The Well-Tempered Ear
Pianist Yuja Wang’s new ‘Vienna Recital’ is another triumph
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
Yuja Wang remains the hottest pianist on the touring concert circuit — and not just for her daring, high fashion clothes and her sensuous legs and arms, and her especially expressive face.
Lang Lang might make more money.
Newcomer Yunchan Lim might inspire more anticipation.
And veterans Martha Argerich and Emanuel Ax might command more authority for their interpretations.
But the supremely talented China-born, U.S.-educated Wang remains in very high critical regard and high popular demand — something that the release just yesterday of her latest album “The Vienna Recital” is sure to sustain and increase.
The recital’s program features an eclectic and somewhat unusual mix of works by Beethoven, Scriabin, Isaac Albéniz, Nikolai Kaspustin and Philip Glass (whose Etude No. 6 you can hear Wang perform in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The Ear also likes seeing that Wang uses the music through a printed score on what appears to be an iPad.
Here is a link to a rave review by Tal Agam from the The Classic Review that is based in Tel Aviv, Israel:
What do you think of Yuja Wang?
Have you listened to The Vienna Recital?”
What do you think of it?
Do you intend to listen to it?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, Albeniz, Android, anticipation, Apple, Apple Music, Apple Music Classical, Argerich, arms, Arts, Arturo Márques, Asia, asian, audience, Austria, authority, Autumn, Ax, Beethoven, Bing, blog, born, Brahms, China, Chinese, circuit, Classical music, clothes, composer, Concert, concerto, critic, critical, Curtis Institute of Music, dance, danzón, daring, demand, Deutsche Grammophon, Devil, DG, duckduckgo, eclectic, Education, encore, etude, expressive, face, Facebook, fashion, German, Germany, gifted, Glass, Gluck, Google, Google Alert, Google Alerts, Google Search, hear, high, hot, hottest, Iberia, increase, intermezzo, interpretation, IOS, IPad, Isaac Albéniz, Israel, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Kapustin, Korea, Korean, legs, Ligeti, like, Lim, link, listen, Live Recording, Ludwig van Beethoven, melodie, melody, Mexican, Mexico, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, mix, money, Music, Music education, music review, new, newcomer, Orfeo, Orfeo ed Euridice, OS, People's Republic of Chnia, perform, Philip Glass, Pianist, Piano, popular, PRC, Prelude, prestige, printed, program, rave, recital, recorded music, recording, regard, release, review, Russia, Russian, Safari, Schoenberg, score, Scriabin, sensual, sensuality, sensuous, share, Sonata, South Korea, South Korean, Soviet, Soviet Union, Spain, Spanish, Suite, sustain, tag, talent, talented, technique, Tel Aviv, The Classical Review, The Ear, The Vienna Recital, The Well-Tempered Ear, think, tour, transcription, triumph, Twitter, U.S., United States, unusual, US, use, Veteran, video, Vienna, virtuoso, Wang, Warsaw, Well-Tempered, welltempered, welltemperedear, Wisconsin, Wong, WordPress, Wordpress.com, X, yesterday, you, YouTube, Yuja Wang, Yunchan Lim
Do local arts presenters discriminate against single people? Is it unethical or illegal?
17 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
The start of selling single tickets — rather than season subscriptions, which have been on sale since the spring — is coming up.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra starts selling them on this coming Monday, July 31, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra starts on Saturday, Aug. 19, both through the Overture Center box office (below), which will also start selling single tickets to Overture Presents events this Friday, July 28. The Madison Opera starts selling single tickets in September.
Do the Madison Symphony Orchestra and other arts presenters discriminate against single people when it comes to selling single or subscription tickets? And if they do, is it legal or illegal?
It may sound paradoxical, but the question is especially relevant because of demographics — specifically, the increasing number of single seniors and the growing trend among young people to stay single and marry later. And it certainly violates the principles of equity and equality. It also seems to violate good fiscal sense and the financial well-being of a business that is usually first-come, first served. Plus seating at a concert would seem a form of legally protected public accommodation.
A CASE STUDY
A veteran concert-goer and reader of this blog recalls the following incident from last spring:
“I spontaneously decided I might go to the Madison Symphony Orchestra concert with “Carmina Burana’ and Florence Price (Symphony No. 3).
“I went to the website and saw a seat, one of a pair, in the orchestra section of Overture that looked good for $98. Plus, there was a $15 service fee.
“But when I selected that, I was told by the computer that it wasn’t for sale because it would leave the seat next to it empty.
“In other words, the MSO is doing so well that they can reject somebody buying a single ticket because they want to save the two tickets for a couple. So I just decided fuck it.
“It left me feeling that if I couldn’t easily buy the seat I wanted, why bother. There were other less ideal seats available.”
And so a $103 seat was lost to MSO’s revenue.
IS THE OVERTURE CENTER RESPONSIBLE?
To be fair, it might not be only the Madison Symphony Orchestra that is guilty of the practice.
The Ear heard from another reader who said a theater group in the Overture Center did the same thing. The reader could not remember details.
So it makes one curious to know if other resident groups in Overture — the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Opera, Forward Theater, Children’s Theater of Madison, the Madison Ballet, Kanopy Dance and Li Chiao Ping Dance — do the same thing.
If so, then perhaps it is a policy of the Overture Center’s box office and the algorithm that its computer uses for selling tickets.
But that just shifts the discrimination, not corrects or prevents it.
SINGLISM
The practice of discriminating against single people — which may not be illegal but certainly seems unethical — has even been given a name: singlism.
Singlism can be compared to racism, sexism and ageism, to discrimination based on religion and sexual orientation or gender identity. But single people are not legally protected classes under federal law and in many states.
