The Well-Tempered Ear
The New York Times names the top 25 classical recordings of 2020 and includes sample tracks
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By Jacob Stockinger
What did the holidays bring you?
Did Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa bring you a gift card?
A subscription to a streaming service?
Maybe some cash?
Or maybe you just want to hear some new music or new musicians or new interpretations of old classics?
Every year, the music critics of The New York Times list their top 25 recordings of the past year. Plus at the end of the story, the newspaper offers a sample track from each recording to give you even more guidance.
This year is no exception (below).
In fact, the listing might be even more welcome this year, given the coronavirus pandemic with the lack of live concerts and the isolation and self-quarantine that have ensued.
The Ear hasn’t heard all of the picks or even the majority of them. But the ones he has heard are indeed outstanding. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a sample of the outstanding Rameau-Debussy recital by the acclaimed Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafssen, who scored major successes with recent albums of Philip Glass and Johann Sebastian Bach.)
Here is a link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/music/best-classical-music.html
Of course not all critics agree.
The Ear has already listed the nominations for the Grammy Awards (a link is below), and more critics’ picks will be featured in coming days.
You should also notice that a recording of Ethel Smyth’s “The Prison” — featuring soprano Sarah Brailey (below), a graduate student at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and a co-founder of Just Bach — is on the Times’ list as well as on the list of Grammy nominations.
What new recordings – or even old recordings — would you recommend?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Should you keep practicing at 90? Ask famed cellist Pablo Casals
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By Jacob Stockinger
Do you ever get old enough and accomplished enough to stop practicing?
Just ask the legendary Catalan cellist Pau (Pablo) Casals (below).
That’s the same Pablo Casals (1876-1973) who spent his entire life learning and performing, as you can read in his Wikipedia biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Casals.
That’s also the same pioneering Pablo Casals who also first discovered, recorded and popularized the solo cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, which you can sample in the YouTube video at the bottom. It was recorded in 1954 when Casals was 77.
What do you think about his remark?
Do you agree with Casals?
Would you still practice at 90?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Musical America offers an exhaustive and helpful guide to international FREE streaming of operas, concerts and recitals, complete with program notes and links for listening
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By Jacob Stockinger
During the COVID-19 pandemic, so much music is being streamed – through both live streaming and delayed pre-recorded streaming – that it can be hard to keep track of it all.
After all, the events are taking place locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
How do you know what operas, orchestral concerts, chamber music concerts and individual recitals will take place? Where and when they will take place? What time is it in your time zone? And where do you find links to the performances, such as those by the famed Berlin Philharmonic (below)?
Getting so much information can be daunting.
But one loyal reader has helped The Ear by sending word about the most exhaustive compilation or online guide to FREE streaming of classical music events he has seen so far.
It is done by Musical America, and The Ear highly recommends it.
The Musical America website advises users that the guide will be updated twice weekly, and that Central European Time (CET) is six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight time (EDT) — or seven hours ahead of Central Daylight Time (CDT).
It also tells you how long many of the streamed videos are available for. A full 23 or 24 hours after the initial airing seems pretty average. But many appealing events – by some of the most prestigious organizations and individual performers in the world — will be available for the entire duration of the coronavirus pandemic.
You also get concise notes about the performers and the programs.
Today and tonight, for example, you could take in productions by the Berlin State Opera, the Zurich Opera and Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera (below) and the Vienna State Opera.
You could also take in the historical performances from the ongoing Cliburn Watch Party from the Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the twice weekly concerts by the six musically talented children in the acclaimed Kanneh-Mason family in England, now dubbed “The Von Trapp’s of classical music.” (Below is cellist brother Sheku Kanneh-Mason performing at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.)
And you could listen to award-winning cellist Alisa Weilerstein (below) will also discuss and play all 36 movements of the six solo cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach that she recently recorded and just released.
The guide lists some of the more outstanding paid websites such as Medici TV but also lists events that took place much earlier but are still available for free watching and listening.
The guide has a link so that organizations can submit their own events for listing or users can make suggestions.
In short, the Musical America guide is extremely useful. You should probably bookmark it if you are planning to listen to a lot of musical events online through streaming.
But don’t take The Ear’s word for it. Take a look and check it out for yourself.
Here is a link: https://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?storyid=44766&categoryid=1&archived=0
What do you think of it?
