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

[TheGSMoeller]

RUNNICLES Conducts MAHLER SYMPHONY 9 TONIGHT AT GLASGOW CITY HALLS.
Simultaneous broadcast on BBC Radio 3 (UK).

What a FANTASTIC performance.
Tears everywhere.
Staggering.
We are so lucky here in Scotland to have a legend conductor, also native to Scotland, and the BBC SSO, perhaps the finest Orchestra in the UK.  What's more, the Glasgow City Halls have acoustics which rank among the best in Europe.  Add on Mahlers 9th, and BINGO!!
Fabulous.

https://www.facebook.com/bbcsso?hc_location=timeline

Sounds lovely, John. Thanks for sharing.
I've seen Runnicles three times now with the Atlanta Symphony and he is nothing short of amazing. A true passion and infectious energy is constant with his performances. Can't wait to get my tickets for next season to see him.

[mahler10th]

    Janáček
    The Cunning Little Vixen (suite)
    Dvořák
    Cello Concerto in B minor
    Bartók
    Concerto for Orchestra

    BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
    Joshua Roman cello
    Ilan Volkov Conductor

Thursday 1 May - Glasgow City Halls.
Immense.  Great line up.

The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 (UK)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/exhp5v

[North Star]

    Janáček
    The Cunning Little Vixen (suite)
    Dvořák
    Cello Concerto in B minor
    Bartók
    Concerto for Orchestra

Nice!

[ritter]

On Tuesday April 29th, Spain's PluralEnsemble, under guest conductor Peter Eötvös will perform this very interesting program in the Chamber Hall of the National Auditorium in Madrid:

- Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontra-Punkte
- Pierre Boulez: Improvisation I & Improvisation II from Pli selon pli (w. Kristina Szabó--ms--)
- Peter Eötvös: Steine & Sonata per sei

As this is presented under the auspices of the BBVA Foundation, admission is free. 

The concert last night of Peter Eötvös conducting the (excellent) PluralEnsemble was quite an event.

To see this man conduct two classics of the "Darmstadt avantgarde" by composers with whom he has collaborated closely was wonderful. Stockhausen's Kontra-Punkte is even more beautiful heard live than on record, and the superb craftsmanship of the scoring (e.g. the interplay of the clarinet and the flute towards the end) is astonishing. As for Boulez's Improvisations I and II sur Mallarmé, the shimmering sound world of these pieces and the exquisite vocal writing was very well delivered, and it is clear why this music (a personal favourite of mine) holds such a prominent position in the music of the second half of the 20th century. Pity we did not get Pli selon pli in its entirety, but that would have required a full orchestra and made for too long an evening  .

The second half was devoted to Eötvös's own music. The playful Steine, starting out on an improvisatory fashion, and then becoming more through-composed, is a very fun  piece to watch live (for the performers and the audience ), and the only piece I didn't know beforehand, the Sonata per sei, is very impressive. It's a sort of Sonata for two pianos and percussion by Bartók but with no holds barred  , adding a third percussionist and a synthesizer. Really breathtaking (also visually--well, two pianos and all those gongs on the stage always impress me  ).

Warm applause at the end for a concert that I enjoyed very, very much! 

[some guy]

Echofluxx14.

In Prague, from 6 to 10 May.

I've been to Echofluxx12 and 13. Excellent good fun. Entirely music that I've never heard before. Indeed, it is mostly world premieres.

Echofluxx11 I have a DVD of as I was a donor to that. (I decided to donate rather than attend. I don't remember why, now. But that's what I did. And so I missed what was by all reports a mind-alteringly glorious evening of music by Phill Niblock.

Oh well.

Anyway, I can't wait for the 2014 version. Great to be in Prague, too, of course. (I don't need no stinking festival to enjoy being in Prague.)

[Karl Henning]

Groovy.

[jochanaan]

The concert last night of Peter Eötvös conducting the (excellent) PluralEnsemble was quite an event.

To see this man conduct two classics of the "Darmstadt avantgarde" by composers with whom he has collaborated closely was wonderful. Stockhausen's Kontra-Punkte is even more beautiful heard live than on record, and the superb craftsmanship of the scoring (e.g. the interplay of the clarinet and the flute towards the end) is astonishing. As for Boulez's Improvisations I and II sur Mallarmé, the shimmering sound world of these pieces and the exquisite vocal writing was very well delivered, and it is clear why this music (a personal favourite of mine) holds such a prominent position in the music of the second half of the 20th century. Pity we did not get Pli selon pli in its entirety, but that would have required a full orchestra and made for too long an evening  .

The second half was devoted to Eötvös's own music. The playful Steine, starting out on an improvisatory fashion, and then becoming more through-composed, is a very fun  piece to watch live (for the performers and the audience ), and the only piece I didn't know beforehand, the Sonata per sei, is very impressive. It's a sort of Sonata for two pianos and percussion by Bartók but with no holds barred  , adding a third percussionist and a synthesizer. Really breathtaking (also visually--well, two pianos and all those gongs on the stage always impress me  ).

Warm applause at the end for a concert that I enjoyed very, very much! 

I envy you!  It sounds like a great evening.

[jochanaan]

    Janáček
    The Cunning Little Vixen (suite)
    Dvořák
    Cello Concerto in B minor
    Bartók
    Concerto for Orchestra

    BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
    Joshua Roman cello
    Ilan Volkov Conductor

Thursday 1 May - Glasgow City Halls.
Immense.  Great line up.

The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 (UK)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/exhp5v

I've played the Janacek and the Dvorak in orchestras.  And the Bartok is a can't-miss--as long as the orchestra can play it, and I'm sure the Scots can!  Let us know how it goes, of course.

[Pat B]

I drove to Dallas yesterday and saw the DSO play Beethoven 9 last night -- my first time to hear it live. It was glorious!

[Cato]

Tomorrow night the Toledo Symphony Orchestra plays at Rosary Cathedral:

Bruckner: Symphony #0.      Probably a rarity to hear the work live!  I expect GMG member Allan will be there sweating over his bass fiddle!

[Karl Henning]

Tomorrow night the Toledo Symphony Orchestra plays at Rosary Cathedral:

Bruckner: Symphony #0.      Probably a rarity to hear the work live!  I expect GMG member Allan will be there sweating over his bass fiddle!

Cheers!

[Bruckner is God]

This saturday in the Philharmonie, Berlin.
Berliner Philharmoniker, Myung-Whun Chung conductor, Alban Gerhardt cello
Carl Maria von Weber - Der Freischütz Overture
Unsuk Chin - Cello Concerto
Johannes Brahms -  Symphony no. 2

And on sunday, in the same venue
Elīna Garanča Mezzo-Soprano
Roger Vignoles Piano
Songs by Robert Schumann, Alban Berg and Richard Strauss

Very much looking forward to both concerts.

[Florestan]

June 11th

Concert Hall of Romanian Broadcasting Society, Bucharest

Alexandru Tomescu, violin
Eduard Kunz, piano

Sergey Prokofiev

5 Melodies op. 35
Sonata #1 in f minor op. 80
Sonata #2 in D major op. 94a

[Ken B]

I long for a tragic near miss. A few years ago the better half and I spent 10 days in Florence, right opposite the Pitti. We saw a sign for a free concert, in the duomo, of Josquin and Ockeghem, by The Tallis Scholars, the night after we were flying out. 

[liuzerus87]

Just saw at Carnegie Hall:

Performers
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, Chief Conductor
Mitsuko Uchida, Piano

Program
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5

Never heard Janson's Shostakovich before, live or on disc.  For a live performance, very enjoyable.  Carnegie is definitely my favorite part of living in the NYC area.

[Cato]

Tomorrow night the Toledo Symphony Orchestra plays at Rosary Cathedral:

Bruckner: Symphony #0.      Probably a rarity to hear the work live!

Well, that was not last weekend, but the previous one: the performance was exquisite!  The acoustics of the cathedral worked marvelously with the atmosphere of the music!

Earlier I was writing to a fellow GMG member about the concert this past Saturday: the Toledo Symphony was in its concert hall, the Peristyle, next to the Toledo Museum of Art, and played the Mahler Fifth Symphony with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto as an appetizer.

The performance of both works was excellent: the Mendelssohn had a 28-year old soloist (Stefan Jackiw) who kept assuming a kind of ninja-stance: knees bent and bouncing, with one leg sticking forward as if he were Bruce Lee about to leap into the air for a flying drop kick!  Not a member of the Heifetz school!   0:)

The Mahler was played quite well: one or two wobbly cellos here and there in an exposed line in the second movement, but otherwise technically most excellent!  And when is the last time you took notice of the Tuba player?!      0:)   I kept thinking: "THAT is some of the smoothest, most liquid playing from a tuba I have ever heard!"  And I was not the only one who noticed: when the conductor waved to him for a bow, the crowd erupted with a louder burst and even some rowdy hoots!  (Possibly from his students!)

For those who do not know the Peristyle:

[Obradovic]

Today, I purchased tickets for June 18 and 19 for the Israel PO & Zubin Mehta in Athens, Greece with Bruckner 8th and Mahler 2nd. Thrilled at the prospect of a live 8th (not too frequently encountered) despite some not very enthusiastic reviews from Boston audiences earlier this year. Was anybody present there? Yes, yes, I know, neither orchestra nor conductor are top Bruckner names but... I can't wait!

[MishaK]

Today, I purchased tickets for June 18 and 19 for the Israel PO & Zubin Mehta in Athens, Greece with Bruckner 8th and Mahler 2nd. Thrilled at the prospect of a live 8th (not too frequently encountered) despite some not very enthusiastic reviews from Boston audiences earlier this year. Was anybody present there? Yes, yes, I know, neither orchestra nor conductor are top Bruckner names but... I can't wait!

I wasn't at their Chicago performance but heard from reliable sources who were that it was a most forgettable performance of the B8 by a conductor who seems to have nothing more to say and an orchestra that needs about 2/3 of its members replaced. Sorry.

Mehta was a somewhat interesting Bruckner conductor circa 30-40 years ago. See his B9 recording with Vienna and his B8 with LAPO. Seems to have burnt out shortly after. Have heard nothing interesting from him since, live or on record.

[kishnevi]

God willing,I think I will go to at least one of the Ludwig and Dmitri shows, and the M6.  Much more interesting than this past season.http://www.clevelandorchestramiami.com

[Obradovic]

I wasn't at their Chicago performance but heard from reliable sources who were that it was a most forgettable performance of the B8 by a conductor who seems to have nothing more to say and an orchestra that needs about 2/3 of its members replaced. Sorry

Last year though they played here Mozart's Jupiter and Mahler's 5th rather good... And we had to make our way in the main concert hall through X-Ray (or something like that) gates, for safety reasons... as if we were to embark on a plane