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

[Karl Henning]

Although not this time, at some point my friend Aaron will play Henningmusick

[Christo]

Tomorrow, in my backyard: Australian Youth Orchestra under David Robertson:

• Sculthorpe - Earth Cry (with William Barton, digeridoo)
• Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto (with Christian Li)
• Rimsky-Korsakov - Sheherazade

[Der Schattenmann]

Tomorrow, in my backyard: Australian Youth Orchestra under David Robertson:

• Sculthorpe - Earth Cry (with William Barton, Digeridoo)
• Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto (with Christian Li)
• Rimsky-Korsakov - Sheherazade

Oh man! Sculthorpe! Too bad it's the version of Earth Cry with digeridoo. Anyway...enjoy!

[Christo]

Oh man! Sculthorpe! Too bad it's the version of Earth Cry with digeridoo. Anyway...enjoy!

The didgeridoo player, the famous William Barton, was one of the reasons I went to this concert. He put on a fantastic show, with two completely different didgeridoos, and Earth Cry came to life for me more than ever before. 

[Judith]

Another wonderful concert last Sunday afternoon.

Leeds Haydn Players

performing

Beethoven Leonore Overture III
Fauré Masques et bergamasques
Desmond Clarke (oboist in orchestra)
new commission Sinfonietta for small orchestra
Schumann Symphony no 4

Conductor Melvin Tay

[brewski]

Tomorrow night at 7:00 pm (18 July), this livestream from Brazil. Really looking forward to the Shostakovich, which doesn't show up that often.

Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de São Paulo
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
Simon Trpceski, piano
Gleb Peryazev, bass
Julia Korpacheva, soprano

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14

[ultralinear]

Mixed program in recital tonight:

Bartok		Out of Doors suite
Godowsky		Renaissance:     – Sarabande (after Rameau)     – Pastorale (after Corelli)     – Courante (after Loeillet)
Franck		Prélude, choral et fugue
Beethoven		12 Variations on the Russian Dance from Wranitzky's ballet Das Waldmädchen WoO.71
Prokofiev		Piano Sonata No.8

Roman Borisov  piano

[brewski]

Mixed program in recital tonight:

Bartok		Out of Doors suite
Godowsky		Renaissance:     – Sarabande (after Rameau)     – Pastorale (after Corelli)     – Courante (after Loeillet)
Franck		Prélude, choral et fugue
Beethoven		12 Variations on the Russian Dance from Wranitzky's ballet Das Waldmädchen WoO.71
Prokofiev		Piano Sonata No.8

Roman Borisov  piano

What an interesting lineup. Too bad they're not streaming it; I might tune in!

[ultralinear]

What an interesting lineup. Too bad they're not streaming it; I might tune in!

Shame they didn't stream it - I can't speak to the interpretations, but the technique was dazzling.  I'd certainly take any opportunity to hear him in performance, regardless of repertoire.

[ritter]

Just bought a ticket for the Proms concert on Friday night at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with Yazuki Yamada conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers.

I don't really care much for the first half of the programme, TBH (John Adam's The Chairman Dances and Rachmaninov's PC No. 4 --with Yunchan Lim as soloist) but, in the second part, we get.... Luciano Berio's Sinfonia! First time I'll be hearing this masterpiece live in concert! 

[brewski]

Just bought a ticket for the Proms concert on Friday night at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with Yazuki Yamada conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers.

I don't really care much for the first half of the programme, TBH (John Adam's The Chairman Dances and Rachmaninov's PC No. 4 --with Yunchan Lim as soloist) but, in the second part, we get.... Luciano Berio's Sinfonia! First time I'll be hearing this masterpiece live in concert! 

So cool! I like that they placed it last, as the finale. In the Berio thread, I posted an upcoming livestreamed performance in September, but as usual, Sinfonia is sandwiched in the middle. Will be interested in your report, not only of the music, but whether people stealthily tiptoe out at the interval.

In any case, have a great time.

[Mapman]

I'll probably go to this concert next week: Conrad Tao and others performing the Brahms Horn Trio.
https://www.machiasbaychamberconcerts.com/performances/current-details.php/2025-08-05-00-00-00-40/

[brewski]

It's almost two months away, but looking forward to this livestream from Cologne:

WDR Symphony Orchestra
Ingo Metzmacher, conductor

Helen Grime: Near Midnight (2012)
Mahler: Symphony No. 7

[ritter]

Just bought a ticket for the Proms concert on Friday night at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with Yazuki Yamada conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers.

