The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Personal experience, artistic excellence and historical importance drew pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel into planning next year’s centennial season at the Wisconsin Union Theater
3 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Now that Spring Break is over and subscription tickets are available for the Wisconsin Union Theater’s special centennial celebration next season – which includes superstar soprano Renée Fleming and pianist Emanuel Ax — here is an email interview that pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel (below, in a photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco), the wife-and-husband consultants and planners of that season, granted to The Ear.
For more about the season and tickets, go to two websites:
https://union.wisc.edu/visit/wisconsin-union-theater/seasonevents/concert-series/
Could you briefly introduce yourselves to readers and tell them both your past and current activities?
We have been performing on the world’s many concert stages for almost our entire lives. In addition to our careers as concert performers, we serve as the founding Artistic Directors of Music@Menlo, the premier chamber music festival in Silicon Valley, as well as the Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) in New York City.
Our main responsibility as concert performers is to give the best concerts we possibly can, and we are constantly striving to achieve the highest possible level of artistry in our performances.
In our roles as artistic directors, our responsibilities lie in the programming, casting and designing of concert series and chamber music projects for our organizations. At CMS, this includes designing the programming for our seven different satellite series around the country, plus international partnerships in Taiwan, Korea and Europe.
We are also involved in chamber music programming endeavors beyond Music@Menlo and CMS, having just completed a first-ever chamber music residency at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida. Furthermore, Wu Han is serving as Artistic Advisor to Wolf Trap Chamber Music at the Barns, which entails thematically programming eight concerts per season for the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons.
As artistic directors, we spend much of our time putting ourselves in the shoes of our listeners, measuring their experience and receptivity to chamber music of all periods and styles, and putting together the best programs and artists who will move our audiences forward into ever-increasing engagement with and love of the art.
David was the cellist of the Emerson String Quartet for 34 seasons, and we have been performing together as a duo for about 35 years, and continue to do so as one of our main performance activities.
What are your personal relationships to the Wisconsin Union Theater, and what do you think of it as a concert venue?
Our engagement with the Wisconsin Union Theater goes back quite a few years, but certainly not even close to the beginning of the Theater’s distinguished history. For any performer setting foot on its stage, there’s a sense of slipping into an ongoing tradition of artistic excellence that makes us feel both privileged and obligated to do our best.
The Wisconsin Union Theater and its story in American cultural life is larger than any of us; only the music we play rises above and beyond it all, and as performers, our lucky moment is to represent that incredible literature in a venue as significant and storied as the Wisconsin Union Theater. (Below is the theater’s main venue, the renovated and restored Shannon Hall.)
Why did you agree to be artistic advisors and artists-in-residence for the centennial season? Did your personal experiences in Madison play a role in that decision?
As seasoned artists, we deeply admire and respect the very special place in the classical music tradition and history that the Wisconsin Union Theater (below) inhabits, and the invitation to participate in the Theater’s 100th anniversary was an honor for us to receive. Our experiences playing on this distinguished stage and forming a relationship with the local audience have made our pursuit of the common goal of artistic excellence in the centennial season incredibly fulfilling.
Of course, having performed there in the past gave us a hint of confidence through our familiarity with the place, but we must say we have learned perhaps double what we knew originally through this planning process. Without interfering, but at the same time sharing our uncompromised commitment to artistic excellence, we hope that our presence during the process has been useful, and we know that we look so much forward to seeing the careful thought and hard work of all involved come to fruition.
Is there a unifying or guiding principle to the season you have put together?
The guiding principle behind our work on this historic season is artistic excellence, which in our opinion is what most inspires audiences and best serves the art form of classical music.
Our area of expertise is chamber music, and, as we wanted to share the best of what we can do with the Theater, our focus has been on ensuring that the chamber music offerings during this historic season, and hopefully beyond, reflect the best of the world of chamber music.
In our suggestions, we looked for variety of instrumentations, of composers and periods—in other words, giving as much of an overview of the art as we could within a season.
What would you like the public to know about the Wisconsin Union Theater and the upcoming centennial season?
In the Theater’s centennial season, the audience will have the opportunity to savor a variety of different genres of chamber music, from solo piano to vocal music, as well as a sampling of the very best works of the chamber music canon. Between these various genres, the great composers left a wealth of chamber music that could sustain the art form on its own, but that’s still only the tip of the iceberg.
