Your greatest concerts you attended

[Anne]

The first concert was Van Cliburn at Interlochen Center for the Arts.  He had recently won the competition in Russia.  We were lucky he had a soft spot for Interlochen for that is why he came.  My friend and I did not know anything about classical music but the airwaves were full of the name "Van Cliburn."  Finally we decided if they were going to talk about him that much on the radio, that we had better go and find out what all the excitement was about.

Not knowing anything about where to sit for a music concert, when the ticket lady asked where we wanted to sit, my friend spoke right up and said, "As close to Van Cliburn as possible."  That was OK with me too.  That lady gave us seats in the front row.  When he came on stage, he was only about 8 feet away.  If he had sneezed, we would have been wet!  My friend looked at me and her eyes were absolutely sparkling with excitement.  I imagine I looked the same way.

The next concert was a 7-hour drive to Chicago to hear Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland sing.  They were doing a world tour celebrating their 25 years of singing together.  Unfortunately she had an ear infection at their last concert before Chicago and could not fly in that condition.  He came on alone.  I was so excited that I didn't know what to do.  Someone had loaned me opera glasses.  No kidding!  I spent the entire concert going back and forth between listening and using the glasses.  He was responsible for me getting into opera and later instrumental music.  To tell you the truth, I was so excited that I never heard one note that he sang.  Isn't that sad?  My friend bought me a sweatshirt that she had customized printing put on it.  It said,"Pavarotti here I come."  Back in Traverse City, Michigan everyone at the office where we both worked knew I was crazy about him.

The next concert was in Las Vegas to hear the New York Philharmonic under the baton of the last conductor before the present conductor.  I forgot his name.  They played Shostakovich's 5th Symphony which I had to learn before my husband and I got there.  It was recommended that I listen to Bernstein's recording (the one that had Charles, the Prince of Wales' picture on the CD cover).  We had been invited to be the guests of my friend (you know him here as Iago.  I am sad to say he passed away 7/16/09 while watching TV and had the remote in his hands.  He was found the same day and was buried on Long Island 4 days later.) to help celebrate his birthday.  Thanks to this concert I found out that symphonies have a form that is used by composers to present the music.  I cannot think of the name right now.  It has presentation, development, and recapitulation.

The next concert was at Ravinia (Chicago outdoors in summer) where Eschenbach was conducting Beethoven's 9th symphony.  His phrasing in the 1st movement left me unhappy because it was not like the way Bohm, Karajan and others did it.  It didn't bother my husband at all as he didn't like classical music and was just along to keep me company.

That's it!

[MishaK]

The next concert was in Las Vegas to hear the New York Philharmonic under the baton of the last conductor before the present conductor.  I forgot his name. 

Kurt Masur.

[Anne]

Kurt Masur.

Thank you!  Much appreciated.

[Herman]

The Who in San Diego at the start of their US tour following the release of Tommy.

Holy cow!

I was at a The Who concert around the same time. I would not call it a great concert by any means. It started off rather inauspiciously with the guitarist kicking a photographer who stood near the stage  -  in the face. The audience actually heaved a sigh of retributive relief when Townsend (he pretends to be a writer these days) slipped and fell flat on his back on stage. But what I remember most distinctly is how the volume was gradually turned up to, not 11, but rather something like 14, and all you could hear was this terrifying low din, intended to damage the hearing of 2000 young people.

These were very nasty people. Nasty, meanspirited and evil.

I just read a NY Times piece about Woodstock, which mentioned that these same Who initially refused to go onstage, they didn't like the setup, and the only way the organizers could get them to perform was to say, "OK, in that case I will go onstage and announce you guys refuse to perform.'

One of the greaest concerts I attended would have to be Kurt Sanderling conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic in Prokofiev's Sixth Symphony. So much better than the two times I heard Gergiev perform the same work. Ironically this was in the same hall as the The Who concert. Sanderling didn't kick anybody.

