The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Saturday night brings the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet to the Wisconsin Union Theater and a concert of chamber works by the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble. Plus tonight’s concert by the Madison Choral Project is at 8:30 p.m. — NOT 7:30 as originally announced.
Leave a Comment
URGENT CORRECTION: The time for tonight’s performance of “Privilege” by the Madison Choral Project has been moved from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. due to noise from a nearby football game in Camp Randall Stadium. For more about the concert, go to:
THIS JUST IN: Hi Jake: We’ve got cellist Karl von Huene and bassist John Dowling at the Malt House, at 2609 East Washington Avenue on the corner of Milwaukee Street, again this Saturday, from 3-5 p.m. Karl says the pieces they’ll play are by J.S. Bach, W. A. Mozart, Arcangelo Corelli, S. Lee, F. J. Haydn, G.F. Handel, Dmitri Kabalevsky, and Francesco Durante. It should be fun! Cheers, Bill Rogers
BIG ALERT: This is a reminder that, in this busy week of music, one stand-out concert is by the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. It will perform the annual Fan Taylor Memorial Concert this Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Shannon Hall of the Wisconsin Union Theater. (You can hear a sample of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 they will play in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The acclaimed quartet will perform music by Bach, Bizet, Debussy, and Villa-Lobos as well as 17th-century Spanish music from the age of the novelist Cervantes For more information about the group, the program and tickets ($10-$48), go to: https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/los-angeles-guitar-quartet/
By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble will give a concert of baroque chamber music on Saturday night, April 22, at 7:30 p.m.
It will take place in Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1833 Regent Street.
Members of the WBE are: Mimmi Fulmer, soprano; Nathan Giglierano, baroque violin; Brett Lipshutz, traverse flute; Eric Miller, viola da gamba; Sigrun Paust, recorder; Monica Steger, traverse flute and harpsichord; Anton TenWolde, baroque cello; and Max Yount, harpsichord.
The program includes:
Georg Philipp Telemann – Quartet for two traversi, recorder and basso continuo, TWV 43:d1
Mr. De Machy – Pièces de Violle, Suite No. 3 (Pieces for Viol)
Francesca Caccini – “Lasciatemi qui solo” (Leave me here alone)
Quentin – Trio Sonata for two traversi and basso continuo, Op. 13, No. 3
INTERMISSION
Johannes Hieronymus Kapsberger – “Interrotte Speranze” (Vain Hope)
Johann Christoph Pepusch – Trio Sonata for recorder, violin and basso continuo
Georg Philipp Telemann (below) – Nouveaux Quatuors (Paris Quartets), No. 6 in E minor
Giulio Caccini – “Odi, Euterpe” (Hear, Euterpe)
Tickets at the door are $20, $10 for students.
A post-concert reception will be held after the concert at 2422 Kendall Ave, second floor.
For more information, go to: www.wisconsinbaroque.org
Tags: Arcangelo Corelli, Arts, Bach, bar, Baroque, bass, Beer, Bizet, Brandenburg Concerto, Caccini, Cello, Cervantes, Chamber music, classical guitar, Classical music, Compact Disc, continuo, Corelli, Debussy, double bass, Early music, Episcopal, Euterpe, Fan Taylor, flute, Francesca Caccini, Francesco Durante, Georg Philipp Telemann, Grammy Award, guitar, Handel, harpsichord, Haydn, hope, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kabalevsky, Kapsberger, Le sieur de Machy, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Madison, malt, Malt House, Mozart, Music, Paris, Pepusch, Quartet, Quentin, recorder, Sonata, soprano, Spain, Spanish music, St. Andrew, tavern, Telemann, traverso, trio, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vain, Villa-Lobos, Viol, Viola, viola da gamba, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube
Classical music: The Ancora String Quartet opens its new season this Saturday night with a new first violinist and works by Beethoven, Turina and Tchaikovsky
3 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
The critically acclaimed, Madison-based Ancora String Quartet welcomes its new first violinist Wes Luke – who replaces Leanne Kelso League — for the launch of the string quartet’s 16th season.
The concert is this coming Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
The program includes the String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven; “The Bullfighter’s Prayer” by the Spanish composer Joaquin Turina; and the String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11, by Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky.
Tickets at the door are $15 for general admission; $12 for seniors and students; and $6 for children under 12.
Members of the Ancora (above from left) are: first violinist Wes Luke — who filled in for the past two seasons — plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the LaCrosse Symphony Orchestra, the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and the Mosaic Chamber Players; second violinist Robin Ryan, who plays with the Madison Symphony Orchestra; violist Marika Fischer Hoyt (she performs on both modern and early instruments) who plays with the Madison Bach Musicians, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble; and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; and cellist Benjamin Whitcomb, who teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and frequently performs chamber music.
