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

[bhodges]

The Martinů is a charmer, Bruce, and a fine choice to close off the program!

Karl, the Martinů was my favorite thing on the entire program - fantastic piece! - and I was also pleased to see that it's on one of the Chun sisters' recordings, called Fantasy (along with the Shostakovich and Yun pieces from last night).

[asin]B000WPJ5WM[/asin]

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

Cool!

[Sid]

Johannes Somary Memorial Concert

The Creation, Franz Joseph Haydn

Just saw that magnificent work last week here last week in Sydney. It was a huge "high" for me, the friend that came with me, and doubtless all 500 or so people who were there (well it would have done something for them at some level, anyway). I can understand why you list THREE conductors - this is quite a complex work for it's time, and probably for anytime. The performance I saw naturally had  a conductor on the podium and also an asstant conductor on harpsichord. In the big whole ensemble "set pieces" the attention of all musicians would focus on the chief conductor, but in the more small scale chamber-like bits, the guy on the harpsichord would "direct" them while playing.

Anyway, enjoy! No matter that I am here "Down Under" in Sydney & you're up there in New York, Haydn's masterpiece has the capability of speaking to both of us in profound and unique ways. (If you want to read my review of the Sydney concert, it's in one of my posts above on this thread)...

[Lisz]

Change of Venue

Johannes Somary Memorial Concert

The Creation, Franz Joseph Haydn

Stephen Somary, Steven Fox, and Daniel Curtis, Conductors

Chorus includes Singers from

Amor Artis Chamber Choir
Fairfield County Chorale
Great Neck Choral Society
Horace Mann Glee Club
Taghakani Chorale

Orchestra

Professional Colleagues and Friends of Johannes Somary
Sunday, June 5, 2011, at 4:00  p.m.

The Great Hall
The Cooper Union
41 Cooper Square
New York City

Admission is free of charge

Feel Welcome if you are in the NY Metro Area

[Lisz]

Johannes Somary Memorial Concert

The Creation, Franz Joseph Haydn

Just saw that magnificent work last week here last week in Sydney. It was a huge "high" for me, the friend that came with me, and doubtless all 500 or so people who were there (well it would have done something for them at some level, anyway). I can understand why you list THREE conductors - this is quite a complex work for it's time, and probably for anytime. The performance I saw naturally had  a conductor on the podium and also an asstant conductor on harpsichord. In the big whole ensemble "set pieces" the attention of all musicians would focus on the chief conductor, but in the more small scale chamber-like bits, the guy on the harpsichord would "direct" them while playing.

Anyway, enjoy! No matter that I am here "Down Under" in Sydney & you're up there in New York, Haydn's masterpiece has the capability of speaking to both of us in profound and unique ways. (If you want to read my review of the Sydney concert, it's in one of my posts above on this thread)...

Sid -- thank you so much for posting this. I am very much looking forward to this concert for many reasons. I will think of your comments as I listen and observe this production. As you mentioned, because of the largess of it, the venue has been changed to accommodate the singers and orchestra. You are quite right, it speaks in unique and profound ways. I will be participating as a lover of music and Haydn but also sharing in the experience of a piece so beloved by someone who gave so much to the music world. Will definitely read your review also. 

[Sid]

@ hildegard -

thanks for replying. i agree 110 per cent with your post. at the performance at the university i attended here in sydney of "the creation" a guy from the uni addresed the audience before it all started. he said that this work has the ability to touch all people deeply no matter what religion they are, or if they are non-religious, what country they come from, or whether they're hearing it for the first or hundredth time. looking around the auditorium, i knew he was right. there were people of all ages there, from kids with there parents, to young students from the university living in the dorms around the hall (many of them asian), all ages up to seniors. my friend saw a japanese couple in the interval with their daughter. there were probably also many academics and lecturers from the university there too. my friend and i had completely different ways of observing the concert - i was following along the sung words with the printed text in the program (although the singers diction was perfect) & my friend was just sitting back, letting it all wash over him. no matter what our unique ways of approaching this work, our religions, philosophies, walks of life, whatever (these are trivial details) we all came together as a whole to be moved and go on a journey with this work. it was a very positive experience and i was on a huge "high" all week - everyone in my life noticed the change. music is more than notes on a page or textbook theories or playing techniques (which i'm not denigrating, they're very important too) - basically music & life can come together as one, and on this occasion, i could tell it was happening to us all in that hall.

anyway, as i said before, enjoy the concert, and please get back to us here about what your experience was of it. that would be very interesting...

[knight66]

Verdi Requiem: Tewksbury Abbey Bristol Concert Orchestra, Nigel Perrin

Four local choirs had joined together under energetic organisers to put on this piece, which no choir on its own would have had the resources to finance or perform. This is part of a wider push to open choral singing to all comers under the umbrella name of The South Cotswold Choral Group. Two of the choirs have run an A,B,C course to introduce singers with no experience. It is an excellent idea. At one point looking round the men I realised there was almost no one under the age of 50.

