The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: As Pride month comes to an end, let us proudly recall LGBTQ classical composers and musicians. Plus, you hear a concert of queer composers and performers
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By Jacob Stockinger
This past weekend, this whole past month, the Rainbow flags (below) have been flying openly and high.
We saw all sorts of major Pride parades for LGBTQ rights as well as the 50th anniversary of the riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City that eventually gave birth to a worldwide movement to ensure that queer people receive the human rights they deserve.
Since today is the last day of June, of Pride month, it seems fitting to recall the many LGBTQ composers and performers in classical music.
The gay rights movement has opened the closet doors not only of individual lives today but also of historical figures.
So here are several lists that may teach you something new about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer musicians.
Some of the calls seem iffy, unconvincing or overstated. Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin, for example, lived when homoerotic friendship did not necessarily mean a queer sexual identity. But one way or the other, historical proof and documentation can be hard to come by. And clearly there is much more to know about the past.
But take a look. At least you will see how scholars are undertaking new research and often undermining the heterosexual assumption that has wrapped so many historical and even contemporary figures in wrong or mistaken gender identity.
And if you find someone missing, please leave the name and appropriate information in the comment section.
Freedom, acceptance and respect are not zero-sum games in which one person or group can win only if another one loses. There is enough of each to go around. All can celebrate pride.
So enjoy the information, whether it is new or not, and the respect it should inspire for the central role of LGBTQ people in the arts both past and present.
Here is a pretty extensive and comprehensive list, in alphabetical order, from Wikipedia of LGBT composers, both living and dead. It includes Chester Biscardi (below) who did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Pauline Oliveros who did a residency at the UW-Madison several years ago. You don’t have to click on each name. Just hover the cursor arrow over the name and you will see a photo and biographical blurb.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_composers
And here is a list, also in alphabetical order and also from Wikipedia, of LGBT musicians and performers, not all of them classical. It works by clicking on sub-categories that include nationality – though one wonders if musicians from extremely homophobic countries and cultures are included.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians
Here is a more selective list from The Advocate, an LGBTQ magazine, of 18 queer composers — including Corelli — who made history and you should know about:
And here is a similarly selective list from radio station WFMT in Chicago of 15 LGBT composers — including Handel and Lully — you should know about:
https://www.wfmt.com/2015/06/25/15-queer-composers-know/
And in the YouTube video at the bottom is a Pride concert — 1 hour and 43 minutes long — recently held in New York City at the Greene Space, and hosted and recorded by radio stations WQXR and WNYC.
It features music by queer composers and performances by queer artists. Metropolitan Opera star Anthony Roth Constanzo performs. Also playing are pianists Steven Blier and Sara Davis Buechner, who have performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, respectively. The New York Gay Men’s Chorus sings. The Ear found the concert timely and moving.
If you have questions, comments or additional names, please do leave word in the comment section.
Happy Pride!
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: WQXR radio names 19 musicians to watch in ’19. What do you think of the choices? Who would you add?
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By Jacob Stockinger
What will 2019 bring in the way of classical music?
What and who should we be looking at and paying attention to?
WQXR — the famed classical radio station in New York City – recently published its list of 19 to watch in ‘19, with detailed reasons for and explanations of their picks.
It seems like a pretty good choice to The Ear, although there is always something of a parlor game aspect to such projects.
Nonetheless, the list covers a fine variety – instrumentalists and vocalists, young and old, American and international, the well-known and the up-and-coming such as the opera singer Devone Tines (below, in a photo by Nikolai Schukoff).
Some names will be familiar to Madison audiences – such as pianist Inon Barnatan, violinist Nicola Benedettti, the JACK Quartet and cellist Steven Isserlis — especially through their live appearances at the Wisconsin Union Theater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and the Madison Symphony Orchestra plus broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio.
Here is a link to the list: https://www.wqxr.org/story/wqxr-presents-19-19-artists-collaborations-upcoming-year/
The Ear can think of some other musicians that he would add to the list.
An especially deserving one of them is the young American virtuoso pianist George Li (below, in a photo by Simon Fowler).
