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

[Brian]

I'm now in the Scottish Highlands, and will probably not be posting much until the end of next week.

Enjoy a dram of whiskey for me! Sounds like a great holiday, and at a great time of year, too. 

Glad that the concert was good - Ms. New is a frequent guest here in Dallas though I've often felt she favors slow/safe tempos. Maybe the Proms bring out the best in some artists!

[AnotherSpin]

[..]
Then we got Pavel Kolesnikov playing the Shostakovich Second Piano Concerto quite wonderfully. The work itself is not to my liking, though: it's archetypical of its composer's alternation of the schmaltzy and the sardonic, which irritates me.
[..]

archetypical of its composer's alternation of the schmaltzy and the sardonic - thanks for the formula, couldn't have expressed the essence of this composer more clearly.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Next Tuesday, our last Ravinia concert of the season:

Music of the Baroque
Dame Jane Glover, conductor
James Ehnes, violin

George Frideric Handel: Water Music Suite No. 2
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3
Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 102

They should really be called "Music of the Baroque and Classical Periods" but who cares really.

[brewski]

On Saturday, 16 September, will be watching this concert (7:00 pm in Berlin, 1:00 pm here). The entire program is exciting, but I'm most eager to hear the Xenakis — my first time hearing one of his large orchestral works live. And marvelous to end with Stele, one of Kurtág's greatest works.

Berliner Philharmoniker
Kirill Petrenko, conductor
Christian Gerhaher, baritone

Iannis Xenakis: Jonchaies for large orchestra
Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Gesangsszene for baritone and orchestra on a text from Sodom and Gomorrah by Jean Giraudoux
Márton Illés: Lég-szín-tér – commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung (premiere)
György Kurtág: Stele for large orchestra, op. 33

https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/55015

-Bruce

[brewski]

On Saturday, 16 September, will be watching this concert (7:00 pm in Berlin, 1:00 pm here). The entire program is exciting, but I'm most eager to hear the Xenakis — my first time hearing one of his large orchestral works live. And marvelous to end with Stele, one of Kurtág's greatest works.

Berliner Philharmoniker
Kirill Petrenko, conductor
Christian Gerhaher, baritone

Iannis Xenakis: Jonchaies for large orchestra
Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Gesangsszene for baritone and orchestra on a text from Sodom and Gomorrah by Jean Giraudoux
Márton Illés: Lég-szín-tér – commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung (premiere)
György Kurtág: Stele for large orchestra, op. 33

https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/55015

-Bruce

OK, this concert was extraordinary. I had never heard a Xenakis orchestral piece live, and this was thrilling beyond belief, for a very large orchestra. And I wouldn't mind the Kurtág played at my memorial service (not that I'm thinking that will happen soon).

In between, the other works were equally compelling. Tons of unusual instrumental techniques in the Illés, and though Christian Gerhaher does lots of lieder (e.g., Schubert), I was impressed he would tackle this rare Hartmann. I will definitely be watching this concert again (and the friends who watched with me said they might join).

Mark Berry went to the first of the two performances on Thursday, and wrote about it here on his blog, Boulezian.

Rhetorical shout into the wind: why don't American orchestras do concerts like this? Never mind, I know.

-Bruce

[vers la flamme]

There is an all-Feldman piano and violin recital downtown tomorrow evening, if anyone is in the NYC area.

https://nyss.org/morton-feldman-returns-to-eighth-street/

[ritter]

Just bought tickets to see Cherubini's Medée at the Teatro Real here in Madrid next Thursday. The score is presented in the original French, in an edition by the late Alan Curtis, who composed recitatives to replace the dialogues, effectively turning this opéra comique into a sort of tragédie lyrique (which allegedly was the composer's initial project, but this was thwarted due to financial considerations before the premiere in 1797). The more familiar through-composed version by Franz Lachner (known to most opera lovers as it was the one performed on stage and recorded —in Italian— by Maria Callas) has been eschewed in this production, as it is seen as stylistically incongruous. Let's see...

Ivor Bolton conducts, with —in the performance I will attend— Maria Agresta in the title rôle and Enea Scala as Jason. The staging is by Paco Azorín.



Reviews have been mixed (the production opened the season on Sept. 19th). The edition used for the score is seen as interesting, Ivor Bolton has been highly praised, but the general sentiment is that the singers are overtaxed by their roles, and that the staging is not particularly successful. Again, let's see...

[brewski]

Just bought tickets to see Cherubini's Medée at the Teatro Real here in Madrid next Thursday. The score is presented in the original French, in an edition by the late Alan Curtis, who composed recitatives to replace the dialogues, effectively turning this opéra comique into a sort of tragédie lyrique (which allegedly was the composer's initial project, but this was thwarted due to financial considerations before the premiere in 1797). The more familiar through-composed version by Franz Lachner (known to most opera lovers as it was the one performed on stage and recorded —in Italian— by Maria Callas) has been eschewed in this production, as it is seen as stylistically incongruous. Let's see...

Ivor Bolton conducts, with —in the performance I will attend— Maria Agresta in the title rôle and Enea Scala as Jason. The staging is by Paco Azorín.



Reviews have been mixed (the production opened the season on Sept. 19th). The edition used for the score is seen as interesting, Ivor Bolton has been highly praised, but the general sentiment is that the singers are overtaxed by their roles, and that the staging is not particularly successful. Again, let's see...

