, THE POST SHOULD BE UP AND AVAILABLE INDEFINITELY AFTER ITS PREMIERE.
As in past years, founders and performers Martha Fischer (below left), professor of piano and head of the collaborative piano program at UW-Madison, and her husband Bill Lutes (below right), an independent piano teacher, and UW emeritus artist-in-residence, will host the program.
These concerts have been presented in the sprit of the first Schubertiades (below, in a painting by Julius Schmid) that took place during the composer’s lifetime (1797-1828) in the homes of his friends and fellow artists, poets and fans.
These were social as well as musical occasions with Schubert himself presiding at the piano, giving his audience a chance to hear his latest songs, piano duets and chamber music, as well as pieces that had already become favorites.
This year’s Schubertiade will be different in response to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be an online look back — or Rückblick — at past concerts, with songs chosen from performances that have been preserved in the audio and video archive.
The featured performers will include faculty members, students and alumni from the Mead Witter School of Music, along with special guests.
In addition, pianists Fischer and Lutes will give a “new” performance recorded for this occasion of the great Fantasie in F minor for piano duet. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear that work, performed by Dutch brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen and recorded live in Seoul, South Korea.)
The songs have been chosen to reflect themes that were not only relevant to Schubert and his circle, but also to all of us in the midst of this challenging time: hope for a brighter future; the need for connection with others; remembrance of happier times; and the consolation to be found in nature.
Schubert left a vast and precious legacy of beauty — an enormous output of music that he composed in his short lifetime.
In a sense, each time his music is performed and heard, it is a journey from the past to our own time, the sounds speaking to us today as vividly and consolingly as they did when they were created 200 years ago.
Performers
Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes, pianists
Alumni:
Jamie-Rose Guarrine, soprano (below, in a photo by Peter Konerko) Emily Birsan, soprano Michael Roemer, baritone Jennifer D’Agostino, soprano Daniel O’Dea, tenor Wesley Dunnagan, tenor Sarah Brailey (alumna and current DMA student) Sara Guttenberg
Guests:
Marie McManama, soprano Cheryl Bensman-Rowe, mezzo-soprano
Faculty:
Mimmi Fulmer, soprano Paul Rowe, baritone (below) Julia Rottmayer, soprano
Staff
David Alcorn, videographer, editor, etc. Katrin Talbot, images for audio only tracks
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ALERT: In early editions of my last post, I mistakenly said that the UW Choral Union and the UW Symphony Orchestra will perform the Verdi Requiem on May 25 and 26. The correct dates are APRIL 25 and 26. The Ear regrets the error.
By Jacob Stockinger
One of the most informative and enjoyable events of the Beethoven Year – 2020 is the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth – came early.
It took place last Sunday afternoon in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center at the UW-Madison.
It was the seventh annual Schubertiade, and its theme was “Schubert and Beethoven: Influences and Homages.” A classic contrast-and-compare examination of two musical giants who lived and worked in Vienna in the early 19th century, the concert took place for almost three hours before a packed house. (Schubert is below top, Beethoven below middle, and the sold-out audience below bottom)
The annual event is organized by co-founders and co-directors UW piano professor Martha Fisher and her pianist husband Bill Lutes (below, greeting the crowd), who also perform frequently, especially as outstandingly sensitive and subtle accompanists.
They make the event, with audience members sitting onstage, look easy and informal. But it takes a lot of hard work.
The two sure know how to choose talent. As usual, all the singers and instrumentalists – UW alumni and faculty members (below) — proved very capable. The concert cohered with consistency.
Nonetheless, The Ear heard highlights worth singling out.
Baritone Michael Roemer (below) sang exceptionally in “An die ferne Geliebte” (To the Distant Beloved) by Beethoven (1770-1827). His voice brought to mind the young Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the inviting tone and direct delivery of the first song cycle ever composed. It was also the one that inspired the younger Schubert (1797-1828) to compose his own song cycles, and you could hear why.