According to program notes: “Beethoven’s charming and lyrical early quartet shows him bridging the divide between the Classical and Romantic eras; Turina’s dramatic tone poem fuses French Impressionism with musical elements from his native Seville; and Tchaikovsky’s first quartet includes the poignant Andante Cantabile, which moved writer Leo Tolstoy to tears. (You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
A champagne reception will close the evening.
Tags: Ancora String Quartet, Andante Cantabile, Arts, Baroque, Beethoven, bullfight, Cello, Chamber music, champagne, charm, Classical, Classical music, composer, First Unitarian Society of Madison, France, Frank Lloyd Wright, Impressionism, instrument, Jacob Stockinger, Joaquin Turina, LaCrosse Symphony Orchestra, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyricism, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, modern, Mosaic Chamber Players, Music, prayer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, reception, Romantic, Romanticism, Russia, Russian music, Seville, Spain, Spanish music, String quartet, Tchaikovsky, tone poem, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Whitewater, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, YouTube
Classical music: The early music group Eliza’s Toyes will explore music as medicine in a concert this Friday night at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear’s friend Jerry Hui –- a supremely talented individual and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music who performs, composes and teaches at UW-Stout – sends the following word:
The Madison-based early music group Eliza’s Toyes (below top) has a concert this Friday night, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (below bottom). The concert is titled “Music: The Miracle Medicine.”
Here is an introduction to the program:
“Rediscover the integral role of music as the restorer of health in the early days of medical science during the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.
“Music has been an integral part of our wellbeing. To this date, many listen to music for its power in relaxation, excitement, and even catharsis. The development of music therapy as a medical profession, as well as increasing research in the physiological and psychological effects of music, signifies our ongoing interest to understand and utilize music.
“As scientists continue to examine music in a utilitarian light, it is worthwhile for us to rediscover how human beings have historically viewed music and its connection with health.”
Tickets will be available at the door: $15 for the general public and $10 for students.
Here is the program, which is organized by theme, and which include singing i English, Latin, French, German and Spanish:
CONCERNING THE FOUR HUMORS
Vos flores rosarum — Hildegard von Bingen (below top, 1098-1179)
Descendi in hortum meum — Cipriano de Rore
Absterge Domine (1575) — Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)
Turn Our Captivity (1611) — William Byrd (below bottom, 1540-1623)
MIRACLES AND REMEDIES
Tantas en Santa María — (Cantigas de Santa Maria)
In principio erat Verbum (1566) — Orlando di Lassus (below, 1532-1594)
Caecus quidam (1558) — Hubert Waelrant (1518-1595)
Gehet hin und saget Johanni wieder — Melchior Franck (1579-1639)
PRACTICING MEDICINE
Le Tableau de l’Opération de la Taille (1725) — Marin Marais (below, 1656-1728; you can hear the piece, with a narration in French, in a YouTube video at the bottom)
Qui veut chasser une migraine — Gabriel Bataille
The nurse’s song — (Pills to Purge Melancholy)
A Wonder: The Physician — John Maynard
GOOD HEALTH THROUGH GOOD LIVING
Chloe found Amyntas lying — (Pills to Purge Melancholy)
My fair Teresa — (Pills to Purge Melancholy)
O Sonno / Ov’e’l silenzio — Marco da Gagliano (1582-1643)
Cara mia Dafne — Lelio Bertani (1553-1612)
Sweet honey sucking bees — John Wilbye (1574-1638)
Tags: Arts, Baroque, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Doctor of Medicine, Early music, Eliza's Toyes, England, English, English music, France, French, French music, German, German music, Germany, Health, Hildegard von Bingen, Hubert Waelrant, Jacob Stockinger, Jerry Hui, John Maynard, John Wilbye, Latin, Lelio Bertani, Madison, medicine, melancholy, Melchior Franck, Music, music therapy, Orlando di Lasso, Orlando di Lassus, physician, pills, science, scientist, Spain, Spanish, Spanish music, Thomas Tallis, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, viola da gamba, vocal music, William Byrd, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, YouTube
Classical music: A multimedia concert – including poetry, dance, video and photographs — of Latin American and Spanish music will be held this Friday night at 8 in the Promenade Hall of the Overture Center by Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society co-director and flutist Stephanie Jutt and others.
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Our friends from the always unusual and always first-rate Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society write:
Can’t wait for our summer festival in June? Come to Flautistico! The multimedia event will be held this Friday, March 20, at 8 p.m. in Promenade Hall at the Overture Center. All tickets are $25.
