The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: A busy week brings FREE concerts of violin, orchestra, percussion, band, cello and bassoon music to the UW-Madison
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: This afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall is your last chance to hear John DeMain lead the Madison Symphony Orchestra with guest soloists violinist Pinchas Zukerman and cellist Amanda Forsyth in music by Brahms, Berlioz and Copland. Here is a positive review from Michael Muckian for Isthmus: https://isthmus.com/music/masterful-sounds-on-a-miserably-cold-night/
For more information about the program, soloists and tickets, go to: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2020/02/10/classical-music-this-weekend-the-madison-symphony-orchestra-celebrates-valentines-day-with-violinist-pinchas-zukerman-and-cellist-amanda-forsyth-in-the-romantic-double-concerto/
By Jacob Stockinger
The coming week at the UW-Madison will be busy with FREE concerts of violin, orchestral, percussion, band, cello and bassoon music.
Here is the lineup:
MONDAY
At 6:30 p.m. in the Collins Recital Hall at the new Hamel Music Center, 740 University Ave., you can hear a FREE performance of the popular Violin Concerto by Beethoven.
It is a student performance of the entire Beethoven Violin Concerto with the orchestra. The conductor is doctoral candidate Ji Hyun Yim (below) who is studying with UW conducting professor Oriol Sans. It is a concert of friends who enjoy playing together. The violinist soloist is Rachel Reese.
Then at 7:30 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the Chamber Percussion Ensemble (below) – formerly the Western Percussion Ensemble – will give a FREE concert of contemporary music.
The conductor is director and UW-Madison percussion professor Anthony DiSanza, who is also the principal percussionist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The program is “A Forest from a Seed.” Featured is post-minimalist music by composers not named Steve Reich. No specific works or composers are named.
Says DiSanza (below, in a photo by Katherine Esposito): “From the seed of minimalism (1964-1972), a deep and exhilarating repertoire has blossomed. Join us as we explore 40 years of diverse and engaging post-minimalist percussion chamber music.”
The Chamber Percussion Ensemble, he adds, “is dedicated to the performance of significant and engaging works for the Western percussion ensemble tradition, emphasizing core repertoire and works by emerging composers.”
TUESDAY (not Wednesday, as originally and incorrectly posted)
At 7:30 in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, the UW Concert Band (below) will give a FREE concert under director and conductor Corey Pompey. For the complete program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-concert-band-3/
THURSDAY
At 7:30 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall, UW cello professor Parry Karp (below), who plays in the UW’s Pro Arte Quartet, will give a FREE recital.
Piano accompanists are Bill Lutes; Martha Fischer; Frances Karp, the mother of Parry Karp; and Thomas Kasdorf.
The program is:
Robert Schumann: “Five Pieces in Folk Style” for Piano and Cello, Op. 102 (You can hear the first of the five pieces in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Johannes Brahms: Sonata in F Minor for Piano and Clarinet, Op. 120 No. 1 (arranged for piano and cello by Parry Karp)
Robert Kahn (below): Three Pieces for Piano and Cello, Op. 25
Richard Strauss: Andante from “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme” (The Bourgeois Gentleman), Op. 60
Ernest Bloch: “Schelomo” – a Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra
FRIDAY
At 8 p.m. in Collins Recital Hall, UW-Madison bassoon professor Marc Vallon (below) and friends – fellow faculty members and students — will perform a FREE concert of chamber music.
Joining Vallon, who plays in the acclaimed UW Wingra Wind Quintet, are: pianist Satoko Hayami; percussionist Todd Hammes; bassoonist Midori Samson; flutist Iva Ugrcic, clarinetist Alicia Lee; trumpeters Jean Laurenz and Gilson Luis Da Silva; trombonist Cole Bartels; and Travis Cooke.
Composers to be performed are: Robert Schumann; Alexander Ouzounoff; Sophia Gubaidulina (below); and Igor Stravinsky. No word about titles of specific works on the program.