Soprano Jamie Rose Guarrine (below right), accompanied by Bill Lutes and cellist Karl Knapp (below center), brought warmth, ease and confidence to the lyrical beauty of “Auf dem Strom” (On the River).
Tenor Daniel O’Dea (below) showed how Schubert’s setting of Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” – the same Romantic poem made famous in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony “Choral” – ended up much more lighthearted than the more familiar, serious and intense symphonic version.
Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes, who also sang as well as narrated and accompanied, showed complete blending and tightness in Schubert’s first published composition: “Eight Variations on a French Song.” It was for piano, four-hands – a sociable genre that Schubert favored and wrote a lot of.
Soprano Jennifer D’Agostino (below) sang Schubert’s song “Elysium” in which it is unclear whether it is a pastiche or a parody of Beethoven, who remained a mentor until Schubert died at 31. Could that ambiguity point to Schubert’s maturing sense of himself and his own art as compared to Beethoven’s?
One year after Beethoven’s death – Schubert was a pallbearer — Schubert put on his only formal public concert of his own work. That was when he premiered his Piano Trio No. 2, the bravura last movement of which was played by Bill Lutes with cellist Parry Karp and first violinist David Perry (below), of the UW’s Pro Arte Quartet.
Then all four members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below) – with violist Sally Chisholm and second violinist Suzanne Beia – played the last two movements of Beethoven’s late String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131, the work that Schubert requested to hear performed as he lay on his death bed in his brother’s Vienna apartment.
Of course there were other moments that pleased and instructed. There was a set of four songs – one coupling sung by mezzo-soprano Allisanne Apple (below) — in which the same texts were set to music by both Beethoven and Schubert.
We got to hear Beethoven’s final song, “Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel” (Evening Song Beneath the Starry Firmament).
Then there was the heart-wrenching “Nachthymne” (Hymn to the Night) by Schubert, again beautifully performed by Jamie Rose Guarrine. (You can hear “Hymn to the Night,” sung by Elly Ameling, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
So in the end, what were the big lessons, the takeaways from this year’s Schubertiade?
One lesson is that for all his more familiar symphonies and concertos, his string quartets and piano trios, his piano sonatas and his sonatas for cello and violin, Beethoven was also a much more accomplished song composer than the public generally knows.
But for The Ear, the biggest lesson of all is that despite Beethoven’s deep influence, Schubert retained his own special voice, a voice full of unforgettable melodies and harmonies, of lyricism and empathy.
And using a mentor to find, refine and retain one’s own identity is the highest homage any student can pay to a teacher.
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By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Sunday afternoon, Jan. 26, is the seventh annual UW Schubertiade – named after the evening gatherings of friends (below) where the composer Franz Schubert performed and premiered his own music.
This year’s theme, given that 2020 is the Beethoven Year, is the immense influence that the older Beethoven (below top) 1770-1827) had on the younger Schubert (below bottom, 1797-1828).
The event will begin with a pre-concert lecture by UW-Madison Professor of Musicology Margaret Butler at 2:15 p.m. in the Rehearsal Hall at the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, next to the Chazen Museum of Art.
Then at 3 p.m. in the 330-seat Collins Recital Hall in the same building, the two-hour concert will take place.
The concert will close with the usual custom. The audience and performers will join in singing “An die Musik” (To Music). (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear it sung by legendary German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and legendary British accompanist Gerald Moore.)
A reception will follow the concert in the main lobby.
For more description of the event plus a complete program and list of performers – who consist of UW-Madison graduates and musicians including soprano Jamie Rose Guarrine (below top) and mezzo-soprano Alisanne Apple (below middle) as well as the Pro Arte Quartet (below bottom, in a photo by Rick Langer) – go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/our-annual-schubertiade/
At the site, you will also find information about buying tickets – general admission is $20 with free student tickets on the day of the concert is space is available – and about parking.
