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

Started by Siedler, April 20, 2007, 05:34:10 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

bhodges

Quote from: karlhenning on September 18, 2008, 10:40:28 AM
Tonight at 18:30, at the ICA:

The Firebird Ensemble plays:

Danger Garden (2006) by Curtis Hughes (b. 1974)
Flashbacks (1995) by Mario Davidovsky (b. 1934)
Rhapsody (2003) Boston Premiere by Donald Martino (1931-2005)
Polish Folk Songs (2007) by Lee Hyla (b. 1952)


Oh great!  Nice program...don't know Hughes at all.  I heard them here and they are good!  Do report back...

--Bruce

Senta

#841
Not this weekend, but next:

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor


Bach/Stokowski: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Emmanuel Ax, piano
Brahms: Symphony No. 1

And these two just took place, I had no idea I was going until we suddenly had to evacuate from Hurricane Ike!

Sun., Sept. 13
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, conductor


Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25
Emmanuel Ax, piano (yep, again!)
Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Thurs., Sept. 18
Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Jaap van Zweden, conductor

Laquita Mitchell, soprano
Kelley O'Connor, mezzo-soprano
Vale Rideout, tenor
Robert Orth, baritone

Stucky: August 4, 1964
(World Premiere)
Libretto by Gene Scheer

These concerts mark the first week of Jaap van Zweden's tenure in Dallas. Both were fantastic...honestly I was blown away.

He pushed the hell out of them in the Mahler...with death-defying accelerations and extremes...they responded like crazy. Thrilling playing. Big colorful sound, very musical. Great hall too...the Meyerson has very responsive acoustics that let the sound really bloom. I liked van Zweden, expressive but without histronics, very clear in his gestures. This is a fertile partnership with palpable chemistry.

The Stucky premiere was very impressive, I immediately wanted to hear it again. It's only 70 min long and was all that was on the program. This is an oratorio, about LBJ and two poignant events during his presidency, program notes and more here.

It's a gorgeous, sumptuous work, on the neo-Romantic side, and features a thought-provoking libretto by Gene Scheer. There are many amazing moments in the piece, including a central orchestral Elegy, a haunting ending that highlights the chorus...morse-code like percussive writing for the Oval Office scenes...quotes of "We Shall Overcome" mixed among LBJ's declamations. If I had to name a few references I heard, Adams' Doctor Atomic and the choral writing of Harmonium might come to mind, with echoes of Rouse, at times vaguely Copland.

All the soloists were stunning, and costumed in period-appropriate clothing for their characters. Especially Robert Orth as LBJ was great, affecting a long Southern drawl, and never lapsing while navigating huge tessituras - his duets in the last numbers w/ Vale Rideout were amazing. I hate to single out anyone really because they were all excellent as well as the orchestra...it was hard to believe this was only the first performance!

Stucky was double booked tonight with the NY Phil premiering "Rhapsodies" but was in attendance as well...a bit of ticker tape even floated down when he stepped on stage. Hope this piece is recorded, or broadcast, soon!!

This evacuation has been a tolerable one...  ;D

ChamberNut

Quote from: ChamberNut on August 27, 2008, 09:48:53 AM
2008/2009 Winnipeg Chamber Music Society concerts

September 21, 2008

Haydn - Piano Trio in A flat major, Hob XV:14
Peters, Randolph - Intrada (for string quartet and piano duet)
Beethoven - String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 (Razumovsky II)


This Sunday's concert.

bhodges

Nice program!  Interesting instrumentation on that Randolph Peters piece.  (Don't know his work at all.)

--Bruce

karlhenning

Quote from: bhodges on September 18, 2008, 10:45:58 AM
Oh great!  Nice program...don't know Hughes at all.  I heard them here and they are good!  Do report back...

--Bruce

Outstanding ensemble, and an electrifying performance. The core group is a quartet: Kate Vincent, Artistic Director & viola; Aaron Trant, Assistant Director & percussion (and he had a small truckload of gear he was swatting at all program long . . . there was another concert after, of Boston Musica Viva, and there was supposed to be a 45-minute break for the stage-change, but somehow that gap shrank to half an hour, and I do not envy Mr Trant the experience of that half-hour); David Russell, cello; Sarah Bob, piano. They were joined by guest flutist, two clarinetists, violinist and cellist.

Two guest cellists, as it turned out; for David Russell had been called away to hospital, where his wife was having their first child.

For that reason, the Martino was canceled, and a clarinet solo piece substituted.

