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

[westknife]

I won't be making it to that one, although I'm sure Bluebeard's Castle will be great.

[bhodges]

Oooooh! Pardon me while I book my plane tickets!
Seriously - the Ligeti is a lot of cheeky fun and Bluebeard's Castle must be one of those things that's just hugely powerful seen live...

Well, c'mon over! 

I've never heard the Ligeti live (although awhile back Jonathan Nott did one of the movements as an unusual encore in a concert with more Ligeti). And yes, the Bartók is great live; I've been very lucky to hear it in concert about once a year, including with Michelle DeYoung, who makes an excellent (and very tall!) Judith. Don't know Gábor Bretz at all.

It will be interesting to hear Salonen's take on the opera. Based on what he did with the Concerto for Orchestra last Saturday, it's looking good.

--Bruce

[Brian]

Tonight!

Mendelssohn | Hebrides overture
Brahms | Symphony No 4
Dvorak | Cello Concerto

Philharmonia
Steven Isserlis, cello
Andras Schiff, conductor

Should be good. Oddly, the Philharmonia marketing says the Brahms 4 finale has "the same air of finality as Beethoven's Ninth." Where is that coming from? I guess in a strictly literal sense it's true, but only in the sense that, say, "Much Ado" has "the same rhetorical command" as "Hamlet."

[karlhenning]

Marketing. 'Nuff said.

[MishaK]

Andras Schiff, conductor

Didn't know Schiff had gone into serious conducting. Would be curious to hear your thoughts on this. The Brahms 4 is very hard to do properly.

[Brian]

Didn't know Schiff had gone into serious conducting. Would be curious to hear your thoughts on this. The Brahms 4 is very hard to do properly.

Indeed. Last time I saw it "live" was a PBS telecast with NYPO and Kurt Masur, so bad I turned it off. Will be interesting to see how Schiff does with it.

[MishaK]

Indeed. Last time I saw it "live" was a PBS telecast with NYPO and Kurt Masur, so bad I turned it off.

Well, that's surprising. I don't have Masur's complete cycle, but his Brahms 1 with NYPO is quite good. Then again, there are several cycles that produced good 1s and 2s, but failed when it came to grasping what's going on in 3 & 4.

[Brian]

Here's the Steven whose cello I heard tonight



And coincidentally here's the Steven whose book I was reading on the train tonight



Blog essay soon!

[Brian]

Tonight!

Mendelssohn | Hebrides overture
Brahms | Symphony No 4
Dvorak | Cello Concerto

Philharmonia
Steven Isserlis, cello
Andras Schiff, conductor

Blog review! With special comments on Schiff the conductor.

Choice quote: "The audience seemed unusually ill; during the Dvořák, somebody in the back had a sneezing fit that sounded exactly like a water balloon fight."

[MishaK]

And coincidentally here's the Steven whose book I was reading on the train tonight

Pinker seems to have been moonlighting as Germany's most popular talkshow host for the past 30 years or so.

[MishaK]

I may go to this tomorrow or Tuesday:

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
John Sharp, Ken Olsen, Katinka Kleijn, cellos
Charles Dutoit, condutor

Berlioz  Roman Carnival Overture
Penderecki  Concerto grosso for Three Cellos and Orchestra
Elgar  Enigma Variations

[jlaurson]

Ionarts-at-Large: Uchida's Beethoven Touch

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2011/03/ionarts-at-large-uchidas-beethoven.html

[Brian]

Tonight!

Brett Dean | Komarov's Fall
John Adams | Doctor Atomic Symphony
Gustav Holst | The Planets

London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra
Marin Alsop


... how awesome is that??!?!?

[Brian]

Tonight!

Brett Dean | Komarov's Fall
John Adams | Doctor Atomic Symphony
Gustav Holst | The Planets

London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra
Marin Alsop

Absolutely freaking stupendous. I don't have time to write a blog post now, but the Adams in particular left me utterly stunned. Just an amazing experience, and I'm a changed listener. May well be the first music by a living composer that I've not merely enjoyed, or been interested by, or smiled at, or had respect for, but felt, felt emotionally and compulsively and urgently, with every bone in my body. I've heard Adams before (Shaker Loops, Chairman Dances) but not like this. It was like hearing Janacek or Sibelius for the first time. Wow.

