The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: What should — and shouldn’t — the #MeToo movement mean for women in the opera world?
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By Jacob Stockinger
It is clear now that just about all aspects of life and culture in the United States are being affected more and more by the #MeToo movement that seeks to expose, punish, correct and prevent sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, sexual assault, sexual abuse and gender inequality in general.
But what does that mean specifically for the notoriously patriarchal and misogynistic opera world – meaning for the operas themselves and their themes, plots, characters and composers as well as for the people who put them on?
How, for example, should one now think of “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? (The womanizing Don Juan is seen below in a production of “Don Giovanni” by the Metropolitan Opera.)
A recent discussion on National Public Radio (NPR) covered many dimensions of the problem, and The Ear found what was said fascinating although he didn’t agree with everything.
One Italian production went so far as to change the ending of a famous and popular opera – Bizet’s “Carmen” — in order to redeem the doomed heroine.
That seems excessive to The Ear, something that recalls the 17th-century writer Nahum Tate who rewrote the tragedy “King Lear” by Shakespeare to give it a happy ending. (You can hear the original ending of “Carmen” in the YouTube video at the bottom. The 2009 production by the Metropolitan Opera features Roberto Alagna and Elina Garanca.)
It brings up the question: How far should one go in imposing contemporary values on the past? And does rejecting an artist also mean rejecting that artist’s work?
Read the edited transcript or listen to the entire 8-minute discussion for yourself. Besides the female host (Lulu Garcia-Navarro), three women – two singers (Aleks Romano and Leah Hawkins) and one administrator (Kim Witman) – ask questions and give their opinions and thoughts.
Here is a link to the story that was posted on the NPR blog “Deceptive Cadence”:
Then decide what you think you would like to see done to address the concerns of the #MeToo movement in the opera world, and what is allowed and not allowed to you.
And let us know in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AleksRomano, #ArtisticWork, #DeceptiveCadence, #DonGiovanni, #DonJuan, #ElinaGaranca, #GenderInequality, #GeorgesBizet, #HappyEnding, #KimWitman, #KingLear, #LeahHawkins, #LuluGarcia-Navarro, #MeToo, #MeToomovement, #MetropolitanOpera, #NahumTate, #NationalPublicRadio, #OperaComposer, #OperaWorld, #OriginalEnding, #RobertoAlagna, #SexualAbuse, #SexualAssault, #SexualHarassment, #SexualMisconduct, #TheMet, #UnitedStates, #WilliamShakespeare, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, administrator, America, artist, Arts, Baroque, blog, character, Classical music, composer, contemporary, culture, discussion, Don JUan, ending, famous, George Frideric Handel, hero, heroine, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, life, Madison, Madison Opera, Metropolitan Opera, misogynistic, misogyny, Mozart, Music, New York City, NPR, opera, Opinions, original, patriarchal, patriarchy, plot, popular, production, question, rewrite, singer, the Met, theme, thoughts, tragedy, transcript, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, values, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, womanizer, work, world, YouTube
Classical music: Why do we love Chopin? Ask pianist Jeremy Denk
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By Jacob Stockinger
I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t like playing or hearing the music of Chopin (below).
Can you?
But just why the 19th-century Romantic composer has such universal appeal is hard to explain.
One of the best explanations The Ear has read came recently from pianist Jeremy Denk, whose essay on “Chopin as a cat” appeared in The New York Times.
Denk, who has performed two outstanding solo recitals in Madison, is clearly an important musical thinker as well as a great performer. You can also see that at once if you read his excellent blog “Think Denk.”
The Ear suspects the current essay grew out of some remarks that Denk gave during a lecture on Chopin’s pedaling at the UW-Madison, and will be incorporated into the book he is working on that includes his previous acclaimed essays in The New Yorker magazine.
Denk (below), who has lately been performing an intriguing survey concert that covers 600 years of music, thinks that Chopin’s uniqueness resides in how he consolidated and fused both conservative values and radical, even modern, innovations.
To the Ear, it is the best modern analysis of Chopin that he has read since the major treatment that the acclaimed pianist-musicologist Charles Rosen wrote about the Polish “poet of the piano” in his terrific book “The Romantic Generation.”
Moreover, the online web version of Denk’s essay is much more substantial and satisfying than the newspaper print edition. It has not only audio-visual performances of important Chopin works by major artists such as Arthur Rubinstein and Krystian Zimerman, it also suggests, analyzes and praises some “old-fashioned” historical recordings of Chopin by Ignaz Friedman, Alfred Cortot and Josef Hoffmann.