Here is a definition:
https://www.multiamory.com/podcast/355-singlism-and-the-truth-about-being-single
I think Overture and all its resident groups receive public funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board, Dane Arts (formerly Dane County Arts Commission) and the Madison Arts Commission.
It seems logical, then, to The Ear that some investigation by the city, county and state — perhaps the various Offices of Equal Opportunity — is in order and that some correction should be implemented immediately, given the upcoming sale of single tickets to single persons. At the very least, political leaders and government lawyers should weigh in on the ethics and legality of the issue.
Have you ever experienced similar discrimination?
Are you aware of others who have?
What do you think of the practice of refusing to sell certain tickets to a single person?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #Concert-goer, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, ageism, Arts, audience, August, ballet, blog, box office, buy, buyer, Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Chamber music, Children's Theater of Madison, choral music, city, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, county, dance, Dane Arts, Dane County, Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, discriminate, discrimination, equal opportunity, equality, equity, ethic, ethical, Facebook, federal, fee, financial, first come, first served, fiscal, Florence Price, Forward Theater, gender, group, guilty, handling fee, identity, illegal, investigation, issue, Jacob Stockinger, July, Kanopy Dance, lawyer, leader, legal, legality, link, logical, Madison, Madison Arts Commission, Madison Ballet, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, marital status, married, Music, office, Office of Equal Opportunity, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, Overture Presents, People, person, persons, policy, political, Politics, practice, presenter, protected class, public accommodation, public funds, racism, refuse, Religion, resident, revenue, season tickets, seat, seating, seem, sell, September, service, sex, Sexism, sexual orientation, share, single, single tickets, Spring, state, symphony, tag, theater, trend, unethical, unfair, United States, Veteran, violate, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, young people
This Friday night the Verona Quartet performs an online concert of Brahms and Dvorak for the Wisconsin Union Theater. Plus, longtime music critic Jess Anderson has died
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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.
ALERT: Jess Anderson (below), a longtime local music critic for Isthmus, an active participant in the local music scene and a veteran radio host of an early music program for WORT-FM 89.9, died this past Sunday. He was 85. When more information is known, The Ear will devote a blog post to Jess, who was also a friend.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement to post:
The Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series will continue this season with a performance by the Verona Quartet (below) on this Friday, Jan. 29, at 7:30 p.m. CST. It will be preceded by a question-and-answer session with the Quartet at 7 p.m. CST.
The Quartet will perform two complete works: the String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2, by Johannes Brahms; and the famous String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, the “American,” by Antonin Dvorak. (In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear the Verona Quartet perform the familiar last movement of the string quartet by Dvorak.)
The Verona Quartet rose to international fame by sweeping top prizes at competitions, including the Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award in 2020.
Hailing from four different parts of the world, differences unify the Quartet’s members and music. Its music aims to show how diverse experiences can come together in harmony.
“The Verona Quartet brings fresh approaches to classical music masterpieces,” says Wisconsin Union Theater director Elizabeth Snodgrass (below). “The Quartet has risen to become one of the world’s most sought-after string quartets. We are honored to include them in our Concert Series season.”
Ticket purchase information can be found here. Tickets for this virtual online event are $10 for UW-Madison students, $17 for Wisconsin Union members and students who do not attend the UW-Madison, and $20 for all other patrons.
Ticket buyers will receive an email from approximately 2 hours before the event begins that contains the link to view the performance.
Anyone who purchases a ticket within 2 hours of the event’s start time will receive their link in their confirmation email immediately following their purchase. Only 1 ticket per household is needed to view this concert.
The link will remain active until Friday, Feb. 5, at 9:30 p.m. (CST) to view whenever you would like.
This performance will include the Quartet’s regular violinists Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro, and violist Abigail Rojansky.
But due to challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic, Quartet member and cellist Jonathan Dormand will not be part of the event. Instead, cellist Dmitry Kouzov (below top) will perform the string quartet by Brahms and cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins (below bottom, in a photo by C. Tihms Van Velden) will perform the string quartet by Dvorak.
The Verona Quartet’s performance is made possible by the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Endowment Fund, with additional support from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
An additional Concert Series performance will take place on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m. CDT and features the Meccore Quartet.
For more than 75 years, the Wisconsin Union Theater has served as a cultural center for community members and visitors and provides a variety of performing arts events.
The Theater’s Concert Series began more than a century ago and is one of the oldest uninterrupted series of its kind in the United States.
The Wisconsin Union Theater team presents the Concert Series in collaboration with the student-led Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Performing Arts Committee.
The Theater team strives for all of its spaces to be accessible, and those that need accommodations can reach out by email to the Wisconsin Union Theater team at: wisconsinuniontheater@union.wisc.edu
For more information about the Verona Quartet, including how to purchase tickets, visit union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/verona-quartet.
