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

[Sid]

Will be going to this concert in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney on the weekend. It's unclear at this stage who the pianist will be (not advertised on their website yet). I remember seeing these two Beethoven works live a long time ago, but I don't remember ever seeing the music of Sibelius, so it'll be interesting:

Program:
Beethoven Emperor Concerto
Beethoven Coriolan Overture
Sibelius Symphony No. 2

Woollahra Philharmonic Orchestra
Guest Conductor:  Luke Gilmour.

5th of December 2010
2.30pm, The Scots College, Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill.

I enjoyed this concert. The pianist was Jacky Wong, who is over here from Hong Kong studying his masters at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. A young guy & a past winner of the Asian International Piano Competition, he was a very subtle pianist, very rarely did he "bang" down on the keys. I loved the encore as well (I'm not sure, it sounded like Rachmaninov). The Coriolan and Sibelius symphony also received good performances (the finale of the symphony was their best effort, imo, and the flutes and woodwind sections made a very big effort to play those tricky bits). I think a major problem here is the poor acoustic of Scot's College Auditorium, there is very little decay, especially for the strings (which sometimes sounded higher than they really are). There was also a bit in the Sibelius where I saw the trombonists playing, but couldn't hear them! I have seen members of this group perform at the chapel at St. Joseph's College, Hunter's Hill, and that by far has a better acoustic. But I can't really complain much about the performances, they were pretty good for a semi-professional orchestra, imo...

[bhodges]

Tonight, a sold-out, all-Boulez concert with the composer present, marking his 85th birthday:

James Baker, conductor
Talea Ensemble

Boulez: 12 Notations
Boulez: Improvisations I and II sur Mallarmé
Boulez: Dérive I
Boulez: Dérive II

--Bruce

[bhodges]

Next week, two concerts by the Saito Kinen Orchestra, which I've never heard, either live or recorded.

Saito Kinen Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, Music Director and Conductor
Tatsuya Shimono, Conductor
Yukio Tanaka, Biwa
Kifu Mitsuhashi, Shakuhachi

Takemitsu: November Steps for Biwa, Shakuhachi, and Orchestra
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Saito Kinen Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, Music Director and Conductor
Christine Goerke, Soprano
Anthony Dean Griffey, Tenor
Matthias Goerne, Baritone
SKF Matsumoto Choir
Ritsuyukai Choir
SKF Matsumoto Children's Chorus
Pierre Vallet, Chorus Master

Britten: War Requiem

--Bruce

[jlaurson]

Next week, two concerts by the Saito Kinen Orchestra, which I've never heard, either live or recorded.
--Bruce

Should be a treat. Japan's best, probably. Great Mahler, surprisingly good Bach... versatile and open minded ensemble.

[MishaK]

Tonight, a sold-out, all-Boulez concert with the composer present, marking his 85th birthday:

Aren't they kinda nine months late with that? 

[bhodges]

Tonight, celebrating my birthday with this concert.  The program is a little conservative, but never mind: the concert is sold out, I've never heard the ensemble, and I'm curious to hear Ozawa after all these years.  Don't know Gondai's work at all.

Carnegie Hall
Saito Kinen Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, Music Director and Conductor
Tatsuya Shimono, Conductor
Mitsuko Uchida, Piano

Atsuhiko Gondai (b. 1965): Decathexis (US Premiere)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor
Brahms: Symphony No. 1

--Bruce

[MN Dave]

Tonight, celebrating my birthday with this concert. 

Happy 29th.

[bhodges]

Happy 29th.

I'll gladly take it.  Thank you so much! 

--Bruce

[Sid]

Last night, went to this one:

New Music Network presents
atmospheres
Halcyon with austraLYSIS

Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Program:

David Adamcyk - Avant la larme (2006) for soprano, tenor saxophone, piano & electronics
Roger Dean & Hazel Smith - Toy Language 2 (2010) for mezzo-soprano, acousmatic material, and live processing
Kaija Saariaho - Nuits, adieux (1991) for four singers and live electronics
Kasia Glowicka - Luminescence (2009) for five voices & electronics
Trevor Wishart - Vox 2 (1982-84) for four amplified voices and electronics

Artists

Halcyon
Elizabeth Scott, conductor
Alison Morgan, soprano
Jenny Duck-Chong, mezzo soprano
Jo Burton, mezzo soprano
Andrei Laptev, tenor
Clive Birch, bass
James Nightingale, tenor saxophone
Zubin Kanga, piano

austraLYSIS
Roger Dean, Greg White, sound processing & diffusion

Some of this music was right from the cutting edge; Adamcyk and Glowicka are young composers who were found by the ensemble on the internet (the former Canadian, the latter Polish but living in the Netherlands). The pieces I enjoyed the most were the Saariaho & the Glowicka. In the former, each singer sung into two microphones, and their voices came in and out of focus which created these subtle and delicate tones (the exploration of colour being an important aspect of this style, which is called spectralism). The Glowicka had these bassy sounds from the electronic accompaniment, and the singers went high and low to accompany these sounds. It had overtones of techno, and you wouldn't be forgiven for thinking it would be more in place in a night club than a concert hall! I really enjoy these concerts (I have gone to quite a few in this series this year), because (as on this night) I am able to hear composers' music which I am not familiar with at all. Needless to say, I enjoyed this concert, it was worth going for the two composers I mentioned alone, but the others were interesting as well...

