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By Jacob Stockinger
The month of May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage month in the U.S.
And here is a perfect story to provide questions and raise issues that pertain to that theme as it figures in classical music.
We have not seen many of them booked for concerts locally, but perhaps you have noticed how so many Asian musicians, particularly pianists, have been winning major competitions.
Those competitions include the Van Cliburn (Korean Yunchan Lim, below top), the Chopin (Chinese-Canadian Bruce Liu, below bottom), the Tchaikovsky, the Arthur Rubinstein, the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, the Leeds Competition, the Geneva Competition and many others that are less famous.
Perhaps you have also noticed how we hear more Asian opera singers at the Met and more Asian string players in orchestras around the world.
More Asians also seem to be studying and performing in lower and higher educational institutions and organizations.
And perhaps you, like The Ear, have wondered what is behind that trend?
Here is a terrific first-person story — with research, details, photos and performance videos – written by a Canadian musician of Japanese descent that appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
But The Ear thinks it could easily apply to the United States, Australia and other non-Asian places and cultures.
Do you think this story applies to Asians and Asian-Americans in the U.S.?
If you yourself are an Asian or Asian-American musician or music student, do the observations and analysis in the story ring true to you own experience?
Do you have other thoughts to add about the cultural reasons for the surge of Western classical music in Asia and among Asians elsewhere?
Are there important lessons here for non-Asian people and places?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Austrian pianist Ingrid Haebler (below) has died at 93.
I call her a collaborative pianist but, like so many other pianists, she was also a soloist.
That is inherent in learning the piano, especially at the beginning.
Here is an obituary, with links, where you can read more about her and her her music-making:
Truth be told, Haebler made quite a few recording as a soloist, include all the piano concertos and piano sonatas by Mozart, as well as other Austrian and German composers, including Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven. The Viennese school was her forte.
But what stands out to The Ear are her early duets (below) with Henry Szeryng and Arthur Grumiaux in the violin sonatas of Beethoven and Mozart. She knew how to blend rather than to stand out, and clearly was more interested in musicality than virtuosity. In fact, critics often praised her gentleness, clarity and transparency rather than her assertiveness or boldness, especially in Mozart. Not for nothing was a tulip named after her.
In a word, she was an ideal collaborative pianist back in the days when they were still called accompanists and received second billing.
Indeed, along with Gerald Moore she was one of the performers who brought currency and respect as the term “accompanist” as it morphed into the more accurate term “collaborative pianist.”
Of course that is just my opinion. You might disagree.
Decide for yourself. You can listen to and sample many of her solo and collaborative recording on YouTube, including the video below one of my favorite violin sonatas by Mozart, the Violin Sonata in e minor, K. 304, played by Haebler and Henryk Szeryng.
Do you know Ingrid Haebler’s playing?
What do you think of her as a soloist and as a collaborative pianist?
Which side of her career do you think is stronger?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Good news!
Really good news!
Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) has finally returned to posting real-time playlists on both its online website and its mobile app.
Now you can see and identify what has been played and what is being played (below, displayed in yellow) — AS it is being played as well as after it has been played.
The only recent exception was Saturday when there was nothing posted until later in the day when all-day programming was listed at the same time. No reason has been given for the suspension or tardiness.
The playlists are especially good given the many unknown composers and compositions that are increasingly being aired.
The Ear also finds the playlists helpful to see what is playing and who is performing — along with the record label and catalogue number when you click “More” — when he hears part of a piece and is interested but didn’t hear the introductory information or can’t complete listening to it.
Please leave kudos and congratulate WPR for serving its listeners and supporters.
Try it and see.
Will you find the online real-time playlists helpful and use them?
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By Jacob Stockinger
Will you watch and follow the coronation of King Charles III (the official royal logo is below)? It takes place this Saturday, May 6, 2023. Live coverage will begin airing at 5 a.m. EDT for most media outlets.
Here is some other information you might want to know to get the most out of the rarely held historic event and even to act as your own music and culture critic.
As Prince of Wales, Charles was an avid listener and a talented amateur musician who played the piano, guitar and cello (below in a photo by Getty Images).
Given that background, it is little wonder that the king has lined up many royal commissions for the coronation by composers and performers of new classical music:
And if you want to celebrate the coronation in a more pop music or rock music way — yes to The Beatles and Harry Styles but no to The Rolling Stones and Elton John — here is another playlist on Spotify by “DJ” King Charles (below):
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By Jacob Stockinger
Who says classical music is staid and boring?
Remember that famous scene in the movie “When Harry Met Sally” where Meg Ryan demonstrates to Billy Crystal during lunch in a deli how she can fake sexual ecstasy?
And then a woman sitting nearby who overhears the crescending moans tells a waitress “I’ll have what she is having.”
Something like it actually — or at least supposedly — happened during a recent concert in Disney Hall by the Los Angeles Philharmonic during a performance of the Symphony No. 5 by Tchaikovsky.
Some audience members dispute it, but others are certain a woman experienced a “loud, full-body orgasm” during the ultra-Romantic second movement (below in a YouTube video).
Talk about audience response!
The incident has gone viral on the Internet and has also been covered in serious newspapers.
Here is one of the most colorful stories, from The New York Post, that also has the video and some interesting background, including the actual video:
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By Jacob Stockinger
Today — Saturday, April 22 — is Earth Day 2023.
It is the 53rd annual celebration of the environment that was started on this date in 1970 by the former Wisconsin governor and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (below bottom).
As the website “Self-Help Africa” says: “Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to highlight environmental issues across the planet and demonstrate support for environmental protection.