Tags: #AbigailRojensky, #AmericanQuartet, #AnnieJacobs-Perkins, #AntoninDvorak, #AspectsofAmerica, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusicAmerica, #ClassicalMusician, #ClevelandQuartet, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #CulturalCenter, #DavidandKatoPerlmanChamberMusicSeries, #DmitryKouzov, #DorothyRo, #ElizabethSnodgrass, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Fridaynight, #JacobStockinger, #JessAnderson, #JohannesBrahms, #JonathanDormand, #JonathanOng, #KatoPerlman, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MeccoreQuartet, #MusicCritic, #MusicScene, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #OnlineConcert, #PerformingArts, #RadioHost, #ReachOut, #StartTime, #StateOfWisconsin, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #UnionTheaterConcertSeries, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VeronaQuartet, #VirtualConcert, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WisconsinDirectorate, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubeChannel, #YouTubevideo, Abigail Rojensky, accessible, accommodation, active, alert, American, American Quartet, Annie Jacobs-Perkins, announcement, Antonín Dvořák, anyone, Arts, audience, blog, Brahms, cellist, Cello, center, Central Time, century, challenge, Chamber music, Chamber Music American, Classical music, classicalmusic, Cleveland Quartet, comlete, community, Competition, composer, Concert, concert series, confirmation, contests, coronavirus, CST, cultural, David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Series, death, devote, died, difference, director, diverse, Dmitry Kouzov, Dorothy Ro, Dvorak, Early music, earlymusic, Elizabeth Snodgrass, event, events, experience, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, fame, familiar, famous, feature, February, fresh, Friday, friend, funds, harmony, honor, host, hours, household, hpur, include, information, international, Jacob Stockinger, January, Jess Anderson, Johannes Brahms, Jonathan Dormand, Jonathan Ong, Kato Perlman, last, local, Madison, masterpiece, Mead Witter School of Music, Meccore Quartet, member, movement, Music, music critic, music scene, Musician, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, night, oldest, online, pandemic, participant, perform, performance, Performing arts, post, posting, precede, prize, program, purchase, question-and-answer, Radio, radio host, reach out, Season, session, space, start time, State of Wisconsin, String quartet, Sunday, support, team, The Ear, ticket, time, U.S., unify, uninterrupted, Union Theater Concert Series, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, UW, UW-Madison, variety, Verona Quartet, Veteran, view, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, winning, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Union Directorate, Wisconsin Union Theater, works, world, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Today is Veterans Day. Here is some appropriate music by Beethoven to mark it. Can you guess which piece? What composer or music would you choose?
1 Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
Today – Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020 – is Veterans Day.
It started out as Armistice Day in 1918 when the end of World War I was declared to take place on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
It is a day to mark the service of all veterans – not just those who died in the line of duty, as is celebrated on Memorial Day.
You can find a lot of choice of classical music to play for Veterans Day. Here is one link to a compilation that features patriotic songs and marches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJepYzH1VUY
But The Ear settled on Beethoven (below, in an 1815 portrait by Joseph Willebrord Maehler).
Can you guess which piece?
It is not the memorable funeral marches on the Piano Sonata in A-Flat, Op. 26, or the Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.”
It is also not the “Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving” in the String Quartet, Op. 132.
And it is not “Wellington’s Victory” or the “Egmont” Overture or the Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” with its triumphant fast movements.
Instead it is the second movement of the Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. (You can hear it see it represented graphically in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
That is the very well known Allegretto movement with its repetitious and almost hypnotizing, soaring theme. It seems like a funeral march, full of introspection, poignancy and sadness, that is a bit brisker and more lyrical than usual.
It is so popular, in fact, that it has been used as a soundtrack in many movies, including “The King’s Speech” and has inspired works based on it including the “Fantasia on an Ostinato” by the contemporary American composer John Corigliano.
If it seems an unexpected choice, you just need to know more about its history.
It was composed 1811-1812, and Beethoven correctly considered it one of his finest works. So did Richard Wagner who famously described as the “apotheosis of the dance” for the infectious rhythms throughout the symphony.
At its premiere in Vienna, in his introductory remarks Beethoven said: “We are moved by nothing but pure patriotism and the joyful sacrifice of our powers for those who have sacrificed so much for us.”
Beethoven (below, in 1815 as depicted in a paining the Joseph Willibrord Maehler) premiered the symphony at a charity concert in 1813 to help raise money for the Austrian and Bavarian soldiers who had been wounded at the Battle of Hanau while fighting against France during the Napoleonic Wars.
It was so popular with the first performance that the audience demanded and received an immediate encore performance of the second movement.
Here is a Wikipedia link to the history of the symphony: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._7_(Beethoven)
To this day, the Seventh Symphony, so charged with energy, remains for many people, conductors and orchestral players their favorite Beethoven symphony.
It is ironic that Leonard Bernstein (below, in a photo by Paul de Hueck) performed the Seventh Symphony at the last concert he ever conducted – at the Tanglewood Festival in August 1990. He took the second movement at a slower-than-usual tempo and many have criticized Bernstein, who was in terrible health, and have suggested that he was using it as a funeral march or homage for himself.
They may be right. But in retrospect the choice of Bernstein – who died two months later — finds a certain justification in the original motive for the entire symphony and especially the second movement.
Listen for yourself.
Then tell us what you think.
Does this movement justify it being played on Veterans Day?
What music would you choose to mark the day?