[DavidRoss]

Absolutely freaking stupendous. I don't have time to write a blog post now, but the Adams in particular left me utterly stunned. Just an amazing experience, and I'm a changed listener. May well be the first music by a living composer that I've not merely enjoyed, or been interested by, or smiled at, or had respect for, but felt, felt emotionally and compulsively and urgently, with every bone in my body. I've heard Adams before (Shaker Loops, Chairman Dances) but not like this. It was like hearing Janacek or Sibelius for the first time. Wow.

[Brian]

Just got back from

Smetana | Sarka
Bruch | Violin Concerto No 1
Dvorak | Symphony No 8

Philharmonia; Jakub Hrusa
James Ehnes, violin

A night of absolute pure delight. I was in very happy attendance with my oldest friend - well, she's 21, but we've been friends since we were 9 or 10 years old - and we sat in the third row, grinning like complete morons through the Smetana as the Philharmonia, in their very top form, danced and soft-shoed and then sandblasted their way through the tone poem. It was a rip-roaring good time, although Elizabeth noted it was most satisfying to hear a world-class orchestra play softly rather than loudly. Yeah... that is harder, isn't it?!

The Dvorak 8 is as close as music gets to mirroring my soul. It really is me; this isn't music that "resonates with me" so much as feels like it's already inside of me and the music of my self is in harmony with the music of Dvorak. I didn't feel able to explain that over our intermission cups of soup, so I told Elizabeth "it's me!" and rather than ponder this too much we simply sat back and got rocketed into a stratosphere of joy. Man, what a great time (and what great playing, except a single horn flub in the slow movement. Bravo flautist! Bravo trombones! Bravo cellos!). Jakub Hrusa is very obviously one to watch. I enjoyed his first couple CDs, gave a good, fairly enthusiastic review of his Smetana Ma Vlast, and now he is very much on my radar - not too far removed from some of his equally young colleagues, like Vasily Petrenko or Gustavo Dudamel. The orchestra very clearly loved him - they kept grinning, and he shook more hands post-symphony than anyone I've ever seen (even two double bassists). I'm not sure a CD of the concert would be preferable to any of the stiff competition despite some occasionally really sensitive phrasing and a real genius for tender moments, but when it's this much fun live, who cares?

Oh, and of course the Bruch. I'd read so many reviews of James Ehnes, so much comment on him, but nothing prepared me for the actual experience of hearing James Ehnes. Good god that man is amazing: technically brilliant, tonally golden, with a wonderfully romantic way of singing notes, tossing in just the right amount of portamenti (they all made me murmur "oh!"), and generally making everything sound sun-kissed. Holy cow. Equally memorable: in the Bach encore, he hit a wrong note and made a hilarious "D'oh!" face with rolled eyes (while, of course, continuing the phrase as if nothing could really perturb him). No wonder Ehnes is a superstar. He's earned it. Someday Hrusa may have earned it too.

Elizabeth and I stopped for a cannoli on the way back. Even so, when I got her back to her place, we were still very much "on a music high" and could scarcely talk about anything else.

[Brahmsian]

James Ehnes, violin

That's our James, homegrown Manitoba boy, I'm very proud to boast!    I've heard him perform the Korngold concerto live, and will be hearing him perform the Tchaikovsky concerto live for the WSO's season finale.

[Brian]

Absolutely freaking stupendous. I don't have time to write a blog post now, but the Adams in particular left me utterly stunned. Just an amazing experience, and I'm a changed listener. May well be the first music by a living composer that I've not merely enjoyed, or been interested by, or smiled at, or had respect for, but felt, felt emotionally and compulsively and urgently, with every bone in my body. I've heard Adams before (Shaker Loops, Chairman Dances) but not like this. It was like hearing Janacek or Sibelius for the first time. Wow.

"Doctor Atomic Symphony" blog post up!

[Sid]

I'll probably go to this one next Monday at Sydney Conservatorium...

Cocktail Hour - Schubertiade (6.00pm)

28 March 2011

Perfomers

Goetz Richter violin
Jeanell Carrigan piano

Program
Schubert   
Sonatina in A Minor, D384
Duo Sonata in A Major, op. 162, D574
Fantasia in C Major, D934

[Papy Oli]

Tomorrow morning at Snape Maltings :

Sunday 27 March
Schubert Ensemble
Trio in B flat
Trout Quintet
Auf der Strom (with viola obbligato)
Die Forelle (soloist Pippa Berry).

to complement the afternoon concert booked a few days back :

Sunday 27 March
Christian Blackshaw, Piano
Schubert
D960 - B flat sonata
A minor sonata - D845 or 784 ? (not sure...they only mention A minor...)
6 Moments Musicaux