Now if only Jeremy Denk would record an album of Chopin himself!
Here is a link to the Chopin essay:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/arts/music/jeremy-denk-chopin.html
Enjoy!
Please listen to the wonderful clips that Denk suggests.
Then tell us what pieces are your favorite Chopin works, big or small, and what performers are your favorite Chopin interpreters.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Alfred Cortot, analysis, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Bach, Ballade, barcarolle, Baroque, Beethoven, big, blog, cat, Chamber music, Charles Rosen, Chopin, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, conservative, consolidate, essay, explanation, feline, Franz Schubert, fuse, harmony, hear, historic, Ignaz Friedman, important, innovation, interpreter, Jacob Stockinger, Jeremy Denk, Johannes Brahms, Josef Hofmann, Krystian Zimerman, lecture, Love, magazine, major, Martha Argerich, melody, modern, Music, musicologist, New York Times, Newspaper, online, pedal, pedaling, Piano, play, poet, Polish, Prelude, print, radical, read, record, recording, Romantic, small, SoundCloud, survey, The New York Times, The New Yorker, think, Think Denk, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, values, web, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: This week the UW-Madison hosts a faculty horn recital and two orchestral concerts – one by the visiting and innovative chamber orchestra The Knights and the other by UW students
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By Jacob Stockinger
This week is a busy one at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music with concerts on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
There are also FREE and PUBLIC master classes on Friday.
Here are details:
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5
At 7:30 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall of the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., UW horn professor Daniel Grabois (below, in a photo by James Gill) – a member of the acclaimed Wisconsin Brass Quintet – will perform a FREE faculty recital.
Grabois will be accompanied by pianist Shuk-Ki Wong.
No specific program has been posted. But composers on the program include Eugene Bozza, Charles Gounod, Francis Poulenc, Wolfgang Plagge and a world premiere by Daniel Kessner.
THURSDAY, FEB. 6
At 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, also in the Hamel Music Center, the UW Symphony Orchestra (below, with the UW Choral Union in the background) will give a FREE concert.
UW professor Oriol Sans (below), who is new to campus this year, will be the main conductor with Michael Dolan serving as a guest conductor.
The program is the “Appalachian Spring” Suite by Aaron Copland and the Symphony No. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
SATURDAY, FEB. 8
At 8 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, guest artists The Knights will give a concert that features UW clarinetist Alicia Lee (below), who is a member of the Wingra Wind Quintet and who toured with The Knights chamber orchestra during the decade she lived and worked in New York City.
Says Lee: “We are excited to bring a group with a fresh perspective that is run in perhaps a less traditional way,” Lee says of the residency. “This is a group of people with interesting, diverse approaches to a life in music. Many have been making music together for nearly 20 years, so the roots of both friendship and musical values run very deep.”
On Friday, Feb. 7, The Knights (below) will offer a one-day, on-campus residency that is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Opportunities include access to strings, wind, percussion and horn master classes; a workshop on music business; a side-by-side orchestral reading; and attendance at their rehearsal. All activities will take place in the Hamel Music Center. For a day-long schedule, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/the-knights/
You can hear rehearsals and commentaries by The Knights in the YouTube video at the bottom.
According to program notes: “The Knights is a collective of adventurous musicians, dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music.
“Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they inspire listeners with vibrant programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery.
“The orchestra has toured and recorded with renowned soloists including Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Bela Fleck and Gil Shaham, and have performed at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood and the Vienna Musikverein. Read more at: https://theknightsnyc.com”
The program for The Kreutzer Project concert on Saturday night is:
Colin Jacobsen: World premiere of a new work
Ludwig van Beethoven: Kreutzer Concerto (based on the famous Kreutzer Sonata) arranged by The Knights for solo violin and chamber orchestra
INTERMISSION
Leos Janacek: The “Kreutzer Sonata” String Quartet arranged by The Knights for chamber orchestra
Johannes Brahms: Hungarian Dances arranged by The Knights for chamber orchestra
General admission tickets are $30 and are available at the Campus Ticketing Office in the Memorial Union and by calling (608) 265-ARTS (2787) or visiting: https://artsticketing.wisc.edu/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=83A6D957-B006-4ABC-AFB2-6485A8C4D94C.
Free rush tickets for UW-Madison students and music faculty are subject to availability. Visit the Hamel box office one hour before the concert.
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