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

[ultralinear]

Oooh, yes, especially the Scriabin with the lighting effects. But the whole program is interesting; you rarely see the Rachmaninoff on a menu, and Lyadov, even rarer.

A reviewer in one of the dailies said, basically, kudos to the management for putting on this program, shame about the conducting.  Which seemed about right to me.  I'd been expecting a riot of exuberance - and I can think of a number of other conductors who would have given us that - but what we got was a steady, low-energy performance which didn't make the best of the Rachmaninov, in fact the Lyadov came across the strongest of the three.  In the Scriabin, it was amusing to watch the principal cellist leaning forward and peering through her glasses to try to read the music through the fog of the smoke machines and the flashing strobe lighting - it made good theatre, but purely as music as it didn't really add up to the balls-to-the-wall experience I'd been hoping for.

[brewski]

A reviewer in one of the dailies said, basically, kudos to the management for putting on this program, shame about the conducting.  Which seemed about right to me.  I'd been expecting a riot of exuberance - and I can think of a number of other conductors who would have given us that - but what we got was a steady, low-energy performance which didn't make the best of the Rachmaninov, in fact the Lyadov came across the strongest of the three.  In the Scriabin, it was amusing to watch the principal cellist leaning forward and peering through her glasses to try to read the music through the fog of the smoke machines and the flashing strobe lighting - it made good theatre, but purely as music as it didn't really add up to the balls-to-the-wall experience I'd been hoping for.

Ah, what a shame. (Though watching the cellist does sound like fun.)

-Bruce

[ultralinear]

Ah, what a shame. (Though watching the cellist does sound like fun.)

-Bruce

I've no doubt that Kochanovsky is a fine conductor, when the material suits his careful approach.  But this kind of program (which may not have been his choice, as the notes implied he may have been a substitute for someone else) just doesn't respond well to it.

I had a very clear example of this a year or so back, when, through various scheduling changes, I ended up at two performances of Rachmaninov's 3rd Symphony in quick succession.  In the first, the LPO was conducted by Vladimir Jurowski - of whom I am a huge fan, particularly in things like Shostakovich and Mahler - and Bruckner! - but his meticulous, analytical approach made the Rachmaninov seem quite long-winded, very episodic, and generally lacking in drive.  A couple of weeks later, the BBC SO were conducted by Dalia Stasevska, who is the human equivalent of an exploding firework on the platform - which again does not suit all material - but she absolutely ripped through it, making a completely different musical experience.  They should have got her to do Thursday night's program, she'd have been perfect for it.

[Wanderer]

Next week in Paris:

Charles Koechlin: Vers la voûte étoilée
Frédéric Chopin: Concerto pour piano n° 2
Benjamin Britten: Four Sea Interludes
Claude Debussy: La Mer

Orchestre de Paris
Ariane Matiakh
Lise de la Salle, piano

[Florestan]

Next week in Paris:

Charles Koechlin: Vers la voûte étoilée
Frédéric Chopin: Concerto pour piano n° 2
Benjamin Britten: Four Sea Interludes
Claude Debussy: La Mer

Orchestre de Paris
Ariane Matiakh
Lise de la Salle, piano

Should be a great evening. Enjoy!

[Wanderer]

Should be a great evening. Enjoy!

Thanks! Last time I attended a recital there (at the Philharmonie de Paris, Murray Perahia giving a transcendent rendition of the Hammerklavier Sonata), me and a few others went backstage afterwards to congratulate the artist. It didn't take more than 20 minutes, but it was apparently long enough for every other single soul to have eerily evaporated from the premises; wardrobe was already closed and a guard was waiting for us rather impatiently at the exit door - locking it the moment we stepped outside. This would never happen in Greece or Italy! 😁

[Florestan]

Thanks! Last time I attended a recital there (at the Philharmonie de Paris, Murray Perahia giving a transcendent rendition of the Hammerklavier Sonata), me and a few others went backstage afterwards to congratulate the artist. It didn't take more than 20 minutes, but it was apparently long enough for every other single soul to have eerily evaporated from the premises; wardrobe was already closed and a guard was waiting for us rather impatiently at the exit door - locking it the moment we stepped outside. This would never happen in Greece or Italy! 😁

What would never happen in Greece or Italy? The guard waiting for you, albeit impatiently, or the audience leaving the house so quickly?

[Wanderer]

What would never happen in Greece or Italy? The guard waiting for you, albeit impatiently, or the audience leaving the house so quickly?

The audience disappearing so abruptly. In Athens, even 30' or 45' after the end of a concert people are still hanging in the building and around the entrance chatting, finalizing dinner plans, waiting for friends in order to continue with their evening. Totally different vibe. I saw the same thing in Naples and (in a somewhat lesser degree) in Rome. I guess it makes sense since in our parts of the world weather is nicer and restaurants don't close early.

[Wanderer]

The guard waiting for you

The guard waiting for us, keys in hand, means we were the very last ones to exit the premises. Most lights had already been put out and there were no other members of the audience to be seen. All this at around 10:00 pm. I found it quite surreal. 

[Florestan]

The audience disappearing so abruptly. In Athens, even 30' or 45' after the end of a concert people are still hanging in the building and around the entrance chatting, finalizing dinner plans, waiting for friends in order to continue with their evening. Totally different vibe. I saw the same thing in Naples and (in a somewhat lesser degree) in Rome. I guess it makes sense since in our parts of the world weather is nicer and restaurants don't close early.