Born in China and brought as a child to the United States by his parents, Li attended Harvard and just finished his master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. (At the bottom, you can hear Li play virtuosic music by Liszt and Horowitz in the YouTube video of a Tiny Desk Concert at National Public Radio or NPR.)
Li won the silver medal in the 2015 at the 15th Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow and had a lot of people talking about the energy and excitement of his playing. He was praised for both outstanding technical prowess and deep expressiveness.
He then took first prize at a piano competition in Paris.
Ever since, he has been steadily booked. At 23, the amiable Li has already toured China, Japan and Russia and seems to have a very busy schedule ahead of him, judging by his posts on Instagram.
He has also released his first recording on the Warner Classics label, a fine CD that received many positive reviews from critics, including this one.
The program includes Haydn’s Sonata in B minor, Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor “Funeral March,” Rachmaninoff’s “Variations on a Theme of Corelli,” and Consolation No. 3 and the popular Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt.
Given all the concertos he is now performing, it would not surprise one to see his next recording be a concerto, possibly the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto N. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23, which brought him instant acclaim.
Here is a link to his website: http://www.georgelipianist.com
And here is a link to his entry in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Li
Keep your ears and eyes on George Li.
What do you think of the choices made by WQXR?
Who would you add to the list of musicians to watch in 2019, and why?
If possible, maybe you can include a YouTube link to a performance, live or recorded, in your comment.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: WQXR names the best classical recording of 2018. Plus, here are other guides to help you use gift cards
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By Jacob Stockinger
Here is another gift list that The Ear just found. Even though it was compiled before the holiday, he looked for it but didn’t find it.
It’s another of the top classical recordings of 2018. But this time, the list – with plenty of sound samples — comes from WQXR, the famed classical music radio station in New York City.
It may be too late to use for holiday gift giving – unless it is for yourself. After all, there are a lot of gift cards waiting to be redeemed.
Also below are several other lists so that you can cross-check and compare. The CD of Chopin ballades and nocturnes by Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (below), for example, makes almost all the lists, which is a good sign of quality. (You can hear Andsnes play the Ballade No. 4, The Ear’s favorite, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is the link to WQXR:
https://www.wqxr.org/story/best-classical-releases-2018/
Here is a link to the top picks by critics for The New York Times and the Top 10 for National Public Radio (NPR):
And here are the nominations for the 2019 Grammy Awards:
Tags: #AntonioVivaldi, #BalletMusic, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristmasGifts, #ClassicalRecording, #ClaudeDebussy, #CompactDisc, #DmitriShostakovich, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #FredericChopin, #GiftCard, #GrammyAwards, #GrammyNominations, #GustavMahler, #HistoricRecording, #HolidayGift, #HolidayGiftGuide, #HolidaySeason, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #LeifOveAndnes, #LeonardBernstein, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MarinAlsop, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewMusic, #NorwegianPianist, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #PercussionMusic, #PianoTrio, #RomeoandJuliet, #SacredMusic, #SecularMusic, #SergeiProkofiev, #SoundSample, #TheEar, #TheNewYorkTImes, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WQXRradio, #YouTubevideo, Arts, audience, Bach, ballet, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, Cello, Chamber music, Chopin, choral music, Classical music, classicalmusic, Compact Disc, compare, composer, concerto, conductor, critic, Debussy, Early music, Facebook, favorite, forward, Franz Schubert, George Frideric Handel, gift, gift card, Grammy Awards, guide, Haydn, hear, Holiday, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Adams, Leonard Bernstein, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mahler, Marin Alsop, Mendelssohn, Mozart, National Public Radio, New Music, nocturne, nomination, NPR, opera, Orchestra, orchestral, percussion, Pianist, Piano, Piano Trio, post, posting, Prokofiev, quality, Radio, recording, review, Romeo and Juliet, Sergei Prokofiev, share, Shostakovich, sing, singer, Singing, Sonata, song, Sound sample, symphony, tag, The Ear, The New York Times, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, vocal music, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WQXR, WQXR-FM
Classical music: Today is the summer solstice. Here is information about the solstice plus 20 pieces of classical music to mark the coming of summer
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ALERT: Today is the fifth annual Make Music Madison. More than 300 FREE outdoor performances will be featured at some 100 venues. For information about artists, kinds of music, places and times, go to: http://www.makemusicmadison.org
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Thursday, June 21, 2018.