Do you find it useful and think you will?
Do you see any major shortcomings or overlooked events?
Recommendations of your own?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: The Middleton Community Orchestra impresses in a concert of “non-holiday” music for the holidays. Plus, what music is best to greet the Winter Solstice today?
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ALERT: Today we turn a corner when the Winter Solstice arrives at 4:23 p.m. Days will start getting longer. What music would you celebrate it with? Antonio Vivaldi’s “Winter” section of “The Four Seasons”? Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise” or “Winter Journey”? Let The Ear know in the COMMENT section with a YouTube link if possible. Here comes the sun!
By Jacob Stockinger
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 Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
On Wednesday night at the Middleton Performing Arts Center, the mostly amateur Middleton Community Orchestra (below) proudly presented an alternative Christmas program of music, none of which had any connection whatsoever with that otherwise inescapable holiday.
It was a program of great variety, full of novelties.
It began soberly with Gustav Mahler’s early song cycle, the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). This venture into German orchestral song (with a folk song background) provided symphonic inspiration for his First Symphony, the so-called “Titan,” so it unites many strains in the composer’s work.
Baritone Paul Rowe (below), of the UW-Madison’s music faculty, sang these songs. Rowe has a strong feeling for German, and he used clear diction to capture the dramatic meanings of the four song texts.
A contrast then, and a particular novelty, was the appearance of Matthew Coley (below), of the percussion ensemble Clocks in Motion, playing the cimbalom, the intensely Hungarian version of the hammered dulcimer.
He was joined by the orchestra for a fancy arrangement of the Hungarian dance, the popular Czardas by Vittorio Monti. (You can hear Matthew Coley play the same piece on the cimbalom in the YouTube video at the bottom.) He followed this with an encore, a hand-me-down arrangement of a movement from one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s solo cello suites.
More contrast came with the mini-ballet score by Darius Milhaud Le Boeuf sur le toit (The Ox on the Roof) of 1919. This was one of the French composer’s trailblazing introductions of American jazz styles into European music.
It really works best with a small orchestra, so Middleton’s was a bit overblown for the assignment. But the elaborate solo role for violin was taken by Naha Greenholtz — concertmaster of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and wife of the evening’s guest conductor, Kyle Knox, who is the music director of Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Associate Conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. There are some fiendish passages in the solo work, and Greenholtz brought them off with unfailing flair.
The final part of the program was devoted to the orchestral suite that Zoltan Kodaly derived from his Singspiel of 1926, Hary Janos, in which a comic Hungarian soldier upstages even Napoleon.
This is a satiric and highly colorful assemblage that offers wonderful opportunities for all of the instruments and sections to show off. And Coley was back with his cimbalom for Hungarian spice. The players clearly were having a great frolic, and conductor Knox drew the best out of them in a bravura performance.
Ah yes! Christmas without “Christmas” music. A wonderful idea to refresh the ears in December!
Tags: #AmateurMusicians, #AmericanJazz, #AmericanRecordGuide, #AntonioVivaldi, #AssociateConductor, #BalletScore, #BaritoneSinger, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #ChristmasMusic, #CimbalomMusic, #ClocksinMotion, #Czardas, #DariusMilhaud, #EmeritusProfessor, #Europeanmusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FolkMusic, #FourSeasons, #FranzSchubert, #Frenchcomposer, #GustavMahler, #HaryJanos, #HolidaySeason, #HungarianComposer, #HungarianMusic, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnW.Barker, #KyleKnox, #LeBoeufsurleToit, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MatthewColey, #MedievalHistory, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MiddletonPerformingArtsCenter, #MusicalStyle, #MusicCritic, #Musicfaculty, #MusicReview, #MusicSchool, #NahaGreenholtz, #PaulRowe, #PercussionEnsemble, #PercussionMusic, #PopularMusic, #SoloCelloSuites, #SongCycle, #SongsofaWayfarer, #SundayMorning, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VittorioMonti, #VocalMusic, #WinterJourney, #WinterSolstice, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, #ZoltanKodaly, amateur, American, American Record Guide, Antonio Vivaldi, Arts, associate conductor, Bach, ballet, baritone, Baroque, blog, bravura, Cello, Christmas, cimbalom, Classical music, Clocks in