Our chamber music offerings will include the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, which has a long history of performing for the Madison audience. Their December program will include celebrated cornerstones of the piano trio repertoire, including Mendelssohn’s D minor Trio and Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio. (You can hear the opening of the Archduke Trio in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Both pieces have achieved monumental historical significance through their influence in propelling the art form forward from the Classical period to the Romantic period.
The Escher String Quartet performance in January represents the best of the next generation of young string quartets. Their program includes a quartet by Franz Joseph Haydn—the father of the string quartet genre—and the sole quartet of none other than revered violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler, who performed in the Wisconsin Union Theater nearly a century ago. Kreisler set foot on the Theater’s stage numerous times, and his rarely heard string quartet nods to the Theater’s long, distinguished history. David will join the Escher Quartet for the beloved Schubert Cello Quintet, which is the “desert island” must-have piece for many music lovers.
Furthermore, in March, we will bring two of the most fantastic musicians in the world to join us for a program of Antonin Dvorak, Josef Suk and Johannes Brahms. This multigenerational cast of musicians includes the incredible young French violinist Arnaud Sussmann (below top, in a photo by Matt Dine) as well as the most important violist of our generation, Paul Neubauer (below bottom). This program is all about the passing down of the baton and the continuous investment in the next generations of artists: Brahms was the one who discovered Dvorak, and Dvorak in turn discovered Suk.
Tags: #AntoninDvorak, #ArchdukeTrio, #ArnaudSussmann, #ArtForm, #ArtisticDirector, #Artists-in-Residence, #BlogInterview, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloQuintet, #ChamberEnsemble, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusician, #ChamberMusicians, #ChamberMusicSocietyofLIncolnCenter, #Classicalperiod, #ConcertSeries, #DavidFinckel, #DesertIsland, #EmanuelAx, #EmersonStringQuartet, #EscherStringQuartet, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #FritzKreisler, #Hard Work, #HardWork, #JohannesBrahms, #JosefSuk, #KalichsteinLaredoRobinsonPianoTrio, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #Music@Menlo, #MusicalGenre, #MusicLover, #Must-Have, #NewYorkCity, #PalmBeach, #PaulNeubauer, #PersonalExperience, #PersonalRelationship, #PianoTrio, #RenéeFleming, #RomanticMusic, #RomanticPeriod, #ShannonHall, #SiliconValley, #SocietyoftheFourArts, #SopranoSinger, #SpringBreak, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #ThePast, #ViolinVirtuoso, #VocalMusic, #Wife-and-Husband, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WolfTrap, #WuHan, #YouTubevideo, activities, activity, advisor, American, anniversary, Archduke Trio, Arnaud Sussmann, Art, art form, Artistic director, artistry, artists, Arts, audience, baton, Beethoven, best, blog, Brahms, Canon, casting, celebration, celist, Cello, centennial, choral music, Classical, Classical music, Classical period, classicalmusic, commitment, composer, Concert, concert series, concerto, confidence, consultant, country, cultural, culture, David Finckel, desert, design, dinstinguish, distinguished, duo, Dvorak, email, Emanuel Ax, Emerson String Quartet, engagement, Escher String Quartet, Europe, excellence, expertise, Facebook, familiarity, festival, Florida, forward, Franz Schubert, French, Fritz Kreisler, generation, genre, guiding, Haydn, historic, historical, History, iceberg, importance, important, inspire, instrumentation, international, interview, investment, island, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Haydn, Joseph Suk, Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Korea, learn, life, Love, lover, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, member, Mendelssohn, monumental, move, multigenerational, Music, music lover, New York City, obligate, opera, Palm Beach, partnership, passing, past, Paul Neubauer, performer, period, personal experience, personal relationship, Pianist, Piano, piano music, Piano Trio, planner, planning, post, posting, presence, principle, privilege, process, programming, Q&A, quintet, reader, Renée Fleming, Renovation, residence, residency, restoration, Romantic, Romantic period, satellite, savor, Schubert, Season, Shannon Hall, shoes, Silicon Valley, society, Society of the Four Arts, solo, Sonata, soprano, special, Spring Break, stage, star, story, String quartet, style, subscription, superstar, Taiwan, The Ear, theater, thought, ticket, tradition, unifying, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, variety, venue, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtuoso, vocal, vocal music, wealth, Website, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wolf Trap, work, works, world, Wu Han, years, young, YouTube
Classical music: Music festivals, with premieres of new operas and chamber music, might fit into your summer travel plans. Check them out here.