What do you think of the Symphony No. 7 in general and the second movement in particular?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #ArmisticeDay, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #EgmontOverture, #EmperorConcerto, #EroicaSymphony, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FantasiaonanOstinato, #FilmSoundtrack, #FuneralMarch, #HealthEmergency, #JacobStockinger, #JohnCorigliano, #LeonardBernstein, #LivingComposer, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MemorialDay, #MovieSoundtrack, #MusicCritic, #NapoleonicWars, #NewMusic, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralPlayers, #PianoConcerto, #PianoMusic, #PianoSonata, #RichardWagner, #SacredHymnofThanksgiving, #SeventhSymphony, #SlowMovement, #StringQuartet, #TanglewoodFestival, #TanglewoodMusicCenter, #TheEar, #TheKing'sSpeech, #VeteransDay, #ViennaAustria, #VisualArt, #Wellington'sVictory, #Wikipediaentry, #WorldWarI, #YouTubevideo, 1918, Allegretto, apotheosis, appropriate, Armistice Day, Arts, audience, Austria, Austrian, battle, Bavaria, Bavarian, Beethoven, Bernstein, blog, brisk, celebrate, Chamber music, choice, choose, Classical music, compendium, compilation, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, Corigliano, critic, criticize, dance, day, dead, death, declare, describe, duty, Egmont Overture, Emperor Concerto, encore, end, energy, Eroica, Eroica Symphony, Facebook, Fantasia, Fantasia on an Ostinato, fight, film soundtrack, forward, France, French, funeral march, graphic, graphically, guess, Hanau, Health, help, History, hour, hymn, hypnotizing, immediate, infectious, introspection, ironic, Jacob Stockinger, John Corigliano, joyful, know, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, listen, Living composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, march, mark, melody, Memorial Day, month, movement, movie, Movies, Music, Napoleon, Napoleonic, Napoleonic Wars, need, New Music, opera, Orchestra, orchestral, orchestral players, ostinato, Overture, patriotic, patriotism, peace, People, performance, Piano, Piano concerto, piano music, Piano sonata, piece, play, player, poignancy, popular, post, posting, pure, repetitious], represent, rhythm, Richard Wagner, sacred, Sacred Hymn of Thanksgiving, sacrifice, sadness, said, say, schematic, service, Seventh Symphony, share, sing, slow, Slow movement, soldiers, Sonata, song, songs, soul, soulful, soundtrack, String quartet, subscriber, suggest, symphony, tag, Tanglewood Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Tempo, terrible, Thanksgiving, The Ear, The King's Speech, theme, think, today, triumph, triumphant, truce, unexpected, United States, usual, Veteran, Veterans Day, victory, Vienna, visual schematic, Wagner, war, Wednesday, Wellington, Wellington's Victory, Wikipedia, work, World War I, wound, wounded, YouTube, YouTube video
Classical music: This Saturday at noon Grace Presents offers a virtual HD concert of organ and violin music
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
The Ear has received the following announcement from Grace Presents to post:
Grace Presents’ HD Virtual Concert Series continues with its new series, with its next installment premiering here on YouTube this Saturday, July 25, at noon CDT.
The free and public one-hour program will feature organist-composer Mark Brampton Smith (below top) and violinist Carol Carlson (below middle), both veterans of the Grace Presents series and the Madison music scene. A virtual meet-and-greet will follow the concert.
(The Willy Street Chamber Players will be featured in a virtual concert premiering on Saturday, Aug. 22, at noon CDT. More details on this concert are forthcoming soon.)
Here is the program for this Saturday’s organ and violin concert, which you can sample in the YouTube video at the bottom:
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962): “Praeludium and Allegro (In the Style of Pugnani)”
Gaetano Pugnani (1731-1798): Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 7 No. 2. 1. Andantino
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757): Sonata in D Major, K. 288; Sonata in G Major, K. 328
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Violin Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 III. Andante
Johann Sebastian Bach: “Little” Fugue in G minor, BWV 578
Jules Massenet (1842-1912): Meditation from the opera “Thaïs”
Clarence Cameron White (1880-1960): “Bandanna Sketches,” Op. 12. 1. Chant (“Nobody knows de trouble I’ve seen”)
Felix Borowski (1872-1956): “Adoration”
Mark Brampton Smith (b. 1954): “It Is Well With My Soul” (Philip P. Bliss)
Vittorio Monti (1868-1922) Csardas
Tags: #African-AmericanMusic, #AfricanAmerican, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CarolCarlson, #CentralDaylightTime, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #CityofMadison, #ClarenceCameronWhite, #ClassicalMusician, #DomenicoScarlatti, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixBorowski, #FritzKreisler, #GaetanoPugnani, #GraceEpiscopalChurch, #GracePresents, #ItIsWellWithMySoul, #JacobStockinger, #JohannSebastianBach, #JulesMassenet, #LittleFugue, #MadisonWisconsin, #MarkBramptonSmith, #Meet-and-Greet, #MusicScene, #NegroSpiritual, #OperaAria, #OperaMusic, #OrganMusic, #PBSNewshour, #PhilipP.Bliss, #PraeludiumandAllego, #SoundSample, #TheEar, #ViolinMusic, #VirtualConcert, #VittorioMonti, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #YouTubevideo, adoration, African American, allegro, aria, Arts, audience, August, Bach, bandanna, Baroque, bliss, blog, Borowski, Carol Carlson, CDT, Central Daylight Time, Chamber music, chant, Christian, church, Clarence Cameron White, Classical music, classicalmusic, composer, Concert, continue, counterpoint, Csardas, details, Domenico Scarlatti, duet, duo, Early music, Facebook, feature, Felix Borowski, follow, forthcoming, forward, free, Fritz Kreisler, fugue, Gaetano Pugnani, Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Presents, HD, hour, installment, It Is Well With My Soul, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jules Massenet, July, Kirkpatrick, Kreisler, like, link, Little Fugue, Madison, Mark Brampton Smith, Massenet, Meditation, Monti, Music, music scene, Musician, MWV, new, noon, online, opera, organ, organ music, organist, perfromer, Philip P. Bliss, portal, Praeludium, Praeludium and Allegro, Prelude, premiere, program, public, Puganani, sample, Saturday, Scarlatti, scene, series, share, sketch, Sonata, soon, spiritual, style, tag, Thaïs, The Ear, United States, Veteran, Violin, violin music, violinist, virtual, Vitorio Monti, white, Willy Street Chamber Players, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: On this Memorial Day, The Ear honors not only soldiers but also civilians, COVID-19 victims and all those responders and workers who serve the public
4 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
Today is Memorial Day 2020.
