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

[Brian]

Which of these 1986 concerts would you go to? (tour by Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Neeme Jarvi)



I think the Firebird / Poulenc / Dvorak combo sounds most up my alley.

[Wanderer]

Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 with either the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 or the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

[DavidW]

Stravinsky, Britten and Tchaikovsky.

[Mapman]

Which of these 1986 concerts would you go to? (tour by Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Neeme Jarvi)

Poulenc's Concerto for 2 Pianos was one of my big discoveries next year, so I'd go to any program with it!

[Mapman]

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

I saw Yannick conduct Symphonie fantastique in Philadelphia several years ago. That performance helped me realize what an incredible piece it is. If I recall correctly, Yannick placed the offstage oboe in one of the balconies. Enjoy the concert!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Which of these 1986 concerts would you go to? (tour by Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Neeme Jarvi)



I think the Firebird / Poulenc / Dvorak combo sounds most up my alley.

For me, I think one of the Wagner, Brahms, Dvorak No. 7 ones sounds good to me!

PD

[Florestan]

Which of these 1986 concerts would you go to? (tour by Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Neeme Jarvi)



I think the Firebird / Poulenc / Dvorak combo sounds most up my alley.

Yes, that one for me too. 

[Florestan]

Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 with either the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 or the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

Very good choices. Love them all.

[brewski]

A reviewer in one of the dailies said, basically, kudos to the management for putting on this program, shame about the conducting.  Which seemed about right to me.  I'd been expecting a riot of exuberance - and I can think of a number of other conductors who would have given us that - but what we got was a steady, low-energy performance which didn't make the best of the Rachmaninov, in fact the Lyadov came across the strongest of the three.  In the Scriabin, it was amusing to watch the principal cellist leaning forward and peering through her glasses to try to read the music through the fog of the smoke machines and the flashing strobe lighting - it made good theatre, but purely as music as it didn't really add up to the balls-to-the-wall experience I'd been hoping for.

Ah, what a shame. (Though watching the cellist does sound like fun.)

-Bruce

[Wanderer]

Next week in Paris:

Charles Koechlin: Vers la voûte étoilée
Frédéric Chopin: Concerto pour piano n° 2
Benjamin Britten: Four Sea Interludes
Claude Debussy: La Mer

Orchestre de Paris
Ariane Matiakh
Lise de la Salle, piano

[Florestan]

Next week in Paris:

Charles Koechlin: Vers la voûte étoilée
Frédéric Chopin: Concerto pour piano n° 2
Benjamin Britten: Four Sea Interludes
Claude Debussy: La Mer

Orchestre de Paris
Ariane Matiakh
Lise de la Salle, piano

Should be a great evening. Enjoy!

[Wanderer]

Should be a great evening. Enjoy!

Thanks! Last time I attended a recital there (at the Philharmonie de Paris, Murray Perahia giving a transcendent rendition of the Hammerklavier Sonata), me and a few others went backstage afterwards to congratulate the artist. It didn't take more than 20 minutes, but it was apparently long enough for every other single soul to have eerily evaporated from the premises; wardrobe was already closed and a guard was waiting for us rather impatiently at the exit door - locking it the moment we stepped outside. This would never happen in Greece or Italy! 😁

[Florestan]

Thanks! Last time I attended a recital there (at the Philharmonie de Paris, Murray Perahia giving a transcendent rendition of the Hammerklavier Sonata), me and a few others went backstage afterwards to congratulate the artist. It didn't take more than 20 minutes, but it was apparently long enough for every other single soul to have eerily evaporated from the premises; wardrobe was already closed and a guard was waiting for us rather impatiently at the exit door - locking it the moment we stepped outside. This would never happen in Greece or Italy! 😁

What would never happen in Greece or Italy? The guard waiting for you, albeit impatiently, or the audience leaving the house so quickly?

[Wanderer]

What would never happen in Greece or Italy? The guard waiting for you, albeit impatiently, or the audience leaving the house so quickly?