Motion, comic, composer, Concert, concertmaster, conductor, critic, days, December, diction, drama, dramatic, Early music, ears, European, Facebook, folk song, folksong, forward, Four Seasons, France, Franz Schubert, French, frolic, German, Hary Janos, History, Holiday, host, Hungarian, Hungary, husband, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John W. Barker, Kyle Knox, lecture, like, link, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mahler, Marriage, married, Matthew Coley, meaning, Medieval, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton Performing Arts Center, Milhaud, Music, music review, Naha Greenholtz, Napoleon, Orchestra, Paul Rowe, percussion, photo, popular, post, posting, program, refresh, review, Season, singer, soldier, solo, Solo Cello Suites, song, song cycle, Songs of a Wayfarer, spice, style, Suite, Sunday, symphony, tag, text, The Ox on the Roof, today, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, violinist, Vittorio Monti, vocal music, wife, winter, winter solstice, Winterreise, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, work, WORT-FM 89.9, Writer, YouTube, Zoltan Kodaly
Classical music: Cellist-composer Steuart Pincombe performs music by Bach, Biber and Abel on this Thursday night at the Chocolaterian Cafe in Middleton
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement about a special and unusual populist concert:
Cellist Steuart Pincombe (below) can regularly be found playing in some of the world’s more prestigious concert halls, premiering new compositions and soloing in major festivals.
On this coming Thursday night, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m., Pincombe will perform music in a more intimate setting: the Chocolaterian Cafe (below), located at 6637 University Avenue in Middleton. Phone is 608 836-1156.)
The concert is part of an international movement called Music in Familiar Spaces, which is bringing the classical music experience at its highest level into homes, cafes, breweries, bookstores or any place where people feel comfortable.
One of the aims of the Music in Familiar Spaces is to make classical music accessible to a wide and varied audience. This is accomplished not only by performing in familiar, comfortable and untraditional spaces, but by designing programs that invite the audience to experience the music in a new and engaging way.
The program at the Chocolaterian is titled “Sweet Sorrow” and features music of some of the Baroque period’s most beloved composers: Karl Friedrich Abel (below top in a painting by Thomas Gainsborough), Heinrich Biber (below middle) and Johann Sebastian Bach (below bottom) plus an original composition by Pincombe.
Pincombe will be joined by local violinist and concertmaster of the Madison Bach Musicians Kangwon Kim (below) in a selection from Biber’s Rosary Sonatas.
Here is the program:
Selections in D minor (From 27 Pieces for Viola da gamba) by Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787)
Violin Sonata No. 10 in G minor, “Crucifixion” (From the Rosary sonatas) by Heinrich Biber (1644-1702)
Suite No. 5 in C minor for Solo Cello, BWV 1011, by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). You can hear Mischa Maisky playing the Prelude to the Bach suite in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Psalm 56 for Voice and Viola da gamba by Steuart Pincombe (1987-)
In order to make the concert accessible to anyone, the audience is asked to name-their-own-ticket-price for the concert, paying what they can afford and what they deem the concert is worth.
The suggested ticket price is $15-30 per person, plus the cost of whatever food and drink you wish to purchase from the cafe.
Want to know more about Steuart Pincombe?
Here is a link to his home website: https://www.steuartpincombe.com
Steuart Pincombe’s career as a cellist has brought him to leading halls and festivals across North America and Europe and he has been named by the Strad Magazine as a “superb solo cellist” and a “gorgeous player [with] perfect intonation, imaginative phrasing” by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Highlights of Steuart’s recent concert seasons include being a featured soloist with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop (Germany), festival appearances with Asko | Schönberg (Netherlands), Cello8ctet Amsterdam (Netherlands), Ensemble Ansonia (Belgium), Oerknal! (Netherlands), performing with Holland Baroque Society (Netherlands) for King Willem Alexander of The Netherlands, appearing as soloist at the Amsterdam Cello Bienalle (Netherlands), and recording Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2 in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw for All of Bach.
His concert “Bach and Beer” was selected by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as one of the Top 10 Classical Events of the Year and a concert in which he appeared as soloist with Rene Schiffer and Apollo’s Fire was numbered in London’s ‘5 Best Classical Music Moments of 2014’ according to The Telegraph (United Kingdom).