It is of course a largely military holiday. Most of the planned public events will be to honor those who died in service to their country. That usually means fallen soldiers and deceased veterans.
It also means that military cemeteries – like Arlington National Cemetery, below — will be decorated with American flags.
But The Ear doesn’t think we should forget that there are many ways to serve your country and protect the public, many kinds war and self-sacrifice.
Let’s not forget civilians, especially since worldwide more than twice the numbers of civilians died in World War II than did members of the armed forces. Lives are taken as well as given.
A larger definition of “national service” also seems especially timely since this weekend the U.S. is likely to surpass 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic. They include many first responders and frontline workers (below) as well as grocery store workers and delivery drivers. Even “small” occupations have big heroes. There is no reason not to be more inclusive.
There are traditional kinds of music to honor the dead. They include requiems and elegies, military marches and funeral marches. And in the comment section you should feel free to suggest whatever music you think would be appropriate.
But The Ear found a piece he thinks is both unusual and ideal.
It is called “Old and Lost Rivers” by the contemporary American composer Tobias Picker (below). It is a beautiful, moving and contemplative piece, based on an actual place in Texas, that you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.
But you should know this about the work’s title.
With rivers, “lost” doesn’t mean forgotten or misplaced.
One dictionary defines it as “a surface stream that flows into an underground passageway” – and eventually often becomes part of a larger body of water such as a lake or the ocean.
It can also mean rivers that appear during heavy rain and then disappear when they evaporate during a drought.
Somehow, those images serve as fitting metaphors for our losses and that music seems a very appropriate way to honor those who sacrifice themselves and disappear in service to others.
The Ear hopes you agree.
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #ArlingtonNationalCemetery, #ArmedForces, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ContemporaryComposer, #COVID-19, #DecorationDay, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstResponder, #FrontlineWorker, #GroceryStore, #JacobStockinger, #MemorialDay, #NationalService, #NewMusic, #OldandLostRivers, #TheEar, #TheU.S., #TobiasPicker, #TraditionalMusic, #WorldWar2, #WorldWarII, #YouTubevideo, America, American, appropriate, Arlington National Cemetery, armed forces, Arts, audience, beautiful, big, blog, cemetery, civilian, composer, contemplative, contemporary, country, covid, dead, death, deceased, decorate, Decoration Day, delivery, die, disappear, driver, drought, evaporate, event, Facebook, fallen, first responder, first responders, fitting, flag, forgotten, forward, frontline, funeral march, give, grocery store, hear, hero, Holiday, honor, ideal, image, inclusive, Jacob Stockinger, lake, like, link, lives, loss, losses, lost, Madison, march, Memorial Day, metaphor, miliary, misplaced, moving, Music, national service, New Music, occupation, ocean, old, Old and Lost Rivers, Orchestra, pandemic, passageway, peformer, piece, planned, post, posting, protect, public, rain, Requiem, river, sacrifice, self-sacrifice, serve, service, share, small, soldier, suggest, surface, surpass, symphony, tag, take, Texas, The Ear, Tobias Picker, traditional, U.S., underground, United States, unusual, Veteran, war, way, weekend, worker, World War 2, World War II, YouTube
Classical music: This afternoon is your last chance to hear native son Kenneth Woods conduct the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot. Here are two reviews, one a rave and the other very positive
Leave a Comment
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
This afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall is your last chance to hear native son and guest conductor Kenneth Woods and guest Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers).
Woods (below), once a student in Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) and a student at Memorial High School, has established an international reputation by leading the English Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado MahlerFest and the British Elgar Festival, and by making many highly praised recordings.
At 26, Pouliot (below in a photo by Jeff Fasano) is a rising star, thanks to winning a major competition in Montreal and other prizes. (You can hear him play “Lotus Land,” composed by Cyril Scott and arranged by Fritz Kreisler, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The program is: Symphony No. 96 “Miracle” by Franz Joseph Haydn; the Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn; and “Ein Heldenleben” (A Hero’s Life) by Richard Strauss.
For more background and program notes, information about purchasing tickets ($19-$95) and The Ear’s detailed interview with Woods about growing up in Madison, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/03/02/classical-music-accomplished-native-son-kenneth-woods-returns-this-weekend-to-conduct-the-madison-symphony-orchestra-in-music-by-haydn-mendelssohn-and-richard-strauss-he-talks-to-the-ear-about-what/
The opening performance on Friday night received excellent reviews. Here are two major ones:
Here is the rave review that veteran critic Greg Hettmansberger (below) wrote for his blog “What Greg Says,” which is well worth following:
https://whatgregsays.wordpress.com/2020/03/07/a-healthy-orchestra-in-strong-hands/
And here is a largely positive review for The Capital Times newspaper written by freelancer Matt Ambrosio (below), who received his doctorate in music theory from the UW-Madison and now teaches at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin:
You can be a critic too.
If you heard the concert, what did you think?
