What concerts are you looking forward to? (Part II)

[Papy Oli]

Friday 22 April 2011
Britten–Pears Baroque Orchestra and Soloists
Mark Padmore Director/Evangelist
Bach - St John Passion

Attended this sold out concert last night at Snape, probably more out of curiosity than anything else.   I only knew the work/format from various partial listens to the version on the Bach Edition on Brilliant, without ever really connecting with it but thought I'd give it a try with this live version.

I found the Britten-Pears Baroque orchestra played extremely well and some of the young singers were really impressive (especially the 2 bass singers). I do not know how Mark Padmore is regarded here or what his reputation is, but I found his voice/singing outstanding (control, nuances, clarity of the voice). If anything, the youger singers might have unfairly suffered of the comparison. I will definitely seek out some of his recordings.

As for the work itself though, besides 2 or 3 "wow" moments, I still remain unconvinced as a whole. It felt a bit too repetitive and dragging at times.

Too many stage rotations of the performers made it very also "fiddly" and distracting  (e.g. singers walking around the orchestra to come to the other side or front of it ; cello player standing up in the middle of a piece to come to the front of the stage and pick up and tuning another cello and getting ready for the next aria ;  the 2 main violinists standing up during a piece and going at the back to play different violas in the next piece....).

Finally, to stay in line with the intended "Part I / Sermon / Part II" format, a poet/writer made a reading after Part 1 about the context of the work and its relevance in today's world. Whilst an interesting read, that lasted for more than 15 minutes followed by the 20 minutes interval. This made it quite difficult to settle back into the 2nd Part, hence the dragging feeling I guess.

So, overall, impressed by the musical and singing performances, but not moved by work itself.   

[Papy Oli]

2 concerts at Snape last night :

La Nuova Musica / David Bates - director

Lotti - Crucifixus
Gesualdo - Responsary for Holy Saturday
Johann Hermann Schein - Madrigals from Israelisbrünlein (1623)
Allegri - Miserere

Absolutely superb night .

I only knew the Miserere beforehand but was really bowled over by the Gesualdo pieces as well (split either sides of the Schein's). The interweaving of the voices was fascinating. The choir of 13 was split in 3 groups for the Miserere (one center stage, one far left and one right backstage) which added to its great impact. That was heavenly. 

They didn't name the encore, but it seemed it was a Purcell song. Nice enough to pick my interest as well, like with the above works.

A highly recommended group of performers if you come across them.

Followed by :

Aleksander Madzar piano
Bach Partita No.5 in G BWV829 Bach Partita No.6 in E minor BWV830

A very intimate concert in the Britten studio (a small 250-300 seat amphitheatre - compared to the 800+ seater concert hall for the above). Great view on the keyboard and the dexterity of the playing, which added to the discovery and enjoyment of those pieces. Another one for the wishlist 

Discovering classical music live sure is fun 

[Brian]

Tonight!

Alexander Melnikov, piano
Wigmore Hall

Schubert | Fantasy in C D760 'Wanderer'
Brahms | 7 Fantasien Op. 116
Shostakovich | Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 (Nos. 1–12)

This is going to rock.

[Florestan]

Tonight!

Alexander Melnikov, piano
Wigmore Hall

Schubert | Fantasy in C D760 'Wanderer'
Brahms | 7 Fantasien Op. 116
Shostakovich | Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 (Nos. 1–12)

This is going to rock.

Indeedie.

[bhodges]

Tomorrow night, at the Met:

Verdi: Il Trovatore - Actually don't know this opera all that well, and this time around they have an excellent cast, so I'm excited.

And on Thursday, another interesting program from Alan Gilbert. I don't know this Messiaen at all.

New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, Conductor
Emanuel Ax, Piano

Debussy: Selections from Estampes
Messiaen: Couleurs de la Cité Céleste
Mahler: Symphony No. 5

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

Debussy: Selections from Estampes

That's a little curious, Bruce . . . Estampes is a set of three piano solo pieces. Is it that they are orchestrations, and not all three pieces were orchestrated?  (And who done 'em?)

[bhodges]

Ah, you caught that! This is one of the reasons Gilbert is such an interesting programmer. Ax will begin the program by himself--i.e., solo piano in Estampes--then he'll join the musicians for the Messiaen (for piano, wind orchestra and percussion), and then the whole band will come on for the Mahler.

This is not the first time I've seen a soloist inserted into an orchestral context; a few years back during a Ligeti and Beethoven concert with Jonathan Nott, Pierre-Laurent Aimard provided a little break in the program with some of the Ligeti etudes.

--Bruce

[Papy Oli]

Not a concert as such...This Friday, still at Snape :


Akram Khan Company - Gnosis

Gnosis is the latest solo work by Akram Khan in which he combines his classical Indian and contemporary dance roots.
Khan revisits the classical motifs of two earlier works, Polaroid Feet and Tarana, on a pathway of transformation. Pursuing the idea of the 'knowledge within', it is an exploration of the inner and outer battles of characters, the human and the godly.
Drawing from sources ancient and modern, Gnosis is also inspired by the Hindu epic Mahabharata, in particular the story of Gandhari, the wife of the blind king who blindfolds herself for life to share his journey. It explores the notion of inner knowledge and clouded vision, seeing darkness and yet being blind to light.
Khan's choreography has been developed in collaboration with internationally renowned kathak masters Sri Pratap Pawar and Gauri Sharma Tripathi. He is accompanied on stage by an ensemble of exceptional musicians from India, the United Kingdom and Pakistan.

A small video here

[Brian]

Tonight!

Alexander Melnikov, piano
Wigmore Hall

Schubert | Fantasy in C D760 'Wanderer'
Brahms | 7 Fantasien Op. 116
Shostakovich | Preludes and Fugues Op. 87 (Nos. 1–12)

This is going to rock.