The event was founded by and continues to be directed by wife-and-husband pianists Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes (below) who also sing, accompany and play works for piano, four hands.
Lutes sent the following introductory remarks: “Ever since Martha and I presented the first of our annual Schubertiades back in January 2014, we’ve looked for ways to keep our all-Schubert birthday parties fresh and interesting for our audience.
“From time to time we contemplated introducing another composer – maybe even switching our allegiance from the immortal Franz to another of our favorites: perhaps a “Schumanniade.”
“This time, with six years of all-Schubert behind us, we thought we would do the obvious and finally unite Schubert with the composer who probably meant more to him than almost any other – Beethoven, whose 250th birthday is being celebrated this year.
“Once Beethoven moved permanently to Vienna at age 22, he soon became famous and eventually was regarded as the greatest of the city’s composers.
“Schubert, who was born in Vienna five years after Beethoven’s arrival, grew up hearing the older master’s works, often at their premieres. As his genius flowered early, Schubert was often challenged and inspired by Beethoven’s music.
“We bring together these two giants who lived in the same city, knew the same people, attended the same musical events, perhaps met or quite possibly didn’t.
“Yet Beethoven’s presence and example guided Schubert in his own road toward the Ultimate Sublime in music. Our concert of “Influences and Homages” features works where the musical, if not the personal, relationship is there for all to hear.”
Lutes also supplied a list of the song titles in English translation:
“Ich liebe dich” – I love you
“Der Atlas” – Atlas
“Auf dem Strom” – On the River
“Der Zufriedene” – The Contented Man
“Der Wachtelschlag” – The Quail’s Cry
“Wonne der Wehmut” – Joy in Melancholy
“Kennst du das Land?” – Do You Know the Land?
“An die ferne Geliebte” – To the Distant Beloved
“An die Freude” – Ode to Joy
“Gruppe aus dem Tartarus” – Scene from Hades
“Elysium”
“Nachthymne” – Hymn to the Night
“Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel” – Evening Song Beneath the Starry Firmament
Have you attended a past Schubertiade (below, in Mills Hall)?
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Get out your datebooks and calendars.
Here is a complete listing for major concerts and events at the University of Wisconsin Mead Witter School of Music during the new 2019-20 season.
The calendar starts with the FREE season-opening 40th annual Karp Family Labor Day Concert this coming Tuesday night, Sept. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall. The program features chamber music by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Dvorak. For more information about the program and performers, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/40th-karp-family-concert/
Most concerts this season will take place in the new Hamel Music Center (below), which has a three-day opening celebration Oct. 25-27.
Please note that just a few programs are listed. For other programs, and for information about any admission charge, you can go to the School of Music’s home website closer to the event and click on Concerts and Events: https://www.music.wisc.edu/events/
Tuesday, Sep 3, 2019
Karp Family Concert
7:30 PM
Mills Hall
Sunday, September 29, 2019,
Jessica Martin & John O’Brien – Nordic song recital
4:00 PM
Morphy Hall
Monday, Sept. 30, 2019
Beth Wiese, Tuba, Guest Artist Recital
7:30 PM
Morphy Hall
Friday, October 4, 2019
Pro Arte Quartet
8:00 PM
Mills Hall
Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019
Chanticleer
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019
Wind Ensemble
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Friday, October 11, 2019
UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sunday, October 13, 2019
University Bands
2:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Contemporary Jazz & Blue Note Ensemble
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Wisconsin Brass Quintet – Faculty Concert Series
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Thursday, October 17
Jazz Faculty Quintet with special guest Michael Dudley, trumpet
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Monday, October 21, 2019
Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble and UW Jazz Orchestra
7:30 PM
Play Circle
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Concert Band
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Wed, October 23, 2019
Jazz Composers Group & Jazz Standards
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Thu, October 24, 2019
Parry Karp with Eli Kalman, piano
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Friday, October 25, 2019
Opening Celebration Weekend: Hamel Music Center. Please check our website for details.