[DavidW]

Wow Herman, I didn't realize they were such rotten people.

[Superhorn]

  I'll never forget the performance of the Bruckner 7th I heard in Carnegie hall back in the 70s with Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic.
  This did not sound like an earthly orchestra but something you might expect to hear in heaven. It took my breath away.
At the conclusion, the audience was cheering so loudly I had to cover my ears. I've never heard anything so loud in my life.




        0:)                 0:)                0:)

[Herman]

This reminds me of the Dresden Staatskapelle performing Bruckner 8 in the Concertgebouw, with Hans Vonk conducting. This was 1988 or something, another unforgettable experience.

And Kurt Masur doing the Linz symphony and Bruckner 4 with Concertgebouw Orchestra, about 2005.

[bhodges]

Some of the most memorable:

1982: Carnegie Hall
Berlin Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan
Stravinsky: Apollo
R. Strauss: Ein Alpensinfonie
* My first time hearing the orchestra, Karajan, and both of the pieces

1986: Avery Fisher Hall
New York Philharmonic
Klaus Tennstedt
Mahler: Symphony No. 6
* First time hearing both Tennstedt and the piece

1987: Avery Fisher Hall
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein
Mahler: Symphony No. 2

1988: Carnegie Hall
Philadelphia Orchestra
Riccardo Muti
Westminster Choir
Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus
Bruckner: Te Deum
Verdi: Four Sacred Pieces
* First encounter with the Bruckner and the Verdi, both overwhelming

1989: Carnegie Hall
Vienna Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

1999: Amsterdam
Concertgebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

2000: Amsterdam
Concertgebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly
Mahler: Symphony No. 8

2000: Carnegie Hall
Concertgebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly
Ruth Ziesak, soprano
Varèse: Tuning Up
Ligeti: Atmosphères
Ligeti: Lontano
Mahler: Symphony No. 4

2004: Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Wayne Marshall, organ
MacMillan: A Scotch Bestiary
R. Strauss: Thus Spake Zarathustra
* One of the programs showing off the hall's new organ

2005: Carnegie Hall
London Symphony Orchestra
Pierre Boulez
Boulez: Dérive 2
Stravinsky: Symphonies of Wind Instruments
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
* Probably the best Le Sacre I've ever heard

--Bruce

[canninator]

Classical

Le martyr de San Sebastian (Debussy) NY Philharmonic probably around '98 (under Masur I think but I can't remember). I splashed out on expensive seats as it is a favorite piece of mine and I figured I'd never get to see it again. It was spectacular. My girlfriend of the time, however, who had just arrived from London two hours previously was not quite as impressed 

Non-classical

Slayer, Reign in Blood tour '86 

[secondwind]

Berlin Philharmonic, 1974/5 (?)

I was a college student doing a Junior year abroad thing in Germany. On a trip to Berlin, we managed to get student rate (cheap) tickets to a Berlin Philharmonic concert.  I was pretty ignorant then (even more than now  ), but even I knew that hearing the BPO was a big deal.  I wish I had saved a program.  All I remember for certain is that there was a Brahms symphony as the major work (no, of course I don't know which one  ) and that the entire experience and especially the Brahms transported me into a different reality.  It was one of those transformative experiences that gave me a glimpse into what music--and, I suppose, life--could be.  An interesting side point--I had developed a racking chest cough while traveling, and I was worried about coughing all through the concert.  But the music acted like the best narcotic cough medicine.  Not only did I not cough during the performance, I didn't cough for an hour or more after!

Now, through the magic of computer archives from the Berlin Philharmonic and "mom-archives"  from my mom (I kept a Travel Diary--really?  I don't even remember writing it, but here it is in one of mom's archive drawers), the concert program:


Berliner Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm
Thu  30. January 1975  8 pm

Berlin Philharmoniker
Karl Böhm  Dirigent


Franz Schubert
Symphonie Nr. 2 B-Dur D 125
Johannes Brahms
Symphonie Nr. 2 D-Dur op. 73

I think I'll listen to the two symphonies tomorrow and see if it conjures up memories.