I joined a choir at 18 and although at that point I was the youngest bass in what was then the Scottish National Orchestra Chorus; there were plenty of singers in their 20s and 30s, providing a very lively social background to the singing. The demographic of this quite large Cotswold group took me aback. If it holds good, then these choirs are not going to be viable in 15 years time.

The inclusiveness has its drawbacks and there are clear trade offs between working with the abilities of singers who happen to wander through the doors and achieving a uniformly satisfying standard. Some singers were very much on the ball, whilst in front of me a small but stolid section of bases sang the Alto line in a section of the Libera me, not once, but each time we went through it. There are always many more women than men in this kind of set-up as the philosophy is to work with your people rather than trim people out to achieve a balance. But, there is a palpable sense of achievement when the singers rise to the occasion and provide much more than a respectable run through.

The choir masters are excellent musicians, patient and persistent and inspiring. On this occasion the conductor was Nigel Perrin. He is a famous vocal trainer and the very short run of rehearsals included a workshop day where he could size up what he had on his hands and get us into his way of thinking. Masses of laughing as well as the expected hard work. He has remarkable gifts in extracting good results in double quick time.

It is one thing to achieve detail and unity in a dry acoustic with only a piano to overcome and to support. Once we stand in the very reverberant acoustic of the abbey confronted by a full orchestra, the detail becomes very difficult to preserve. In this instance, the orchestra was basically too loud a lot of the time. This is a common issue. Players need to make it safe, part of that is often to play mezzo forte when piano is marked.

One trumpet can blot out an entire choir. Here with one orchestral rehearsal involving the choir, the singers clearly felt that they would not penetrate the orchestral textures. So, likewise, we increased volume and the conductor had to fight this joint tendency. It of course had its knock-on effect to the soloists who were having to ride a substantial wave of sound.

There is also always a time lag, mental and technical rather than caused by physics. The bases, at the rear of the block of performers do get behind the beat. They need to be constantly goaded to both watch and to stick with the point of the beat.

So, how did it all play out?

In the midst, it was impossible to tell what was getting through and what was not. Sometimes, as was once pointed out to me, the grunts in the trenches can't tell how the battle went. There will be a private recording of the performance circulated and it will be interesting to see if my impressions are backed up.

I have sung this probably half a dozen times or so; Gibson, Abbado, Willcocks etc. But no one ever put the effort into expressing the words as Nigel Perrin. I think a lot of the quiet beseeching would have been highly effective. When I got home I listened to the opening by Barbirolli.....muttering and mumbling, the Libera me of Solti, the choir's words are not distinguishable in the ppp passages. In my own score I had masses of consonants scored out and had written in the likes of....NO WORDS....over specific passages. Imprecations from earlier performances that I had to rub out.

The choir provided solid sound and a good blend. Some complex passages were very successful, though I think the Libera me was rather tentative in places. Perrin took it steadily, though had a tendency to keep changing from two in the bar to four in the bar with no seeming reason.

There was genuine excitement and overwhelming sound when the choir and orchestra was going full tilt. The quiet passages where the orchestra were involved were never sufficiently hushed. But there was some beautiful woodwind playing.

I will omit the names of the Bass soloist who proved himself less than reliable and the soprano who was a substitute and who seemed to be substantially sight reading. She tended to adopt the soprano choral line and several times left us stranded without a vital cue. We picked up on that at the rehearsal, so we resorted to counting.

But there were two world beaters; the tenor Philip Holtam had it all, sweetness, strength, ringing top notes and breath control to take long lines in a single arc and there was a fantastic Mezzo, Kate Woolveridge, a true Amneris voice with a burnished chest register and massive top notes. She could fine her voice down to a whisper and she had the drama of the piece in her projection of the words.

There are provisional plans to produce another such joint performance in two years time. I am rooting for the Berlioz Grande Messe, but it will need a larger venue. With even more performers the substantial Abbey will cramp the audience even more so than it did for the Verdi. Perhaps Gloucester Cathedral will be available. Though with a seven second echo, keeping it all together will be even more of a challenge.

Mike

[bhodges]

Tomorrow night, a concert celebrating the restoration of an organ here, in the Church of the Ascension. Have no idea what to expect, but am eager to hear the Kodály, which I don't know at all.

Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene, Conductor
Mark Kruczek, Organist

Kodály: Missa Brevis
Parry: I was glad
Chiayu: "Metal," "Water" and "Wood" from Five Essences for solo organ (World Premiere)
Dobrinka Tabakova: Syng, Hevin Imperiall (World Premiere)
Dorothy VanAndel Frisch: At a Solemn Music (World Premiere)
Marilyn Shrude: How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place (New York Premiere)

--Bruce

[Sid James]

i've decided to return to contribute to this "concerts" thread & also re-boot this older one ("sid's music spot") - http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,17144.msg446131.html#msg446131 . with this "concerts" thread, i basically want to tell you all over the world some things that are going on in sydney, what our great musicians are doing. i know some of you like australian musicians and composers, but i think the issue is also broader than that (not jingoistic, or things like that).

i won't be going on the "what are you listening to" thread, but if you want to know what i have been listening to, as well as my music buff friend & i together on weekends, then please visit the thread above.

i probably won't be here as much as before, but i'll do my best to answer people if they want to chat, more info, things like that. thanks to all who i chatted to in the past, & i hope this can continue well into the future...

[karlhenning]

Tomorrow night, a concert celebrating the restoration of an organ here, in the Church of the Ascension. Have no idea what to expect . . . .

Bruce, you must know the Parry, yes?  If you haven't been in a choir singing that opening blast "I was glad," you haven't lived! : )

[bhodges]

Bruce, you must know the Parry, yes?  If you haven't been in a choir singing that opening blast "I was glad," you haven't lived! : )

Actually I'm not sure I've heard it. (Will have to check later but I don't think I have but a single Parry recording.) But I like what I've heard of his work.

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

Well, it's a classic staple of Anglican/Episcopalian ceremony.  Almost cannot hear it without wondering if the air is mildly redolent of boiled cabbage . . . .

[bhodges]

Almost cannot hear it without wondering if the air is mildly redolent of boiled cabbage . . . .

Now Karl, did I really need to have that image implanted before the concert?



--Bruce

[Brian]

I'll be away from GMG for a while because my next three concerts require a good bit of traveling, even flying:
-
Friday 10 June - 1:05 pm
Poulenc Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon
Ibert Cinq Pièces Brèves
Françaix Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon

Members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

-
Friday 10 June - 7:30 pm
Elgar 3 Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands
Guilmant Symphony No.1 for Organ and Orchestra
Elgar Symphony No.2

Vasily Petrenko, conductor / Ian Tracey, organ
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

-
Saturday 11 June - 6:00 pm
Mahler Symphony No 3

Antoni Wit, conductor / Ewa Wolak, alto / Warsaw Boys' Choir
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra


I've never heard any of these 7 works before. 

[Brahmsian]

Saturday 11 June - 6:00 pm
Mahler Symphony No 3

Antoni Wit, conductor / Ewa Wolak, alto / Warsaw Boys' Choir
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra


I've never heard any of these 7 works before. 

I hope you enjoy Mahler's 3rd, Brian.  It has one of the best final movement Adagios in the symphonic business.     It is utterly sublime!

[Drasko]

In an hour I'll be off to see Belgrade Phil in really nice romantic program - Mendelssohn Hebrides and Schumann Cello Concerto ans 1st Symphony (can't remember who are soloist and conductor).

They started puting sort of digests of concerts on youtube. Here is last weeks Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto with Gerhard Oppitz. I was there and thought it solid but not really memorable performance.

http://www.youtube.com/v/CSX5LxHIQ88

[karlhenning]

Ah, if only the Schumann Cello Concerto were in the Shostakovich orchestration . . . .

[bhodges]

Tonight, this program:

New York Philharmonic
David Robertson, conductor
Deborah Voigt, soprano

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1
Rachmaninov: The Isle of the Dead
Schoenberg: Erwartung

--Bruce

[Brian]

Friday 10 June - 1:05 pm
Poulenc Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon
Ibert Cinq Pièces Brèves
Françaix Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
Tomasi Concert champetre

Members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

-
Friday 10 June - 7:30 pm
Elgar 3 Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands
Guilmant Symphony No.1 for Organ and Orchestra
Elgar Symphony No.2

Vasily Petrenko, conductor / Ian Tracey, organ
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

-
Saturday 11 June - 6:00 pm
Mahler Symphony No 3

Antoni Wit, conductor / Ewa Wolak, alto / Warsaw Boys' Choir
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra

Just completed this trifecta. Now I'm in Krakow for a day and a half before flying back to England early on the 14th. Many, many words about these concerts will be written at some point in the future, but suffice to say that I now have a photograph of Vasily Petrenko drinking beer with his son and the Warsaw Philharmonic is possibly the best orchestra I have ever seen, anywhere.

[westknife]

Tonight, this program:

New York Philharmonic
David Robertson, conductor
Deborah Voigt, soprano

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1
Rachmaninov: The Isle of the Dead
Schoenberg: Erwartung

--Bruce

I was there on Friday. Excellent concert.