All Day
740 University Avenue
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Opening Celebration Weekend: Hamel Music Center. Please check our website for details.
All Day
740 University Avenue
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Opening Celebration Weekend: Hamel Music Center. Featured Event: Collins Fellows Concert
1:00 PM
Collins Recital Hall, Hamel Music Center
Wed, October 30, 2019
Master Class with Violist Nobuko Imai
6:30 PM
Collins Hall
Thu, October 31, 2019
Violist Nobuko Imai with Pro Arte Quartet
12:00 PM
Collins Hall
Fri, November 1, 2019
Madrigal Singers
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sat, November 2, 2019
Alicia Lee, faculty clarinet
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Sun, November 3, 2019
Wind Ensemble
2:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Fri, November 8, 2019
Wingra Wind Quintet
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Sat, November 9, 2019
UW Chorale
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Thu, November 14, 2019
UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Fri, November 15, 2019
University Opera: Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
7:30 PM
Music Hall
Sun, November 17, 2019
University Opera: Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
2:00 PM
Music Hall
Tue, November 19, 2019
University Opera: Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
7:30 PM
Music Hall
Sat, November 16, 2019
Low Brass Ensemble
4:00 PM
Collins Hall
Sat, November 16, 2019
Combined Choirs
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sat, November 16, 2019
Timothy Hagen, faculty flute
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Fri, November 22, 2019
UW Concert Choir
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Fri, November 22, 2019
Pro Arte Quartet
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Fri, November 22, 2019
UW Jazz Orchestra
5:00-7:00 PM
Rathskeller
Saturday, Nov 23, 2019
Undergrad Audition Day
All day
Sat, November 23, 2019
World Percussion Ensemble
12:00 PM
Music Hall
Sat, November 23, 2019
Brass Ensembles
1:00 PM
??
Sun, November 24, 2019
UW Concert Band with Winds of Wisconsin
5:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Mon, November 25, 2019
Chamber Percussion Ensemble
7:30 PM
Mills Hall
Tue, November 26, 2019
Opera Scenes
7:30 PM
Music Hall
Mon, December 2, 2019
Piano Studio Recital
6:30 PM
Collins Hall
Tue, December 3, 2019
Jazz Composers & Contemporary Jazz Ensembles
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Wed, December 4, 2019
Jazz Standards Ensemble & Afro-Cuban Jazz
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Thu, December 5, 2019
UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra & UW Wind Ensemble
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Fri, December 6, 2019
Saxophonist Greg Ward with the Blue Note Ensemble and UW jazz faculty
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Sat, December 7, 2019
UW & Madison Metropolitan Jazz Festival
Final Concert, 3:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sat, December 7, 2019
Choral Union: Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “A Sea Symphony”
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sun, December 8, 2019
University Bands
2:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sun, December 8, 2019
Choral Concerts at Luther Memorial Church
2:00 PM
Luther Memorial Church
Sun, December 8, 2019
Choral Concerts at Luther Memorial Church
4:00 PM
Luther Memorial Church
Sun, December 8, 2019
All-University Strings
4:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
BEGIN 2020
Sun, January 26, 2020
Annual Schubertiade
3:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sat, February 1, 2020
Christopher Taylor and Friends — Beethoven Symphony Extravaganza
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Wed, February 5, 2020
Daniel Grabois, horn
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Thu, February 6, 2020
UW Symphony Orchestra
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sat, February 8, 2020
The Knights
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sun, February 16, 2020
UW Wind Ensemble
2:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Monday, February 17, 2020
Chamber Percussion Ensemble
7:30 PM
Mills Hall
Tue, February 18, 2020
Concert Band
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Thu, February 20, 2020
Parry Karp, faculty recital
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Fri, February 21, 2020
Marc Vallon & Friends
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Sunday, Feb 23, 2020
Les Thimmig, faculty recital
2:00 PM
