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

[Brian]

Today got to go to Rice University's Composer Forum Concert, an opportunity to hear music written (and performed) by students. The program included a couple works by acquaintances of mine, including an absolutely beautiful setting of a Neruda sonnet for tenor and piano, as well as a very peculiar piece indeed for stereophonic playback, with the (stunningly appropriate!) title "And the stallion put on my pants and began to sing." In some of the works I felt like the dedication of the performers was greater than the effort by the composers, but hey, these are students. And that Neruda setting was very touching indeed.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Tomorrow, Friday, at 2pm. My wife and I are going to hear Lang Lang play Beethoven with the NYPO. Also on the program is Bruckner's 9th symphony. This is going to be good. I hope Lang Lang doesn't cancel the last minute.

[bhodges]

Tomorrow, Friday, at 2pm. My wife and I are going to hear Lang Lang play Beethoven with the NYPO. Also on the program is Bruckner's 9th symphony. This is going to be good. I hope Lang Lang doesn't cancel the last minute.

That could be a very good concert indeed.  My experiences with Lang Lang have been mostly very positive, with the sole exception of his recent appearance on The Tonight Show.  He played a Chopin Prelude (IIRC) and just blasted the hell out of it--the most insensitive reading from him I've seen.  But in concert, his Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Maazel and the NYPO) and Beethoven First (with Jansons and Bavarian Radio) were excellent.  And Eschenbach should do a good job with the Bruckner, too. 

Unfortunately I think I'm going to miss this concert, since I can't go tomorrow, and on Saturday I'm hearing the Tetzlaff Quartet (with Christian Tetzlaff). 

--Bruce

[Solitary Wanderer]

Yes, but Teddy Tahu Rhodes should be great!  He has a very fine voice, and was in the Met's recent production of Peter Grimes, as Ned Keene.  He was a huge hit--definitely a rising star.

Please report back...

--Bruce

Yes, it was a very good evening music.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes has a wonderful, rich bass-baritone and was very expressive with his body movements; maybe due to his recent stint at the Met. His had to skip one of the sheduled pieces because he told us he was struggling with a serious throat infection. Instead he sang an old Irish Aire which was lovely but undemanding. He certainly had great stage presence with his imposing stature.

The two Strauss works were wonderful.

An interesting thing happened during Don Juan:

The concertmasters violin malfunctioned so he grabbed the assistant conertmasters violin who in turn reached behind him and took the violin out of the hands of the violinist sitting behind him who then sat through the remainder of the piece clutching the concertmasters dead violin! Very much a pecking order!

[Solitary Wanderer]

Solitary Wanderer, would be interested to hear what you think of Pietari Inkinen, and also of former director James Judd, who's a candidate for the music directorship in my parents' town.

Hi Brian 

I enjoyed James Judd alot for his work, over several years with the NZSO, as he displayed a great sense of leadership and direction.

It's Pietari Inkinen's first year as new director with the NZSO and I have mixed feelings. He's very young and no doubt very talented but somehow I'm not sensing the 'connection' between him and the orchestra. I commented on this to my wife as we left the Town Hall last Friday. Maybe he needs to grow into the job a bit more.

My wife likes his hair as it 'moves' quite magically as he's conducting 

[adamdavid80]

That could be a very good concert indeed.  My experiences with Lang Lang have been mostly very positive, with the sole exception of his recent appearance on The Tonight Show.  He played a Chopin Prelude (IIRC) and just blasted the hell out of it--the most insensitive reading from him I've seen.  But in concert, his Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 (with Maazel and the NYPO) and Beethoven First (with Jansons and Bavarian Radio) were excellent.  And Eschenbach should do a good job with the Bruckner, too. 

Unfortunately I think I'm going to miss this concert, since I can't go tomorrow, and on Saturday I'm hearing the Tetzlaff Quartet (with Christian Tetzlaff). 

--Bruce

Did you by any chance see the lang lang profile in the new yorker a feww issues.months back?

[bhodges]

Did you by any chance see the lang lang profile in the new yorker a feww issues.months back?

Yes, the one by David Remnick, around the time of the Olympics--very good!

--Bruce

[bhodges]

Tomorrow night:

Zankel Hall
Tetzlaff Quartet

Mozart: String Quartet in D Minor, K. 421 
Berg: Lyric Suite 
Sibelius: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56, "Voces intimae"

And Sunday afternoon:

Weill Recital Hall
The MET Chamber Ensemble
James Levine, Artistic Director and Conductor
Judith Bettina, Soprano
Jennifer Black, Soprano
Matthew Plenk, Tenor

Schoenberg: Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16 (chamber version) 
Schumann: "Ich denke dein," Op. 78, No. 3 
Schumann: "Liebhabers Ständchen," Op. 34, No. 2 
Schumann: "Unterm Fenster," Op. 34, No. 3 
Schumann: "In der Nacht," Op. 74, No. 4 
Schumann: "Tanzlied," Op. 78, No. 1 
Boulez: Dérive 1 
Boulez: Improvisation sur Mallarmé I 
Mozart: Divertimento in D Major, K. 131 

--Bruce

[Solitary Wanderer]

Final concert for the year APO

APN NEWS & MEDIA PREMIER SERIES | TWELVE

FANTASTIC SYMPHONIES
THU, 13 NOVEMBER 8:00PM

AUCKLAND TOWN HALL, THE EDGE®

Lionel Bringuier
CONDUCTOR

Ewa Kupiec
PIANO

Debussy
Prelude to the Afternoon Sun

Szymanowski
Symphony No.4 (Symphonie Concertante)

Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique

The sweeping narrative and orchestral virtuosity of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique have rightly made it an audience favourite, and conducting prodigy Lionel Bringuier is already famous for his interpretation. He is joined by renowned Polish pianist Ewa Kupiec for the fourth symphony by her countryman Szymanowski, a work which rivals Berlioz in its fascinating tapestry of sound.

