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

[bhodges]

On Saturday night (7:30 EDT), the Peabody Symphony Orchestra with conductor Joseph Young, in a new piece by the chair of the school's composition faculty, followed by a favorite Shostakovich symphony. The concert will be livestreamed free, at the link below.

Oscar Bettison (b. 1975) - Hellion Binge of Joy (World Premiere)
Commissioned by Peabody in honor of the 150th anniversary of the composition department
Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10 in E minor

https://peabody.jhu.edu/live/

--Bruce

[Wanderer]

Tomorrow, another changed program:

Daniel Kidane Be Still
Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 2
Nielsen Symphony No 4, 'Inextinguishable'

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Jukka-Pekka Saraste conductor
Denis Kozhukhin piano

This was supposed to be Lugansky playing Medtner.  Then last week:

Such a missed opportunity for the superb Medtner concerto... 😕
The Prokofiev 2 is a worthy replacement, but not exactly rare in the concert hall.
In any case, enjoy the music!

[vandermolen]

On Sunday evening - next to the school where I work:
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/mayfield/st-dunstans-church/vaughan-williams-orchestral-concert-southbank-sinfonia/e-ampvpj

Not my favourite VW as I dislike the Wasps and have heard enough of the Lark Ascending but good to hear Tallis and Symphony No.5. Even my wife might enjoy this one. Being a teacher at the nearby school I get a free ticket 

[Mirror Image]

Tomorrow night, an all Richard Strauss program:

Don Juan
Burleske
Also sprach Zarathustra

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Andris Nelsons conductor
Rudolf Buchbinder piano

Nelsons' much-anticipated "Strauss Project" seems to have turned into a bit of a disaster.  The first two concerts, featuring the Gewandhausorchester, were so poorly subscribed that they ended up flogging off tickets at half price.  While the remaining concerts with the Boston Symphony have been cancelled outright.  (So no Alpensinfonie...)

I love Strauss as any GMG member would know (or should know) by now, but Andris Nelsons is not a conductor I'm particularly impressed with, but perhaps the marketing for this particular project hasn't been warmly received, because he doesn't elicit the kind of response many other conductors like Salonen seems to.

[Mirror Image]

You may well be right - I have mixed feelings toward Nelsons myself, liking his Shostakovich better than his Bruckner, for example.  However it also seems to be the case that something has happened to the London audience - the excellent concert I went to last Friday was no more than a quarter full - and there is no way they can keep going at that rate.  I suspect the cost-of-living crisis has a lot to do with it, particularly amongst a core (older) section of the concert-going public.

Yes, indeed. It doesn't speak well of our current classical climate. I hope the UK can pull through this current disaster. There is such a long classical tradition there, especially in England, so my hope is things will only get better.

[DavidUK]

Aurora Orchestra at Saffron Hall.  Shostakovich Violin Concerto, Beethoven 5th Symphony from memory.
London Mozart Players at Thaxted Church.  Mozart Symphony 25. Shostakovich Piano Concerto 2.  Schubert Symphony 5.
Kings College London Choir with English Chamber Orchestra at Thaxted Church.  Vaughan Williams G Minor Mass.  Parry Songs of Farewell.  Holst Cloud Messenger.

[ritter]

Just bought tickets for next month to see Honegger's and Claudel's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the Teatro Real here in Madrid. Marion Cotillard plays Joan, the conductor is Juanjo Mena, and the staging (unfortunately, as I usually dislike his work) ) is by Alex Ollé of La Fura dels Baus. The Honegger work will be preceded, in lieu of a prologue, by Debussy's La Damoiselle élue (staged as well?), sung by Camilla Tilling and Enkelejda Shkosa.

[Wanderer]

Just bought tickets for next month to see Honegger's and Claudel's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the Teatro Real here in Madrid. Marion Cotillard plays Joan, the conductor is Juanjo Mena, and the staging (unfortunately, as I usually dislike his work) ) is by Alex Ollé of La Fura dels Baus. The Honegger work will be preceded, in lieu of a prologue, by Debussy's La Damoiselle élue (staged as well?), sung by Camilla Tilling and Enkelejda Shkosa.

l'll attend this, as well, on 8 June. I'm not very fond of Marion Cotillard's portrayal of the role in the Soustrot recording, however this is a favourite work that one doesn't get the chance to hear live every day. And I am really looking forward to the ondes Martenot contributions. 😎

Equipo artístico
Director musical | Juanjo Mena
Director de escena | Àlex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus)
Escenógrafo | Alfons Flores
Figurinista | Lluc Castells
Videocreador | Franc Aleu
Iluminador | Joachim Klein
Director del coro | Andrés Máspero

Reparto
Jeanne d' Arc | Marion Cotillard
Padre Dominique | Sébastien Dutrieux
La Virgen | Sylvia Schwartz
Marguerite | Elena Copons
Catherine | Enkelejda Shkoza
Porcus | Charles Workman
Heraldo | Torben Jügens