This did, indeed, rock. There was a man in his late 70s behind me, with the sort of classic blown-back hair and round glasses and stoop which made him look like, say, a composer  , who, when the Schubert and Brahms works finished, very dramatically and slowly said, "...My.....GOD!" It wasn't a half-bad response: Alexander Melnikov is as sublime an artist in person as he is on disc, and the concert was fantastic. The Shostakovich was a transcendent experience; hearing the A major fugue flutter its wings and fly up off the keys is one of those musical moments that has no equal.

Wigmore Hall is glorious in springtime: the skylights let in a blue light against the back walls, and the front of the stage was lit by two lamps with candles in them. One of my favorite concerts of the London Year.

[Brahmsian]

Looking forward to this concert Friday night, the WSO's season finale, which features an all Tchaikovsky program!! 


Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin: Polonaise
*Tchaikovsky: Violin concerto in D major
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor

*James Ehnes, violin  The Classical Music Pride of Manitoba   

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Mickelthwate, conducting

[karlhenning]

What a cool program, Ray! Enjoy!

[bbrip]

Looking forward to the premiere of Ildebrando Pizzetti's opera "Murder at the Cathedral" at Frankfurt Opera this cmoing Sunday, 1st May


bbrip

[Sid]

I'm looking forward to this free lecture/recital by pianist Leslie Howard at Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Friday:

(The following taken from SCM website)

CONtexts: The Alfred Hook Lecture Series - Leslie Howard (4.00pm)

6 May 2011

Dr Leslie Howard Discovering Liszt

Liszt is the only great composer of the nineteenth century to still suffer from detractors, this despite the acknowledged debt of almost every composer who followed him. Many distrusted his fame and wealth. Others accused him of religious posturing and of lacking compositional depth. Dr Howard shares his new insights into Liszt as a complex nineteenth-century artist.

Leslie Howard is a composer, conductor, and scholar, and the only pianist to record (for Hyperion in 97 CDs) the complete piano music of Franz Liszt. He has appeared with many of the world's finest orchestras; as a composer, his works include an opera, a ballet, and numerous orchestral, choral, and solo compositions.

Following this lecture, Leslie Howard will give a piano recital in Verbrugghen Hall at 6.00pm.

[Brian]

Wow, Sid, that sounds like a really remarkable night!

Mine tonight is only a bit less exciting:

London Philharmonic | Vladimir Jurowski
Christine Brewer, soprano

Wagner | Meistersinger, Act I Prelude
Strauss | Four Last Songs
Tchaikovsky | Symphony No 5

[The new erato]

Mahlers 2nd with the Bergen Philharmonic under Andrew Litton tomorrow.

[karlhenning]

Wow, Sid, that sounds like a really remarkable night!

Mine tonight is only a bit less exciting:

London Philharmonic | Vladimir Jurowski
Christine Brewer, soprano

Wagner | Meistersinger, Act I Prelude
Strauss | Four Last Songs
Tchaikovsky | Symphony No 5

Fascinating program, Bruce Brewski!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Havergal Brian - The Gothic Symphony
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Royal Albert Hall


Official ticket sale starts May 7.


The more expensive (but surer) way is here:


http://www.getmein.com/tickets/prom-4-brian-the-gothic-symphony-tickets/london-202377.html

[Brian]

Fascinating program, Bruce Brewski!

Either this is an amusing mistake or extremely clever. 

A very satisfying concert - Ms Brewer an initially slightly shrieky but over the last three songs lovely soloist, Jurowski painting with watercolors; goodness, as a friend of mine points out, it is a truly glorious thing to hear one of the world's great orchestras play softly! Softly was not, of course, had in the Tchaikovsky, a white-hot account where the big horn solo was a tad too swift for me but everything else moved with an intensity and sweaty fevered passion fully worthy of Mravinsky or Gatti (the latter of whom, by the way, really luxuriates in the slow mvt - my ideal combination). Terrific right up to the last bar... where the final four chords were slowed down in a really mannered way.

Check out Jurowski's timings in the Tchaikovsky
I. 13'00"
II. 11'30"
III. 5'30"
IV. 11'00"

[bhodges]

Either this is an amusing mistake or extremely clever. 

A very satisfying concert - Ms Brewer an initially slightly shrieky but over the last three songs lovely soloist, Jurowski painting with watercolors; goodness, as a friend of mine points out, it is a truly glorious thing to hear one of the world's great orchestras play softly! Softly was not, of course, had in the Tchaikovsky, a white-hot account where the big horn solo was a tad too swift for me but everything else moved with an intensity and sweaty fevered passion fully worthy of Mravinsky or Gatti. Terrific right up to the last bar... where the final four chords were slowed down in a really mannered way.

Check out Jurowski's timings in the Tchaikovsky
I. 13'00"
II. 11'30"
III. 5'30"
IV. 11'00"

  I completely missed that bit of amusement (Karl's comment).

In any case, Jurowski is wonderful; your account sounds like it was a fabulous evening.

Looking forward to this next week:

Marc-André Hamelin, piano

Haydn: Sonata in E Minor, Hob. XVI:34
Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9
Wolpe: Passacaglia
Fauré: Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 63
Liszt: Réminiscences de Norma

--Bruce

[Brian]

In any case, Jurowski is wonderful;

Yes; I may have undersold his account of the Tchaikovsky, as there was an abundance of detail and brilliant phrasing which reminded me what a joy it is to hear an interpretation of a work which feels important and distinct, as opposed to an ordinary-course performance aiming to please.

Hamelin's program demonstrates the kind of eccentricity, eclecticism, and intelligence one would expect - and I'd bet it turns out really satisfying, too!