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

[Judith]

Yesterday evening went to see

Endellion String Quartet

Performing

Haydn
String Quartet in B Flat major no 4 (sunrise) opus 76

Tippett
String Quartet no 2 in F sharp

Beethoven
String Quartet in E minor no 2 (Razumovsky

Second time I have seen this wonderful Quartet live and they gave a lovely performance.

[Ainsi la nuit]

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra announced their season 2018-19 today, and there are quite a lot of interesting concerts coming up!

The main theme of next season is Mahler, and the orchestra is playing all of his symphonies. A part of me feels a bit conflicted, because I do sometimes think that orchestras overplay Mahler these days a little bit; however, he's my favourite composer, so I wont complain any further. I'm very sad to say that, despite claiming to play all of the symphonies, the orchestra is going to present only the first movement of the tenth. While I can understand the decision, I still think that it's silly to leave a very substantial score out of the survey. Besides, they're doing Bartók's viola concerto as well, and that work is much more unfinished than Mahler's 10th... Oh well, at least I'll get to hear the magnificent 8th live for the first time! Das Lied von der Erde didn't make the programme either, but I heard it this season so I can live with that.

Apart from Mahler I'm very excited to hear a lot of Lutosławski: 2nd and third symphonies plus the piano concerto. What fun! I heard the 1st and 4th symphonies (with the Jeux vénitiens and the Partita for violin and orchestra) this season and have been enjoying hearing the composer's work - one of my very favourites! - a lot.

I'm also hearing works like Prokofiev 2nd symphony, Dutilleux L'arbre des songes and Webern's Symphony - all of which I love dearly. András Schiff is making an appearance, which is always fun. From the piano superstar side, it'll be quite interesting to witness Evgeni Kissin and Yuja Wang live for the first time. The season is finished with quite an extreme stunt: Stephen Hough plays all five of Beethoven's piano concertos in two consecutive nights and records them as well.

On Friday I will find out what the Helsinki Philharmonic - the other "big" orchestra in Helsinki - is up to next season...

[knight66]

This week, Tuesday I was rehearsing the Mahler 8th for the Edinburgh Festiva in August. On Saturday I am joining in on a come sing Carmina Burana, afternoon rehearsal and evening performance. I should think it will be rough and ready, but intended to be fun and allow anyone who wants to to sing in the event.

Sunday is a Mahler 2, attending, not performing. The performers are Symphony with Bruckner Orchester Linz, Leeds Philharmonicl Chorus and Markus Poschner as conductor.

Mike

[Draško]

Later tonight, another very classic night (but actually neither of the pieces I've heard live in years):

Borodin - Polovtsian Dances
Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto
Stravinsky - Rite of Spring

Benjamin Schmid (violin)
Belgrade Philharmonic
Gabriel Feltz (cond.)

[André]

Last night Augustin Hadelich played that same Tchaikovsky concerto. He was standing in for Hilary Hahn who, being with child (no 2) could not be in town. Hadelich has been named 2018 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America. Our own Bruce penned an article on him earlier this year  . The Tchaikovsky concerto was the odd man out among the woks programmed, and it was probably a good decision considering the other works' difficulty. Hadelich's intensity was startling. This is the first time I witness a standing ovation after the first movement of a concerto. Frankly, it was well-deserved. Hadelich is a champion of new, modern works, but choosing one would have been quite a gamble.

Jon Leif's Geysir was the concert opener. It was a splendid affair. I noticed that, compared to the Iceland Symphony in the BIS recording, the balances were quite different. Lots more strings, a more 'symphonic' sound altogether. Two side rooms offstage accomodated some of the huge percussion contingent. Klami's Aurora borealis is said to be the composer's favourite work. I prefer the Karelian Rhapsody or the Kalevala Suite. Ravelian and stravinskian influences can be detected, but it's a bona fide 'nordic' work. The Sibelius symphony was given an intense, rhapsodic but swift interpretation. No dawdling or underlining à la Lenny here. I last heard the work in concert 40 years ago, and it was a different experience. Huge ovation for the conductor, who was visibly touched by the marks of appreciation.

