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

[Florestan]

Going to see a program of Schubert chamber music at a church tomorrow, the Arpeggione Sonata, one of the Violin Sonatas (which I do not know at all), and the B-flat Piano Trio.

Splendid. Wish I were there.

[Karl Henning]

A program at Middlesex Community College's Bedford campus, a cello/piano duo. My first live experience of music by Fazil Say, let alone Arson Fahim. @Brian.

[Karl Henning]

The performers.

[vers la flamme]

A program at Middlesex Community College's Bedford campus, a cello/piano duo. My first live experience of music by Fazil Say, let alone Arson Fahim. @Brian.

I've never heard of this 23-year-old composer, but I expect he must be quite the firebrand

[Karl Henning]

I've never heard of this 23-year-old composer, but I expect he must be quite the firebrand

He's an Afghan refugee. He wrote the piece for his sister, still living under the repressions of Taliban rule.

[North Star]

I hope their aroma was pleasant.

[brewski]

Two wonderful concerts recently performed by two amazing local orchestras

Leeds Haydn Players
Haydn arr H Perry Divertimento in Bb for Wind Quintet
R Strauss Concerto for Oboe & Small Orchestra
Brahms Serenade no 1 in D

Soloist Elizabeth Kenwood
Conductor Melvyn Tay

Sinfonia of Leeds
Copland Down a Country Lane
Copland Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson
Mahler Symphony no 4

Soloist Mary Plazas
Conductor Anthony Kraus

Both excellent programs, and for "local" ensembles, a bit off the beaten track. The two Copland items don't show up all that often, even in the United States.

This afternoon, the first live Mahler I've heard in awhile.

Curtis Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Amy Yang, piano

Julia Perry: Study for Orchestra (led by Micah Gleason, conducting fellow)
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major

-Bruce

[brewski]

Curtis Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
Amy Yang, piano

Julia Perry: Study for Orchestra (led by Micah Gleason, conducting fellow)
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major

-Bruce

An excellent afternoon. Vänskä did the First proud, with entertaining commitment from the Curtis players. (The double basses were clearly having a blast.) He knows his stuff, having completed his Mahler cycle with the Minnesota Orchestra, which for some, may be one of the greats.

And though the Schumann Piano Concerto is not a particular fave, Amy Yang brought so much poetry, that maybe I like it better than imagined.

-Bruce

[DavidW]

My local orchestra performed Mahler's 1st this concert season.  I didn't attend though.  I'm just tired of evening concerts on a work night.

[vers la flamme]

Going to see a program of Schubert chamber music at a church tomorrow, the Arpeggione Sonata, one of the Violin Sonatas (which I do not know at all), and the B-flat Piano Trio.

It was great to see some Schubert live, as I never have before and he's long been one of my favorite composers. I don't think I realized what a beast the Arpeggione must be to play until last night.

[Florestan]

I don't think I realized what a beast the Arpeggione must be to play until last night.

The Arpeggione Sonata might very well be my favoritest chamber music by anyone ever, sorry Mozart. 

[LKB]

Looking back at, now (concert's just finished: Ensemble Chaconne in Boston's King's Chapel.

Those pictures took me back... decades ago l was touring New England with a chamber chorus. We were billeted in two dorms at Boston University, and our two concerts were at the Busch-Reisinger Museum and King's Chapel. There we performed an extended a capella set, and then Daniel Pinkham accompanied us on the organ for his Wedding Cantata. 

[Brian]

Mahler's First has become one of my favorite ever concert memories after it was the first covid-era concert I attended, with the combined Dallas Symphony and NY Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The brass all sat distanced in the choir loft, and I sat dead center in "the front row," row M. Not only was it a joy to go back to a concert, it was also acoustically spectacular. The clarity of the brass and the warmth of the concert hall, in the most acoustically perfect seat, made for a magical experience that (thankfully!) will never be repeated.

[vers la flamme]

Anyone know of anything in New York on Thursday, April 20?

[Mapman]

Anyone know of anything in New York on Thursday, April 20?

I took a look, and there are many concerts that day.