Excited to hear the Symphonie Fantastique live 

[Sergeant Rock]

This Friday in Mannheim:

Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz

Andrei Gavrilov Klavier
Ari Rasilainen Dirigent

Sergej Rachmaninow
Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Nr. 2 c-Moll op. 18

Sergej Rachmaninow
Sinfonie Nr. 2 e-Moll op. 27



Sarge

[ChamberNut]

November 10, 2008

Pinchas Zukerman, National Arts Center Orchestra - Ottawa

Alexina Louie - Infinite Sky with Birds
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Jon Kimura Parker, piano)
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5

I'm looking forward to seeing the Ottawa orchestra performing tonight in Winnipeg.   

[ChamberNut]

Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique

Excited to hear the Symphonie Fantastique live 

SW, I was fortunate to hear the Symphonie Fantastique live last season, to open up the 2007/2008 60th Anniversary of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

That was an incredible evening!   

[Solitary Wanderer]

SW, I was fortunate to hear the Symphonie Fantastique live last season, to open up the 2007/2008 60th Anniversary of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

That was an incredible evening!   

I'm sure it was an epic event!

Funny thing is the NZSO are doing it next season too so I'll have it twice in six months!

[Brian]

Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Jon Kimura Parker, piano)

RICE PROFESSOR ALERT! 

Sarge, I'd kill to hear Ari Rasilainen in the Rachmaninov symphony. If his Atterberg and Hausegger albums for cpo are any indication, the man has a rare affinity for the hyper-romantics.

[bhodges]

Tonight, the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, in an all-Bernstein program:

New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, Conductor
Glenn Dicterow, Violin
Ana María Martínez, Soprano
Paul Groves, Tenor
New York Choral Artists
Joseph Flummerfelt, Chorus Director

Bernstein: On the Waterfront Symphonic Suite 
Bernstein: Serenade (After Plato's Symposium) 
Bernstein: West Side Story Suites Nos. 1 and 2

--Bruce

[ChamberNut]

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra tonight!

November 14, 2008

Rossini - The Thieving Magpie Overture
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 22 (Stewart Goodyear, piano)
Beethoven - Symphony No. 7

Guest conductor:  Matthias Bamert

[Drasko]

This Friday in Mannheim:
...
Andrei Gavrilov Klavier
...

Did he show up?

Tonight

Isabelle Faust playing Schumann Violin Concerto with Belgrade Philharmonic, Thomas Sanderling conducting, rest of the programme: Wagner's Meistersinger overture and Shostakovich 5th.

[Sergeant Rock]

Sarge, I'd kill to hear Ari Rasilainen in the Rachmaninov symphony. If his Atterberg and Hausegger albums for cpo are any indication, the man has a rare affinity for the hyper-romantics.

Rasilainen is doing a Rach cycle this season. PCs 1, 3, 4, the Rhapsody and The Bells are scheduled for February and March (Gavrilov the pianist). It's a good year for this Rach fan 

Did he show up?

We didn't attend last night (we decided to catch the concert in Mainz tomorrow evening) but my in-laws went and they said he did show up. They said he performed two encores (they couldn't identify them).

Sarge

[Cato]

For our anniversary we will drive to Cincinnati next Saturday to hear the CSO play the Dvorak Violin Concerto  (Julia Fischer and Paavo Järvi) and then Holst's The Planets.

A Bruckner Eighth Symphony in Cleveland easily trumped this in my opinion, but my wife and Bruckner are maybe not the best of friends     and it is our anniversary (30 years) after all, and the rule always is for the Intelligent Husband: "Keep Your Wife Happy, and then You Will Be Happy!"   0:)

[Brian]

Today...
noon - Schubert Quintet for Strings & the Piano Quintet, "Trout"
2pm - Mozart Quintet for Piano and winds, and piano quintets by Franck, Vaughan Williams and Dvorak
4pm - R. Strauss - "Til Eulenspiegel, einmal Anders!" Op. 28 (arr. Franz Hasenöhrl for horn, clarinet, bassoon, double bass and violin; 1954); Brahms clarinet quintet and string quintet No 2
Then a change in venue from my university's annual chamber music festival (as you may have guessed, the theme is quintets  ) to the Houston Symphony Orchestra for:
SHOSTAKOVICH Tea for Two
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No 1
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No 2, "Little Russian"
Jon Kimura Parker, piano - if I remember correctly

Rasilainen is doing a Rach cycle this season. PCs 1, 3, 4, the Rhapsody and The Bells are scheduled for February and March (Gavrilov the pianist). It's a good year for this Rach fan 

Well, I hope they are recording those concerts. I'm jealous over here.