Axel Strauss
What’s in a name? Shakespeare’s Juliet, whose Romeo had the unfortunate name of her family’s arch enemy, thought names shouldn’t matter.
But names are everything for Madison’s renowned Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, as it launches its 28th chamber music festival titled “Name Dropping.”
Artistic director Jeffrey Sykes says the festival was named for and shaped by some of the group’s favorite artists. “We wouldn’t be where we are without the extraordinary people who come to Madison to play with us,” he says.
“With every season, our friendship with these artists deepens,” adds Stephanie Jutt, artistic director. “When we come together in June of every year, it’s a joyous occasion for everyone.”
This serious, witty, zany, brainy festival happens June 14-30 at the Playhouse at Overture Center, the Stoughton Opera House, and Hillside Theater at Taliesin, Spring Green. There will be 12 concerts over three weekends with two different concerts each weekend. Here are some highlights.
The first concert, Fonteneau of Youth on June 14, stars cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau and explores the music of composers who are young or young at heart. It includes Fauré’s exquisite Elegy, op. 24, followed by trios by contemporary American composer Ned Rorem, French composer Lili Boulanger, and classical titan Joseph Haydn.
On June 15, Quadruple Axel features violin virtuoso Axel Strauss in an athletic mix of CPE Bach (son of Johann Sebastian Bach), Brahms and Ravel.
Woven throughout the concerts will be lively Eastern European and Latin music from bayan master Stas Venglevski in his Bach Dynamite debut. The bayan is a Russian accordion, and to learn more about it, you can attend Bayan-o-Rama at the Arts + Literature Lab, 2021 Winnebago St. on June 12 at 7 p.m.
During the second weekend, Sykes plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, K. 271. “It shows the 21-year-old Mozart not just hitting it out of the park, but hitting it into a new game with new rules,” says Sykes. The concert also features Madison pianist Thomas Kasdorf in Brahms’ Horn Trio, op. 40.
Cellist Alison Rowe, daughter of Madison’s renowned vocal teachers, Paul Rowe and Cheryl Bensman Rowe, makes her Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society debut with JS Bach’s Sonata in D major for cello and piano. “It was originally written for viola de gamba and harpsichord, which are totally different instruments than cello and piano,” she says. Rowe’s experience playing Baroque music on period instruments will create a unique rendition of the sonata that incorporates old and new ideas.
Jutt, a flutist, performs in Dvorak’s sunny “American” Quartet, op. 96. You’ll also hear works by Schumann, Shostakovich, Franz Doppler and Ernst von Dohnanyi.
For the final weekend, cellist couple Anthony Ross and Beth Rapier play Menotti’s impassioned Suite for Two Cellos and Piano. Also, the inimitable violinist, Carmit Zori, plays César Franck’s ravishing Piano Quintet in F minor in an emotionally charged festival finale.
