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

[EigenUser]

Tomorrow in NYC (with Bruce ):
MESSIAEN Oiseaux Exotiques (2nd time seeing this one live)
LIGETI Piano Concerto (finally we meet!)
BENJAMIN Into the Little Hill (looks really interesting)

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano
George Benjamin, Conductor

Program/performers couldn't be better. Aimard was friends with Ligeti and made two recordings of the PC. Benjamin was a student of Messiaen.

[Christo]

Later this month I am going to hear Barber's Essay No.2 a [...] at the Proms in London. Never heard the Barber live before - it is like a mini symphony in itself.

Exactly, that's what it is, an extremely dense and concise symphony in one movement. And I know that both of us share a special liking for David Measham's recording of it.

[Brian]

IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR ALL READERS, BUT ESPECIALLY NEW-YORK-BASED ONES

I am going to be in New York on Wednesday, February 10, and will leave the morning of Thursday, February 11.

The NY Philharmonic is having an open rehearsal of Mahler's Sixth on Thursday, the 11th, at 9:45 a.m., with conductor Semyon Bychkov. They perform the Sixth in concert that night, but the open rehearsal is a "working rehearsal."

I have never heard Mahler's Sixth before.

Should I go to the rehearsal and fly home after lunch? Or will seeing a rehearsal as my first encounter with the work be a bad idea?

[amw]

I typically prefer rehearsals to concerts, and love going to rehearsals of pieces I've never heard before. (And then maybe listening to the piece afterwards on record, if I have time/inclination.) But that's an acquired taste for sure.

[TheGSMoeller]

I say go to the rehearsal, it's such an important part of the music making process, and for someone like yourself, Brian, I believe will get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing this.

[bhodges]

I second the advice from the two gents above, and would add that most "working rehearsals" I've attended are pretty much "final dress rehearsals," in that the conductor doesn't stop unless absolutely necessary. (They can't guarantee this, of course.) You would no doubt find it quite interesting. I would actually go to the rehearsal in the morning, and then the concert at night, but your schedule sounds like that won't be possible.

--Bruce

[amw]

The concert's never as good as the final rehearsal—skip it unless they don't bother with the whole piece in the rehearsal and just practice excerpts (which is rare and usually either a bad omen—they're not prepared—or a sign of the supreme quality of the orchestra; you'll soon be able to tell which).

[ritter]

Quite interesting concerts coming up for me in quick succession:

On Friday this week, the young and rising Busch Ensemble plays Beethoven's "Archduke Trio" and Dvořák's Trio Op. 65 at Westerlo Castle in Belgium.

Then, on the following evening, the Spanish National Orchestra's new chief conductor David Afkham opens the season with Mahler's Second symphony (the soloists are soprano Kate Royal and mezzo Christianne Stotijn). The venue is Madrid's National Auditorium.

And finally, on Wednesday next week, again at the National Auditorium, the Madrid Symphony Orchestra under Pedro Halffter gives the world première of Cristóbal Hallfter's Imágenes (according to Universal Edition's webpage, a 26' piece for large orchestra). The program is completed with a symphonic traversal of Wagner's Tannhäuser.

[Todd]

Just got some front row tickets for Lise de la Salle playing some LvB (2/3), Ravel (Gaspard), some Debussy selections, and Brahms' Handel Variations on October 24th.  Hoping for the best.  This will the fourth live performance of Gaspard I've heard in around the same number of years, the other pianists being Hamelin, Bavouzet, and Grosvenor. 

[Scion7]

Just the five or six chamber music recitals coming up in this small part of America, starting with Thursday's Brahms recital.  I didn't make it to the Tchaikovsky/Sibelius show in Columbia.

[MishaK]

I just booked my trip to go hear this next month:

Oct 15/16/17

Minnesota Orchestra
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, conductor
Anthony Ross, cello

SCHUMANN
Cello Concerto

BRUCKNER
Symphony No. 7

 

[Ken B]

I just booked my trip to go hear this next month:

Oct 15/16/17

Minnesota Orchestra
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, conductor
Anthony Ross, cello

SCHUMANN
Cello Concerto

BRUCKNER
Symphony No. 7

 

They on tour? The NYPO is in my neighborhood, but I am out of town those days.