Conductor John Storgårds is a Finn. I had always thought he was swedish  . He cuts a very businesslike figure and conducts with energy, but with no extraneous gestures. Much to my surprise, the house was packed to the rafters. I was under the impression that the unusual programme would have kept some from choosing this concert, but no.

[André]

Later tonight, another very classic night (but actually neither of the pieces I've heard live in years):

Borodin - Polovtsian Dances
Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto
Stravinsky - Rite of Spring

Benjamin Schmid (violin)
Belgrade Philharmonic
Gabriel Feltz (cond.)

I love Schmid. A musician's musician. Please report on the concert !

[bhodges]

Last night Augustin Hadelich played that same Tchaikovsky concerto. He was standing in for Hilary Hahn who, being with child (no 2) could not be in town. Hadelich has been named 2018 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America. Our own Bruce penned an article on him earlier this year  . The Tchaikovsky concerto was the odd man out among the woks programmed, and it was probably a good decision considering the other works' difficulty. Hadelich's intensity was startling. This is the first time I witness a standing ovation after the first movement of a concerto. Frankly, it was well-deserved. Hadelich is a champion of new, modern works, but choosing one would have been quite a gamble.

Jon Leif's Geysir was the concert opener. It was a splendid affair. I noticed that, compared to the Iceland Symphony in the BIS recording, the balances were quite different. Lots more strings, a more 'symphonic' sound altogether. Two side rooms offstage accomodated some of the huge percussion contingent. Klami's Aurora borealis is said to be the composer's favourite work. I prefer the Karelian Rhapsody or the Kalevala Suite. Ravelian and stravinskian influences can be detected, but it's a bona fide 'nordic' work. The Sibelius symphony was given an intense, rhapsodic but swift interpretation. No dawdling or underlining à la Lenny here. I last heard the work in concert 40 years ago, and it was a different experience. Huge ovation for the conductor, who was visibly touched by the marks of appreciation.

Conductor John Storgårds is a Finn. I had always thought he was swedish  . He cuts a very businesslike figure and conducts with energy, but with no extraneous gestures. Much to my surprise, the house was packed to the rafters. I was under the impression that the unusual programme would have kept some from choosing this concert, but no.

Thanks for the report! (And for the kind citation, too -- I was really happy to have the chance to interview and write about him.) At this point, I would hear Hadelich in even the most mundane, overplayed repertoire. Last December he played the Beethoven Violin Concerto at Carnegie, which I felt compelled to hear, despite the fact that simultaneously, in nearby Zankel Hall (Carnegie's mid-sized venue, underground), Janine Jansen was with three stellar colleagues in Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. (Insert exasperated sigh here.) Well, I have never heard the Beethoven yield so much pleasure. It's not one of my favorites, but I was floored by his performance.

The rest of the concert sounds fantastic, too! Again, Leifs is just unknown here. I haven't heard the recording yet, but am prompted to give it a listen after your report -- acknowledging that it sounds like the concert was even better. PS, found this short 2009 article on Leifs by Alex Ross, which I had missed when it came out:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/alex-ross/the-life-of-leifs

--Bruce

[Ainsi la nuit]

And now for the Helsinki Philharmonic!

A lot of interesting stuff coming up: both symphonies by Elgar - a big thing here, they're very seldom played. I think the Helsinki Philharmonic has never played the second before! Vaughan Williams' 2nd symphony, Ives' 2nd, Barber's first - I'm happy that the orchestra is embracing Anglo-American symphonic repertoire! It's a shame though that there's no Carter or Birtwistle... There are also no less than four Shostakovich symphonies coming up, and I'm particularly excited about the 4th.

From a concerto point of view, Unsuk Chin's piano concerto is certainly going to be a highlight. Isabelle Faust, my favourite violinist, is coming back to play a concerto called Follow Me by the Czech composer Ondřej Adámek - it's bound to be interesting. But the biggest cause of celebration for me is the fact that the season's opening concert will include Schoenberg's piano concerto. I've been waiting to hear that live for so long, and now it's finally happening!

[Florestan]

Last Wednesday I attended a splendid piano recital by probably the best contemporary Romanian pianist, Horia Mihail (b. 1971, slightly older than me...)