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Many people are starting to make their summer travel plans.
Those plans could include music festivals, many of which will include the American premiere or even world premiere of a new opera or new chamber music. (Below is Marin Alsop conducting the Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz, California, which champions new music.)
Many are well known, such as the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York City, the Bard Music Festival in the Hudson River Valley and the Aspen Festival in Colorado as well as the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and the Wolf Trap Festival in Virginia, not far from Washington, D.C.
But there are many, many others you may not know.
Here is a line-up as it appeared on the Deceptive Cadence blog for NPR or National Public Radio:
Tags: Arts, Aspen Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, Bard Music Festival, California, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Colorado, Hudson Valley, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Mostly Mozart Festival, Mozart, Music, Music festival, New York, New York City, NPR, Orchestra, South Carolina, Spoleto Festival, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wolf Trap
Classical music Q&A: Stage director Tara Faircloth talks about her staging of Beethoven’s only opera “Fidelio.” The Madison Opera performs it this Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
Leave a Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Political prisoners and prisoners of conscience are the hot topics of an old opera that is celebrating its bicentennial this year.
When you look around the world and see the struggle in fighting terrorism, religious intolerance and political tyranny as well as the difficult and thwarted stirrings of democracy in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, “Fidelio” — the only opera composed by Ludwig van Beethoven (below) — seems a timely and even inspired choice to stage.
That is exactly what the Madison Opera will do in Overture Hall of the Overture Center this Friday night at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. The opera will be sung in German with English supertitles.
Single tickets are $18-$125. Call (608) 258-4141 or visit the Overture Center box office.
Here is a link to more information, including a cast list and information about the production, which is based on the one done by the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit:
http://www.madisonopera.org/performances-2014-2015/fidelio/
A Madison Opera staged premiere, “Fidelio” is “a passionate ode to freedom, and the triumph of love over tyranny,” according to a press release from the Madison Opera.
“To rescue her husband, a political prisoner, the noblewoman Leonore (below, played by Alexandra LoBianco) disguises herself as a man and works at the prison where she believes her husband is held. Beethoven contrasts the evil of Don Pizarro, who has ordered his enemy imprisoned and starved, with the inner strength and bravery that enables Leonore to rescue her husband.
“Ranging from breathtaking arias to stunning choral music, Beethoven’s score is truly sublime, with an ever-building dramatic intensity that leaves audiences exhilarated. The famous “Prisoners’ Chorus” is one of the most beautiful choral tributes to freedom ever written, and one of the reasons Fidelio has resonated across the centuries.
“Madison Opera performed Fidelio in concert in November 1986, but this is the first time the company has presented the opera fully-staged. Sung in German with German dialogue and projected English translations, Fidelio is the only opera Beethoven ever wrote, premiering in its final form in 1814.
“Fidelio is a truly great opera,” says Kathryn Smith (below, in a photo by James Gill), Madison Opera’s General Director. “It has both light and dark moments, with real emotion underlying the intense drama. Above all, the score is a masterpiece from one of classical music’s greatest composers.”
“Fidelio” also marks the start of Madison Opera’s 10th season in Overture Hall, whose exceptional acoustics have been a primary factor in the company’s growth and success.
“It is absolutely thrilling for me to finally have a chance to conduct Beethoven’s operatic masterpiece,” says John DeMain (below, in a photo by Prasad), the Madison Opera’s Artistic Director and conductor who is also the music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. “I have loved this music passionately for years, and can’t wait to perform this great work in the acoustic splendor of Overture Hall. We have a thrilling cast of singers, the Madison Opera Chorus and the Madison Symphony Orchestra, all up to the demands of the mighty Beethoven.”
Pre-opera talks will be hosted by Kathryn Smith one hour prior to each performance.