Flautistico! is a continuation of co-founder and co-artistic director Stephanie Jutt’s exploration into Latin American, Mexican and Spanish music. (Jutt, below in a photo by Dick Ainsworth, teaches at the UW-Madison School of Music and is also Principal Flute of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.)
This one-time-only concert will feature a wide variety of music from Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico and Spain that has never been performed at BDDS concerts.
Puerto Rican mezzo-soprano Yanzelmalee Rivera, Venezuelan clarinetist Orlando Pimentel, and Madison’s own fantastic collaborative pianist Thomas Kasdorf will join Jutt.
Composers include Jesús Guirdi, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Carlos Guastavino, Angel Lasala, and Astor Piazzolla, among many others.
Raquel Paraiso will weave poetry throughout the evening by Federico Garcia Lorca, Octavio Paz, Jorge Luis Borges and Pablo Neruda.
Dance choreographed by Ariel Juarez and performed by Jacques Saint-Cyr and Maria Castello will complement the music of Piazzolla.
An original art installation by UW-Madison artist Carolyn Kallenborn, including her film footage from Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico, will create a multi-dimensional concert evening.
Photos by Martin Chabi (below) will be projected during the concert.
To purchase tickets from Overture Center, visit: http://www.overturecenter.org/events/flautistico
Tags: Alfred Noble Prize, Angel Lasala, Argentina, Arts, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Carlos Guastavino, César Vallejo, Chamber music, Classical music, dance, Day of the Dead, Federico Garcia Lorca, film, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus Guiridi, Jorge Luis Borges, Latin America, Latin American music, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Martin Chabi, Mexico, Mezzo-soprano, Music, Oaxaca, Octavio Paz, Overture Center, Pablo Neruda, photo, photography, Piano, poem, poems, Poetry, Puerto Rico, Spain, Spanish music, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Venezuela, video, vocal music, Wisconsin
Classical music: The venerable early music group Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble celebrates the 300th birthday of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach with fine style and revealing contexts that anticipate Mozart and Beethoven. Plus, many UW-Madison choirs perform two performances of a one-hour seasonal program in FREE “Choral Prism” concert this Sunday afternoon at 2 and again at 4.
2 Comments
ALERT: Two one-hour performances of the FREE Choral Prism Concert, featuring all of UW-Madison choral choirs, will take place on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. in Luther Memorial Church (below), 1021 University Ave. Performing short pieces of seasonal music — winter, Christmas, Hanukkah — under conductor and director Beverly Taylor are the UW Chorale, UW Concert Choir, UW Madrigal Singers, UW Masters Singers and Women’s Chorus Opera and Voice. There is an optional sing-along for the audience. Sorry, The Ear has received no word on specific composers and works.
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 for 20 years hosted an early music show every other Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison.
By John W. Barker
After almost 25 years, as the first and longest-surviving group bringing early music to Madison on a regular basis, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble (below) is still going strong.
And two days after Thanksgiving, on the tail end of a University of Wisconsin-Madison football game, it came up with a remarkably rich and generous program, performed at a familiar venue, the historic Gates of Heaven synagogue (below) in James Madison Park.
Part of the richness was the idea of a partial theme: commemorating the 300th anniversary year of the birth of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (below, 1714-1788).
Of eight program slots, three were devoted to C.P.E.’s music. The opening item was a Trio Sonata in D minor, for two flutes and basso continuo, played by flutists Brett Lipshitz and Monica Steger, with cellist Anton TenWolde cellist (below) and harpsichordist Max Yount. (You can hear the Trio Sonata in D minor at the bottom in a YouTube video.)
Written during C.P.E.’s service to the flute-obsessed Frederick the Great of Prussia, it is a conservative piece that still looks back to the late Baroque styles of the composer’s famous father, Johann Sebastian Bach. On the other hand, three short practice Sonatinas from the very end of C.P.E.’s life (played by Yount) can be related to the piano sonatas that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was writing exactly at the same time.
Most fascinating of all, however, was a Sonata for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord obligato, dating from 1759. An intricate and demanding work, it has its own musical substance, the opening of which Eric Miller (below, in photo by Katrin Talbot) brought off brilliantly, with Yount. But clearly as a duet for two equal instruments (abandoning the old keyboard continuo function), it gave hints of Ludwig van Beethoven’s cello sonatas, to come a half-century and more later.
As against the works of the birthday boy, instrumental pieces by three other composers were offered, composers roughly parallel in lifespan to C.P.E., but whose individual differences made nice contrasts to the latter’s style.