The Ear wants to hear
Tags: #AHero'sLife, #BlakePouliot, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CanadianMusician, #ColoradoMahlerFest, #CyrilScott, #EdwardElgar, #EinHeldenleben, #ElgarFestival, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FritzKreisler, #GreatBritain, #GregHettmansberger, #GrowingUp, #GustavMahler, #HomeWebsite, #InternationalReputation, #JacobStockinger, #KennethWoods, #LawrenceUniversity, #LotusLand, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MatineeConcert, #MattAmbrosio, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MemorialHighSchool, #MiracleSymphony, #MontrealCanada, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #MusicTheory, #OpeningNight, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #RichardStrauss, #Sundayafternoon, #TheCapitalTimes, #TheCapTmes, #TheEar, #TheU.K., #TheUK, #TonePoem, #ViolinConcerto, #VirtuosoViolinist, #WhatGregSays, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #YouTubevideo, A Hero's Life, arranged, Arts, audience, background, Blake Pouliot, blog, Boulder, British, Canada, Canadian, Cello, Classical music, classicalmusic, Colorado, Colorado MahlerFest, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, critic, Cyril Scott, doctorate, Edward Elgar, Ein Heldenleben, Elgar, Elgar Festival, English, Facebook, Felix Mendelssohn, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, freelancer, Fritz Kreisler, Great Britain, Greg Hettmansberger, growing up, guest, guest artist, Gustav Mahler, Haydn, hear, hero, information, international, interview, Jacob Stockinger, James Madison Memorial High School, Kenneth Woods, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, life, like, link, lotus, Lotus Land, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, matinee, Matt Ambrosio, Mead Witter School of Music, Memorial High School, Mendelssohn, miracle, Miracle Symphony, Montreal, MSO, Music, music theory, night, opening night, Orchestra, Overture Center, Overture Hall, performance, performer, play, post, posting, praise, prize, purchase, Recordings, reputation, review, Richard Strauss, share, soloist, Strauss, Student, Sunday afternoon, symphony, tag, The Cap Times, The Capital Times, The Ear, theory, tickets, tone poem, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, Veteran, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, Website, What Greg Says, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, wrote, WYSO, YouTube
Classical music: The Ancora String Quartet will play several concerts of Beethoven and Randall Thompson over this coming weekend, including one at Olbrich Gardens on Friday night
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
The Ear has received the following information from the veteran Ancora String Quartet, which will play several performances of the same program over the coming weekend in several different cities.
Members of the Ancora String Quartet (below from left, in a photo by Barry Lewis), who also play with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, are: violinists Wes Luke and Robin Ryan; violist Marika Fischer Hoyt; and cellist Benjamin Whitcomb.
RECITAL PROGRAM:
String Quartet No. 2 in G Major by Randall Thompson
String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130, by Ludwig van Beethoven
CONCERT DATES:
Friday, Feb. 7, at noon
Interview with Wisconsin Public Radio host
Norman Gilliland on The Midday
WERN 88.7 FM
Friday, Feb.7, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Bolz Conservatory
3330 Atwood Ave., Madison
Tickets at the door: $5
Saturday, Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Park (“Freethinkers”) Hall
307 Polk Street, Sauk City
Tickets: $15 general, $12 children and seniors
Sunday, Feb. 9, at 2 p.m. (UPDATE: THIS CONCERT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO AN OUTBREAK OF ILLNESS AT CHAI POINT. IT WILL BE RESCHEDULED.)
Chai Point Retirement Community
1400 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee
Free and open to the public
PROGRAM NOTES:
The program opens with an unusual work, the String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, by American composer Randall Thompson (below). Better known for his choral music, Thompson wrote this quartet in 1967 to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Harvard Musical Association.
The quartet is joyous and optimistic in character, with thoughtful and creative part-writing. The first movement brims with youthful energy, contained in smoothly flowing triplets.
The simple, graceful folk melody that opens the second movement continually reinvents itself in a set of charming variations. The third movement’s heartfelt tune expresses a deep content, setting up the finale, whose explosive energy erupts in a good-natured, light-hearted romp.
Beethoven (below) wrote the second piece on our program, the String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130, 141 years before the Thompson and many centuries beyond it in subtlety, sophistication, intellectual rigor and emotional depth.
With six movements and lasting 40 minutes, it is the composer’s longest piece of chamber music, and it stretches limits in other ways as well. The original work, completed in 1825, contained the Grosse Fuge (Great Fugue) but Beethoven replaced that in 1826 with the Finale Allegro, the last full-scale movement he completed before his death in 1827.
Op. 130 bristles with contrasts, and juxtapositions of extremes, on the micro-level to the macro-level, all contained in movements ranging from a short, gnarly Presto, to a graceful Poco Scherzo, to a lyrical, innocent Alla Danza Tedesco (In the Style of a German Dance), to the fabled Cavatina, which, Beethoven wrote, moved him to tears when he even thought about it. (You can hear the Cavatina in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
In performing Op. 130, the Ancora String Quartet tackles its 14th of the 16 Beethoven string quartets. The ASQ plans to perform Op. 59, No. 3, and Op. 131, in the summer and fall, to complete the Beethoven cycle in this, the Beethoven Year when we celebrate the 250th anniversary of his birth.
