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

Started by Siedler, April 20, 2007, 05:34:10 PM

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karlhenning

That concerto was the first Berg piece I learnt to love, Bruce.

About three-quarters down that BSO page, there's a podcast with Robt Kirzinger giving a semi-casual introduction to the program (he uses the technical term "neat-o" at one point).

bhodges

Quote from: karlhenning on February 21, 2008, 09:40:49 AM
That concerto was the first Berg piece I learnt to love, Bruce.

About three-quarters down that BSO page, there's a podcast with Robt Kirzinger giving a semi-casual introduction to the program (he uses the technical term "neat-o" at one point).

Oh great, thanks--I'll try to check it out later.  Sounds neat-o.  ;D

I hadn't heard that Berg live in years.  Just did a quick search of Carnegie's site, which goes back to 2005, and Levine's was the sole complete performance during that time.  (Another group did an excerpt, but not the complete piece.)

--Bruce

Solitary Wanderer

Quote from: Solitary Wanderer on February 14, 2008, 02:02:27 PM
First concert of the year coming up next Thursday:

Playing with Fire

APO

Christian Knapp Conductor 

Mûza Rubackyté  Piano 
 
Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1
Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales
Stravinsky Firebird Suite

Pianist Mûza Rubackyté has been hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "one of today's most important pianists". She begins our season with Chopin's fiery Piano Concerto No. 1. It launches a programme blazing with colour and energy, with Ravel's multi-hued waltzes leading into Stravinsky's electrifying and unforgettable Firebird Suite.

Looking forward to it. Seems like a long wait [late November] between concerts  :)


Wonderful concert last night;a sensational way to start the new season.

The Chopin was glorious! Mûza Rubackyté was a wonderfully engaging soloist and the way she related to the members of the orchestra was a delight. She was very expressive with her body movements; a real treat.

I wasn't familiar with the brief Ravel piece. A 15min piece made up of four or five short pieces. A waltz, an omm-pah-pah, lots of percussion with tamborine rattling being prominent.

The Firebird was exciting. When the bass drum strikes came in they were like canon fire! Very interesting orchestration like the bit near the begining where the first violinists rub their fingers up and down the strings to get that spooky sound. The trumpet fanfare at the conclusion was rousing.

It was great to be back at a live performance  :)
'I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.' ~ Emily Bronte

MishaK

Quote from: bhodges on February 20, 2008, 09:20:42 AM
All right, then change "might" to "I pledge to"...

;D

--Bruce

OK, I've rectified the problem and bought a ticket to hear Thibaudet.

bhodges

Quote from: O Mensch on February 21, 2008, 02:09:52 PM
OK, I've rectified the problem and bought a ticket to hear Thibaudet.

:D

Just this week I was recalling his performance in the Messiaen Turangalîla with Eschenbach and Philadelphia a few years ago--one of my favorites of his appearances here.

--Bruce

MishaK

Quote from: bhodges on February 21, 2008, 02:17:01 PM
Just this week I was recalling his performance in the Messiaen Turangalîla with Eschenbach and Philadelphia a few years ago--one of my favorites of his appearances here.

He's on the Chailly/RCO/Decca recording of the Turangalila, IIRC. BTW, intersting post the other day. I didn't realize Matt Groening was a Messiaen fan and that Leela is actually Turanga Leela. I have that whole show on DVD somewhere. I should really dig it out.

ChamberNut

Tonight's WSO concert:

Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor
Rachmaninoff - Symphony No. 2 in E minor

Alexander Mickelthwate, conducting
Vladimir Sverdlov, piano

A little less familiar with Rachmaninoff, even though these are two well known and loved works.  Very much looking forward to it!  :)

toledobass

Quote from: bhodges on February 21, 2008, 02:17:01 PM
:D

Just this week I was recalling his performance in the Messiaen Turangalîla with Eschenbach and Philadelphia a few years ago--one of my favorites of his appearances here.

