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

[brewski]

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's livestream from Detroit. It starts at 8PM Eastern time here: https://www.dso.org/watch/2835418


Paul Lewis piano
Osmo Vänskä conductor

HENRY DORN: Transitions
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15
JEAN SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43

Thanks for this, which somehow escaped my notice, and I'll surely be tuning in.

-Bruce

[Wanderer]

Recently at the Konzerthaus in Vienna:

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Ouverture »Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt« op. 27 (1828/1834)

Ernest Chausson
Poème de l'amour et de la mer op. 19 (1882–1890)

***

Benjamin Britten
Four sea interludes op. 33a (Peter Grimes) (1945)

Claude Debussy
La mer. Drei symphonische Skizzen (1903–1905)

Wiener Philharmoniker
Nicole Car, Sopran
Philippe Jordan, Dirigent


and

Maurice Ravel
Valses nobles et sentimentales (Fassung für Orchester) (1911/1912)

Francis Poulenc
Konzert für zwei Klaviere und Orchester d-moll S 61 (1932)

***

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Sinfonietta H-Dur op. 5 (1912)

Wiener Symphoniker
Arthur Jussen, Klavier
Lucas Jussen, Klavier
Marie Jacquot, Dirigentin


Superbly performed both, especially the VPO under Jordan. They played the trumpet calls in La mer that many omit nowadays. And such a thrill to listen to Korngold's Sinfonietta live!

[brewski]

I used to have a rule about not going to concerts on consecutive days, in case it stopped being special and became just a habit - a bit like booze   - but after last night I have scrapped that.  I missed the Danels' first Weinberg/Shostakovich concert because the next night Lugansky was playing Rachmaninov - which was a mistake: I will be there for the rest of the series regardless of whatever else might be going on at the time.

This sounds marvelous, and I can offer a similar tale. In 1982, Karajan and Berlin came to Carnegie Hall for 4 concerts. At the time, I thought doing four evenings in five days would be too much, so I got tickets for only two of them—silly me. First night, R. Strauss Alpine Symphony and Stravinsky's Apollo (first hearings), and the next, Brahms 2 and 4. I will forever kick myself for missing the third night, Brahms 1 and 3, and the final one, Mahler 9.

-Bruce

[DavidW]

I've done those 15-quartets-in-5-nights things before, and it's really not the best way to experience them.

Yes, when Karl posted about hearing ALL six Bartok quartets live, I thought I love these works but that is just too much.  It would be like the aural equivalent of hoovering up an entire cake! 

Shockingly - to me, anyway - the hall was less than half full.  And it is not a particularly large hall.  The half that were there were very enthusiastic, but even so, it doesn't look good.  Maybe that's why they didn't stream it.  Plus they need all the ticket sales they can get.

My experience is that chamber music doesn't draw big crowds, and 20th century music also challenges the average concert goer who just wants the romantic era orchestral warhorses.

That also explains my reaction to Mapman's concert: oh Lewis doing Beethoven? and Vanska doing Sibelius?  Oh how brave, how risky of them performing what they are most known for.  

[DavidW]

This sounds marvelous, and I can offer a similar tale. In 1982, Karajan and Berlin came to Carnegie Hall for 4 concerts. At the time, I thought doing four evenings in five days would be too much, so I got tickets for only two of them—silly me. First night, R. Strauss Alpine Symphony and Stravinsky's Apollo (first hearings), and the next, Brahms 2 and 4. I will forever kick myself for missing the third night, Brahms 1 and 3, and the final one, Mahler 9.

-Bruce

When I was in grad school like mid-2000s I bought tickets to the Pacifica Quartet performing Beethoven's late string quartets... and I completely forgot and I missed the concert.  I still haven't forgiven myself for that.

[Florestan]

My experience is that chamber music doesn't draw big crowds

Back in the days when I was a subscriber of the Romanian Radio Concert Hall, chamber music concerts were attended mostly by the same people, usually (much) less than 100 in a hall that seats about 1000. Even if we didn't know them personally, their faces became so familiar to me and my wife that we even assigned nicknames to many of them.   

The irony is that those concerts were as safe and mild as it gets: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak (not that there's anything wrong with their music, or that I didn't enjoy them). The most "modern" music I ever heard in the context was Enescu's Octet. 

[brewski]

My experience is that chamber music doesn't draw big crowds

Back in the days when I was a subscriber of the Romanian Radio Concert Hall, chamber music concerts were attended mostly by the same people, usually (much) less than 100 in a hall that seats about 1000.

Yes. Even I would confess to being seduced by a massive orchestra on most occasions. But as friends taught me years ago, many composers use chamber music for their most personal, intimate thoughts. Gigantic orchestral works are great, and so are huge operas, but there is nothing like the small universe of a string quartet.

-Bruce

[Florestan]

Yes. Even I would confess to being seduced by a massive orchestra on most occasions. But as friends taught me years ago, many composers use chamber music for their most personal, intimate thoughts. Gigantic orchestral works are great, and so are huge operas, but there is nothing like the small universe of a string quartet.

Absolutely. I prefer chamber music over gigantic orchestral works any day. I'm not at all keen on what Frederic Mompou dubbed as "phonorrhea".

[Mapman]

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's livestream from Detroit. It starts at 8PM Eastern time here: https://www.dso.org/watch/2835418


Paul Lewis piano
Osmo Vänskä conductor

HENRY DORN: Transitions
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15
JEAN SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43

This concert starts in about 45 minutes! @brewski

[brewski]

This concert starts in about 45 minutes! @brewski

Thanks, I caught most of it! (Due to unavoidable stuff, missed the first piece, but saw the rest.)