In 2015-2016, Pincombe toured North America for one year bringing classical music to new spaces and new audiences in a project he started called Music in Familiar Spaces.
He is currently visiting Teacher of Historical Performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
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Classical music: Superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma goes to NPR to perform and talk about spending 58 years learning and playing Bach
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By Jacob Stockinger
Superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma has just recorded the six suites for solo cello by Johann Sebastian Bach for the third time.
Ma, now 62, started learning them when he was four years old.
Over so many years, his approach has changed. He says he finds new things in the music as he himself changes and matures, much the way you see different things in the same novel you read at 18 and then again at 55 after you have experienced more of life.
That’s why Ma calls his latest recording “Six Evolutions.” And truth be told, to The Ear his interpretations seem lighter, dancier and more up-tempo while his earlier readings seemed heavier, sometimes even gooey thick.
Anyway, the cellist (below), who has won 19 Grammy Awards and has often performed in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater, recently stopped by the studios of National Public Radio (NPR) for a Tiny Desk Concert.
He played three movements, and he talked about his long experience with playing and learning and exploring Bach to students, who loved him.
It is well worth listening to.
Here is a link: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/16/639206471/yo-yo-ma-tiny-desk-concert
What do you think?
Do you have an opinion about Ma’s current readings of solo Bach versus his past ones?
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio talks about the human quality of French music. She performs Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1 on an all-French program with the Madison Symphony Orchestra this weekend.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The award-winning cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio (below) makes her solo debut with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in an all-French program this coming weekend.
Sant’Ambrogio will solo in Camille Saint-Saëns’ stormy Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, a first-time performance of the work by the MSO under its music director and conductor John DeMain.
The opening piece, Maurice Ravel’s sensuous Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, showcases the classical simplicity and ultimate decadence of the waltz, and the colors of all the instruments in the orchestra.
Finally, the MSO will perform the groundbreaking Symphonie Fantastique by Romantic composer Hector Berlioz (below). It is an unorthodox five-movement work that vividly captures an artist’s tortured infatuation and the haunted hallucinations of an opium trip.
The concerts are in Overture Hall on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday night at 8 p.m.; and Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the Overture Center, 201 State Street.
Sara Sant’Ambrogio is an internationally-renowned soloist and founding member of the Eroica Trio (below). She launched her international career when she was a winner at the Eighth International Tchaikovsky Violoncello Competition in Moscow, Russia. She holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, and won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for Leonard Bernstein‘s “Arias and Barcarolles.” She last appeared with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in 2001 as part of the Eroica Trio.
Written in 1872, Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 was instantly regarded as a masterpiece by the Paris public. Saint-Saëns rejected the standard concerto form in this work by interlinking the piece’s three movements into one continuous musical expanse, held together by the rich lyrical power of the cello.
The composer found the Cello Concerto No.1 difficult to write, so much so that he vowed never to compose for cello again; Saint-Saëns broke this vow 30 years later with his Cello Concerto No. 2.
One hour before each performance, John DeMain, music director and principal conductor of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, will lead a FREE 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience.
More background on the music can also be found in the Program Notes at http://www.madisonsymphony.org/santambrogio
Single Tickets are $16 to $85 each, available at www.madisonsymphony.org/singletickets and through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street or call the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.
Groups of 15 or more can save 25 percent by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information visit, www.madisonsymphony.org/groups
Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Box Office. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $12 or $15 tickets. More information is at: www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush. Students can receive 20 percent savings on seats in select areas of the hall on advance ticket purchases.
Seniors age 62 and up receive 20 percent savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts cannot be combined.
Find more information at www.madisonsymphony.org.
Major funding for the November concerts is provided by Barbara Ryder, DeEtte Beilfuss-Eager and Leonard P. Eager, Jr., in memory of Karen “Lovey” Johnson, and Rosemarie Blancke. Additional funding is provided by Martha and Charles Casey, Sunseed Research, LLC, and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sara Sant’Ambrogio (below) recently agreed to an email Q&A with The Ear:
Could you briefly bring readers up to date on your career since 2001 when you last appeared with the Madison Symphony Orchestra as part of the Eroica Trio and performed the Triple Concerto for piano trio? What are current and future major plans and projects?