W. A. Mozart - Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, KV 331/300i

Thw way he played it it sounded almost Schubertian in the first two movements while the alla turca final was a relentless romp toward the inexorable climax. My romantic self was delighted.

L. van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, op. 27/2,  "Moonlight"

Mournful and resigned first movement (if you ask me, the music works both for *lament* and *moonlight on lake* just as fine), fresh and youthfully innocent Allegretto and then, bang --- a Presto agitato which was exactly fast and agitated, and it suddenly occured to me (in a sort of Rellstab-like epiphany...  ) that this movement is a kind of Beethoven's Erlkönig: galopping away from eventually turns out to be galopping toward an inescapable fate. Am I mad?

R. Schumann - Kinderszenen, op. 15

As poetic as it gets all throughout, with a particularly charming Träumerei, a terrifying, devilish Fürchtenmachen and a resplendent, ecstatic Der Dichter spricht. (final notes spoiled by some coughs --- the culprits should have been hanged on the spot).

And then he almost literally brought down the house with

G. Enescu - Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major, op. 11/1  (piano transcription by the composer himself)

First time I heard this version live and, my oh my, what a showstopper it is! Some nuances and colors are inevitably lost in transcription but they are more than compensated for by the fiendishly difficult execution, and to watch Horia Mihail negotiating the most complex passages with committment and passion was absolutely exhilarating. (He played all works in the program without scores.)

Three standing ovations followed and despite the obvious physical exhaustion, he was kind enough to play an encore: Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor, Op. posth.

Superb. One of the best piano recitals I've ever attended.

[Florestan]

This is the first time I witness a standing ovation after the first movement of a concerto.

That's actually very much what one would have routinely witnessed some 200 years ago. 

Otoh, it's unthinkable here in Bucharest, where the most timid (and admittedly uninformed) applause after the first movement is shhh-shhh-shhh-ed immediately. 

I myself have mixed feelings about it: it annoys me, but then again if it's a genuine expression of enjoyment, why not?

[Draško]

I love Schmid. A musician's musician. Please report on the concert !

I haven't heard him before. Really an exquisite violinist. Not the biggest sound and not pyrotechnically inclined, but fantastic technique, seamless, flawless intonation. Silky, sweet-toned, very Viennese, Kreisler comes to mind, but less emotional. I would have thought that the Tchaikovsky wouldn't be his natural forte, but first two movements were fantastic: on the swift flowing side, with elegant, seamless (again) articulation. The finale was maybe more proficient than electric, but logically fitted what came before. I see he had recorded the Korngold, now that seems like match made in heaven, I'll have to get that.   

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Not really classical, but over the last few days I have been performing with Joe Hisaishi in his first concerts in Australia of his music for films by Hayao Miyazaki (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus). It has been absolutely wonderful. I have never seen the choir and orchestra so bubbly and excited in this way!

[Judith]

Yesterday evening went to see local orchestra
Sinfonia of Leeds conducted by Anthony Kraus

They did a wonderful performance of

Dvorak Carnival Overture
Sibelius The Swan of Tuonela
Janacek arr Mackerass Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen
Sibelius Symphony no 5

[Kontrapunctus]

I attended quite a nice concert last night:

Les Violons du Roy
Bernard Labadie, Founding Conductor
Isabelle Faust, Violin


BACH: Three Leipzig Chorales, BWV 651/660/655 (arr Labadie)

BACH: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 (arr Labadie)

BACH: Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042

BACH: Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041

BACH: Contrapunctus XIV from The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080 (completed by Davitt Moroney, arr by Labadie)

BACH: Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043 (2nd violinist was the concertmaster)

[NikF]

Haydn: Symphony No. 99

R. Strauss: Ich wollt ein Sträußlein binden; Säusle, liebe Myrte!; Amor; Morgen

Langgaard: Sfærernes Musik

Rowan Pierce - soprano
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Voices'
Thomas Dausgaard - conductor
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Initially I hadn't planned to attend this, but looking at it now and then ahead in my calendar there's no reason not to go. So two tickets have been bought.

