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

[king ubu]

Ha, checking again, two of the soloists, including Orgonasova, have changed - both nights (Thu/Fri) sold out. Now it is:

Corinne Winters soprano
Marianna Pizzolato mezzo-soprano
Michael Spyres tenor
François Lis bass

It was shattering ... devastating. Truly outstanding! And it wasn't Lis who sang the bass part but Tareq Nazmi. The choir is almost frighteningly good, and the orchestra was there, giving Gardiner what he wanted - bleak, no vibrato and stuff, playing the gamut from true pianissimo (sitting front row I could actually hear some of the violins struggle here and there, losing their tone, so low they went) to a screaming fff (the choir, btw., did the same: from whisper to scream) ... the four soloists where stunning, all of them, and it was at the same hard to bear and almost unbelievable that this was really happening. Could easily end up as concert of the year, I think!

Corinne Winters, I found out later, is singing Violetta Valéry in Basel and I just bought one of the few remaining tickets for sometime in February ... gotta hear that, too! Never saw "La Traviata" yet and the production got fine reviews, so I'm looking forward to that!

But first, it will be Paavo Järvi and Viktoria Mullova with the Estonian Chamber Orchestra tonight! Pärt, Shosti #6 and Sibelius ... should be good, and it's the third consecutive night that Tonhalle is sold-out - a rather rare thing to happen, and a great success in the light of the acceptance of the interim hall (which offers less seats than the old hall that is being renovated during this and the two following seasons, thus including 2019/20, when Järvi will take over from Lionel Bringuier), which is actually located in a part of Zurich that probably 90% of the Tonhalle visitors never went to before (there's some theatres, music clubs - including the town's best jazz club - and more there, but little high-brow and stiff-upper-lip stuff).

[king ubu]

Estonian Festival Orchestra
Paavo Järvi
Viktoria Mullova violin

Arvo Pärt "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten"
Jean Sibelius Violinkonzert d-Moll op. 47
--
Arvo Pärt "Fratres" für Streichorchester und Schlagzeug
Dmitri Schostakowitsch Sinfonie Nr. 6 h-Moll op. 54

Again totally wowed from last night's concert! You may make fun of Paavo with no end, but what he made the Estonian Festival Orchestra deliver last night was simply outstanding. They had all the dynamics and punch that you could wish for, going from a ppp to fff and playing with conviction all the time. As this is the 100 years of Estonia tour, there was some secretary who held a short speech after Ilona Schmiel, the director of Tonhalle, said a few words ... could have been much worse.

Pärt's Cantus that started the procedures was very nice in the way it set the mood - I totally lost any sense of time and the seven minutes mentioned in the printed programme went by in a whim. Then they had to reshuffle chairs, fifes and drums had to get onto the stage ... and Mullova, too, of course. The way she started the Sibelius made it sound like one of the grand romantic concertos - which irritated me more than just a bit, regardless of her excellent playing. This changed a bit as the second movement came on and I guess all notions of romanticism were wiped away in the final movement, latest, so maybe that was the concept? Didn't convince me entirely, but still quite thrilling to see Mullova play in concert. Mullova did the usual Bach encore, didn't try to track down what movement of which sonata (or partita) it was, but one of the quiet/melodic/slow ones it was, guess Sibelius' danse macabre was enough show-offery.

After a much too long break (there were many international guests in the audience, including what looked like official delegations and stuff - obviously with the secretary being in da house - so they had to drink bubbly stuff and all that and chit-chat, I guess ...) - either way, eventually they did com back, and this time - good idea! - the full orchestra was up on stage, although the second Pärt again was for strings and one drummer (the first was for strings and a bell). Again, the roughly 12 minutes went over in a whim ... obviously this is pleasant stuff anyway, so you do wonder why it doesn't get performed regularly. Then they geared up for the Shostakovich, and that was just outstanding! As with the fifth that I recently heard with Currentzis and the Tonhalle Orchestra, it was my first listen, so I'm really not too deeply into Shostakovich's music yet, but this was an amazing, gripping and most intense performance. Järvi tried to not have people cough and just go on with tiny breaks, but you can't really do that in winter (plus one of the first violins was sneezing her nose audibly during the Pärt, too ... ouch - that's the bad part about sitting front row, you hear shoes shuffling on the podium and stuff, but then mostly you are amongst people there for the music, not for the socialite crap). Either way, huge applause, standing ovation eventually, and two charming encores (I think the first one - heavily featuring the clarinet again, that dude had been busy in the final movement of the symphony already - from one of the Jazz Suites, second probably - so someone said when we left the hall - a piece by Grieg).