The Danish String Quartet is performing at Carnegie Hall at 7:30 (but it looks expensive, $84):
--SCHUBERT String Quartet in A Minor, D. 804, "Rosamunde"
--SCHUBERT Quartettsatz in C Minor, D. 703
--ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR Rituals (NY Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
--SCHUBERT "Gretchen am Spinnrade," D. 118 (arr. Danish String Quartet)

The pianist Beatrice Rana at Carnegie Hall at 8:00
--J. S. BACH French Suite No. 2 in C Minor
--DEBUSSY Pour le piano
--BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier"

Der Rosenkavalier at the Met
The Score Desk seats look interesting: https://www.metguild.org/MOG/For_The_Community/Score-Desk_Seats/Score_Desk_Seats.html?TM=12menuid=155

The New York Philharmonic, conducted by Iván Fischer, with Sir András Schiff. I don't see any cheap seats left.
--Dohnányi: Symphonic Minutes
--Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3
--Mozart: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter

Based on the prices, Rosenkavalier at the Met looks tempting. The New York Philharmonic concert also looks great because of the first half.

[vers la flamme]

I took a look, and there are many concerts that day.

The Danish String Quartet is performing at Carnegie Hall at 7:30 (but it looks expensive, $84):
--SCHUBERT String Quartet in A Minor, D. 804, "Rosamunde"
--SCHUBERT Quartettsatz in C Minor, D. 703
--ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR Rituals (NY Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
--SCHUBERT "Gretchen am Spinnrade," D. 118 (arr. Danish String Quartet)

The pianist Beatrice Rana at Carnegie Hall at 8:00
--J. S. BACH French Suite No. 2 in C Minor
--DEBUSSY Pour le piano
--BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier"

Der Rosenkavalier at the Met
The Score Desk seats look interesting: https://www.metguild.org/MOG/For_The_Community/Score-Desk_Seats/Score_Desk_Seats.html?TM=12menuid=155

The New York Philharmonic, conducted by Iván Fischer, with Sir András Schiff. I don't see any cheap seats left.
--Dohnányi: Symphonic Minutes
--Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3
--Mozart: Symphony No. 41, Jupiter

Based on the prices, Rosenkavalier at the Met looks tempting. The New York Philharmonic concert also looks great because of the first half.

Thanks you! Wow, all big names. They might all be out of my budget, but I've got something to think about now. I have some business in the city until 4pm and figured I might enjoy an evening on the town, and maybe catch some music.

[Mapman]

Thanks you! Wow, all big names. They might all be out of my budget, but I've got something to think about now. I have some business in the city until 4pm and figured I might enjoy an evening on the town, and maybe catch some music.

I'd look into the Met. The Score Desk seats that I linked to are $20 (I'm not sure about taxes and fees), but have no view. Cheap seats with a view are about $35 (and have excellent sound). I'm not sure how familiar you are with New York, but the Met is conveniently next to a station on the 1 subway.

[DavidW]

I took a look, and there are many concerts that day.

Never a dull moment in NYC!  I remember when Bruce used to attend so many concerts that I wondered if he even bothered to own a cd player.

[Brian]

For what it's worth, a music critic friend of mine here in Dallas traveled to NYC recently (the Dallas Symphony went on tour) and filed a review of the Rosenkavalier production. Some quotes:

"Everything's big in Texas, goes the cliché. But when it comes to opera, the Metropolitan Opera leaves us in the dust. The physical scale of the Rosenkavalier presented Monday night was gauged to the house's vast dimensions. So were the voices."

Mostly he liked the voices, production, theatrical nature, and orchestral playing. He gripes that parts were a little too loud, but he always gripes that about everything (especially chamber music, which he thinks should be discreet) so I don't really pay that much heed.  https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/performing-arts/2023/03/30/review-metropolitan-opera-goes-big-with-rosenkavalier-and-lohengrin/

[brewski]

Tonight:

Ustvolskaya  Symphonic Poem No.1
Hindemith  Violin Concerto
Prokofiev  Symphony No.6

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski conductor
Gil Shaham violin

What a great program! Though some of Ustvolskaya's chamber music shows up here and there, you rarely see orchestras play any of her larger works. And nice to see a different Prokofiev symphony, other than say, 1 or 5.

I just heard Shaham a few months ago, in the Brahms, which he did very well. But the Hindemith would have been a more interesting prospect.

-Bruce