For more information, go to: facebook.com/ancoraquartet and www.ancoraquartet.com
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AncoraStringQuartet, #BeethovenYear, #BenjaminWhitcomb, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BolzConservatory, #ChaiPoint, #ChaiPointRetirementCommunity, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #CityofMadison, #CompleteCycle, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FinalExam, #FolkMelody, #GreatFugue, #GrosseFuge, #HarvardMusicalAssociation, #HarvardUniversity, #JacobStockinger, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MilwaukeeWisconsin, #NormanGilliland, #OlbrichBotanicalGardens, #OlbrichGardens, #ParkHall, #Part-Writing, #RandallThompson, #RetirementCommunity, #RobinRyan, #SaukCity, #SaukCityWisconsin, #SeniorCitizen, #StringMusic, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #ThemeAndVariations, #TheMidday, #WERN88.7FM, #WesLuke, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, American, Ancora String Quartet, anniversary, Arts, audience, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Benjamin Whitcomb, birth, birthday, blog, Bolz Conservatory, cavatina, celebrate, cellist, Cello, centuries, century, Chai Point, Chai Point Retirement Community, Chamber music, character, charming, children, choral music, cities, city, Classical music, community, complete, composer, Concert, contrast, counterpoint, creative, cycle, dance, date, death, deep, depth, different, door, emotional, energy, explosive, extreme, fabled, Facebook, fall, flow, folk, folk melody, forward, free, Freethinkers, Friday, fugue, full-scale, general, German, Germany, gnarly, good-natured, graceful, Great Fugue, Grosse Fuge, Harvard Musical Association, Harvard University, hear, heartfelt, host, innocent, intellectual, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Joy, joyous, juxtaposition, light-hearted, like, limits, link, long, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyrical, macro, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marika Fischer Hoyt, melody, member, micro, Milwaukee, movement, Music, noon, Norman Gilliland, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Olbrich Gardens, open, optimism, optimistic, opus, original, Park Hall, performance, performer, piece, play, post, program, public, reader, recital, replace, Retirement, Robin Ryan, romp, Sauk City, seniors, share, short, simple, smooth, sophistication, stretch, string music, String quartet, style, subtlety, summer, tag, tears, The Ear, The Midday, theme and variations, thought, thoughtful, ticket, triplets, tune, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, unusual, variations, Veteran, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, way, weekend, WERN 88.7 FM, Wes Luke, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wisconsin public radio, work, WPR, year, youthful, YouTube
Classical music: Veterans Day is a good time to hear Bach’s musical prayer for peace
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
Today – Nov. 11, 2019 – is Veterans Day.
There is a lot of classical music that can be used to honor the holiday and the men and women who serve in the military.
This is not the day to remember the dead. That is Memorial Day.
So it is worth recalling that Veterans Day started out as Armistice Day in 1918 when World War I ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Here is a link to more about the holiday found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day
One could celebrate by using brass bands and other military ensembles playing patriotic music and marches.
But there seems to be too much conflict in the world, and the dream of ending war and armed conflict seems as distant as ever, given certain political trends and unfortunately regressive and destructive forces at work right now.
Instead, The Ear wants to honor what should be the deeper purpose of the military: To secure peace.
For that reason, here is a YouTube video of a memorable performance of “Dona Nobis Pacem” (Grant Us Peace), the ending prayer from the Mass in B Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The four-minute work is performed more slowly than usual, but also more movingly and soulfully, by the famed Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, all under the direction of John Eliot Gardiner.
Do you agree that it is a wish that honors the true purpose of the military?
If you know of other appropriate music to mark the holiday, please leave the title of the work and the names of the composer and the performers along with, if possible, a YouTube link.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #ArmedConflict, #ArmisticeDay, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassBand, #ChoralMusic, #DonaNobisPacem, #EnglishBaroqueSoloists, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GrantUsPeace, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnEliotGardiner, #MassinBMinor, #MemorialDay, #MonteverdiChoir, #MusicalInterpretation, #PatrioticMusic, #RightNow, #TheEar, #VeteransDay, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediaentry, #WorldWarI, #YouTubevideo, appropriate, armed conflict, Armistice Day, Arts, Bach, bands, Baroque, Baroque music, blog, brass band, celebrate, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, comment, composer, conductor, conflict, day, dead, destructive, distant, Dona Nobis Pacem, dream, Early music, earlymusic, English Baroque Soloists, Facebook, force, forward, Grant Us Peace, hear, Holiday, honor, hour, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Eliot Gardiner, like, link, Madison, march, mass, Mass in B Minor, Memorial Day, men, military, month, moving, Music, name, Orchestra, patriotic, peace, performer, political, Politics, post, posting, prayer, purpose, regressive, remember, right now, secure, serve, share, sing, song, soul, soulful, tag, task, The Ear, title, today, trend, true, unfortunate, United States, Veteran, Veterans Day, vocal music, war, Website, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, wish, women, work, world, World War I, YouTube
Recent Comments
| MARTIN LUTHER LUTE |… on Classical music: Who was the e… | |
 | Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass… |
 | welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and… |
 | rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and… |
| welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: What concerts or performances in 2019 did you most like, and do you most remember and want to praise?
7 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, 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
The concert season’s winter intermission will soon draw to a close.
So this is a good time to recall favorite concerts and performances of last year.
But let’s be clear.
This is a not a request to name “The Best Concerts of 2019.”
Calling them the most memorable concerts doesn’t necessarily mean they were the best.
Perfection or “the best” sounds so objective, but can really be quite personal and subjective. So much can depend not only on the music and the performers, but also on your own mood and your taste or preferences.
So please share the concerts or performances that you most liked and enjoyed, the one that most still linger in your mind. And, if you can pin it down, tell us why you liked them so much and why they linger for you.
There are so many excellent groups and concerts, so much fine classical music, in the Madison area that there should be lots of candidates.
Here are several performances or complete concerts that The Ear remembers with special fondness.
The MADISON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (below, in a photo by Peter Rodgers) held a season-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of John DeMain’s tenure as its music director and conductor. The big event came at the end: Mahler’s massive Symphony No. 8 – the so-called “Symphony of a Thousand” – that brought together the MSO and the MSO Chorus as well as the Madison Youth Choirs and the UW-Madison Choral Union.
It proved an impressive, overwhelming and moving display of coordination and musicianship, a testament to how far DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad) has brought the orchestra.
(Also memorable on the MSO season were pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin in Ravel’s jazzy Piano Concerto in G Major and UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor in the Leonard Bernstein’s “Age of Anxiety” symphony during the MSO tribute to Bernstein, with whom DeMain worked closely.)
