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

[Karl Henning]

Where in the program is the piece you cite?

Hard for me to say, Bruce, I was watching on my TV, and then the YouTube livestream went a bit funny. I went back to Home on my player, selected the concert again, but it started at the very beginning (did not "remember" my place. So I fast forwarded and luckily hit upon Julian Bryson's piece a bit after it started. I didn't make note of the time stamp, sorry! I certainly enjoyed all of the concert that I listened to. Brought me back to Wooster Chorus days! Sorry I am so little help, especially as I appreciate your kind interest!

[brewski]

Hard for me to say, Bruce, I was watching on my TV, and then the YouTube livestream went a bit funny. I went back to Home on my player, selected the concert again, but it started at the very beginning (did not "remember" my place. So I fast forwarded and luckily hit upon Julian Bryson's piece a bit after it started. I didn't make note of the time stamp, sorry! I certainly enjoyed all of the concert that I listened to. Brought me back to Wooster Chorus days! Sorry I am so little help, especially as I appreciate your kind interest!

Thanks, Karl, and no worries! I'll likely revisit, especially given my familial connection to the university.

-Bruce

[Karl Henning]

Celebrating Duke Ellington's birthday by attending the Spring Concert of the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra's 50^th  season!

[Karl Henning]

Celebrating Duke Ellington's birthday by attending the Spring Concert of the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra's 50^th  season!

First performance of music director Mark Harvey's Prayer for Ukraine.

[Brian]

There are reports online, apparently verified with an employee, that at last night's Los Angeles Philharmonic concert, during Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, some members of the audience engaged in...adult activities...that led to one of the said persons making a loud noise.

twitter discussion link

(The coupling was Thomas Ades' violin concerto)

[Florestan]

There are reports online, apparently verified with an employee, that at last night's Los Angeles Philharmonic concert, during Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, some members of the audience engaged in...adult activities...that led to one of the said persons making a loud noise.

twitter discussion link

(The coupling was Thomas Ades' violin concerto)

Evidence of the foolishness of those who label Tchaikovsky as "saccharine". On the contrary, he's hormonal and testosteronely. And his favourite piece of music was Don Giovanni. 

[Franco_Manitobain]

There are reports online, apparently verified with an employee, that at last night's Los Angeles Philharmonic concert, during Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, some members of the audience engaged in...adult activities...that led to one of the said persons making a loud noise.

twitter discussion link

(The coupling was Thomas Ades' violin concerto)

Hah! The Tchaikovsky obviously made a great impression! 

[Brian]

Tonight!

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 4 in E Minor. Op. 44 No. 2
Anton Webern: Langsamer satz
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11

Jerusalem Quartet

I believe other GMGers have seen this group on this tour already!

[vers la flamme]

Torn between two options for Sunday; there is Fauré's Requiem at Spivey Hall in Morrow, GA, or a piano recital at the local Anglican cathedral. I don't know the pianist, one Mark Valenti, but the program looks great: Debussy's Images, a Haydn G major sonata, several late Brahms piano pieces, and Scriabin's 5th Sonata. Thinking I will opt for the latter, which is free; however, I have been wanting to see the Fauré Requiem for a long time—my last opportunity was spoiled when a local church had to cancel a scheduled performance during the earliest weeks of the covid lockdowns.

The piano recital yesterday was nice though for some unknown reason the Scriabin was scrapped... which was the main reason I was going. However it was nice to hear some late Brahms in a live setting.

[brewski]

Tonight!

Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 4 in E Minor. Op. 44 No. 2
Anton Webern: Langsamer satz
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11

Jerusalem Quartet

I believe other GMGers have seen this group on this tour already!

Hoping your outing with them was as great as mine last October, in the very same program:

https://www.thestrad.com/reviews/concert-review-jerusalem-quartet/15757.article

-Bruce

[Brian]

Hoping your outing with them was as great as mine last October, in the very same program:

https://www.thestrad.com/reviews/concert-review-jerusalem-quartet/15757.article

-Bruce

Yes! It was great. My main lesson is that I came away with greater respect for Mendelssohn. Compared to the Tchaikovsky, with its many unisons and extended first violin solos, and the Webern, which is rather youthful and simple, Mendelssohn's quartet was so tightly written, full of so much dialogue between instruments. It really embodies the ideal of string quartet as "conversation." You could see it in their body language! In the Webern, the players all were more or less on their own to play from the score. In the Tchaikovsky, there was more "checking in," more eye contact, more spontaneity. But in the Mendelssohn - phew! It was like watching a jazz band at work. The cellist, especially, liked to lean in and get in everyone else's faces. (Melissa, who used to be in orchestra as an oboe, told me, "You can tell he's the one who annoys the others in practice."  ) It also reminded me of that amazing Mendelssohn octet video you posted recently, where there's a real amazing visual element of themes being passed back and forth, of ideas being traded. Note to self: always, always go to live performances of Mendelssohn chamber works.