Rather conventionally post-Baroque was a sonata for cello and bass by the Dutch composer Pieter Hellendaal (1721-1799). But pre-Classical virtuosity was the hallmark of a Sonata for traverse flute and continuo by Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1721-1783), played with wonderful flair by Lipshutz, with Steger shifting to the harpsichord as partner.
Particularly interesting, though, was a chamber work by a dimly remembered French composer of the day, Louis-Gabriel Guillemain (1705-1770). The scoring of this sonata pitted a seemingly unbalanced trio of two flutes and gamba against the basso continuo: the manipulations of color and texture were full of wit and cleverness, especially in the last of its four movements.
There were also two vocal works, for some added contrast. Soprano Consuelo Sañudo (below) sang a cantata, on a text about tempestuous love by slightly earlier Baroque French master Michel Piglet de Montéclair. She displayed in this her usual combination of precision and stylistic flair.
And then, for the program’s closer, she sang a Spanish “villancico” by Juan Hidalgo de Polanco, whose life span (1614-1685) was almost exactly identical with C.P.E. Bach’s, by one century earlier. This was, in fact, composed for four vocal parts with basso continuo, but for this the other three vocal parts were rendered instrumentally, thus bringing the full group of six performers together in a grand finale.
This was, in all, an unusually long program, but one filled with surprises, discoveries and delights. It proved another reminder of the WBE’s endless gifts to Madison’s musical life.
Tags: American Record Guide, Arts, Bach, Baroque, basso continuo, Beethoven, Beverly Taylor, Cantata, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Cello, Chamber music, Choir, choral music, Christmas, Classical music, D minor, Early music, flute, football, Frederick the Great, French music, Gates of Heaven, Hanukkah, harpsichord, Jacob Stockinger, James Madison Park, Johann Sebastian Bach, John W. Barker, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, madrigal, Medieval history, Mozart, Music, Piano, Prussia, seasonal music, sing-along, Sonata, sonatina, songs, soprano, Spanish music, trio sonata, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, viola da gamba, Violin, vocal music, winter, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music Q&A: How does a string quartet come up with programs? The Ear catches up with the Ancora String Quartet, which will close its 13th season this Friday night with piano quartets by Mozart, Frank Bridge and Joaquin Turina. Plus, WYSO members talk Thursday morning on WORT 88.9 FM
Leave a Comment
ALERT: We are in the run-up to the always impressive Spring Concerts by members of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO). And Good Friend of The Ear radio host Rich Samuels is helping to publicize the WYSO chamber music concerts on this Saturday, May 10, and the other instrumental groups and orchestras, with soloists, that will perform on Saturday, May 17, and Sunday May 18. The radio segment with violinist Isabelle Krier and pianist Charlie Collar will air on WORT 89.9 FM, starting at 7:08 a.m. on this Thursday morning, May 8. Following that segment, Samuels will be airing a concert featuring conductor Ken Woods (a WYSO and UW-Madison alumnus, who leads the English Symphony Orchestra in Wales in the United Kingdom). Here is a link to the WYSO website for more details about the two weekends of WYSO concerts:
http://wyso.music.wisc.edu/events/concerts-recitals/
By Jacob Stockinger
This Friday night at 7:30 p.m., three members of the Madison-based and critically acclaimed Ancora String Quartet (below) will close out its 13th season with a program that features a relative rarity in chamber music: piano quartets — by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frank Bridge and Joaquin Turina. (Below are, from left, Ancora members violinist Robin Ryan, violist Marika Fischer Hoyt and cellist Benjamin Whitcomb.)
The program includes the lyrical Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-Flat Major, K. 493, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the one-movement Piano Phantasy in F-Sharp Minor by 20th-century British composer Frank Bridge, who was also the teacher of Benjamin Britten; and the impassioned Piano Quartet in A minor, Op 67, by the lesser known 20th-century Spanish composer Joaquin Turina.
The guest artist is University of Wisconsin-Whitewater pianist MyungHee Chung (below), who joined the Ancora in 2010 in a memorable performance of the iconic Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34, by Johannes Brahms.
The concert will take place in the historic Landmark Auditorium, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
Tickets are available at the door, and are general seating. They cost $15 for the general public; $12 for students and seniors; and $6 for children under 12.
A free post-concert champagne reception is included in the ticket.
This year the quartet is a strong trio made up of violist Robin Ryan, violist Marika Fischer Hoyt and cellist Benjamin Whitcomb, who also teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. First violinist Leanne League is on a one-year leave.