Here is a background story, with more interviews, written by Mike Muckian that appeared in the Wisconsin Gazette.
http://www.wisconsingazette.com/music/fidelio-beethovens-struggle-madison-operas-reward.html
And here is an email Q&A that stage director that Tara Faircloth (below), who is making her Madison Opera debut, granted to The Ear:
Can you briefly introduce yourself, with some background and current activities as well as future projects and plans?
A Georgia native, I make my home in Houston, Texas, in a 1935 Art & Crafts bungalow that I am slowly renovating and restoring. I work primarily in opera, and take special pleasure in my work with young people: I am a semi-regular director at Wolf Trap Opera, and the dramatic coach for the fine singers in the Houston Grand Opera Studio.
Some of my most beloved projects have been a beautiful (if I do say so!) production of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress at Wolf Trap, a Dido & Aeneas with Houston’s Mercury Baroque in collaboration with the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, and a very recent production of Claudio Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno di Ulisse at Rice University. I am very much looking forward to a new production of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Arizona Opera, and my first Le Nozze di Figaro, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, at the Atlanta Opera.
I like to create productions that are whimsical and humorous with intense moments of emotional connection.
How do you situate Beethoven’s “Fidelio” among other major opera and opera composers? What makes it special?
Fidelio is Beethoven’s only opera, a work that he re-wrote three times. It has been called a “secular oratorio,” and it is full of the passion that typifies so much of Beethoven’s work.
When listening to Beethoven’s music, I personally feel as if the score can barely contain all of the emotion he is trying to express, that it is stretched to its absolute limit, and somehow there is an underlying tension, a sense that if it were possible, he would want you to feel even more than he has been able to write down.
What is your overall concept of the opera? Do you see it as having to do with the Enlightenment and political movement toward democracy?
Fidelio has been subject to a multitude of interpretations since its inception. In many ways, the score is a blank slate: the characters are not described in great detail, there is no mention in the score of the exact political situation at hand, and even Florestan’s “crime” against Pizarro is not identified explicitly. Instead we have a story of brutal revenge versus great love: a universally appealing theme.
With its dream of a government free of tyranny, and the inherent worth of the individual man, Fidelio certainly has a very healthy dose of Enlightenment principles.
However, in many ways it may be seen as ushering in Romantic era ideals. It is full of sweeping emotional moments: perhaps the most famous is the Prisoners’ Chorus “O welche Lust” (at bottom in a YouTube video), which begins with an ecstatic appreciation of the beauty of a single breath of fresh air.
The fact that Beethoven gave the most beautiful music in the entire opera to a chorus of common prisoners shows us, I think, his belief that our connection to a higher power and our longing for freedom is inherent and universal to every man.
Does Beethoven’s opera hold lessons for today about current events?
As a director, I am not really one to look for lessons in our literature. Instead, I hope to engage our audience in a very human drama, to make them FEEL something and to connect with them. I think that experiencing music and drama in this way makes us more empathetic and open to other human beings, and that can only make the world a better place.
This is your debut in Madison. Do have impressions of the city, the opera and orchestra, either firsthand or through others?
I travel a lot for my work, and every time I have mentioned I will be in Madison, people simply gush about what a lovely place it is. In addition to the charming beauty of the city, I’ve noticed there seems to be a big focus on beer and cheese. So, basically it is heaven.
What you would you like to add or say?
Fidelio is an opera that is rarely performed. It takes massive forces: large orchestra, large chorus, and very large voices. I think we have quite a group assembled here, and hope your reading audience will take advantage of the opportunity to hear the work of one of the world’s most beloved composers.
Tags: Africa, Arizona Opera, Arts, Asia, Atlanta Opera, Beethoven, Classical music, democracy, Eugene Onegin, Fidelio, Houston, Houston Grand Opera, Jacob Stockinger, John DeMain, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marriage of Figaro, Middle East, Mike Muckian, Mozart, Music, Overture Center, political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, Romantic era, Stravinsky, Tara Faircloth, terrorism, Texas, The Enlightenment, The Rake's Progress, The Return of Ulysses, Wisconsin Gazaette, Wolf Trap, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Bill Lane on The new Apple Music Classical… |
 | Augustine on The new Apple Music Classical… |
 | samanthacrownoversbc… on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 