Collins Hall
Sat, April 18, 2020
Low Brass Ensemble
4:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Fri, February 28, 2020
Pro Arte Quartet
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Sat, February 29, 2020
Wingra Wind Quintet
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Fri, February 28, 2020,
University Opera – Mozart’s Così fan tutte
7:30 PM
Music Hall
Sun, March 1, 2020
University Opera – Mozart’s Così fan tutte
2:00 PM
Music Hall
Tue, March 3, 2020
University Opera – Mozart’s Così fan tutte
7:30 PM
Music Hall
Sun, March 1, 2020
Winds of Wisconsin
5:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Wed, March 4, 2020
Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble & Jazz Composers Group
7:30
Collins Hall
Thu, March 5, 2020
Blue Note Ensemble & Jazz Standards Ensemble
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Sat, March 7, 2020
UW-Madison Symphony Orchestra with guest pianist Wu Han
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sun, March 8, 2020
University Bands
2:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Tue, March 10, 2020
Percussion Department Recital
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Weds March 11, 2020
UW Jazz Orchestra
7:30 PM
Play Circle
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Wisconsin Brass Quintet – Faculty Concert Series
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Thu, March 12, 2020
UW Wind Ensemble
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Fri, March 27, 2020
Le Domaine Musicale with Marc Vallon and Friends
8:00 PM
Collins Hall
Sun, March 29, 2020
Concert Band
2:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sun, April 5, 2020
Beethoven Competition Winners’ Recital
3:30 PM
Collins Hall
Sun, April 5, 2020
“Symphony Showcase” Concerto Winners’ Solo Concert
7:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sat, April 11, 2020
Chorale
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Fri, April 12, 2019
Perlman Trio Chamber Concert
3:00 PM
Collins Hall
Tue, April 14, 2020
Opera Scenes
7:30 PM
Music Hall
Wed, April 15, 2020
Contested Homes: Migrant Liberation Movement Suite
7:30 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Thu, April 16, 2020
Pro Arte Quartet
7:30 PM
Collins Hall
Fri, April 17, 2020
Combined Choirs
8:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sat, April 18, 2020
Low Brass Ensemble
4:00 PM
Mead Witter Hall
Sat, April 18, 2020
UW-Madison Choral Reunion concert featuring Concert Choir, Madrigals and alumni
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post from co-founders, co-directors and performers Bill Lutes and Martha Fischer, and from other performers on today’s Schubertiade concert at the UW-Madison:
We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to our sixth annual Schubertiade in Mills Hall this afternoon – Sunday, Jan 27 — at 3 p.m.
It has been such a joy for all of us to prepare this music — all from the last year of Schubert’s life — to share with you, and to once again celebrate the genius of Schubert in your company.
For more information about today’s Schubertiade, including the pre-concert lecture, all performers and the complete program, go to:
Because of tomorrow’s forecast for very low temperatures, we are happy to share the news that the concert will be LIVE-STREAMED on the Internet. If you are unable to get to the concert in person, we hope you will join us online.
While it is always wonderful to have you with us in the hall to share the special feeling of community and love of this great music — not to mention hearing your voice joining us in our traditional audience sing-along of “An die Musik”! (see the YouTube video at the bottom) — we understand if the frigid weather makes going out an unadvisable option. So we would still like to know that you have the opportunity to tune in and be with us via the wonder of technology.
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
NEWS UPDATE: The UW-Madison is offering FREE ADMISSION to Sunday afternoon’s Schubertiade, discussed below, to furloughed federal workers, who just have to show their federal identification to an usher.
By Jacob Stockinger
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s sixth annual Schubertiade – a re-creation of the historical and informal celebration of his music that Franz Schubert (1797-1828) used to hold with friends – will take place this Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27, at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
The focus this year is the music composed in the last year of Schubert’s life, before his death at 31.
A schedule of events and information about tickets are below.
