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

[Lisztianwagner]

Just booked, next May in Milan, Teatro alla Scala:

Leoš Janáček Sinfonietta
Anton Bruckner Symphony No.7

Simon Rattle/Berliner Philharmoniker

[ritter]

Just booked, next May in Milan, Teatro alla Scala:

Leoš Janáček Sinfonietta
Anton Bruckner Symphony No.7

Simon Rattle/Berliner Philharmoniker

A bit lightweight, the program, don't you think? 

No, looks fantastic, Ilaria. Hope you enjoy it!!! 

[Lisztianwagner]

A bit lightweight, the program, don't you think? 

No, looks fantastic, Ilaria. Hope you enjoy it!!! 

Indeed, less than two hours.
The programme is great anyway, listening to Rattle and the BPO live will be a wonderful experience!

[North Star]

Just booked, next May in Milan, Teatro alla Scala:

Leoš Janáček Sinfonietta
Anton Bruckner Symphony No.7

Simon Rattle/Berliner Philharmoniker

They should have included Janáček's Violin Concerto in that program.

[Mirror Image]

Just booked, next May in Milan, Teatro alla Scala:

Leoš Janáček Sinfonietta
Anton Bruckner Symphony No.7

Simon Rattle/Berliner Philharmoniker

This should be excellent. Both works are masterpieces.

[Lisztianwagner]

They should have included Janáček's Violin Concerto in that program.

Maybe. It is a very nice contrast, Bruckner and Janáček.

This should be excellent. Both works are masterpieces.

Indeed!

One of the positive sides of the World Exposition 2015 is that the event will bring to Teatro alla Scala a lot of wonderful orchestras and conductors.

[ritter]

One of the positive sides of the World Exposition 2015 is that the event will bring to Teatro alla Scala a lot of wonderful orchestras and conductors.

And the venue, IMHO, is probably one of the msot beautiful theatres in the world!

[listener]

after struggling with booking-by-internet, on Saturday an entire evening of new-to-me music
Vancouver Symphony   Perry So conductor (not to be confuse with the cellist)

Guilian Liu pipa~ Li Bo Horse Headed Lute*   Claire Huangci piano+
Zheng Lu Good News from Beijing   Zhao Jiping Pipa Concerto~
Li Bo The Tale of Matou Qin*   Xian The Yellow River Piano Concerto+

[The new erato]

Not looking forward to; but Shostakovich 4 with the Bergen Philharmonic and Andrew Litton last week was an outstanding experience!

[MishaK]

Going to go hear Johan Botha sing Tannhäuser at the Lyric Opera Chicago tonight.

[Karl Henning]

Not looking forward to; but Shostakovich 4 with the Bergen Philharmonic and Andrew Litton last week was an outstanding experience!

Excellent!

[Drasko]

Tomorrow night:

Shostakovich - October
Barber - Cello Concerto
Vaughan Williams - Symphony No.3

Christian Poltera (cello)
Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Kulenovic (cond.)

This will be for me first time ever hearing Shostakovich and Barber pieces and first time hearing a Vaughan Williams symphony live, and I believe first VW symphony live in Belgrade in at least 10 years if not more.

[Karl Henning]

The Shostakovich is a strong piece;  heck, that is an entirely wonderful program.

[TheGSMoeller]

The Shostakovich is a strong piece;  heck, that is an entirely wonderful program.

I've only seen RVw's 4th in concert. But the 1st and 3rd are the ones I would really like to see live.

[Karl Henning]

t's a crime that that damned fool lock-out robbed us of A Sea Symphony!  There!  I said it!

[TheGSMoeller]

t's a crime that that damned fool lock-out robbed us of A Sea Symphony!  There!  I said it!

You're right. I was excited for that. Bummer.

[MishaK]

Going to go hear Johan Botha sing Tannhäuser at the Lyric Opera Chicago tonight.

Sadly, Botha was out with a throat infection, so we got Richard Decker instead, who sang the first two acts like someone forgot to plug in his amp. Finley, Amber Wagner were excellent tho.

[Christo]

Tomorrow night:

Shostakovich - October
Barber - Cello Concerto
Vaughan Williams - Symphony No.3

Christian Poltera (cello)
Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Kulenovic (cond.)

This will be for me first time ever hearing Shostakovich and Barber pieces and first time hearing a Vaughan Williams symphony live, and I believe first VW symphony live in Belgrade in at least 10 years if not more.

Great program~! The only time, AFAIK, the Pastoral Symphony was played in my country, in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 2004 under Norrington  - I managed to miss it. The performance is still on Youtube, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v228NtwOvTI

I did, however, hear the Fifth and Seventh 'Antartica' on other occasions. Yet never the Barber Cello Concerto; and BTW very little Barber at all. Hope to hear more about your concert! 

[bhodges]

Some great concert programs mentioned here! I don't often have time to comment on every one, but enjoy reading what events people are going to - many quite stimulating, at least on paper.

Recent concerts I've enjoyed:

* Music of Stefano Gervasoni (new to me) with Yarn/Wire, Ekmeles, Mivos Quartet (three excellent new music groups)
* Recital of John Field, Debussy, and Liszt by Marc-André Hamelin (who also did one of his own works, a Chaconne)
* Four Haydn string quartets by the Orion String Quartet

Tomorrow night:

*Ekmeles (6-member group that does contemporary vocal music) in works by John Cage

--Bruce

[EigenUser]

Some great concert programs mentioned here! I don't often have time to comment on every one, but enjoy reading what events people are going to - many quite stimulating, at least on paper.

Recent concerts I've enjoyed:

* Music of Stefano Gervasoni (new to me) with Yarn/Wire, Ekmeles, Mivos Quartet (three excellent new music groups)
* Recital of John Field, Debussy, and Liszt by Marc-André Hamelin (who also did one of his own works, a Chaconne)
* Four Haydn string quartets by the Orion String Quartet

Tomorrow night:

*Ekmeles (6-member group that does contemporary vocal music) in works by John Cage

--Bruce

*Ahem* Aren't you forgetting something, Bruce?

Saw the Juilliard/Ligeti concert on Wednesday with Bruce and a college friend of mine. I still don't like the cello concerto, but I've figured out why (which is slightly satisfying, at least).

Sippal, Dobbal, Nadihegeduval was probably what I had the most fun listening to. I liked hearing the laughter in the audience in response to the amusing syllables and sounds being thrown at them. The piece is written for mezzo-soprano, but it was sung by a countertenor. He did a great job (as did the four percussionists with their bells and whistles -- literally!) but I still prefer the mezzo-soprano voice. My only complaint was that the singer didn't sound "rough" enough and he tried to smooth out rough edges (especially in the 4th song Kuli, where he should have sounded like a raggedy social outcast instead of an opera singer).

Even though I don't like the Cello Concerto, I think that the soloist could have done a better job with the flutter-cadenza at the end by exaggerating its improvisatory quality. The way he played it sounded like he could have been reading an exactly-notated cadenza. Other than that, he did an incredible job.

The Chamber Concerto was great, though some parts weren't exaggerated enough. For instance, where Ligeti writes 'hammering like a madman' for the piano in the climax of the finale, the pianist certainly hammered like a madman -- but not long enough to build sufficient tension before immediately handing off the sixteenth notes to the bassist. Okay, I'm being nit-picky.

Often, subtlety is good in performances, but I don't think this is the case with Ligeti. This is the guy who doesn't think twice before writing dynamic levels like pppppppp and ffffffff. In fact, here is a quote from Ligeti himself:
"When you are disgusted, you must be more disgusted; when you are hysterical, you must be more hysterical; when you are miserable, you must be more so. Everything must be more, more, more!"

Here is Jeremy Denk's take on it (talking about the piano etudes):
"How would 8 [fortes] be different from 7? Both must be so searingly loud as to be painful, a distinction between degrees of agony: if 7 fortes is like being disemboweled by a wolf, then 8 is like being disemboweled by a bear."