The WISCONSIN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (below, in a photo by Mike Gorski), under its veteran music director Andrew Sewell, continues to test its own limits and surpass them. Particularly impressive was the last concert of the winter season with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14 featuring two outstanding soloists: soprano Mary Mackenzie and bass Timothy Jones.
The playing of the difficult score was precise but moving, and the singing blended beautifully. It made one understand why during this season – when the orchestra marks 60 years and maestro Sewell (below, in a photo by Alex Cruz) marks his 20th season — the WCO has deservingly graduated to two performances of each Masterwork concert (one here on Friday nights followed by one in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield on Saturday night).
Also memorable was an impressive concert by the mostly amateur but critically acclaimed MIDDLETON COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA. The Ear likes amateur musicians, and for their 10th anniversary concert they really delivered the goods in Dvorak’s famous Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” and, with fabulous guest soloist J.J. Koh (below — principal clarinet of the Madison Symphony Orchestra — in Mozart’s sublime Clarinet Concerto.
But it wasn’t only large-scale works that The Ear remembers.
Three chamber music concerts continue to stand out.
During the summer, the WILLY STREET CHAMBER PLAYERS and guest UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor (both below) delivered a performance of Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major that would be hard for any group to match, let alone surpass, for its tightness and energy, its lyricism and drama.
The same goes for the veteran PRO ARTE QUARTET at the UW-Madison, which this fall started its complete cycle of Beethoven’s 16 string quartets in the new Hamel Music Center to celebrate the Beethoven Year in 2020 when we mark the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
The quartet played early, middle and late quartets with complete mastery and subtlety. Treat yourself. Don’t miss the remaining five concerts, which resume in February and take place over the next year at the Hamel center and also at the Chazen Museum of Art, from where they will also be live-streamed.
Finally, The Ear will always remember the wholly unexpected and thoroughly captivating virtuoso accordion playing he heard last summer by Milwaukeean Stas Venglevski (below) at a concert by the BACH DANCING AND DYNAMITE SOCIETY. Venglevski performed music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Igor Stravinsky and Astor Piazzolla in a new and enthralling way.
Unfortunately, for various reasons The Ear missed many other concerts – by the Madison Opera and the University Opera among others – that promised to be memorable performances.
But perhaps you can fill him in as we start 2020 concerts next weekend.
What concerts in 2019 did you like most and do you most remember and praise? Why?
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Tags: #AccordionMusic, #AgeofAnxiety, #AmateurMusicians, #AmericanJazz, #AndrewSewell, #AntoninDvorak, #AstorPiazzolla, #BachDancingandDynamiteSociety, #BassSinger, #BeethovenYear, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrookfieldWisconsin, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberOrchestra, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #ChoralMusic, #ChoralUnion, #ChristopherTaylor, #ClarinetConcerto, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #DmitriShostakovich, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FromtheNewWorld, #GustavMahler, #HamelMusicCenter, #IgorStravinsky, #J.J.Koh, #JacobStockinger, #JazzMusic, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnDeMain, #LeonardBernstein, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonOpera, #MadisonSymphonyChorus, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MadisonYouthChoirs, #MaryMackenzie, #MasterworksConcerts, #MauriceRavel, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddletonCommunityOrchestra, #MusicDirector, #MusicReview, #NewWorldSymphony, #OrchestralMusic, #PianoConcerto, #PianoQuintet, #PrincipalClarinet, #ProArteQuartet, #SopranoSinger, #StanislasVenglevski, #StasVenglevski, #StringQuartet, #SymphonyofaThousand, #TheEar, #TimothyJones, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #VocalMusic, #WillyStreetChamberPlayers, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, 2019, 2020, accordion, Age of Anxiety, amateur, Andrew Sewell, anniversary, Antonín Dvořák, area, Arts, attract, audience, Ástor Piazzolla, Bach, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, bass, Beethoven, Beethoven Year, Bernstein, best, birth, blog, Brookfield, candidate, captivating, celebrate, celebration, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, Chazen Museum of Art, choral music, Choral Union, chorus, Christopher Taylor, clarinet, clarinet concerto, clarinetist, Classical music, comment, complete, composer, Concert, concerto, conductor, critically acclaimed, cycle, dance, deliver, deserving, difficult, Dmitri Shostakovich, drama, drive, Dvorak, early, end, energy, enjoy, enthralling, Facebook, favorite, February, fond, fondness, forward, From the New World, good, goods, graduate, group, Gustav Mahler, Hamel Music Center, help, Igor Stravinsky, impressive, intermission, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, last, late, Leonard Bernstein, like, limits, linger, link, live-stream, live-streamed, Ludwig van Beethoven, lyricism, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Maestro, Mahler, Mary Mackenzie, masterwork, mastery, Maurice Ravel, Mead Witter School of Music, member, memorable, memory, middle, Middleton Community Orchestra, Milwaukee, mind, mood, Mozart, Music, Music director, music review, Musician, new, New World Symphony, objective, opera, Orchestra, orchestral music, outstanding, Overture Center, overwhelming, past, perfection, performance, performer, personal, Pianist, Piano, Piano Quintet, Piazzolla, post, posting, praise, precise, preference, principal, Pro Arte Quartet, quintet, Ravel, reader, score, Season, Sewell, share, Shostakovich, society, soloist, soloists, soprano, Stas Venglevski, Stravinsky, stream, String quartet, subjective, sublime, subscriber, subtlety, suburb, summer, surpass, symphony, Symphony of a Thousand, tag, tang, taste, tenure, test, testimonial, The Ear, tightness, Timothy Jones, tribute, unexpected, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, UW, UW Choral Union, UW-Madison, Veteran, virtuoso, vocal music, WCO, Willy Street Chamber Players, winter, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, year, you, your