The summer solstice arrives in Wisconsin early today at 5:07 a.m. Central Daylight Time.
If you want to know more about the summer solstice, here are two stories from NBC and The Washington Post with some interesting information you might not know:
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/what-summer-solstice-ncna884991
Quite a few composers and works of classical music celebrate the coming of summer.
Twenty of the best-known are featured on a blog at the famous classical radio station WQXR FM in New York City. Here is a link:
https://www.wqxr.org/story/20-summertime-classical-pieces-maximum-chill/
The blog posting features many terrific sound samples, including such well-known works as “Summer” section from “The Four Seasons” violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi.
Still, some of the titles – including the famous Overture to “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream” by Felix Mendelssohn – are not accompanied by sound.
That includes one of The Ear’s favorites, “Knoxville, Summer 1915” by the American composer Samuel Barber with words by the journalist and documentarian James Agee.
Here it is, in a much-praised recording by soprano Dawn Upshaw, in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Here’s hoping summer is better in this part of the country than spring was, what with record cold in April and record rainfall in May that seems to be continuing with disastrous flooding in June.
Happy Summer, all.
Tags: #AntonioVivaldi, #AntonWebern, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CentralDaylightTime, #DawnUpshaw, #EdvardGrieg, #FelixMendelssohn, #FrankBridge, #FrederickDelius, #GabrielFaure, #HectorBerlioz, #JamesAgee, #JosefSuk, #Knoxvile, #MarkO'Connor, #MidsummerNight'sDream, #MikhailGlinka, #NaturalDisaster, #NBCNews, #NedRorem, #NewYorkCity, #PeterTchaikovsky, #PeterTchaikowsky, #SamuelBarber, #SergeiProkofiev, #SummerSolstice, #TheWashingtonPost, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinMusic, #WilliamGrantStill, #ZoltanKodaly, April, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Berlioz, blog, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, cold, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, country, Delius, disaster, documentarian, documentary, Early music, flood, flooding, georgegershwin, Gershwin, Glinka, Grieg, information, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, journalism, journalist, June, Kodaly, Madison, Mark O'Connor, May, Music, NBC, Ned Rorem, New York City, news, Overture, posting, Prokofiev, Radio, rainfall, solstice, soprano, station, Stonehenge, storms, Suk, Summer solstice, Summer1915, Tchaikovsky, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Webern, wet, William Grant Still, WQXR-FM
Classical music: Here is what happened when the late American writer Philip Roth heard fugues by Bach and Beethoven. What do you think of his reactions?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The late, great and award-winning American novelist Philip Roth (below) – who died of congestive heart failure in a Manhattan hospital on May 22 at age 85 – spent the last half-dozen years of his life retired and not writing.
Instead he liked to visit friends and attend concerts.
Roth was an avid fan of classical music.
So the following story about a chamber music concert by the Emerson String Quartet (below) – one of his favorite chamber music ensembles — of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Dmitri Shostakovich is especially amusing and perhaps telling to read.
What seems especially Rothian are his different reactions to fugues by Bach (below top is an unfinished manuscript page from Bach’s “The Art of Fugue”) and by Beethoven (below bottom is a manuscript page from the “Grosse Fuge”).
Here is a link to the story as recounted on the blog by the famous New York City classical music radio station WQXR-FM — and be sure to read the comments by other readers:
https://www.wqxr.org/story/what-roth-thought-bach
You can hear the Emerson Quartet playing the opening fugal theme that Bach chose to permute for almost 90 minutes, followed by Fugue No. 9, in the YouTube videos at the bottom.
What do you think of Roth’s reactions and comments to fugues by Bach and Beethoven?