This Schubertiade will feature a world-famous Schubert scholar. Susan Youens, recently retired from the University of Notre Dame, has one of the most impressive musicology resumes in the world, and will share her insights about the late style of Franz Schubert (below) in her pre-concert lecture.
Youens has won four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as fellowships from the National Humanities Center, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. She has published eight books, hundreds of articles, essays and chapters, and lectured all over the world.
“Dr. Youens (below) will explore the rich relationship of Schubert’s music to the poems he chose to set and the emergence of new directions in Schubert’s style,” says co-organizer William Lutes. “The influence of Beethoven had loomed large throughout Schubert’s music, and in the year following Beethoven’s death, the 31-year-old composer wrote works of homage to this great master, as he saw his own music becoming more widely recognized, published and performed.”
Highlights of the Schubertiade will be a complete performance of Schubert’s 14 final songs, published after his death as Schwanengesang, or “Swan Songs” — among the composer’s richest and most forward-looking works. (You can hear the famous “Serenade” from “Swan Songs” sung by Angela Gheorghiu in the YouTube video at the bottom,)
Also on the program are the humorous and risqué Refrain-Lieder; the slow movement of the great Piano Trio in E-flat major; the enchanting Rondo in A major for piano four-hands; and the beautiful song Auf den Strom for voice, horn and piano, composed for a concert commemorating the first anniversary of Beethoven’s death, and filled with subtly haunting references to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.”
In addition to pianists and singers Martha Fischer and William Lutes (below), guest performers will include voice faculty members Mimmi Fulmer, Julia Rottmayer and Paul Rowe, voice students Sarah Brailey, Wesley Dunnagan, and Benjamin Hopkins, graduate hornist Joanna Schulz, and guest singer Cheryl Bensman-Rowe.
Also participating is the Perlman Trio (Mercedes Cullen, violin; Micah Cheng, cello; and Kangwoo Jin, piano).
The School of Music also thanks donors Ann Boyer and Kato Perlman for their longtime support of the Schubertiades, the Perlman Trio and other musicians and events.
Post-concert reception, included with ticket purchase: Sunday, Jan. 27, at the nearby University Club, 5:30 p.m.
TICKETS: $17 for adults, $7 for all age students/children; free to music majors, faculty and staff. To avoid long lines, we suggest arriving 30 minutes early or buying tickets ahead of time, either in person or online. Please see the link below.
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ALERT: Susan Youens, a world-famous scholar of the music of Franz Schubert, will give a FREE and PUBLIC master class TODAY at 4:30 p.m. in Morphy Recital Hall. Her class is in advance of her appearance and pre-concert lecture at the annual UW Schubertiade this Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27. More information about that event will appear in tomorrow’s blog post.
By Jacob Stockinger
The critically acclaimed Mosaic Chamber Players will perform a concert of all-American music from the 20th century this Saturday night, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Landmark Auditorium of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
Tickets are $15 for adults; $10 for senior citizens; and $5 for students. Only cash and personal checks will be accepted.
A reception will follow the concert.
Performers are violinists Laura Burns and Wes Luke, cellist Kyle Price, and founder-pianist Jess Salek. (Photos below of the performers are by John W. Barker at a previous concert.) They also play with other professional groups such as the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Ancora String Quartet and the Rhapsodie String Quartet.
The program includes the Sonata for Violin and Piano by Aaron Copland; the Sonata in Three Movements for Violin and Piano by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (below); “Road Movies” for Violin and Piano by John Adams (you can hear the opening in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 6, by Samuel Barber.
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
The holidays seem to arrive earlier each year.
The Ear isn’t sure why that is.
Whatever the reason, a lot of holiday gift shopping can by now seem last-minute and somewhat frantic.
But if you are shopping for a classical music fan, you are in luck if you go local.
The best way to please the recipient and also to support the local arts is to give a ticket to a live concert – always the most powerful and exciting musical experience — perhaps coupled to a related book or recording. (Below is UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor in a photo by Michael R. Anderson).