Now two days without live music - how will I survive? 

[André]

Great concert, Ubu ! Wish I had been there... The Tonhalle's acoustics are quite famous, I hear.

Next Tuesday I will meet with friends and we'll compare versions of the 6th. Paavo's version will be on the playlist. Sure doesn't beat attending the concert, of course  .

[king ubu]

Great concert, Ubu ! Wish I had been there... The Tonhalle's acoustics are quite famous, I hear.

Next Tuesday I will meet with friends and we'll compare versions of the 6th. Paavo's version will be on the playlist. Sure doesn't beat attending the concert, of course  .

I think I won't get the alpha disc ... the concert will be unbeatable I bet! 

The Tonhalle is being re-built ... it's famous for a warm "Mischklang" were everything melds together nicely (and thus it's horrible for the dreadfully expensive jazz concerts also taking part there, if you a drum kit on stage and someone working them cymbals, then forget it ...) ... so for this and the two following seasons (this is the final with Bringuier, I think, next one they'll be without chief conductor then, and 2019/20 will be Järvi's first, knocking on wood) they're playing at Tonhalle-Maag in a different part of the town that usually attracts young people and urban hipsters, not elderly people dressing up in their best (but often outdated) clothes ... the acoustic of this new hall was done by Müller-BBM and is very different: it's crystal clear, you hear even the slightest disharmony or sloppiness in phrasing (with some chamber/HIP ensembles I think I could actually tell which of the three first violins flubbed a note - sitting front row as there aren't too many cheap seats, it's either first four rows or at the very back behind the stage, so front row was the obvious choice, and I've been through Bruckner's eighth there and even that sounded pretty good).

This hall was built into an old industrial building in an area that will probably be re-built, it seems there are some plans and stuff (it'll be either offices or apartments for the rich, who tend to love the fancy trend parts of cities until they realize they've driven away all the others ... ha!), so the hall will possibly not survive the three years, which is a real pity.

There are two pics on the website, and the concert hall is wonderful indeed - but the entrance, wardrobe, facilities are a mess (I bring my jacket inside by now as the queuing at the wardrobe goes forever and there's so little space there, it's a complete nuisance - yet even to just get out they won't let you use one of the emergency exits placed elsewhere) - anyway, click to enlarge:



Photos by Hannes Henz, taken from the website: http://tonhalle-maag.ch/home-tm/veranstalter/der-saal/

[André]

Seems beautiful - love the light wood colour. But the ceiling hangs quite low, I would have thought it would make for a reverberant sound, but you mention it's crystal clear instead. The proportions remind me of Munich's Herkulessaal.

Montreal's hall looks somewhat similar - with a higher ceiling:

[king ubu]

Seems beautiful - love the light wood colour. But the ceiling hangs quite low, I would have thought it would make for a reverberant sound, but you mention it's crystal clear instead.

It's indeed not that hight - the specifics are listed on the website, too:

Breite (width): 22,5 m
Länge (length): 43,2 m
Höhe (height): 11,2 m
Fläche (surface area): 946 m2

Sitze Parkett (seats on floor): 784
Sitze Galerie (seats on gallery): 440
Bestuhlung total (seats total): 1224

Grosse Bühne/Bühnenmasse (size/volume of stage area): 18,4 x 10,8 m = 185 m2

This makes it several hundred seats smaller than the actual Tonhalle hall ... they still haven't sold out before I think (other than twice Gardiner and now Järvi), but as I mentioned, many of the regulars would not frequent the part of Zurich it's located now and I guess they lost plenty of subscribers (they won me as a new subscribers as the fewer seats meant higher ticket prices, and as a subscriber you get some deductions, so ...)

I've not heard classical concerts in many halls, so I can't really make too many comparisons. The ones beyond Zurich that I've been to are the fabulous one in Lucerne, which has a brilliant acoustic too, where it doesn't matter too much where you sit ... or actually - I guess that's quite often the case when singing is involved, you're better off on a cheaper seat on a high balcony near the stage than downstairs on the floor ...) - then I was at the auditorio of the Milan conservatory with GioCar a couple of times, about a year ago, and around the same time at the concert hall of the RAI building in Torino ... and I've been to some theaters other than Zurich opera as well, but that's a different topic, I guess).

