Bel Canto Sings Brahms’ ‘German Requiem’

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) composed one of the great masterpieces of sacred choral music, the “German Requiem,” by astutely, even assiduously, avoiding standard requiem texts and references. Its emotional power was drawn from the deaths of Brahms’ mother as well as his

Classical Music/Dance

Monday, May 6, 2013

From Baroque to Classical

Ensemble Musical Offering performs Telemann, Bach

By John Jahn

While the lives of Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) were not closely intertwined, they did intersect in more than just a casual manner. Of immediate interest is the upcoming

Classical Music/Dance

Friday, March 1, 2013

Guest Star at the MSO

Violinist Salerno-Sonnenberg on Bruch

By John Jahn

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s next concert begins with one of the most performed orchestral works of Brooklyn native Jennifer Higdon (born 1962), “blue cathedral.” Higdon’s compositional star is certainly on the rise

Classical Music/Dance

Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012

The MSO’s Dramatic, Understated Masterpieces

By John Jahn

One of the founding fathers of German Romanticism, Carl Maria von Weber, is today best remembered for his seminal opera, Der Freischutz (1821). Weber was the quintessential Romantic artist, turning to myth, folklore

Books

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Final Victory (Da Capo), Stanley Weintraub

By John Jahn

Historian Stanley Weintraub's Final Victory, about the 1944 presidential campaign between the popular but aged three-time incumbent, Franklin Roosevelt, and Republican challenger Thomas Dewey, arrives appropriately enough during another election...

Classical Music/Dance

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Pairs Brahms, Chen

By John Jahn

Hans Richter, who conducted the premiere of Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 3 (1883), suggested to the great composer that he consider the subtitle of “Eroica” for the work. Never eager to draw comparisons with his predecessor, Beethoven, Brahms...

Classical Music/Dance

Monday, March 5, 2012

Virtuoso Performances of Sibelius, Tchaikovsky at MSO

By John Jahn

When Jean Sibelius was in his mid-teens, he was studying hard to become a famous concert violinist. Indeed, he did become a fine musician, but fate had other plans and Sibelius soon found himself drawn toward composition instead of performance...

2012 Spring Arts Guide

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

By John Jahn

Even for a composer as heart-on-your-sleeve emotional as Peter Tchaikovsky, his Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36 (1878) stands out for its wrenching emotionalism. At...

2012 Spring Arts Guide

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012

Philomusica Quartet

By John Jahn

For this concert, the Philomusica Quartet—Jeanyi Kim and Alexander “Sascha” Mandl on violin, Nathan Hackett on viola and Adrien Zitoun on cello—performs works by three...

2012 Spring Arts Guide

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012

Ensemble Musical Offering

By John Jahn

Even when he was separated from a liturgical necessity, J.S. Bach still cultivated interest in the musical genre that characterized so many of his religious works: the cantata...

Ensemble Musical Offering performs Telemann, Bach

Violinist Salerno-Sonnenberg on Bruch

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