[bhodges]

David Adamcyk - Avant la larme (2006) for soprano, tenor saxophone, piano & electronics
Roger Dean & Hazel Smith - Toy Language 2 (2010) for mezzo-soprano, acousmatic material, and live processing
Kaija Saariaho - Nuits, adieux (1991) for four singers and live electronics
Kasia Glowicka - Luminescence (2009) for five voices & electronics
Trevor Wishart - Vox 2 (1982-84) for four amplified voices and electronics

. . . . .

The pieces I enjoyed the most were the Saariaho & the Glowicka.

Thanks for the report on a great-sounding concert.  I'm a big Saariaho fan but have never heard that piece.

--Bruce

[Sid]

Well thanks for reading, Bruce. Yes, the Saariaho was a really interesting piece, and I plan to get something of hers in the near future. I just discovered this New Music Network series this year & they put on a number of contemporary chamber concerts per year, some of them with live electronics. They are all inexpensive, which is great. There's a whole world out there for me to explore. I should have also added that the above concert was quite well attended, so obviously there's a dedicated audience out there in Sydney for this type of new music...

[bhodges]

Well thanks for reading, Bruce. Yes, the Saariaho was a really interesting piece, and I plan to get something of hers in the near future. I just discovered this New Music Network series this year & they put on a number of contemporary chamber concerts per year, some of them with live electronics. They are all inexpensive, which is great. There's a whole world out there for me to explore. I should have also added that the above concert was quite well attended, so obviously there's a dedicated audience out there in Sydney for this type of new music...

I always enjoy your concert reports, Sid, since the repertoire you report on is unusual.  And it's great to hear that so many people are coming out to concerts like these. 

Tonight I'm hearing the second of the New York Philharmonic's CONTACT! concerts, conducted by Alan Gilbert:

James Matheson: True South (World Premiere: New York Philharmonic Commission) 
Jay Alan Yim: neverthesamerivertwice (World Premiere: New York Philharmonic Commission)         
Julian Anderson: Comedy of Change (U.S. Premiere)

--Bruce

[MishaK]

Thanks to a free ticket that spontaneously came my way, I just used my lunch hour to catch the first half of a CSO brass performance of Gabrieli, Bach and Grainger, which was a blast as you can imagine. 

[Dax]

Roger Dean

An extraordinary bloke. He was reputedly offered a position in the double bass section of the Oslo Philharmonic at the age of 16 and his abilities on that instrument at university were quite staggering. A decent pianist and a vibes player who could use 6 sticks simultaneously as he did in an interesting trio of his which used that instrument. A considerable jazzer at that time but also (later) the author of a sensible and readable book on (non-jazz) improvisation. Has 2 PhDs and a DLitt. Headed the Australian Heart Foundation for a period. Last I heard, he was Vice-Chancellor of Canberra University . . .

[Novi]

Will be going to this concert in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney on the weekend. It's unclear at this stage who the pianist will be (not advertised on their website yet). I remember seeing these two Beethoven works live a long time ago, but I don't remember ever seeing the music of Sibelius, so it'll be interesting:

Program:
Beethoven Emperor Concerto
Beethoven Coriolan Overture
Sibelius Symphony No. 2

Woollahra Philharmonic Orchestra
Guest Conductor:  Luke Gilmour.

5th of December 2010
2.30pm, The Scots College, Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill.

Haha, I lived in the area for almost 20 years and never knew there was a Woollahra Philharmonic Actually, I never knew there was so much happening around Sydney until I read your reviews. Interesting stuff - thanks!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

"Havergal Brian's Gothic symphony will be performed at the Proms July 17, 2011 - BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Martyn Brabbins", it says here:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/DEC10/listing.htm#ixzz18ZGakhHF

I know where I will be... !!

[Brian]

"Havergal Brian's Gothic symphony will be performed at the Proms July 17, 2011 - BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Martyn Brabbins", it says here:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/DEC10/listing.htm#ixzz18ZGakhHF

I know where I will be... !!

This looks like a really, really good excuse to have a big old GMG meetup 

[Sergeant Rock]

This looks like a really, really good excuse to have a big old GMG meetup 

I was thinking the same thing. Will you still be in London?

Sarge

[Brian]

I was thinking the same thing. Will you still be in London?

Sarge

Plan to!

[Sergeant Rock]

Plan to!

Excellent