Do you agree or disagree with him?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #AmericanNovelist, #AmericaWriter, #ArtofFugue, #ArtoftheFugue, #BlogPost, #ChamberMusic, #ClassiclaMusic, #CongestiveHeartFailure, #ContrapuntalMusic, #DmitriShostakovich, #EmersonStringQuartet, #GrosseFuge, #JohannSebastianBach, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #ManuscriptPage, #NewYorkCity, #PhilipRoth, #RadioStation, #StringQuartet, #UnitedStates, America, American, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, blog, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, comment, Compact Disc, composer, Concert, counterpoint, Early music, friend, fugue, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, New York City, novel, novelist, Philip Roth, Radio, reaction, reader, Retirement, Shostakovich, United States, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, WQXR, WQXR-FM, Writer, YouTube
Classical music: Today is the first day of Spring. What piece of music best suits the season? Then take a quiz to see what composer and which spring music best suits you
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today is the Vernal Equinox – the first of day of Spring 2018.
It arrives at 11:15 a.m. CDT.
A lot of classical composers have written works inspired by Spring, which often appears in the title.
Here is a link to a YouTube video with almost two hours of Spring music – including works by Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Grieg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfe3MUMdWKQ
But recently a close friend reminded The Ear that spring-like music doesn’t have to allude specifically to spring. And the friend said that the “Trout” Quintet by Franz Schubert fits the bill perfectly.
So the Request Line is open, and here, for The Ear’s good friend, is the “Trout” Quintet, with pianist Yuja Wang, in the YouTube video at the bottom. It does indeed seem ideally Spring-like with its freshness, liveliness and bubbliness.
What music do you think best celebrates the coming of Spring?
Leave the composer, the work’s title and, if possible, a link to a YouTube performance, in the COMMENT section.
Why do you like it?
Moreover, did you choose correctly?
Here is a fun quiz, from the famed radio station WQXR in New York City, that can help you determine which composer’s piece of music about spring best fits you and your personality:
https://www.wqxr.org/story/quiz-which-spring-themed-classical-music-piece-are-you/
Tags: #AntonioVivaldi, #EdvardGrieg, #FranzSchubert, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohannStrauss, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #NewYorkCity, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #TroutQuintet, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YujaWang, Arts, Bach, Baroque, bass, Beethoven, bubbly, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, double bass, Early music, equinox, Franz Schubert, fresh, fun, Grieg, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, link, lively, Madison, Mozart, Music, New York City, Orchestra, past, personality, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano, quintet, quiz, Radio, Sonata, Spring, station, Strauss, symphony, title, Trout Quintet, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, vernal equinox, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, Waltz, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, WQXR, WQXR-FM, you, YouTube, Yuja Wang
Classical music: Here are many of the major figures that classical music lost in 2017
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By Jacob Stockinger
One of the traditional ways to start a new year is to take stock of the past year.
That often means compiling lists of the best performances, the best recordings, the best books, and so forth.
It also means listing the major figures who died in the past year.
Two of the more prominent classical music performers who died in 2017 were the renowned Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky (below top), who died of a brain tumor at 55, and the conductor Georges Prêtre (below bottom in a photo by Dieter Hagli for Getty Images).
There were many more, but they seem harder to find or to remember.
It seems to The Ear that such lists used to be more common.
It also seems to The Ear that many more of such lists for classical music are being incorporated into a overall lists of entertainers and celebrities in pop, rock, country, jazz, folk and even film stars who died. That is what National Public Radio (NPR) and The New York Times did this year.
Does that trend suggest that classical music is gradually and increasingly being marginalized or ignored? It is a reasonable question with, The Ear fears, a sad answer.
Does anyone else see it the same way?
But at least one reliable source – famed radio station WQXR-FM in New York City – has provided a list of performers, presenters and scholars of classical music who died in 2017.
Moreover, the list comes with generous sound and video samples that often make the loss more poignant.
Here is the link:
https://www.wqxr.org/story/music-made-classical-artists-lost-2017
Has someone been overlooked, especially among local figures?
If so, please use the COMMENT section to leave a name or even your reaction to the other deaths.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Do you know the influence of classical music in the “Star Wars” movies?