[Brian]

They on tour? The NYPO is in my neighborhood, but I am out of town those days.

Misha lives in the midwest, I think he means he's taking a weekend to go to Minneapolis.

[MishaK]

Misha lives in the midwest, I think he means he's taking a weekend to go to Minneapolis.

Correct.    I don't think Skrowaczewski at 92 (!!!) tours much these days though he did guest conduct in Berlin and Frankfurt in the last two seasons (there is a great Brahms 1 and Bruckner 9 with the Frankfurt RSO, complete concerts available on the Frankfurt RSO's youtube channel for free!). He lives in Minneapolis and is their conductor laureate. I missed the opportunity to hear him do Bruckner 4 that he conducted during the orchestra's strike.

[bhodges]

Tonight (assuming I get there, with the Pope in town  ), the first NY Philharmonic concert of the season (not counting last night's gala with Lang Lang), and featuring the new concertmaster, Frank Huang, formerly with the Houston Symphony Orchestra:

New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Frank Huang, violin
Salonen: LA Variations
R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben

--Bruce

[Brian]

Tonight (assuming I get there, with the Pope in town  ), the first NY Philharmonic concert of the season (not counting last night's gala with Lang Lang), and featuring the new concertmaster, Frank Huang, formerly with the Houston Symphony Orchestra:

New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Frank Huang, violin
Salonen: LA Variations
R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben

--Bruce

Frank Huang has a fun solo CD, if you want to get to know him. Schubert, Schoenberg, and more.

[asin]B0000TAPT2[/asin]

[bhodges]

Frank Huang has a fun solo CD, if you want to get to know him. Schubert, Schoenberg, and more.

[asin]B0000TAPT2[/asin]

Thanks for putting this on my radar! And his sound/technique aside, that's a very interesting program - shows more creativity than say, three Beethoven sonatas. Will definitely get to this recording soon.

--Bruce

[TheGSMoeller]

Tonight (assuming I get there, with the Pope in town  ), the first NY Philharmonic concert of the season (not counting last night's gala with Lang Lang), and featuring the new concertmaster, Frank Huang, formerly with the Houston Symphony Orchestra:

New York Philharmonic
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Frank Huang, violin
Salonen: LA Variations
R. Strauss: Ein Heldenleben

--Bruce

Can't think of a better intro to a new concermaster than Heldenleben.
Hope you enjoy it, Bruce. If you get there. 

[bhodges]

Can't think of a better intro to a new concertmaster than Heldenleben.
Hope you enjoy it, Bruce. If you get there. 

Thanks, and got there just fine. (The subways were mobbed with people trying to get a glimpse of the Pope as he drove through Central Park.)

Huang did a beautiful job with the solos in Heldenleben. The violinist friend with me thought he might have projected more, but as usual, it's hard to tell in Avery Fisher Hall, which often doesn't help musicians. But he has a lovely, sweet tone, with spot-on intonation. Everything else in the piece was good (not "incredible"), with particularly fine work from the orchestra's horns. I also liked Salonen's LA Variations - perhaps the piece more than this performance - and realized I haven't heard Salonen's recording with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In any case, you're right: the Strauss makes a fine intro for a new violinist, and Huang seems to be off to an excellent start.

--Bruce

[listener]

next week: Vancouver S.O. Carlos Miguel Prieto conductor (he's been here before, this is a replacement booking that he cancelled a couple of dates in Mexico City for.  The orch is looking for a new conductor so he may have found the area one he liked and worth some extra effort).  Tianwa Yang violin* (her Naxos Sarasate sound like she'll do well in the concerto).    Rather "pops" selections: Bach/Stokowski: Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor, Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor* (not no.1 for a change!), Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F Major       -  should be crowd pleasers.
It looks like yesterday's season opener was heavily papered for full house pictures for the press.  Season ticket sales look awfully soft. (Individual dates can be accessed on their website).  The 'charity' special, Perlman doing Bruch 1, Beethoven 5 has brought out all the big spenders for their once-a-year classic support appearance.