This blog doesn’t have room to list separately all the many musical groups in the area. But here are some samples that might interest you.
Through Monday, Dec. 24, the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson) is once again offering a special deal for the remainder of the season. Tickets to both the “Beyond the Score” program and the remaining four season concerts, including Mahler’s mammoth “Symphony of a Thousand,” have been reduced to two price ranges: $10 and $25 for the former; $25 and $50 for the latter.
If you want to see what other performers and presenters are offering – say, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (below), the Oakwood Chamber Players, the Madison Bach Musicians, the Middleton Community Orchestra, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, the Willy Street Chamber Players, the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Overture Center and the Madison Opera, to name just a few of the more prominent names – just go to Google and type in their name to search and go to their home page on the web.
Many of them have all sorts of other discounts for students, seniors, subscribers, groups and others.
Don’t forget that Madison features many FREE concerts, especially at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
True, a few of the most attractive and gift-worthy UW concerts are ticketed ($17 for adults, $7 for UW students) – including the annual Schubertiade, the yearly recital by pianist Christopher Taylor and the world premiere of the new Viola Sonata by John Harbison (below). But you could offer to take someone to a free chamber music or orchestral concert and provide companionship, transportation and maybe even dinner.
Here is a link to the very busy lineup and informative previews at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music: https://www.music.wisc.edu
To top it off, you could add one of two outstanding local books The Ear puts at the top of the holiday gift guide.
The first is John Harbison’s “What Do We Make of Bach” (below top) which is short, very readable, thoroughly engaging and wonderfully informative in an autobiographical way that helps us celebrate both the 80th birthday of Harbison and the upcoming 334th birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach.
The second book, now in its second printing, is a comprehensive history of the Pro Arte Quartet (below) done by John W. Barker, who often writes for this blog as well as Isthmus.
Of course, a CD with one of the composers or works on a program also makes a fine complement, whether it is a Mahler symphony, a Bach suite or Schubert’s “Swan Songs” from his final year.
Finally, The Ear wants to know: What are your suggestions for a for holiday gift of classical music?
It could be a live concert or a recording, either something new or an old favorite.
It could be a particularly informative and enjoyable or entertaining book, including biographies of Leonard Bernstein (including one by his daughter Jamie Bernstein, below), whose centennial has been celebrated this season.
Over the next few days, The Ear will post suggestions and Top 10 lists by professional critics. But in the end, it is the audience, the ordinary public, that many people want to hear from.
So perhaps you will leave your ideas in the COMMENT section.
Thank you! And have Happy Holidays — a Merry Christmas, a joyous Kwanzaa and a Happy New Year.
The new 2018-19 concert season has started. And the Internet makes it very easy to take out your date book and plan out what you want to attend.
If you just use Google to go to home websites, you will find lots of information about the dates and times of performances; cost of tickets; works on the program; biographies of performers; and even notes about the pieces.
That is true for all large and small presenters, including the biggest presenter of all for live classical music events: The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. Just click on the Events Calendar when you go to http://www.music.wisc.edu
And you can also download the helpful mobile app for your smart phone that gives you what is happening today with searches possible for other months and days.
But there is something more old-fashioned that you should not forego: the printed season brochure (below).
It is 8-1/2 by 11 inches big and has 24 pages, and it features numerous color photographs. Along the right hand edge is an easy-to-use calendar of major events for the month.
It is a fun and informative read that gives you even more respect for the School of Music than you already had because it contains a lot of background and human interest stories about students, faculty members, guest artists, alumni and supporters. Editor and Concert Manager Katherine Esposito and her staff of writers and photographers have done an outstanding job.
The brochure also has a lot of news, including updates about the new Hamel Music Center that is being built on the corner of Lake Street and University Avenue and will open in 2019, and about the seat-naming, fundraising campaign ($1,500-plus) that is being used for the new performance center.