--Bruce

You've seen that piece more than once? That's awesome.  I missed Cleveland doing it because of work and with all these other performances happening now and in the recent past I feel like I'm not gonna be able to see it live for a while.

Missing the boat,
Allan

M forever

#508
Tonight I am going to the BSO the third week in a row. It certainly is good to live in a place again with a really good orchestra and a nice concert hall. For years, the best I could catch was the LA Philharmonic which isn't really that great an orchestra anymore. Their ensemble quality really has suffered a lot under that overhyped mediocre poser Salonen. Thinking back, I haven't heard any really good concerts with him over the 5 years in lived in SoCal, some were pretty good but nothing special, some were really quite bad. At best, they got through the music without major booboos but rarely with special musical moments, at worst, they poked their way through the pieces with lots of ensemble insecurities and some pretty major messups while Salonen headbanged to the music like he was on drugs. The best memory I have of the LAP live is a Pictures at an Exhibition under Gergiev. But even that wasn't what one could call "world class". No comparison at all to how good the orchestra was before Salonen, when I heard them under Sanderling and (even!) Previn. And the acoustics in Disney Hall aren't all that good either, as nice as the hall is as a builing.

Last week I heard Shostakovich 4 conducted by Mark Elder which saw the BSO in excellent shape in a very well played, if not necessarily very intense performance - which I attributed mostly to Elder whose direction was competent, but he did not connect with the orchestra too well. They also played Sibelius' violin concerto with Vadim Repin, but I only arrived after the intermisssion because I made up my mind to go rather late that day.

The week before that, I heard Martin's Sinfonia Concertante for harpsichord, harp and chamber orchestra, Prokofieff's 1st violin concerto and Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony (I actually went to that program on two consecutive evenings). The conductor was Charles Dutoit and the soloist Viviane Hagner, and that was a very good concert in every respect. The soloist was outstanding, and Dutoit conducted a very stylish performance of the Organ Symphony.

Tonight, I am going to see the current MD, James Levine in a program with Mozart's 29th symphony, Berg's chamber concerto for violin, piano and wind instruments, and Brahms' 2nd serenade. So I am looking forward to that right now!

Bogey

#509
Quote from: M forever on February 23, 2008, 11:37:41 AM
The week before that, I heard Martin's Sinfonia Concertante for harpsichord, harp and chamber orchestra, Prokofieff's 1st violin concerto and Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony (I actually went to that program on two consecutive evenings). The conductor was Charles Dutoit and the soloist Viviane Hagner, and that was a very good concert in every respect. The soloist was outstanding, and Dutoit conducted a very stylish performance of the Organ Symphony.

Wow!  Is Dutoit only guest conducting these days?  Karl did you mention this one also, or maybe I am thinking of a recording we discussed on Allan's thread?
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

M forever

Yes, Karl was in the concert with his wife, too (I took a pic there of us all in the lobby and posted it here). Actually, they are coming tonight, too, we will all have dinner before the concert, and yes, Dutoit is doing a ton of guest conducting instead of holding a permanent position right now. He seems to be everywhere. I saw him in SF a while ago, too, a friend saw him even in Australia a few months back. And why not, no administrative burdens, nice fees, travelling all over the world...I think there are worse ways to make a living...

Mark

Quote from: karlhenning on February 21, 2008, 05:30:37 AM
Mark! Are you back, lad?

(Don't make me read your signature!  ;D )

Now and then, Karl, now and then ... ;)

Bogey

Quote from: M forever on February 23, 2008, 01:16:44 PM
Yes, Karl was in the concert with his wife, too (I took a pic there of us all in the lobby and posted it here). Actually, they are coming tonight, too, we will all have dinner before the concert, and yes, Dutoit is doing a ton of guest conducting instead of holding a permanent position right now. He seems to be everywhere. I saw him in SF a while ago, too, a friend saw him even in Australia a few months back. And why not, no administrative burdens, nice fees, travelling all over the world...I think there are worse ways to make a living...