I don't really care much for the first half of the programme, TBH (John Adam's The Chairman Dances and Rachmaninov's PC No. 4 --with Yunchan Lim as soloist) but, in the second part, we get.... Luciano Berio's Sinfonia! First time I'll be hearing this masterpiece live in concert! 

I very much enjoyed last night's concert.

The Chairman Dances is a well crafted, ambitious and likeable composition by a man who is in full command of orchestral techniques. To my ears, John Adams is the most interesting of the minimalist composers. Pity that the minimalist idiom as such is so lacking in real expressive power, and so facile to the ear.

Rachmaninov's PC4 is a curious piece, lacking in form and thematic development, and with a peculiar orchestration. It sounded Hollywoodesque to me, and at moments it would have worked perfectly as the soundtrack to a 1940s glamorous romantic drama starring Ingrid Bergman or Joan Crawford. At others, though, it sounded like a caricature of a romantic piano concerto, and it was the Marx Brothers who came to mind. But, the piano writing is actually quite beautiful, and was wonderfully performed with a glowing tone by the young Yunchan Lim. The anecdote is that during the first movement, an alarm in the Royal Albert Hall's gallery went off (it sounded rather distant, but was rather annoying, with a red light on the railing of the gallery flashing). Conductor Kazuki Yamada left the stage after the first movement, and only returned to continue the concert after the alarm had stopped some 5 minutes later.

The soloist gave an encore I could not identify, but presume was by Rachmaninov as well. TBH, the piece would not be out of place in the repertoire of the pianist of, e.g., the Rote Bar of the Sacher Hotel in Vienna. 

Berio's Sinfonia was very well performed, and the feeling of how the fifth movement (which was added by the composer  the year after the New York première) really is crucial to the work' structure was much more apparent in live concert than on disc.

[Iota]

I very much enjoyed last night's concert.

The Chairman Dances is a well crafted, ambitious and likeable composition by a man who is in full command of orchestral techniques. To my ears, John Adams is the most interesting of the minimalist composers. Pity that the minimalist idiom as such is so lacking in real expressive power, and so facile to the ear.

Rachmaninov's PC4 is a curious piece, lacking in form and thematic development, and with a peculiar orchestration. It sounded Hollywoodesque to me, and at moments it would have worked perfectly as the soundtrack to a 1940s glamorous romantic drama starring Ingrid Bergman or Joan Crawford. At others, though, it sounded like a caricature of a romantic piano concerto, and it was the Marx Brothers who came to mind. But, the piano writing is actually quite beautiful, and was wonderfully performed with a glowing tone by the young Yunchan Lim. The anecdote is that during the first movement, an alarm in the Royal Albert Hall's gallery went off (it sounded rather distant, but was rather annoying, with a red light on the railing of the gallery flashing). Conductor Kazuki Yamada left the stage after the first movement, and only returned to continue the concert after the alarm had stopped some 5 minutes later.

The soloist gave an encore I could not identify, but presume was by Rachmaninov as well. TBH, the piece would not be out of place in the repertoire of the pianist of, e.g., the Rote Bar of the Sacher Hotel in Vienna. 

Berio's Sinfonia was very well performed, and the feeling of how the fifth movement (which was added by the composer  the year after the New York première) really is crucial to the work' structure was much more apparent in live concert than on disc.

Great review! Thank you, I was rather hoping you might give your impressions of the concert.
 
I got back home yesterday in time to hear the Rachmaninov concerto live on the radio, and I agree Lim's sensibilities and technical flair seemed a perfect match with the music, and both emerged in a very good light. I know you're not fond of the Rachmaninov, but I agree with much of what you say. SR had made the US his home by this time and I guess the Hollywood influence was permeating his consciousness a fair bit. The encore was actually by Korngold, aligning with the theme of composers adopting America as their new home, but I found your assessment pretty spot on. Looking forward to catching up with Berio later.
The alarm could be heard on the radio too, I thought they picked up where they'd left off with great aplomb when they returned. 