[knight66]

Oddly enough, I just read from the beginning of this thread, as I don't recall seeing it before. Nice to have the end of the story posted. I assumed as I moved through the thread that the name of the conductor was lost to you.

Mike

[secondwind]

It once was lost, but now is found. . .

[Sergeant Rock]

It once was lost, but now is found. . .

...by man's best friend, the noble hound? 

A happy ending to a story that began a year ago. Thanks for the update.

Sarge

[Scarpia]

1989: Carnegie Hall
Vienna Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

I was at that one.  (Actually I think the program was repeated, I was there on February 26.)  The finest musical performance I have ever witnessed.

[Cato]

Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw in Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony.  We sat high up in the balcony - by chance- right near the "angelic" trumpeters, who were graduate students at the Oberlin Conservatory.  They hit every note perfectly!

Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado in Ann Arbor, Michigan in Beethoven's Fourth Symphony and Arnold Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande.  Both played with great excitement, and the latter, which can be a problematic score, was handled with the transparency of chamber music: the perfect performance of this work!

Toledo Symphony in the Catholic Cathedral of Toledo played Bruckner's Eighth Symphony under the direction of Stefan Sanderling.  (GMG member Allan was playing bass in that performance!)  The echoing of the cathedral was perfect for the work, which the orchestra handled practically perfectly.

Cincinnati Symphony  and  Jesus Lopes-Cobos
playing Mahler's Sixth Symphony.  A most excellent and emotional performance, impressing even Mrs. Cato, who is not easily impressed!   

I could mention other concerts without using the word "perfect" so much, but...   0:)

[Cato]

Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw in Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony.  We sat high up in the balcony - by chance- right near the "angelic" trumpeters, who were graduate students at the Oberlin Conservatory.  They hit every note perfectly!

Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado in Ann Arbor, Michigan in Beethoven's Fourth Symphony and Arnold Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande.  Both played with great excitement, and the latter, which can be a problematic score, was handled with the transparency of chamber music: the perfect performance of this work!

Toledo Symphony in the Catholic Cathedral of Toledo played Bruckner's Eighth Symphony under the direction of Stefan Sanderling.  (GMG member Allan was playing bass in that performance!)  The echoing of the cathedral was perfect for the work, which the orchestra handled practically perfectly.

Cincinnati Symphony  and  Jesus Lopes-Cobos
playing Mahler's Sixth Symphony.  A most excellent and emotional performance, impressing even Mrs. Cato, who is not easily impressed!   

I could mention other concerts without using the word "perfect" so much, but...   0:)

GMG member "Allan" is actually GMG member "Toledobass" for those of you who did not know!   

And we need to hear from him!

[Guido]

No Great Artists here, but Cambridge University Opera Society's 2010 staging of Pelleas and Melisande was very special. A severity and truth and beauty that is often lacking in very high budget/lavish productions. The quiet, understated and wholly realistic eroticism of the tower scene was truly phenominal.

[Sonata33]

I got to hear (and chauffeur) Anthony de Mare play at a small university circa 1999. I was deathy afraid of modern music until I heard his recital. I haven't stopped listening to the most modern music I can find ever since (and, frankly, I haven't listened to anything written before 1920 on purpose ever since, either).

[Cato]

I got to hear (and chauffeur) Anthony de Mare play at a small university circa 1999. I was deathy afraid of modern music until I heard his recital. I haven't stopped listening to the most modern music I can find ever since (and, frankly, I haven't listened to anything written before 1920 on purpose ever since, either).

Interesting: you might therefore discover, if you give certain composers a chance, exactly how radical e.g. Beethoven and Chopin and Schumann can sound.

[Satzaroo]

My first concert experience. The BSO under the direction of Charles Munch played Mozart's "Linz" symphony and Berlioz's "Harold in Itlay."