I would love to see him stop in Denver.  Probably not a big enough venue for him, but I will see if he has a schedule on the web.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

Lilas Pastia

The January-February edition of american Record Guide reports a recent concert with Dutoit conducting the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra in Disney Hall, LA. This is a crack youth orchestra bankrolled by fellow Swiss bank UBS. The reviewer gushed no end on the brilliance, elegance and level of emotion Dutoit elicited from this band. The Fantastique was deemed "as close to a perfect Fantastique as I've heard", and "the ease, luminosity and confidence of Chabrier's  Espana afterwards was almost frightening".

What? Espana after the Fantastique? Well, if you happen to have Martha on hand to play Prokofiev's 3rd concerto as a final piece you rightly give her the spotlight !  Methink that Dutoit's still excellent connection with his former wife must play a role in all these engagements. I suspect they hire him on promises or mere expectations of a possible Martha appearance ;)

MishaK

Quote from: M forever on February 23, 2008, 01:16:44 PM
Dutoit is doing a ton of guest conducting instead of holding a permanent position right now.

He actually does have a semi-permanent position right now. He's the Artistic Adviser of the Philadelphia Orchestra, filling in until they find a permament replacement for Eschenbach (sort of what Haitink is doing with the CSO right now and what he did with Dresden after Sinopoli keeled over). Starting in 2009, Dutoit will be the principal conductor and artistic director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dutoit is doing Holst's the Planets with the CSO at the end of March, which I am looking forward to.

Greta

QuoteThe January-February edition of american Record Guide reports a recent concert with Dutoit conducting the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra in Disney Hall, LA. This is a crack youth orchestra bankrolled by fellow Swiss bank UBS. The reviewer gushed no end on the brilliance, elegance and level of emotion Dutoit elicited from this band. The Fantastique was deemed "as close to a perfect Fantastique as I've heard", and "the ease, luminosity and confidence of Chabrier's  Espana afterwards was almost frightening".

What? Espana after the Fantastique? Well, if you happen to have Martha on hand to play Prokofiev's 3rd concerto as a final piece you rightly give her the spotlight !  Methink that Dutoit's still excellent connection with his former wife must play a role in all these engagements. I suspect they hire him on promises or mere expectations of a possible Martha appearance.

Well, that review was right on then! :) I saw the same concert in Houston and had the exact same reaction. He and the Verbier group had incredible chemistry. In my far flung corner of the world, we rarely ever get to witness something like that live, and honestly they totally blew us away. I wrote about the concert at length here.

And yeah, Verbier may be a "youth" orchestra, but the ages range from 17 up to 29, with very rigorous and competitive auditions held all over the world, so the players are at the level of near or newly professional already. I know someone who is trying out this year for timpani, he has made the final rounds, and just missed the spot last year, and he has already played for the Finnish National Opera for a while, so yeah, the players are definitely extremely high-quality.

About Dutoit and Argerich - they obviously still have a special relationship even though they may not be married anymore, you can really see that between them on stage, and this naturally only helps the music-making!

Lilas Pastia

Thanks, Greta. I had missed this thread entirely... Excellent review! the ARG man described also th eDudamel Simon Bolivar concert (part of a Yout Orchestra series at Disney Hall). He likened it to an exciting one night stand, and the Dutoit-Verbier as a profoundly satisfying relaitonship.

Dutoit is an outstanding orchestral trainer (first and foremost) and an excellent musician (second). If he can achieve the desired results in his first goal, it fires him to let his interpretive skills take charge of the proceedings. In Montreal the first five years were truly outstanding. Once they were at a really professional level he (and the orchestra) became complacent. So you wouldn't know what to expect from one concert (or disc) to another. A concert Elektra is one occasion I'll never forget.


toledobass

Turn of the Screw tonight at the Sacremento Opera.


Allan

karlhenning


toledobass

Toi toi toi is the opera version,  Karl. (I think that's how it's spelled)

Allan