[GioCar]

Next Saturday:

Filarmonica della Scala
Direttore   Christoph von Dohnányi
Pianoforte   Rudolf Buchbinder

PROGRAMMA

Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont, ouverture in fa min. op. 84
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto n. 22 in mi bem. magg. KV 482 per pianoforte e orchestra
(cadenze del primo e terzo movimento di Rudolf Buchbinder)

Johannes Brahms: Sinfonia n.3 in fa magg. op. 90



Not that I'm complaining, but I'd really like to see more adventurous programs at La Scala, at least just a bit...

[Roasted Swan]

I haven't heard him before...... I see he had recorded the Korngold, now that seems like match made in heaven, I'll have to get that.

The Schmid/live Korngold is excellent - you are exactly right his tone and musical temperament suit the music very well.  And good to have the VPO on hand to accompany.  Never been that crazy about Ozawa but here he seems on the button too.

[Draško]

The Schmid/live Korngold is excellent - you are exactly right his tone and musical temperament suit the music very well.  And good to have the VPO on hand to accompany.  Never been that crazy about Ozawa but here he seems on the button too.

It's on my shopping list. 

Next Friday, if I can make it.

Sibelius - The Oceanides
Martinu - Cello Concerto No.1
Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake (excerpts)

Alban Gerhardt (cello)
Belgrade Philharmonic
Uros Lajovic (cond)

[André]

Yesterday, the Toronto Symphony was in town (Montreal), under their Music Director Peter Oundjian. The program was slightly unbalanced, but there was no way to avoid it since the main offering was Anton Bruckner's mammoth 8th symphony in its original version (80+ minutes). The opening work was one of Mozart's slighter, simpler concertos (no 12), played by the nonagenarian Leon Fleisher. Oundjian addressed the audience (mostly in French) and told us that in the morning rehearsal Fleisher reminisced about his Montreal debut in 1942 (!!!) under Pierre Monteux. How's that for a pedigree !

It turns out that both works made a very big impression. The 12th concerto is quite deceptive in its intimate, low-key character. The piano part is probably not very difficult to play, but is still of substantial musical import. Fleisher is a master stroryteller, playing in a totally unflashy, almost deceptive way. Curiously, it's the pauses in the piano discourse that were the most telling feature of Fleisher's interpretation. The timing for each pause, silence, hesitation made me hang out to his every discreet gesture. An unexpected lesson in great artistry.

The 8th symphony was presented in the original version, the one with the loud ending in the first movement. Other salient departures from the more familiar definitive version include a totally different Trio in the second movement, a differently scored and gauged climax in the Adagio (6 cymbal clashes !) and a more diffuse ending to the Finale (a single C major chord instead of the peremptory downward arpeggio which 'nails' the coda so magnificently.

Oundjian is convinced that, had Bruckner not suffered from chronic self-doubt, he would have not changed a note to the symphony as he first composed it. It's the second time I hear it in concert, and I have half a dozen interpretations of that version on hand. It's certainly a very mighty and interesting score, but also a rambling and disconnected one. Ideas and paragraphs are strung together rather than growing organically from what has gone before, a collection of symphonic moments and gestures that never quite gels into a cohesive, satisfying symphonic form. Oundjian and the TSO made the most of it. It's certainly the best case I can dream of for the original version.

A word about the orchestra: Oundjian has shaped the string section into one of the most beautiful, pliant, cohesive ones I've heard. Absolutely wonderful. The trumpets and trombones too are immensely impressive: powerful yet mellifluous, assured, sonorous, unanimous in attack. Splendid. The percussions are quite good. Winds and horns are clearly not on the same level. Whether in quality of tone or decibels they made very little impression. The Montreal Symphony shines where the Toronto orchestra is weakest, and it offers a bolder, tighter sound too. I have a feeling that the Toronto string section clearly wins the day. I will certainly wait their next visit with high expectations.

[NikF]

Claude Debussy - Ibéria

Lili Boulanger - D'un matin de printemps

Cecil Coles - Behind the Lines

Claude Debussy - La mer

National Youth Symphony Orchestra - Part of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland Summer Tour.

I've heard of Boulanger without (I think) having heard any of her work. Cecil Coles is a new name to me.