A particularly useful page (23) gives you information about ordering tickets (many have increased to $17 this year) either in advance or at the door (for the latter you are asked to show up 30 minutes early to avoid long lines); about finding parking, both free and paid; and about making special arrangements for disability access.
In larger and bolder type, the brochure tells you about stand-out special events: the 100th birthday tribute to Leonard Bernstein being held tonight (Saturday, Sept. 15) at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall; the fifth annual Brass Fest on Sept. 28 and 29; the University Opera’s production of Monteverdi’s “The Coronation of Poppea” on Nov. 16, 18 and 20; the annual Schubertiade on Jan. 27; the world premiere of a viola sonata by John Harbison on Feb. 17; the Choral Union’s joint performance with the Madison Symphony Orchestra of Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand” (Symphony No. 8) on May 3, 4 and 5; and much, much more.
In short, the brochure is an impressive publication that also provides many hours of enjoyable browsing while you educate yourself about the state of music education at the UW-Madison.
The only major shortcoming The Ear perceives is that lack of specific programs by some individuals and groups that must surely know what they are going to perform this season but apparently didn’t report it. Maybe that can be remedied, at least in part, next year.
Still, the brochure is successful and popular, which is why the UW sent out 13,000 copies – up from 8,000 last year. If you want to get one, they will be available at concerts until supplies run out. You can also order one to be mailed to you by emailing music@music.wisc.edu
Do you have the UW music brochure?
What do you think of it?
Do you find it useful? Enjoyable?
What do you suggest to improve the brochure, either by adding something or deleting something or doing it differently?
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker.Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the MadisonEarly Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. Barker also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
The annual “Schubertiade” has become not only a firm tradition but also invariably one of the highlights of each season. And so it was again on last Sunday afternoon on-stage at the UW-Madison’s Mills Hall.
These programs have been organized, run and performed by that magnificent couple (below), Martha Fischer and Bill Lutes.
Each plays the piano and Martha also sings (below).
For this year’s fifth annual Schubertiade, the program was not just a replica of the musicales that Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and his friends would enjoy. It was instead an extra-long venture (running almost three hours) in chronological comprehensiveness, offering one or more selections from each successive year of the composer’s creative span (1812-28). It was funded this year, by the way, by the generous Ann Boyer.
The result was a mixture of 21 solo songs, three vocal ensembles, two chamber works and three pieces for four-hand piano duo—the last played, of course, by our founding couple.
There was one guest singer, mezzo-soprano Rachel Wood (below), a sensitive artist who teaches at UW-Whitewater, but whose vibrato was somewhat excessive. Otherwise, the performers were faculty members or students at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music, and all of them were simply wonderful.
Of the two instrumental ensemble pieces, one was an adaptation of Schubert’s Sonatina written for violin and piano but played in an adaptation for cello by Parry Karp (below).
The other was the superb Quartettsatz (Quartet Movement), played with mature power by the Hunt Quartet (below), made up of graduate students.
The three ensemble items were delightful novelties. The first was Schubert’s rewrite of a trio, Die Advokaten (below), in which two lawyers squeeze their fees out of a rich client.
Another was a charming soprano duet. The third was a vocal quartet with piano, Des Tages Weihe (Consecration of the Day), rich in ensemble beauty. (You can hear the piece on the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The songs were also a mix of very familiar and rarely heard, so many of them rich experiences. It is daunting to single out exceptional ones, for there was so much lovely singing and there were so many masterpieces. Personally, I found myself particularly moved by the absolutely gripping performance of Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) by soprano Claire Powling (below).
And I really admired the beautiful singing of young soprano Talia Engstrom and veteran tenor Benjamin Liupiaogo. Beyond the solo performances, though, was an interesting expansion of the Erlkönig done by four singers cast in distinct “roles” in the text.
After the whole company took bows (below), there was the customary finale in the song An die Musik (To Music) in which the audience joined the singers.
Long may this wonderful Schubertian tribute that the founding couple has created continue!