The performance cannot be praised too highly; I was not crazy about the clarinet solo piece. Nor, really, about the two pieces which preceded it on the program. The program concluded, though, with a Lee Hyla piece (originally commissioned for Boston Musica Viva, which explained the rather-larger-than-usual-for-the-Firebird-Ensemble instrumentation . . . and which made for a cute tie-in with the fact that the other performance in that venue last night, was to be Boston Musica Viva) which, while in some ways not 'my thing', had a distinct and personal profile, and a largely affable profile at that.

(Well, I wasn't mad about the clarinetists, either, although one of them doubled outstandingly on bass; hat's off to her in that regard.)

The guest strings and flutist were marvelous; as indeed were "Firebird's Own" . . . a percussionist managing a tentful of gear is apt to look like the most impressive member of a new music group, but Mr Trant was un-flamboyantly expert. The most curious thing he was asked to play (by Hyla, as it turned out) seemed to be a sort of no-frills bagpipe substitute, resembling to no small degree an industrial-scale breathalyzer attached to an Easy Read edition harmonica.

bhodges

Quote from: karlhenning on September 19, 2008, 11:29:15 AM
seemed to be a sort of no-frills bagpipe substitute, resembling to no small degree an industrial-scale breathalyzer attached to an Easy Read edition harmonica.

I might have to quote that somewhere... ;D

Thanks for the long comments.  The Lee Hyla pieces I've heard I've liked a lot, so interesting that it made an impression.  Maybe they'll bring that same program here.  I heard the group last April at the MATA Festival, where they served as the "concertino" in a new concerto grosso by Derek Hurst, with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.  (Wasn't totally convinced by the piece, which was way too long.)

--Bruce

bhodges

Tomorrow, opening night at Carnegie Hall, with an all-Bernstein program:

San Francisco Symphony
Michael Tilson Thomas, Music Director and Conductor
Dawn Upshaw, Soprano
Christine Ebersole, Vocalist
Thomas Hampson, Baritone
Yo-Yo Ma, Cello
Ensemble selected from the Vocal Arts Department and the Drama Division of The Juilliard School

Bernstein:  Symphonic Dances from West Side Story 
Bernstein: Selections from A Quiet Place
·· Prelude from Act I
·· You're Late
·· Morning. Good morning.
·· Postlude from Act I 

Bernstein:  "I Can Cook Too" from On the Town 
Bernstein:  Meditation No. 1 from Mass  
Bernstein:  "What a Movie!" from Trouble in Tahiti 
Bernstein:  "To What You Said" from Songfest 
Bernstein:  "Danzón" from Fancy Free 
Bernstein:  "Gee, Officer Krupke" from West Side Story 
Bernstein:  "Ya Got Me" from On the Town 

--Bruce

karlhenning

"Ya Got Me" . . . is that Rilke or Apollinaire;D ;) 8)

bhodges

Quote from: karlhenning on September 23, 2008, 07:46:03 AM
"Ya Got Me" . . . is that Rilke or Apollinaire;D ;) 8)

Alas, "mere" Comden and Green.  ;D

--Bruce

karlhenning

Quote from: bhodges on September 23, 2008, 07:49:56 AM
Alas, "mere" Comden and Green.  ;D

In the past twelvemonth, I must have seen them on two or three DVD extra features.  They were quite institutional, weren't they?  Leaves me with mixed feelings.  In true Hollywood hyperbole, such contributors are routinely dubbed great . . . but, well, I'm not so sure.

But, hey, maybe Apollinaire wasn't great, either!

John Copeland

Quote from: Senta on September 19, 2008, 12:49:35 AM
Not this weekend, but next:

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Robert Spano, conductor


Bach/Stokowski: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Emmanuel Ax, piano
Brahms: Symphony No. 1


Saw Spano a few months ago here in Scotland doing Mahler 5 with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra where he is a favourite visitor.  I like this conductor.

Mahler 5 features on your next concert I see, and it's featured so many times and in so many places.  What is it with Mahler 5?  Everybodys doing it this year.


karlhenning

And of course, no idle consideration for a Scot, Robert Spano is an anagram for to be sporran (a third option, after to be, or not to be).

MishaK

Well, I am no longer really looking forward to these concerts:

Quote
Important Program Change Notice for all October 9-21 Ticketholders

Symphony Center today announced that conductors Jaap van Zweden and Neeme Järvi
have agreed to replace Riccardo Chailly for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's
subscription concerts scheduled for October 9-21.  It is with deep regret that
Chailly has withdrawn from his CSO performances.  According to his manager,
Chailly is to undergo tests for an ongoing heart condition, directly following
his tour with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. 