PRÓLOGO

LA DAMOISELLE ÉLUE
La doncella bienaventurada
Claude Debussy
Cantata sobre el poema La doncella bienaventurada (1847) de Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Música de Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Estrenada en la Salle Érand de París el 8 de abril de 1893

Estreno en el Teatro Real

Nueva producción del Teatro Real, en coproducción con la Ópera de Frankfurt

Reparto
Soprano | Camilla Tilling
Mezzosoprano | Enkelejda Shkosa
Coro y Orquesta Titulares del Teatro Real
Pequeños Cantores de la Comunidad de Madrid

[SimonNZ]

Learned too late that Rautavaara's Angel Of Light symphony was being performed in town tonight.

[Iota]

Just bought tickets for next month to see Honegger's and Claudel's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the Teatro Real here in Madrid. Marion Cotillard plays Joan, the conductor is Juanjo Mena, and the staging (unfortunately, as I usually dislike his work) ) is by Alex Ollé of La Fura dels Baus. The Honegger work will be preceded, in lieu of a prologue, by Debussy's La Damoiselle élue (staged as well?), sung by Camilla Tilling and Enkelejda Shkosa.

That sounds very appealing!

[ritter]

l'll attend this, as well, on 8 June...

Great. I'll be going on Sunday the 12th. If you have time for a drink while you're in Madrid, just send a PM. 

Best,

Rafael

[bhodges]

On Sunday at 3pm (EDT), the excellent pianist George Li in a recital from the New England Conservatory:

Debussy | Preludes, Book II
Chopin | Twenty-four Preludes, op. 28

Livestream here:
https://necmusic.edu/events/recital-george-li-22-ad-piano

--Bruce

[Wanderer]

Great. I'll be going on Sunday the 12th. If you have time for a drink while you're in Madrid, just send a PM. 

Best,

Rafael

Splendid. Will do! 🍻

[Mapman]

I just attended the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's performance of Beethoven's 9th. I'm glad I finally got to see it live! Some moments in the 3rd movement sounded almost like Mahler.

[Mirror Image]

This week at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, a double bill of:

Stravinsky  Mavra
Schoenberg  Pierrot Lunaire

Britten Sinfonia
Michael Papadopoulos conductor

I don't recall ever seeing Mavra even on a concert bill, let alone a staged production.  Really looking forward to this one.

Who are you vocalists?

[Mirror Image]

Mavra

Parasha: April Koyejo-Audiger
The Hussar/Mavra: Egor Zhuravskii
The Mother: Sarah Pring
Neighbour: Idunnu Münch

Pierrot Lunaire

Pierrot: Alexandra Lowe

These are not names that mean anything to me.  I suspect they are young artists just coming through.  The production is in the studio theatre rather than on the main stage.  I've seen a couple of newspaper reviews which sounded pretty positive, particularly about the standard of the singing.

Yeah, I never heard any of them. Thanks for the info!

[Judith]

Yesterday evening  went to see local orchestra

Leeds Symphony Orchestra 

Performing

La Calinda  Delius
Piano Concerto in F  Gershwin 
Symphonic Dances. Rachmaninov 


Soloist  Alex Norton
Conductor  John Lyon


Very enjoyable and interesting repertoire 

[Mapman]

I saw the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with their music director Jader Bignamini and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.


CARLOS SIMON: Fate Now Conquers
MAURICE RAVEL: Concerto in G major for Piano and Orchestra
RICHARD STRAUSS: Don Quixote, Op. 35

In a few weeks, the season ends with Wynton Marsalis' Blues Symphony, and Gil Shaham playing the Barber concerto!

[Mirror Image]

I saw the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with their music director Jader Bignamini and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.


CARLOS SIMON: Fate Now Conquers
MAURICE RAVEL: Concerto in G major for Piano and Orchestra
RICHARD STRAUSS: Don Quixote, Op. 35

In a few weeks, the season ends with Wynton Marsalis' Blues Symphony, and Gil Shaham playing the Barber concerto!

It's good to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is still around. Is the quality of life in the city improving and businesses beginning to come back?

[Mapman]

It's good to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is still around. Is the quality of life in the city improving and businesses beginning to come back?

I don't spend a lot of time in Detroit (and only went there for the first time a few years ago), but they clearly have redeveloped much of the downtown area. Jader Bignamini doesn't have the name recognition of the previous music directors, but the musicians wanted him, and in my opinion the musicians play better with him than with the guest conductors. The DSO has also done a great job of performing both new and neglected music. They also still bring in lots of famous guests. For anyone who likes streaming, the DSO lets you watch past concerts online for free: https://www.dso.org/watch-listen-and-connect/watch-online. There are also some unexpected surprises: last December, the performance of Beethoven's violin concerto used cadenzas by Schnittke!