I thought Paul Lewis was superb in the Beethoven, and the Sibelius was excellent. Some of the chatters online thought the pace was too slow, but that's always a conundrum: "too slow" for some is "rapturous" for others. Anyway, I liked it a lot, and will probably revisit the recording if they post it.

-Bruce

[Wanderer]

Absolutely. I prefer chamber music over gigantic orchestral works any day. I'm not at all keen on what Frederic Mompou dubbed as "phonorrhea".

Frederic Mompou should have dubbed things in his own language. Etymologically, this very awkward attempt at a Greek neologism can't possibly mean what he seemed to want it to mean ("an excess of padding, ponderous development, and numbing redundancies" or something of the sort).

[Florestan]

Frederic Mompou should have dubbed things in his own language. Etymologically, this very awkward attempt at a Greek neologism can't possibly mean what he seemed to want it to mean ("an excess of padding, ponderous development, and numbing redundancies" or something of the sort).

You're being too pedantic in this case, my friend. 

[Judith]

What a wonderful Brahms concert yesterday evening performed by
local orchestra

Sinfonia of Leeds

with David Greed soloist
and conducted by Peter Stark

Performing
Violin Concerto
Symphony no 2

Such a treat. 

[Mapman]

I just attended a fantastic concert by Christian Lindberg and Roland Pöntinen! Lindberg will be giving a (trombone) masterclass tomorrow; I intend to watch.

Here's the program (excluding the 4.5 encores):
This concert will present classic and original works composed and arranged for trombone and piano: Sonata for Trombone "Vox Gabrieli" by Stjepan Sulek, Camera for Trombone and Piano by Roland Pöntinen, Mayfly for Solo Trombone by Christian Lindberg, Suite from Pique Dame (Arr. Lindberg) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Los Bandidos for Trombone and Piano by Christian Lindberg, Three Preludes for Trombone and Piano (Arr. Tarrodi) by George Gershwin, Drei Fantasiestücke Op. 73 by Robert Schumann, Barcorolle No. 5 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 66 by Gabriel Fauré, and Three Pieces from Firebird (Arr. Pöntinen/Lindberg) by Igor Stravinsky.

[brewski]

Looking forward to the inauguration of a new chamber music series starting in March, at The Black Squirrel Club, housed in an old steam plant from the 1890s. The series is the brainchild of Micah Gleason, a singer and conductor studying with Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Tesla Quartet
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 33, No. 2 "The Joke"
Stacy Garrop: String Quartet No. 4 "Illuminations"
Maurice Ravel: String Quartet in F major

-Bruce

[Brian]

I just attended a fantastic concert by Christian Lindberg and Roland Pöntinen! Lindberg will be giving a (trombone) masterclass tomorrow; I intend to watch.

Here's the program (excluding the 4.5 encores):
This concert will present classic and original works composed and arranged for trombone and piano: Sonata for Trombone "Vox Gabrieli" by Stjepan Sulek, Camera for Trombone and Piano by Roland Pöntinen, Mayfly for Solo Trombone by Christian Lindberg, Suite from Pique Dame (Arr. Lindberg) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Los Bandidos for Trombone and Piano by Christian Lindberg, Three Preludes for Trombone and Piano (Arr. Tarrodi) by George Gershwin, Drei Fantasiestücke Op. 73 by Robert Schumann, Barcorolle No. 5 in F Sharp Minor, Op. 66 by Gabriel Fauré, and Three Pieces from Firebird (Arr. Pöntinen/Lindberg) by Igor Stravinsky.

Wow! Amazingly lucky, and I hope you do get to see the masterclass. Lindberg is by reputation maybe the best trombonist ever? And The repertoire there is a cool mix of rarities, his own compositions, and the "big hits."

[Mapman]

Wow! Amazingly lucky, and I hope you do get to see the masterclass. Lindberg is by reputation maybe the best trombonist ever? And The repertoire there is a cool mix of rarities, his own compositions, and the "big hits."

I did make it to the masterclass! The MSU trombone students were great, and Lindberg helped them sound even better. He also answered some questions from the audience, including describing part of the process of writing one of his recent compositions. Perhaps most interestingly for members here, one question was about what (Classical) music to listen to. He specifically mentioned Curzon's recordings of Mozart Piano Concertos.

He is currently on tour, but it looks like it is about to end. The program was quite interesting. He told us that part of the program was chosen by his fans on social media. It looks like he was in the Dallas area last week. It's too bad that you didn't know about that performance!

https://calendar.unt.edu/event/guest_artist_recital_christian_lindberg_trombone_w_roland_pontinen_piano

[Brian]

Oh, darn it! You shouldn't have told me    Actually that would have been very hard to achieve on a weekday; Denton is more than an hour each direction from central Dallas so it wouldn't have been very practical unless we got a hotel. Bet it was fun to watch the nitty-gritty of the suggestions for the performing students.

[Ganondorf]

Dialogues of the Carmelites on 26th was wonderful! I'm not going into specifics this time too much but I have to mention about this work the chillingly macabre effect of the sound of a falling blade of the guillotine in the final scene.

[Brian]

Dallas Symphony this weekend has a now-rare all Sibelius program:

En Saga
Violin Concerto
Symphony No. 5

Alexi Kenney, violin
Donald Runnicles

Never heard of Kenney; the internet tells me he's just 29 and a rising chamber music star.