“First held in the United States on April 22, 1970, it has since become THE BIGGEST SECULAR CELEBRATION OBSERVATION DAY IN THE WORLD, and an opportunity to highlight the issues and environmental challenges affecting our world.”
Music has always been part of how the world celebrates the event.
But lately the trend in music seems to parallel the trends in the global warming crisis and species extinctions.
So, for example, in British composer Debbie Wiseman’s “Carnival of the Endangered Animals” in 2022 is meant to parallel but update the famous “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Other titles of works by contemporary composers that reflect current realities about the natural world are: “The Lost Birds” by American composer Christopher Tin (below top); “Mass for the Endangered” by American composer Sarah Kirkland Snider (below middle); “The Rising Sea” Symphony by British composer Kieran Brunt; and “Glaciers in Extinction” by Italian flutist and composer Roberto Fabbriciani (below bottom).
You can hear these and other contemporary works plus a more familiar and traditional musical celebration of the Earth and nature by Beethoven. Just go this site for Colorado Public Radio:
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By Jacob Stockinger
If you think music education and music lessons are only for young people who are still growing and maturing, you couldn’t be more wrong.
More and more research studies show that in adults and older people, even in Alzheimer’s patients, music has force and can break through.
Music is — like many other kinds of art including poetry, dance and paintings — a key that unlocks the plasticity of the human brain (below is an image from Shutterstock) and the brain’s ability to grow and endure in a healthy manner.
Here is one of the most recent studies that was covered in a story by NPR (National Public Radio), which you can read or listen to:
Certain genres of music, for example, come to mind as brain-healthy. Think Schubert. Art songs which combine music and words, even poetry, seem an especially likely candidate.
String quartets and theme-and-variations also come to mind as artistic and brain-developing genres. So does the sonata form that is used to develop and establish harmonic and thematic logic in symphonies and concertos as well as sonatas.
As for specific composers, The Ear thinks Johann Sebastian Bach (below) stands out as a one whose music requires active listening and critical thinking.
Preludes and fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach (below and in the YouTube video at the bottom where Friedrich Gulda plays the Prelude and Fugue No. 1 of the WTC) in The Well-Tempered Clavier and his many suites and Beethoven’s string quartets, especially the late ones, are individual challenging works that do the same.
Are there musical genres that you think are good for the brain and would recommend?
Are there certain composers you think are especially helpful in building brain health?
Are there any particular pieces that you think also work toward brain health and plasticity?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has heard of many Russian musicians who — like major Russian politicians, military figures and business oligarchs — are being boycotted because they support Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian war in Ukraine.
But until I read the following story, I hadn’t heard that the banished group of artists — living under artistic sanctions, if you will — included the Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa (below), who last played a recital in Madison about 10 years ago at the Wisconsin Union Theater.
It’s a fall from grace that is too bad. For a while, Lisitsa seemed like a feminist role model of a self-made female musician who bucked the system and could inspire other women and would-be internet arts influencers and performers.
You may know her more from attending a live performance or because of the many YouTube videos that established her concert career while she lived in the southeast United States.
But after you read the following story, perhaps you will also agree that she deserves to be boycotted.
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition is one of the most prestigious keyboard competitions in the world.
It ranks right up there with the Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Leeds and Van Cliburn competitions.
It takes place every three years in Tel Aviv, Israel. And this year, it started on March 14 and wrapped up just a week ago, on April 1.
This was the 17th Rubinstein Competition.
And it was won by an 18-year-old Chinese-Canadian pianist from Calgary.
He is Kevin Chen (below). He also composes and seems well on his way to a major career, especially since last year he also won the Geneva piano competition and was the youngest winner ever of the Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Budapest.
Winning the Rubinstein has launched many major career from Emanuel Ax, the first winner in 1974, to Daniil Trifnov in 2011.
At the bottom is a YouTube video with a recital by Chen along with a recital by the Georgian pianist who placed second: Giorgi Gigashvili. Chen’s performance of Chopin’s 12 Etudes, Op. 10, for example, begins at 2 hours, 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
You can also find a YouTube video of Chen’s prize-winning performance of Mozart’s last piano concerto, No. 27 in B-flat major, K. 595; and a wonderful recital from the Geneva competition. And more solo videos from the Rubinstein are sure to be posted soon.
Here is a fine story, with lots of personal details, from Chen’s hometown newspaper:
And for much more background about the competition’s history, the jury members for this year’s contestants, the past winners, repertoire requirements, mandatory stages, rules and so forth, go to:
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By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following news from Bach Around the Clock 2023 (BATC). Please note that there is no time limit or expiration date on viewing and listening to the online postings (see the example video of a string quartet arrangement from “The Art of Fugue” at the bottom):
BATC 2023 Festival video recordings are now available at BachClock.com and on YouTube
Thank you to BATC 2023 performers! True to our mission, Bach Around The Clock welcomed the participation of over 115 performers (below in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church), including amateurs and professionals of all ages and experience levels, sharing their love of Bach’s music with the community.
85 musicians performed at St. Andrew’s on Saturday, March 11. 30 musicians submitted recordings from their homes and studios. 28 hours of Bach Around The Clock performances are available.
Thank you to our audience members (below in Grace Episcopal Church)! In-person and online — BATC 2023 performances have been enjoyed by record-setting numbers of Bach enthusiasts.
Thank you to our BATC Donors, acknowledged here. With the generous support of over 40 BATC fans and business sponsors, we achieved our fundraising goal of covering all 2023 festival expenses! New contributions will help us with planning for the future of Bach Around The Clock.
New contributions will help us with planning for the future of Bach Around The Clock.