Wow, a lot has happened since 2001! I had a son, Sebastian, who just turned 11. I’ve recorded for solo CDs, the complete Bach solo suites, the Chopin collection and “Dreaming,” which has had a number of tracks used in movie soundtracks such as the HBO movie “A Matter of Taste.” I’ve recorded another Eroica Trio CD, “An American Journey,” which was nominated for a Grammy award.
I’ve toured China and all over Asia, and also the Arabian peninsula, which was amazing and mind-blowing. Petra in Jordan was like being in an Indiana Jones movie. It has been a truly amazing 14 years!
There seems to be a revival or rediscovery going on of the works of the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. Why do you think that is?
Saint-Saens (below) has been grossly underrated in my view. His music has a wonderful mix of gorgeous melodies that speak to the human condition, sparkling virtuous pyrotechnics and a joie de vivre, which is just infectious! What’s not to love!
You are performing on an all-French program with Berlioz’ “Symphonie Fantastique” and Ravel’s “Valses Nobles et Sentimentales.” What elements or traits do identify as being typically French in classical music, and does Saint-Saëns fit the mold?
I think there is a lushness to French music that Saint-Saens shares. There is also a very human quality to the best of French music.
What would you like to say about the piece you will be performing in Madison, the Cello Concerto No. 1? What is typical or unusual about it? What in particular would you like the public to listen to and notice?
Just to have a blast! The Saint-Saens starts with a bang and never lets up till the joyous end! (Note: You can hear it played by the late Russian cellist, conductor and human rights activist Mstislav Rostropovich in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
What else would you like to say?
I can’t wait to come back and play in Madison again. I had such a fantastic time playing there last time with my trio that the town loomed so large in my imagination, I had no idea until this interview that it had been 14 years since I was last there.
Tags: A Matter of Taste, An American Journey, Arabia, Arts, Asia, Bach, Baroque, Berloz, Cello, Cello Concerto, Chamber music, China, Chopin, Classical music, concerto, conductor, Curtis Institute, Curtis Institute of Music, drugs, Eroica Trio, France, French music, funding, Grammy, HBO, human rights, International Tchaikovsky Competition, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, Juilliard School, Leonard Bernstein, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Ravel, movie, Mstislav Rostropovich, Music, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City, opium, Paris, Piano, Piano Trio, Prelude, Ravel, Russia, Russian music, Saint-Saens, Sara Sant'Ambrogio, Sara Sant-Ambrogio, Saudi Arabia, Solo Cello Suites, solo suites, sponsors, State of Wisconsin, suites, Symphonie Fantastique, Tchaikovsky International Competition, Triple Concerto, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Violin, Wisconsin Arts Board, YouTube
Classical music: Music for the viola da gamba and harpsichord by J.S. Bach, Telemann, Scarlatti and Handel will be featured Sunday afternoon in a house concert by early music specialists Trevor Stephenson and Anna Steinhoff.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear’s good friend Trevor Stephenson, the keyboardist and professional early music performer who founded and directs the Madison Bach Musicians, writes about his latest upcoming house concert (below):
“Happy 2015!
“Next Sunday afternoon, January 11, at 3 p.m., virtuoso cellist and viola da gambist Anna Steinhoff (below) will visit Madison to give a notable house concert with a program of works by Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Sebastian Bach.
“I’ll also collaborate–from the harpsichord–on two of the pieces.
“The repertoire is listed below.
“Please let us know if you’d like to attend. We have about a dozen seats left. Tickets are $40 per person. Refreshments will be served. Call (608) 238-6092 or email trevor@trevorstephenson.com
“The concert will be at our home and studio at 5729 Forsythia Place, on Madison’s west side.
“Sincerely,
“Trevor and Rose Stephenson”
PROGRAM:
“Suite No. 1 in G major for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach (below). (The movements Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Minuets and Gigue. The suite can be heard in a popular YouTube video, which has almost 6 million hits, at the bottom. It features Mischa Maisky on the modern cello .)
“Sonata in D Major for cello and harpsichord By Georg Philipp Telemann. The movements are Lento, Allegro, Largo and Allegro.
“There will also be harpsichord solos by George Frideric Handel (below top) and Domenico Scarlatti (below bottom).
“Sonata in D Major for solo viola da gamba solo by Telemann (below). Movements are Andante, Vivace, Recitativ, Andante Arioso and Vivace.