That photo! True confession: I have never even heard this piece, but that alone might entice me to check it out. (Most of my Cherubini encounters have been with Riccardo Muti, when he has conducted some of his orchestral works.)

-Bruce

[brewski]

Tonight:

The Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Higdon: Fanfare Ritmico
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances

Tomorrow night:

Minnesota Orchestra (livestream here)
Thomas Søndergård, conductor

Auerbach: Icarus
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Barber: Medea's Dance of Vengeance
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe

-Bruce

[Mapman]

My university's orchestra is playing Bartók's Concerto For Orchestra tonight.

[brewski]

My university's orchestra is playing Bartók's Concerto For Orchestra tonight.

If it was recorded, either audio or video, would love to hear it.

-Bruce

[Mapman]

If it was recorded, either audio or video, would love to hear it.

-Bruce

Here's the recording! It was an excellent performance. Unfortunately, the beginning of the final movement was a bit too fast resulting in a lack of clarity.

https://www.music.msu.edu/events/online/symphony-orchestra-virtuosity

[brewski]

Here's the recording! It was an excellent performance. Unfortunately, the beginning of the final movement was a bit too fast resulting in a lack of clarity.

https://www.music.msu.edu/events/online/symphony-orchestra-virtuosity

Thank you!

-Bruce

[brewski]

Tonight at Carnegie Hall:

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

Though the program is on the safe side, I would hear all of these artists play most anything, especially Muti. Now 82, he shows no signs of slowing down, but one never knows when things may come to a halt. Anyway, I am betting that he and the orchestra will find a lot of electricity in Pictures. And Kavakos, whom I have long admired in many works, was the violinist who finally got me to like the Sibelius Violin Concerto.

-Bruce

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Tonight at Carnegie Hall:

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

Though the program is on the safe side, I would hear all of these artists play most anything, especially Muti. Now 82, he shows no signs of slowing down, but one never knows when things may come to a halt. Anyway, I am betting that he and the orchestra will find a lot of electricity in Pictures. And Kavakos, whom I have long admired in many works, was the violinist who finally got me to like the Sibelius Violin Concerto.

-Bruce

Oh, cool!  What time is the concert and how will you be listening to it?  Or will you be there?

You put a big smile on my face when you wrote about how Kavakos got you to like Sibelius' V.C. as I went to a concert some years ago to hear him perform it.   

PD

[DavidW]

My local concert got desperate and put tickets at 3 for $75.  So I will be attending three different concerts this season.  They also went back to six concerts when they had previously shrunk to five.  When two of the concerts are pops, and they also severely cut back on modern classical, I had felt that they had lost their way.  My faith is restored this season.  If I like the three that I attend I'll buy a ticket for the final concert which will be Beethoven's 9th.

[brewski]

Oh, cool!  What time is the concert and how will you be listening to it?  Or will you be there?

You put a big smile on my face when you wrote about how Kavakos got you to like Sibelius' V.C. as I went to a concert some years ago to hear him perform it.   

PD

Sorry, didn't see this until much later. I was actually there! The concert was broadcast live on WQXR, at the link below, and if I had known, I would have posted it. But the good news is, they say "audio not yet available" (emphasis on "yet") so it appears they will have it at some point. When it is, if you like the artists and the program, do not hesitate.

https://www.wqxr.org/story/carnegie-hall-opening-night-gala-chicago-symphony-orchestra/

-Bruce

[pjme]

A very modest yet charming little concert of mainly English baroque music at Tilburg's "Hasseltse kapel".


apparently the oldest survivig building in Tilburg : ca. 1536 and devoted to the virgin Mary.

Music by Byrd, Campion, Purcell, Händel and a Pavana lachrimae by Sweelinck.
Soprano, harpsichord, gamba and flute. Local semi-professional (?) musicians. Sweet.

Purcells Evening hymn was the highlight:

 Now, now that the sun hath veil'd his light
And bid the world goodnight;
To the soft bed my body I dispose,
But where shall my soul repose?
Dear, dear God, even in Thy arms,
And can there be any so sweet security!
Then to thy rest, O my soul!
And singing, praise the mercy
That prolongs thy days.
¡Hallelujah¡

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Sorry, didn't see this until much later. I was actually there! The concert was broadcast live on WQXR, at the link below, and if I had known, I would have posted it. But the good news is, they say "audio not yet available" (emphasis on "yet") so it appears they will have it at some point. When it is, if you like the artists and the program, do not hesitate.

https://www.wqxr.org/story/carnegie-hall-opening-night-gala-chicago-symphony-orchestra/

-Bruce

So, how was the concert? 

PD

[brewski]

So, how was the concert? 

PD

Oh, excellent. Normally this kind of program wouldn't excite me much, but Kavakos was quite amazing in the Tchaikovsky. He has such a relaxed bow arm, which seemed to help navigate all the frenzied short notes, and Muti and the orchestra sounded in their element.

In Pictures, Muti characterized each section distinctly, and to help, made the most of pauses in between them: total silence, helped by a silent audience, too, without the coughing and fidgeting that sometimes occur. It's a piece that is taken for granted by a lot of performers (and some of us listeners), but last night reminded me of why it is popular. Gorgeous winds, saxophone, clanking percussion—all most enjoyable.

I said to my friend afterward, this makes me want to move to Chicago.

-Bruce