---

Please note the new concert programs:

Thursday, October 9, 8:30 (Note time)
Friday, October 10, 8:00
Saturday, October 11, 8:00
Tuesday, October 14, 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, conductor

Bruckner Symphony No. 5

---

Thursday, October 16, 8:00
Friday, October 17, 1:30
Saturday, October 18, 8:00
Tuesday, October 21, 7:30
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3
Taneyev Symphony No. 4

The original programming was Chailly conducting Bruckner 5 one week and Mahler 10 the next. I might still go hear the Bronfman/Järvi pairing. Taneyev should be fun for a change. Hope Chailly gets better soon.

M forever

Quote from: mahler10th on September 23, 2008, 10:37:05 AM
Mahler 5 features on your next concert I see, and it's featured so many times and in so many places.  What is it with Mahler 5?  Everybodys doing it this year.

Everybody is doing it all the time, everywhere. And orchestras are so well trained today and know the standard literature inside out so you could easily conduct it, too (and I am not kidding). Of course, that doesn't change the fact that few conductors really explore the depths of this music. And why should they? When they can strike poses on the podium with the orchestra more or less on autopilot, who cares about musical depth and the details?

Sef

October 4th
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

Tilson Thomas -   Street Song for Symphonic Brass
Sibelius -   Symphony No. 4
Shostakovich -   Symphony No. 5

Two of my current favourites, so couldn't miss this.

December 13th
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
David Zinman, conductor
Julia Fischer, violin

Shostakovich -   Violin Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky -   Symphony No. 1 (Winter Dreams)

Violinist Julia Fischer, whose "uncanny accuracy of intonation and individuality of phrasing" has been praised by the Chicago Tribune, makes her CSO debut with Shostakovich's brooding and demonic First Violin Concerto. Following this dark and demanding work is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1, which was described as "better and richer in content than many other, more mature works" by the composer himself.

Looking forward to hearing Julia Fischer for the first time, though I have read mixed reviews. I'm also a bit puzzled by the program linking arguably the best 20th Century Violin Concerto with the lesser performed Tchaikovsky. Contrast is all I can come up with.

"Do you think that I could have composed what I have composed, do you think that one can write a single note with life in it if one sits there and pities oneself?"

bhodges

Tonight, this one:

San Francisco Symphony
Michael Tilson Thomas, Music Director and Conductor
Erin Wall, Soprano
Kendall Gladen, Mezzo-Soprano
Garrett Sorenson, Tenor
Alastair Miles, Bass
New York Choral Artists
Joseph Flummerfelt, Chorus Director

Knussen: Symphony No. 3 
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

--Bruce

Lilas Pastia

Bruce, what did you  make of the Knussen? Any good?

ChamberNut

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

September 26, 2008

Strauss, R. - Also Sprach Zarathustra
Korngold - Violin Concerto (James Ehnes, violin)
Strauss, R. - Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks

Fantastic concert!  James Ehnes was an amazing performer, in front of his very appreciate "home crowd".  He came back for an encore, playing the 2nd mvt. of Bach's Violin Concerto No. 1.   :)

bhodges

Quote from: Lilas Pastia on September 26, 2008, 06:50:24 PM
Bruce, what did you  make of the Knussen? Any good?

Yes, quite good, and the friend with me enjoyed it even more than the Beethoven Ninth after intermission.  The Knussen is from 1979, dedicated to Tilson Thomas, and short--just 15 minutes--based on Shakespeare's Ophelia, and her ultimate drowning.  So the score is filled with watery effects (sometimes sounds like Debussy).  Lots of interesting percussion, and a solo trio up front of harp, celesta and guitar that intervenes now and then.  Audience seemed to like it, with scattered "bravo's" here and there. 

Now off to this concert:

New Juilliard Ensemble
Joel Sachs, Conductor
Toni Marie Marchioni, Oboe and English Horn

Roumen Balyozov: Juilliard Concerto (2007-08)***
Jonathan Harvey: Sprechgesang (2007)**
Balázs Horváth: POLY (2007)**
Atli Heimer Sveinsson: Íslenkst Rapp V (1998)**
Frederic Rzewski: Bring Them Home! (2004)*

*New York Premiere
** Western Hemisphere Premiere
***World Premiere (Composed for the New Juilliard Ensemble)


--Bruce