[TheGSMoeller]

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Nashville Symphony
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, conductor/violin
Enrico Lopez-Yañez, conductor

PROGRAM
Ellen Taffe Zwilich ­– Prologue and Variations
Philip Glass – Symphony No. 3
Michael Daugherty – Strut
Piazzolla/Desyatnikov – Winter from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Vivaldi – Winter from The Four Seasons

An interesting program, and a nice mix of genres. Of course the Glass is a highlight for me, and I'm a fan of this work from Daugherty. It just so happens that Winter is my favorite from Vivaldi's Seasons, and my favorite movement from Piazzolla's. Not to mention getting a chance to see Salerno-Sonnenberg perform is exciting.

[Pat B]

Gil Shaham was fantastic.  If you (anyone) get a chance to see him perform, I urge you to do so — unless you prefer violinists who stand still.

[Mirror Image]

Gil Shaham was fantastic.  If you (anyone) get a chance to see him perform, I urge you to do so — unless you prefer violinists who stand still.

Gil Shaham's tone is absolutely exquisite. I've always admired his playing. You're fortunate to have been able to see him in concert.

[Pat B]

Gil Shaham's tone is absolutely exquisite. I've always admired his playing. You're fortunate to have been able to see him in concert.

Yes. I think the whole audience was appreciative, based on the long standing ovation they gave him... after the first movement. (He took it completely in stride.)

[bhodges]

Tomorrow and Wednesday, two concerts with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra. I don't know the Haydn at all.

Johannes Maria Staud: Stromab ("Downstream")
Mahler: Symphony No. 9

Haydn: The Seasons

--Bruce

[Judith]

Just been to an amazing concert last night with Joshua Bell and ASMF.

Vivaldi Four Seasons
Edgar Meyer Overture for Violin& Orchestra
Beethoven Symphony no 2.

Met Joshua afterwards. Got two autographs and  a photo taken with him.  He was really nice.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Well, I saw La Traviata last night and it was just the experience I needed. The opera had much more beautiful parts now than I had before noticed. I had forgotten how great the prelude was.

[arpeggio]

Today is my wife's and mine 48th wedding anniversary.  As a anniversary gift she got tickets for the March 6th concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Strathmore.  They will be performing the Shostakovitch Seventh Symphony.

[Pat B]

Today is my wife's and mine 48th wedding anniversary.  As a anniversary gift she got tickets for the March 6th concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Strathmore.  They will be performing the Shostakovitch Seventh Symphony.

Happy anniversary / congratulations!

[André]

Happy anniversary / congratulations!

+1. 

[listener]

tomorrow (continued from another thread)  BERLIOZ "Fantastic", R. STRAUSS Oboe Concerto
Vancouver S.O. and Youth Orchestra  160 players, some off-stage  -  here's a picture from today's rehearsal

[NikF]

Gorecki: Three Pieces in Olden Style
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No.1

Michał Nesterowicz: Conductor
Esther Yoo: Violin
Royal Philharmonic

I haven't heard the Gorecki. Or in fact, any Gorecki, I think.

The following evening it's the Royal ballet, with Sarah Lamb dancing Manon. Osipova is in the role for a couple of performances, but I won't be in London then and don't want to make two trips. Having said that, the tickets aren't on sale until next(?) week so there's every chance I'll change my mind.

[Mirror Image]

Gorecki: Three Pieces in Olden Style
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No.1

Michał Nesterowicz: Conductor
Esther Yoo: Violin
Royal Philharmonic

I haven't heard the Gorecki. Or in fact, any Gorecki, I think.

The following evening it's the Royal ballet, with Sarah Lamb dancing Manon. Osipova is in the role for a couple of performances, but I won't be in London then and don't want to make two trips. Having said that, the tickets aren't on sale until next(?) week so there's every chance I'll change my mind.

That Gorecki work is quite nice indeed. Of course, the Brahms and Sibelius are well-known masterpieces.

[NikF]

That Gorecki work is quite nice indeed. Of course, the Brahms and Sibelius are well-known masterpieces.

That's good to know.

When there's a concert featuring a work or composer I'm unfamiliar with I'm usually in two minds about how to approach it. Have a listen beforehand? Or leave it until the performance and be surprised? Most often it's the latter. I remember one concert that featured Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde' (which I knew) and Mozart's oboe concerto, but the first piece was Matthias Pintscher's 'Idyll' - and surprise doesn't really cover that!

In any case, I'll look forward to the Gorecki.