Tags: #AaronCopland, #AlexanderOuzounoff, #AliciaLee, #AmandaForsyth, #BassoonMusic, #BillLutes, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloSonata, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberPercussionEnsemble, #ClarinetMusic, #ColeBartels, #CollaborativePIano, #CollinsRecitalHall, #ConcertBand, #ContemporaryComposer, #ContemporaryMusic, #CoreyPompey, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #EmergingComposers, #ErnestBloch, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyConcert, #FacultyMember, #FolkStyle, #FrancesKarp, #GilsonLuisDaSilva, #GraduateStudent, #HamelMusicCenter, #HebraicMusic, #HectorBerlioz, #IgorStravinsky, #IsthmusMagazine, #IsthmusNewspaper, #IvaUgrcic, #JacobStockinger, #JeanLaurenz, #JiHyunYim, #JohannesBrahms, #JohnDeMain, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarcVallon, #MarthaFischer, #MeadWitterFoundationConcertHall, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MichaelMuckian, #MinimalistMusic, #MusicProfessors, #MusicReview, #NewMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OriolSans, #ParryKarp, #PercussionMusic, #PianoAccompanist, #PinchasZukerman, #ProArteQuartet, #RichardStrauss, #RobertKahn, #RobertSchumann, #SatokoHayami, #SofiaGubaidulina, #SteveReich, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #ThomasKasdorf, #ToddHammes, #TravisCooke, #TromboneMusic, #TrumpetMusic, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWConcertBand, #ViolinConcerto, #WesternPercussionEnsemble, #WindQuintet, #WingraWindQuintet, #YouTubevideo, Aaron Copland, acclaimed, accompaniment, accompanist, afternoon, Alexander Ouzounoff, Alicia Lee, Amanda Forsyth, Andante, arrangement, Arts, audience, band, Bassoon, bassoonist, Beethoven, Berlioz, Bill Lutes, blog, blossom, bourgeois, Brahms, busy, candidate, cellist, Cello, Chamber music, Chamber Percussion Ensemble, chance, choral music, clarinet, Classical music, Cole Bartels, Collins Recital Hall, composer, Concert, Concert Band, concert hall, concerto, conductor, contemporary, core, Corey Pompey, critically acclaimed, dedicated, deep, director, diverse, doctoral, emerging composers, engaging, ensemble, Ernest Bloch, event, exhilarating, Facebook, faculty member, flute, flutist, folk style, forest, forward, Frances Karp, free, friends, gentleman, Gilson Luis Da Silva, graduate student, Gubaidulina, guest, Hamel Music Center, Hebraic, Hebrew, Hector Berlioz, Hyun, Igor Stravinsky, information, Isthmus, Iva Ugrcic, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Laurenz, Ji, Ji-Hyun Yim, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marc Vallon, Martha Fischer, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall, Mead Witter School of Music, Michael Muckian, minimalism, minimalist, Music, music faculty, New Music, Orchestra, orchestral, Oriol Sans, Parry Karp, percussion, percussionist, performer, Pianist, Piano, pieces, Pinchas Zukerman, playing, positive, post, post-minimalist, posting, principal, Pro Arte Quartet, professor, program, recital, repertoire, repertory, review, rhapsody, Richard Strauss, Robert Kahn, Robert Schumann, Satoko Hayami, Schelomo, Schumann, seed, share, significant, Sofia Gubaidulina, soloist, Sonata, Steve Reich, Stravinsky, String quartet, Student, tag, The Ear, Thomas Kasdorf, ticket, tickets, Todd Hammes, together, transcription, Travis Cooke, Trombone, Trumpet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW Concert Band, UW-Madison, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, Western, western Percussion Ensemble, Wind quintet, Wings Wind Quintet, Wisconsin, works, years, Yim, YouTube
Classical music: Opera supertitles turn 35 and will help audiences this coming weekend at the University Opera’s three performances of “La Bohème.” Plus UW percussionists perform new music Tuesday night
Leave a Comment
ALERT: On this Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall. the UW-Madison Western Percussion Ensemble will perform a FREE concert with new works by eight student composers — six from the percussion ensemble and two from the composition department.
By Jacob Stockinger
February is proving to be Opera Month in Madison.
Just over a week ago, the Madison Opera staged its production of “The Abduction From the Seraglio” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
This Friday night at 7:30 p.m., Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., in Shannon Hall of the Wisconsin Union Theater, the University Opera will stage its production of what is certainly the most popular opera in the repertoire: “La Bohème” by Puccini.
For more information about the production of “La Bohème,” including staging information, the cast and tickets ($10-$38), go to:
https://union.wisc.edu/events-and-activities/event-calendar/event/la-boheme/#additional
https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/university-opera-puccinis-la-boheme2-23/
In both cases, English supertitles (below) were used. For Mozart, they translated German. This weekend they will make the Italian-language production, set in Paris in the 1930s, much more accessible.
Today we take them for granted, even in English language productions where you can’t always understand the words because of the singing.
Occasionally, they prove frustrating because they fall behind the singing or skip repeated passages or black out or even have a howler of a mistranslation.
But by and large, supertitles seem so normal and natural these days, so standard and so much easier than gazing in the dark at translations of the libretto in small type.
They were first used in 1983 by the Canadian Opera Company’s production in Toronto of “Elektra” (below) by Richard Strauss.”
Audiences loved them, and supertitles help to explain the subsequent popularity of opera.
Yet in the early days supertitles faced a major struggle, largely waged by purists, before they were widely accepted. Now they seem indispensable.
That’s all the more reason, then, to read or listen to the background story that recently appeared on National Public Radio (NPR) about the 35th anniversary of supertitles.
Here is a link:
Do you support or oppose the use of supertitles?
Do you like them and find them helpful?
Would you be less likely to attend an opera without supertitles?
Please put any reaction or observations in the COMMENT section.
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #GiacomoPuccini, #LaBoheme, #MadisonOpera, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NewMusic, #RichardStrauss, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityOpera, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, 1930s, Abduction From the Seraglio, anniversary, Arts, Canada, cast, Cello, choral music, Classical music, composer, Composition, Elektra, English, English language, ensemble, Friday, German, information, Italian, Jacob Stockinger, La bohème, libretto, Madison, NPR, opera, Orchestra, Paris, percussion, production, Puccini, repertoire, Richard Strauss, Saturday, Singing, small, stage, staging, Sunday, supertitle, supertitles, symphony, Toronto, translate, translation, Tuesday, type, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, Viola, Violin, vocal music, weekend, Western, western Percussion Ensemble, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, word, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | samanthacrownoversbc… on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
| welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 