Violist Marika Fisher Hoyt, who also hosts a Saturday afternoon program on Wisconsin Public Radio and plays in the Madison Symphony Orchestra and other local groups, including period-instrument, early music ensembles, recently gave The Ear an email interview:
How does the Ancora Quartet choose repertoire and programs? How do you balance the well-known and the neglected? Highlight various instruments? Is any one of your members more active in selecting programs than the others?
All Ancora String Quartet players (below) participate equally in proposing pieces and crafting the final programs. We keep a list of pieces that one or more of us would like to perform. In the spring of each year, we look at the list, and select pieces to form programs of roughly 70 minutes of music.
We aim for programs that offer a nice balance of familiar and unfamiliar, of Classical, Romantic and Modern style, and of varying lengths and degrees of emotional intensity.
For the first 10 years we presented pieces that were new to us as a quartet, but at this point we’ll sometimes include a piece we’ve performed before. That’s usually a piece we really love, like the Beethoven Op. 74 “Harp” Quartet.
How much does the audience figure in setting up a program?
We don’t really consider the audience’s hypothetical preferences, other than to try to present programs with enough variety that there’s something for all tastes. The constant factor is our love for the music and our commitment to working together.
What are current projects and future plans for the Ancora?
Our current project is preparing for and presenting this week’s program!
We’re still in the process of planning next season’s programs. Our first violinist, Leanne League (below), will be on leave next season, and two wonderful violinists will be joining us, both of them players in the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Violinist Wes Luke (below) will join us for our fall programs, which will almost certainly include one of his favorites, the Mendelssohn Quartet, Op. 80, in F Minor, a powerfully moving work written at the very end of that composer’s life.
Violinist Eleanor Bartsch (below), a prize-winning student from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, will join us for our spring programs, and she’s hoping to perform one of the gorgeous Brahms quartets with us. We look forward to working with these talented colleagues.
Another project is that of increasing our quartet’s presence online. A few years ago we redid our quartet website www.ancoraquartet.com, which now features a blog. While we don’t aspire to publish new postings every day (like The Well-Tempered Ear), every couple of weeks I’ll publish an interview with a guest artist, a report of our first rehearsal on a new program, or links to reviews.
We also have a Facebook fan page at facebook.com/ancoraquartet. We only give 8-10 concerts per year, and these online sites are a nice way to stay in touch with the concert-going public. They give our fans an easy way to contact us with any questions or comments.
Is it different playing a PIANO quartet or quintet than an all-string quartet? Pianists often have the reputation of being soloists at core and not easy chamber music partners. Is that your experience?
Yes, the sound of a piano is qualitatively different from that of the violin family of instruments, and so in a piano quartet or quintet we must all work a little harder to achieve a unified effect, through phrasing and careful balancing of dynamics.
Pianists may have the reputation of being divas, but we have worked with MyungHee Chung (below) before, and that has certainly not been our experience with her. It’s true that a powerful pianist can overwhelm the sound of three or four string instruments. But, while MyungHee spins out her solo passages with effortless ease and grace, she is also an extremely sensitive collaborator and accompanist, and we are so pleased to be able to work with her again.
What would you like to say about each of the pieces on this weekend’s program?
The Piano Quartet by Mozart (below) demonstrates a perfect fusion of elegance, charm and sensuality. Benjamin often reminds us of the vocal quality in much of Mozart’s music, and we will imagine that we’re singing an aria tune from a Mozart opera. And, on a personal note, I can tell from his writing that Mozart was a violist; I appreciate the melodies I get to play, and how well they lie on viola!
The “Phantasy” by Frank Bridge (below is a wonderful example of late Romantic British style, by turns voluptuously lush and singing, or fiercely dramatic.
The work by Joaquin Turina (below) gives us three movements of smoldering Spanish melodrama, spiced with playful cross-rhythms. We’ll be ready for the champagne reception, after that!
Is there anything else you would like to add or say?
We Ancora players are now in our 13th recital season, and our joy in making music together has only deepened over the years. Chamber music is so much more intimate than orchestral playing, and we are extremely grateful for the chance to share this music with our audiences.
The Madison community’s deep appreciation of the arts supports so many wonderful musical ensembles. We feel lucky to be a part of it all, to inspire, and be inspired, in our turn.
Tags: Ancora String Quartet, Arts, Benjamin Britten, British composers, Cello, Chamber music, Classical, Classical music, Early music, Facebook, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Frank Bridge, Jacob Stockinger, Joaquin Turina, Johannes Brahms, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mozart, Music, Piano, Piano Quartet, Spain, Spanish music, String quartet, United Kingdom, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, wisconsin public radio, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WORT FM 88.9, WYSO, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 