[Florestan]

Rachmaninov's PC4 is a curious piece, lacking in form and thematic development, and with a peculiar orchestration. It sounded Hollywoodesque to me, and at moments it would have worked perfectly as the soundtrack to a 1940s glamorous romantic drama starring Ingrid Bergman or Joan Crawford. At others, though, it sounded like a caricature of a romantic piano concerto, and it was the Marx Brothers who came to mind. But, the piano writing is actually quite beautiful, and was wonderfully performed with a glowing tone by the young Yunchan Lim. The anecdote is that during the first movement, an alarm in the Royal Albert Hall's gallery went off (it sounded rather distant, but was rather annoying, with a red light on the railing of the gallery flashing). Conductor Kazuki Yamada left the stage after the first movement, and only returned to continue the concert after the alarm had stopped some 5 minutes later.

The soloist gave an encore I could not identify, but presume was by Rachmaninov as well. TBH, the piece would not be out of place in the repertoire of the pianist of, e.g., the Rote Bar of the Sacher Hotel in Vienna. 

Wish I was there...

[ritter]

Great review! Thank you, I was rather hoping you might give your impressions of the concert.

Thanks, Iota!

... The encore was actually by Korngold, aligning with the theme of composers adopting America as their new home, but I found your assessment pretty spot on...

Korngold, you say? Then it definitely would be at home in the Sacher Hotel!    Do you know what piece it was?

The alarm could be heard on the radio too, I thought they picked up where they'd left off with great aplomb when they returned. 

Indeed, they handled it very well. To avoid any confusion, I distinctly saw Maestro Yamada, after he returned to the podium, signal to the orchestra that they'd play the second movement (perhaps someone thought they'd repeat the first). The alarm was one of the building itself, not someone's phone or other extraneous source. I imagine some severe words were exchanged backstage!

[ritter]

@Iota, I think I've found the Korngold piece (it's an arrangement for solo piano of a duet from the stage work Die stumme Serenade[/i[]/b]).

Why anyone would line a piano the way it appears in that video beats me (unless they're Jeff Koons)..

[Iota]

Korngold, you say? Then it definitely would be at home in the Sacher Hotel!    Do you know what piece it was?

Yes I do know as it was mentioned on the radio, it was 'Schönste Nacht' from his operetta, Silent Serenade

Indeed, they handled it very well. To avoid any confusion, I distinctly saw Maestro Yamada, after he returned to the podium, signal to the orchestra that they'd play the second movement (perhaps someone thought they'd repeat the first). The alarm was one of the building itself, not someone's phone or other extraneous source. I imagine some severe words were exchanged backstage!

Haha, I had exactly the same thought. It's a highly embarrassing thing to happen, though from the sound of it everybody took it pretty well. The Proms crowd are generally a pretty friendly, accommodating lot in my experience (though I sense somebody would be taking their life in their own hands if they tried to push their way to the font rail of the promming area, past the regulars!  )

[brewski]

I very much enjoyed last night's concert.

The Chairman Dances is a well crafted, ambitious and likeable composition by a man who is in full command of orchestral techniques. To my ears, John Adams is the most interesting of the minimalist composers. Pity that the minimalist idiom as such is so lacking in real expressive power, and so facile to the ear.

Rachmaninov's PC4 is a curious piece, lacking in form and thematic development, and with a peculiar orchestration. It sounded Hollywoodesque to me, and at moments it would have worked perfectly as the soundtrack to a 1940s glamorous romantic drama starring Ingrid Bergman or Joan Crawford. At others, though, it sounded like a caricature of a romantic piano concerto, and it was the Marx Brothers who came to mind. But, the piano writing is actually quite beautiful, and was wonderfully performed with a glowing tone by the young Yunchan Lim. The anecdote is that during the first movement, an alarm in the Royal Albert Hall's gallery went off (it sounded rather distant, but was rather annoying, with a red light on the railing of the gallery flashing). Conductor Kazuki Yamada left the stage after the first movement, and only returned to continue the concert after the alarm had stopped some 5 minutes later.

The soloist gave an encore I could not identify, but presume was by Rachmaninov as well. TBH, the piece would not be out of place in the repertoire of the pianist of, e.g., the Rote Bar of the Sacher Hotel in Vienna. 

Berio's Sinfonia was very well performed, and the feeling of how the fifth movement (which was added by the composer  the year after the New York première) really is crucial to the work' structure was much more apparent in live concert than on disc.

Thank you so much for this report. I'm bummed because BBC did broadcast it, but I wasn't available when it happened — hoping there will be an archive at some point. (They're probably figuring out how to edit out the alarm.  )