The audience disappearing so abruptly. In Athens, even 30' or 45' after the end of a concert people are still hanging in the building and around the entrance chatting, finalizing dinner plans, waiting for friends in order to continue with their evening. Totally different vibe. I saw the same thing in Naples and (in a somewhat lesser degree) in Rome. I guess it makes sense since in our parts of the world weather is nicer and restaurants don't close early.

[Wanderer]

The guard waiting for you

The guard waiting for us, keys in hand, means we were the very last ones to exit the premises. Most lights had already been put out and there were no other members of the audience to be seen. All this at around 10:00 pm. I found it quite surreal. 

[Florestan]

The audience disappearing so abruptly. In Athens, even 30' or 45' after the end of a concert people are still hanging in the building and around the entrance chatting, finalizing dinner plans, waiting for friends in order to continue with their evening. Totally different vibe. I saw the same thing in Naples and (in a somewhat lesser degree) in Rome. I guess it makes sense since in our parts of the world weather is nicer and restaurants don't close early.

I guessed that much but wanted to be sure. In Romania it's the same, it takes at least a full half hour for the whole audience to leave, and in winter much more, as we queue up to retrieve our coats from the wardrobe. This, for symphonic concerts. At the opera house it takes even more time, the hall being larger. And yes, probably three quarters of the people leaving a concert or an opera go to restaurants and pubs. So the vibe is familiar to me.

[Florestan]

The guard waiting for us, keys in hand, means we were the very last ones to exit the premises. Most lights had already been put out and there were no other members of the audience to be seen. All this at around 10:00 pm. I found it quite surreal. 

And all this in Paris! Rossini and Meyerbeer must be rolling in their graves. 

[Cato]

Last Saturday we attended a Mahler VIII concert at the Cincinnati May Festival.

It was the 150th Anniversary of the festival, and they wanted a BIG work to celebrate it.

Of interest was the presence of the great James Conlon as the conductor: he was asked to "pinch-hit" for Juanjo Mena, who had to cancel at the last minute. 

James Conlon had been the festival's director for 36 years, so when he appeared, the applause was more than grateful.

The performance was incredible: the clarity of the lines was brought out, the singers were not overwhelmed by the choruses of nearly 400 people, the extra brass in the balcony (I was able to talk with some of them: graduate students from local universities e.g. Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and the University of Kentucky), and the children's choir - also in the balcony - were extremely good.

The audience nearly gave a standing ovation after the First Movement!  And after the final bars, with that leaping major ninth in the trumpets, there was an instant roaring standing ovation which went on for ten minutes.

And there was a sing-along encore: Handel's Hallelujah Chorus!

Of interest was Mrs. Cato's opinion on whether she preferred this over Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, which we had heard in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Esa Pekka Salonen.

She chose Schoenberg!  For her, the dramatic story in the Gurrelieder and the music in general seemed more attractive.  To be sure, the Mahler Eighth experience was quite fine, but the Gurrelieder was better.

I would say it was a tie! 

[Cato]

Tonight a program with the title Yiddish Cabaret:

Schulhoff 5 Pieces for String Quartet
Desyatnikov Yiddish - 5 songs for voice and string quartet
Korngold String Quartet No.2

Jerusalem Quartet
Hila Baggio soprano

There's already a CD of this:

Excellent!

Of interest was the presence of the great James Conlon as the conductor: he was asked to "pinch-hit" for Juanjo Mena, who had to cancel at the last minute. 

James Conlon had been the festival's director for 36 years, so when he appeared, the applause was more than grateful.

If you do not know James Conlon's recordings of the works of Alexander Zemlinsky, then you are missing some wonderful music!

[Cato]

Was that in 2018?  We were at that!

Yes!  A trip to London (and Bath and Stonehenge) was our 40th Anniversary present to ourselves!  The concert was a great part of it!   

Do you remember the tenor's name?  Do you agree he was not the Heldentenor one expects?