“Sonata in G major for viola da gamba and harpsichord by J.S. Bach. Movements are Adagio, Allegro ma non tanto, Andante and Allegro Moderato.”
Tags: Arts, Bach, Baroque, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Domenico Scarlatti, Early music, Georg Philipp Telemann, George Frideric Handel, Handel, harpsichord, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Madison Bach Musicians, Mischa Maisky, Music, Scarlatti, Solo Cello Suites, Sonata, Suite, Telemann, Trevor Stephenson, viola da gamba, YouTube
Classical music: Today is the 13th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. What music will you play or listen to in order to commemorate the tragic events and loss of life?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today marks the 13th anniversary of 9/11 and the tragic events during the terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda on the United States, in New York City on the Twin Towers; on Washington, D.C,, and the Pentagon; and on United Airlines Flight 93, which passengers made crash into a Pennsylvania field before it could destroy the U.S. Capitol or White House.
There is a lot of great classical music that one could play to commemorate the event and loss of life. There are, of course, requiems by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn, Giuseppe Verdi and Gabriel Faure.
There are masses and other choral works by them and also Ludwig van Beethoven and others. And there are a lot of opera arias and choruses as well as art songs.
There are large-scale symphonic and choral work as well as more intimate chamber music and solo works, especially the solo cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, one of which, thanks to cellist Vedran Smailovic (below) in 1992, became am emblem of the awful and bloody siege of Sarajevo by the Serbian army. Chamber music by Franz Schubert — such as the slow movement of the Cello Quintet — would at the top of my list.
Then there is the contemporary work “In the Transmigration of Souls” by the American composer John Adams. It won the Pulitzer Prize and was written specifically, on commission from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, to remember 9/11 and which uses actual tape recordings of the events and responses of that awful day. And another work by Steve Reich.
Myself, I tend towards the tried-and-true, the pieces of music that never fail to take me to the appropriate place in memory and sorrow.
So today, at the bottom, I offer a YouTube video of the last movement of the profoundly beautiful and moving “German” Requiem by Johannes Brahms. It is more secular than religious, and it asserts that “Blessed Are the Dead … for They Rest from Their Labors and Their Works Shall Live After Them.”
Hard to disagree, don’t you think?
So here it is.
But be sure to let us know what music you will be playing and what piece or pieces you favor to commemorate 9/11.
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Classical music: Baroque cellist Steuart Pincombe brings “Bach and Beer” to Next Door Brewing this Tuesday night as part of the acclaimed “Music in Familiar Spaces’ project — and you get to choose your own admission price
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By Jacob Stockinger
This Tuesday night, Baroque cellist Steuart Pincombe, who just performed Vivaldi and Bach twice this past weekend with the Madison Bach Musicians, will present his program of three Bach solo cello suites paired with three brews.
The music starts at 7 p.m. on Madison’s east side at the Next Door Brewing (below), 2439 Atwood Avenue, on this Tuesday, Sept. 26.
Pincombe’s performance of this program was named by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as one of 2014’s top 10 classical music concerts and was recently featured in the Boston Globe and Seattle Times.
The concert runs from 7 to 9 p.m.
While sipping on their favorite brews, audience members will discover the connections between the art of brewing and the art of playing the music of Bach. (Pincombe explains the format in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Just as many brewers follow a recipe that was used hundreds of years ago, Steuart’s approach to playing Bach also looks back on old “recipes” and methods of playing.
The program of Solo Cello Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach (below) will be interlaced with short explanations of Steuart’s historical, interpretive approach along with comments from the brewery on the historical brewing method of each beer.
Each of the three suites will be paired with one of Next Door’s own brews. Concert-goers wanting to enjoy dinner at Next Door Brewery should arrive early, as there will be limited table seating during the concert.
The concert is part of Music in Familiar Spaces, a project that is bringing the highest level of classical music performance to homes, churches, cafés, bars or any place where community already exists.
One of the aims of the Music in Familiar Spaces project is to make classical music accessible to a wide and varied audience. This is accomplished not only by performing in familiar, comfortable and untraditional spaces, but by designing programs that invite the audience to experience the music in a new and engaging way.
The audience is also asked to name-their-own-ticket-price for the concert, paying what they can afford and what they deem the concert is worth (beer is sold separately).
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