I guessed that much but wanted to be sure. In Romania it's the same, it takes at least a full half hour for the whole audience to leave, and in winter much more, as we queue up to retrieve our coats from the wardrobe. This, for symphonic concerts. At the opera house it takes even more time, the hall being larger. And yes, probably three quarters of the people leaving a concert or an opera go to restaurants and pubs. So the vibe is familiar to me.

[Florestan]

The guard waiting for us, keys in hand, means we were the very last ones to exit the premises. Most lights had already been put out and there were no other members of the audience to be seen. All this at around 10:00 pm. I found it quite surreal. 

And all this in Paris! Rossini and Meyerbeer must be rolling in their graves. 

[Cato]

Last Saturday we attended a Mahler VIII concert at the Cincinnati May Festival.

It was the 150th Anniversary of the festival, and they wanted a BIG work to celebrate it.

Of interest was the presence of the great James Conlon as the conductor: he was asked to "pinch-hit" for Juanjo Mena, who had to cancel at the last minute. 

James Conlon had been the festival's director for 36 years, so when he appeared, the applause was more than grateful.

The performance was incredible: the clarity of the lines was brought out, the singers were not overwhelmed by the choruses of nearly 400 people, the extra brass in the balcony (I was able to talk with some of them: graduate students from local universities e.g. Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and the University of Kentucky), and the children's choir - also in the balcony - were extremely good.

The audience nearly gave a standing ovation after the First Movement!  And after the final bars, with that leaping major ninth in the trumpets, there was an instant roaring standing ovation which went on for ten minutes.

And there was a sing-along encore: Handel's Hallelujah Chorus!

Of interest was Mrs. Cato's opinion on whether she preferred this over Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, which we had heard in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa Pekka Salonen.

She chose Schoenberg!  For her, the dramatic story in the Gurrelieder and the music in general seemed more attractive.  To be sure, the Mahler Eighth experience was quite fine, but the Gurrelieder was better.

I would say it was a tie! 

[ultralinear]

Tonight a program with the title Yiddish Cabaret:

Schulhoff 5 Pieces for String Quartet
Desyatnikov Yiddish - 5 songs for voice and string quartet
Korngold String Quartet No.2

Jerusalem Quartet
Hila Baggio soprano

There's already a CD of this:

[Cato]

Tonight a program with the title Yiddish Cabaret:

Schulhoff 5 Pieces for String Quartet
Desyatnikov Yiddish - 5 songs for voice and string quartet
Korngold String Quartet No.2

Jerusalem Quartet
Hila Baggio soprano

There's already a CD of this:

Excellent!

Of interest was the presence of the great James Conlon as the conductor: he was asked to "pinch-hit" for Juanjo Mena, who had to cancel at the last minute. 

James Conlon had been the festival's director for 36 years, so when he appeared, the applause was more than grateful.

If you do not know James Conlon's recordings of the works of Alexander Zemlinsky, then you are missing some wonderful music!

[ultralinear]

Of interest was Mrs. Cato's opinion on whether she preferred this over Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, which we had heard in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa Pekka Salonen.

Was that in 2018?  We were at that!

[Cato]

Was that in 2018?  We were at that!

Yes!  A trip to London (and Bath and Stonehenge) was our 40th Anniversary present to ourselves!  The concert was a great part of it!   

Do you remember the tenor's name?  Do you agree he was not the Heldentenor one expects?

[ultralinear]

Yes!  A trip to London (and Bath and Stonehenge) was our 40th Anniversary present to ourselves!  The concert was a great part of it! 

Do you remember the tenor's name?  Do you agree he was not the Heldentenor one expects?

TBH I don't remember.   And I don't keep old programmes any more.  But this review names him as Robert Dean Smith, and seems to find virtue in "the reedy spread of his Heldentenor tone", so I guess you weren't the only one to notice it!

[Cato]

TBH I don't remember.   And I don't keep old programmes any more.  But this review names him as Robert Dean Smith, and seems to find virtue in "the reedy spread of his Heldentenor tone", so I guess you weren't the only one to notice it!

Many thanks for that link!

Concerning actress Barbara Sukowa: I first heard her as the Sprecherin on the DGG CD from 1995 with Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic.

Her interpretation was a shock back then, and some reviews claimed it ruined the entire work.  Certainly if one knows the 1980's performance with the amazing Hans Hotter on London/Decca with Riccardo Chailly conducting, Brigitte Fassbaender absolutely the best "Wood-Dove" ever, and also featuring Siegfried Jerusalem, Sukowa's interpretation seems ironically (and perhaps unintentionally?) comical.

But she has found a role which she has performed many times now, so...some people must like it!

 

[brewski]

Last Saturday we attended a Mahler VIII concert at the Cincinnati May Festival.

It was the 150th Anniversary of the festival, and they wanted a BIG work to celebrate it.

Of interest was the presence of the great James Conlon as the conductor: he was asked to "pinch-hit" for Juanjo Mena, who had to cancel at the last minute. 

I listened online—spectacular! And how lucky you are to have been there. (Didn't really need the Handel encore, but I gather it's a festival tradition.) Anyway, the broadcast confirmed all your comments. Excellent soloists, too. I hope they will post the recording for a few days; it would be nice to revisit.

-Bruce

[Cato]

I listened online—spectacular! And how lucky you are to have been there. (Didn't really need the Handel encore, but I gather it's a festival tradition.) Anyway, the broadcast confirmed all your comments. Excellent soloists, too. I hope they will post the recording for a few days; it would be nice to revisit.

-Bruce

Great to know that you were there via the miracle of modern technology! 

I should mention the Tenor: Barry Banks.  He must be about 4' 10," but do not judge his abilities by his height!  His voice is full and he had no problems projecting over the forces around him!  Excellent performance!

Here he is with a baritone named Stephen Powell: