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

[Pim]

Tonight: Paris, Opera Bastille, Debussy, Pelleas et Melisande

[Drasko]

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! 

It was a very fine evening. Shostakovich piece is excellent if you want to hear some big orchestral DSCH and yet don't have time for any of the symphonies, instantly recognizable and conveniently compressed in 12 minutes. Barber was fine as well, what stuck mostly in my memory afterwards is that lovely slow movement, particularly duet between cello and oboe. Barber is similarly not that often played here, what I heard live is I think only the Adagio and that Medea piece. Vaughan Williams 3rd is wonderful piece and few thoughts that came to mind are: that it really comes to life live, that I'm bewildered why it took me quite a while to come to like it on record especially since I really like (and prefer) VW's pastoral side and I've decided to blame it on Slatkin's deadly dull recording which was my introduction to it, that I was amazed how idiomatic Belgrade orchestra sounded given that most of them probably haven't ever played any VW in their lives which probably should be attributed most to VW's clear and precise writing. Excellent evening all in all.

Tonight at the Barbican Centre, London:

Bach Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227*
Bruckner Selected motets*
Bruckner Symphony No 8

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Leif Segerstam conductor
James O’Donnell* conductor
BBC Singers

Segerstam conducting Bruckner.  Still can't quite get my head around the concept.   Very much looking forward to this experience.

Concert is also being broadcast (and streamed) live by BBC R3

Thanks for heads-up on streaming!   

[bhodges]

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

Erm, uh... ...because I knew you would weigh in - yeah, that's it! (Note to self: do not post when tired.  )

It was an excellent evening, and part of it was seeing the Juilliard players do such great work with such difficult music.

--Bruce

[Christo]

It was a very fine evening. Shostakovich piece is excellent if you want to hear some big orchestral DSCH and yet don't have time for any of the symphonies, instantly recognizable and conveniently compressed in 12 minutes. Barber was fine as well, what stuck mostly in my memory afterwards is that lovely slow movement, particularly duet between cello and oboe. Barber is similarly not that often played here, what I heard live is I think only the Adagio and that Medea piece. Vaughan Williams 3rd is wonderful piece and few thoughts that came to mind are: that it really comes to life live, that I'm bewildered why it took me quite a while to come to like it on record especially since I really like (and prefer) VW's pastoral side and I've decided to blame it on Slatkin's deadly dull recording which was my introduction to it, that I was amazed how idiomatic Belgrade orchestra sounded given that most of them probably haven't ever played any VW in their lives which probably should be attributed most to VW's clear and precise writing. Excellent evening all in all.

Thanks for heads-up on streaming!

Great to hear, many thanks! I love all three pieces too, making me really envious. :-) You are right: Slatkin's cycle isn't bad overall and I like his more 'abstract' approach in some of the more abstract symphonies, but the Pastoral is served much better by other conductors. Absolutely great to learn that the Belgrade PO is able to play it so idiomatically. As for Barber**: his lyricism is almost unsurpassed and quite unique; good to hear it live (I never did). Please don't hesitate to report more from Belgrade.

**Edit: I now remember that a leading Dutch music critic and also composer, Otto Ketting, wrote about Barber in 1972: "He wrote two symphonies whose principal merit is that they were not written by Tchaikovsky. A piano concerto that would earn the price of the most boring concerto ever, were it not that this award had already been earned by his cello concerto" etc. His circle, the 1968 generation to which e.g. composer Louis Andriessen also belonged, was influential enough to virtually exclude composers like Barber, and almost any composer that didn't comply with their idea of Modernism, from places like the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Shostakovich was only grudginly allowed in in the 1980s because principal conductor Bernhard Haitink championed him. Many others were less lucky and had to wait till more recent years. For example, Haitink also championed Vaughan Williams and recorded all the symphonies, as you will know. But AFAIK he never conducted any Vaughan Williams in Amsterdam; strictly prohibited. 

[kishnevi]

*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."

Nicht so schnell!  Why don't you like the Cello Concerto?

[EigenUser]

Nicht so schnell!  Why don't you like the Cello Concerto?

After hearing the Chamber Concerto and the Cello Concerto next to each other, I realized that they both have some similar sounds which got me thinking "Why do I love the ChC but not the CC?" I came to the conclusion that the CC is very fragmented (I'm talking about the 2nd movement -- the 1st movement I actually have always liked). The ChC has many things that sound similar, but they are grouped into four movements that are each held together by a similar mood/atmosphere (i.e. the flowing first movement, the static 2nd, the granulated 3rd, and the scurrying 4th). Now I'm not saying that one thing is better than the other, but I think the idea that the ChC is a 'defragmented' CC gives some insight as to why I don't like it. It also explains why I like the 1st movement reasonably well -- it is held together by a similar mood.

I think someone on here has a quote by Copland about how he feels the need to know why he doesn't like something. I can definitely relate. I still enjoyed watching/experiencing the performance of the CC, though.

[Bruckner is God]

Thursday 12 March. I am really looking forward to this concert.
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra/Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Renaud Capucon, violin

Dusapin - Violin Concerto
Bruckner - Symphony no. 3

[Drasko]

Please don't hesitate to report more from Belgrade.

Unfortunately my concertgoing has been greatly reduced these days. Used to be subscribed to entire BP season, plus opera, ballet and guesting artist amounted to probably more than 40 concerts a season. Nowdays maybe 10 a season, so much less to report.

**Edit: I now remember that a leading Dutch music critic and also composer, Otto Ketting, wrote about Barber in 1972: "He wrote two symphonies whose principal merit is that they were not written by Tchaikovsky. A piano concerto that would earn the price of the most boring concerto ever, were it not that this award had already been earned by his cello concerto" etc. His circle, the 1968 generation to which e.g. composer Louis Andriessen also belonged, was influential enough to virtually exclude composers like Barber, and almost any composer that didn't comply with their idea of Modernism, from places like the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Shostakovich was only grudginly allowed in in the 1980s because principal conductor Bernhard Haitink championed him. Many others were less lucky and had to wait till more recent years. For example, Haitink also championed Vaughan Williams and recorded all the symphonies, as you will know. But AFAIK he never conducted any Vaughan Williams in Amsterdam; strictly prohibited.

Programming at Belgrade Philharmonic is polar opposite. Less known, obscure, bizarre is ok as long as it's at least partially tonal. For instance the high point of last season for me was Revueltas' Las Noches de las Mayas also Turangalila, season before that we had Leifs and Myaskovsky, and so on ... There is couple of seasons running cycle of concerts for odd instruments like water percussions, alpine horn, amplified flutes even assorted garbage. But high modernism is absolute no-go, nothing past more mellow pieces of second Viennesse circle, the only exception I can remember during last 10 years or so was Berio's Sinfonia but that is pretty peculiar piece. 

[Obradovic]

Athens Megaron, 18 MAR

S.Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet op.64

MusicAeterna/Teodor Courrentzis

A 2,5 hours concert with the complete ballet music

[MishaK]

Heard yesterday:

DePaul University combined orchestras/Michael Lewanski

Sibelius Tapiola (which I missed)
Spahlinger morendo (which was repeated after some explanation of the goings on)
Spahlinger doppelt bejaht (which was pretty freaking amazing)

For those interested and in or near Chicago, there is a bit of a Spahlinger festival going on. A few more concerts at UChicago this weekend. The dude was in the audience yesterday.

https://arts.uchicago.edu/article/there-no-repetition-mathias-spahlinger-70

On Sunday I'm going to this:

Boulez Notations, for Piano
Boulez Piano Sonata No. 1
Boulez Piano Sonata No. 2
Boulez Movements from Piano Sonata No. 3
Boulez Incises
Boulez une page d'éphéméride
Boulez Structures, Book II

Performers

Pierre-Laurent Aimard piano 
Tamara Stefanovich piano

[Christo]

Tomorrow in Rotterdam: the first time I'll be able to hear A Pastoral Symphony (1916-21) by Vaughan Williams live. By the 'Codarts SO' consisting of music students and young professionals. Nevertheless: http://www.dedoelen.nl/nl/concerten/agenda/4829/codarts_symphony_orchestra/bovennatuurlijke_muziek

[Papy Oli]

A couple of concerts at Snape later this month and in June :

Woodbridge Choral Society & Kingfisher Sinfonia
Mozart: Requiem
Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (Choral)

Quatuor Mosaiques
Beethoven - Quartet in E-flat Op.127 40'
Beethoven - Quartet in C-sharp minor Op.131 39'

[Karl Henning]

Tomorrow:

[TheGSMoeller]

Tomorrow:

Must be a cool feeling to see your name along side Britten, because it's pretty cool to see it.
Bravo, Karl!

[Christo]

Must be a cool feeling to see your name along side Britten, because it's pretty cool to see it.
Bravo, Karl!

Who'se this Britten guy? 

[Karl Henning]

Hah!  Thanks, lads!

[EigenUser]

FINALLY (!) I'll get to see the Ligeti PC! August 16th, 2015, Avery-Fischer Hall, with PLA as soloist and George Benjamin conducting. I'll be there!

http://www.schott-music.com/composers_authors/calendar/performances/show,73231,153614.html

[Phrygian]

I've just left Leipzig and have arrived in Strasbourg today.  Finally some decent internet reception, though I was able to use the computer from the Arctic Circle in Kirkenes (the top of Norway - and while viewing the Aurora Borealis!) three weeks ago.  (My sister quipped that I got better internet reception near the North Pole than she did near Sydney for $60 per month.  I replied that I had "unlimited for just over $A11,500!!!)

The Thomaskirche at Leipzig - what can I say?  A quite overwhelming experience and, quite co-incidentally, a musician was practicing some Bach Preludes & Fugues as we entered the church.  Looking upon that plaque, knowing the remains of the great Bach lay beneath it, meant a great deal to me.  Also, the statue of Mendelssohn out front and the visit to both the Mendelssohn and Schumann houses made the visit to Leipzig a musicological dream!  The Gewandhaus concert was last Friday night;  this orchestra was on fire!!  They played an all 20th century repertoire - Stravinsky Feuervogel (1919), Kodaly Tanzen aus Galanta and a Greek violinist played the Sibelius Concerto.  With his long dark mane, constantly needing to be brushed from his face, this commanding musician (who was unfamiliar to me before this concert) gave an intense and virtuosic account of the Sibelius.  There was a logic and structure to it which appears to have eluded me in recorded versions.  There is no substitute for a live concert performance.

Lots more places to visit and concerts to attend.  If I get the time (and inclination) I'll report again.

[Pat B]

a Greek violinist played the Sibelius Concerto.  With his long dark mane, constantly needing to be brushed from his face, this commanding musician (who was unfamiliar to me before this concert) gave an intense and virtuosic account of the Sibelius.  There was a logic and structure to it which appears to have eluded me in recorded versions.  There is no substitute for a live concert performance.

Leonidas Kavakos. His Sibelius recording is rather controversial around here (which probably does not mean anything about a live performance 20 years later). I haven't heard it but I liked what I have heard by him.

[Brian]

FREE LIVE CONCERT being streamed on Thursday March 26th 7.15pm Central Europe Time

Use this link

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Kent Nagano and Ray Chen

Hillborg Beast Sampler
Sibelius Violin Concerto
Brahms Symphony No 1

Free HD video of a previous performance of Anders Hillborg's "Beast Sampler"