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By Jacob Stockinger
This past weekend, the seventh and latest episode of the “Star Wars” movie franchise premiered and beat expectations.
Last The Ear heard, at the box office “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (below) grossed more than $220 million in the U.S. and more than $230 million internationally. That would make it the second most profitable movie opening ever.
So chances are good that many readers of this blog saw it.
But did they hear the influence to classical music in this and other “Star Wars” films?
If not, here is a link to a 2015 story, posted by radio station WQXR-FM in New York City, in which the film score composer John Williams (below) explains the connections he used.
Here are two hints: Tchaikovsky and Chopin.
Hope you enjoy it:
Of course, “Star Wars” is hardly alone.
The Ear thinks of the Piano Concerto No. 21 by Mozart in the film “Elvira Madigan.”
He also liked the way the used the Symphony No. 7 by Beethoven in “The King’s Speech.”
Do you have other favorite uses of classical music in films?
Use the COMMENT section to let us know the film, the piece and the composer with a link to a YouTube sample if possible.
The Ear wants to hear.
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Classical music: Here are lists of the Best Classical Recordings of 2017 as named by The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes magazine and Gramophone magazine
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By Jacob Stockinger
Just in time for last-minute holiday shopping and streaming – whether by others or yourself – some major publications and critics have published their lists of the top classical recording of 2017.
Personal preferences and taste matter, to be sure. So opinions inevitably differ.
But in some cases, the verdicts seem close to unanimous.
Take the case of some pianists.
You can, for example, find overlapping agreement on the merits of the 24-year-old Italian pianist and Cliburn Competition silver medal laureate Beatrice Rana playing the famed Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Same for the 33-year-old Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olaffson who gives revelatory readings of works by contemporary American Minimalist composer Philip Glass.
And many critics give raves to acclaimed Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes playing neglected piano miniatures by Finnish symphonic titan Jean Sibelius. (See Andsnes discussing Sibelius in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
The various lists cover all genres from solo piano music to songs, chamber music to symphonies, oratorios to operas.
You can find lots of neglected repertoire — both early and new — unknown artists and small labels.
But there are also major stars, tried-and-true repertoire and large vintage or heritage labels.
In short, both beginners and experienced classical listeners and players can find plenty to please them.
In addition, some of the lists for the past year include links to lists from previous years. And those lists too still have some excellent choices that hold up.
Here is a link to the 2017 list in The New York Times, which was compiled by several critics:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/13/arts/music/best-classical-music-recordings-2017.html
Here is a list by a critic and columnist for Forbes magazine:
Here is the list from John von Rhein for the Chicago Tribune:
And here is a list from the British Gramophone magazine, which often favors artists and groups located in the United Kingdom:
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/the-best-new-classical-albums-december-2017
And in case you missed it before, here are lists from other sources that this blog has posted and linked to:
From famed WQXR-FM radio in New York City:
And here are the classical nominations for the 2018 Grammy awards:
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Famed radio station WQXR names the best 100 recordings of 2019. Listen to samples of them here
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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
Did you get a gift card for the holidays?
Are you looking how to spend it by either purchasing CDs or subscribing to a streaming service?
Help and guidance are available.
Few names in the airing of classical music carry more prestige than the famed radio station WQXR in New York City.
To check out the radio station’s choice of the best recordings of 2019 is also to see where the worlds of recording and concertizing are heading.
Such trends include rediscovering neglected composers and championing new music as well as women composers, such as Clara Schumann, and composers of color, such as the American composer Florence Price (below), who has often been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio this past year.
But you will also find noteworthy recordings of such classics as Johann Sebastian Bach – and two of his rarely heard cousins instead of his sons – and well as outstanding recordings of symphonies and piano sonatas (below, the set by Igor Levit) for the upcoming Beethoven Year to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer.
And you will also find names of outstanding performers you may not have heard of — such as the exceptional Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang (below), a Van Cliburn Competition gold medalist whom The Ear would like to see perform here.
Here is a link to 25 picks with commentaries– plus another 75 titles and samples, without commentary, to round out a Top 100.
Happy listening!
https://www.wqxr.org/story/best-classical-recordings-2019/
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