Breathtakingly tight ensemble. In the really fast codas of the Tchaikovsky first and last movements, their ability to hit an accelerando, stay together, and play the living daylights out of the music, at unsafe speed - totally amazed us. I liked a moment when the two violinists both threw themselves back in their chairs at the same time so they could go wild.

The attendance was poor. Only about 110 people, which is not what the players deserved. But it does mean we got great seats - right smack in the middle, fifth row.

[Brian]

And now a counterpoint! Our local music critic (a friend of mine, so be kind) absolutely hated the performance and, seemingly, the quartet's whole style. Some choice words from his summary: aggression, crudity, vulgarity, assault, scorched, shoved in our faces. He even complained that the guy who spoke at the start to thank everyone for attending was too loud 

[DavidW]

The attendance was poor. Only about 110 people, which is not what the players deserved. But it does mean we got great seats - right smack in the middle, fifth row.

My experience is that is sadly common with chamber music.  I've found that even Bach cantatas have a low turn out.  People like to turn out for the huge symphony.

[brewski]

Yes! It was great. My main lesson is that I came away with greater respect for Mendelssohn. Compared to the Tchaikovsky, with its many unisons and extended first violin solos, and the Webern, which is rather youthful and simple, Mendelssohn's quartet was so tightly written, full of so much dialogue between instruments. It really embodies the ideal of string quartet as "conversation." You could see it in their body language! In the Webern, the players all were more or less on their own to play from the score. In the Tchaikovsky, there was more "checking in," more eye contact, more spontaneity. But in the Mendelssohn - phew! It was like watching a jazz band at work. The cellist, especially, liked to lean in and get in everyone else's faces. (Melissa, who used to be in orchestra as an oboe, told me, "You can tell he's the one who annoys the others in practice."  ) It also reminded me of that amazing Mendelssohn octet video you posted recently, where there's a real amazing visual element of themes being passed back and forth, of ideas being traded. Note to self: always, always go to live performances of Mendelssohn chamber works.

Breathtakingly tight ensemble. In the really fast codas of the Tchaikovsky first and last movements, their ability to hit an accelerando, stay together, and play the living daylights out of the music, at unsafe speed - totally amazed us. I liked a moment when the two violinists both threw themselves back in their chairs at the same time so they could go wild.

The attendance was poor. Only about 110 people, which is not what the players deserved. But it does mean we got great seats - right smack in the middle, fifth row.

Thank you for that report, which is almost as exhilarating as being there! I have a violinist friend who plays 90% contemporary music, and Mendelssohn is one of his favorite composers. It took me awhile, but I can see why. Still not the hugest fan of the symphonies (though they're fine), but the chamber music is something else.

-Bruce

[vers la flamme]

Not a concert, but considering going to Das Rheingold at the Atlanta Opera on Sunday. I have never been to the opera, but I'm in a bit of a Wagner phase at the moment.

Edit: And I'm seeing Mahler's 5th tomorrow, the ASO under Donald Runnicles. I can't contain my excitement

[Mapman]

Today's Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert had an excellent performance of Brahms' St. Anthony Variations. Variation 6 was particularly energetic, and the contrapuntal detail in Variation 8 was clear. The concert also featured a new trombone concerto by Carlos Simon and Beethoven's 8th.

[Ganondorf]

Not a concert, but considering going to Das Rheingold at the Atlanta Opera on Sunday.

You can never go wrong with Rheingold. 

[vers la flamme]

You can never go wrong with Rheingold. 

Alas, I waited too long and it sold out

[brewski]

Tonight:

Rachmaninov  The Bells
Lyadov  From the Apocalypse, Op.66
Scriabin  Prometheus "The Poem of Fire" (performed with lighting according to the composer's directions)

Philharmonia Orchestra
Stanislav Kochanovsky conductor
Alexei Volodin piano
Anush Hovhannisyan soprano
Toby Spence tenor
Yuriy Yurchuk baritone
Philharmonia Chorus

Oooh, yes, especially the Scriabin with the lighting effects. But the whole program is interesting; you rarely see the Rachmaninoff on a menu, and Lyadov, even rarer.

Tomorrow night, a friend had an extra ticket to this. It took me a long time to warm up to the Berlioz, perhaps because some conductors don't seem to emphasize the work's weirdness. No idea what Yannick will do, but of course, worth finding out.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Charlotte Blake Alston, speaker

Gabriela Lena Frank: Walkabout: Concerto for Orchestra (2016)
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

-Bruce

[brewski]

Ooh, well, there goes (part of) the day. Just got a notification of this Frankfurt concert coming up in a few hours, live at the link below.

Frankfurt Radio Symphony
Lawrence Power, Viola
Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Dirigent

Lotta Wennäkoski: Flounce
Anders Hillborg: Bratschenkonzert (Deutsche Erstaufführung)
Sibelius: Lemminkäinen-Suite

-Bruce