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

[brewski]

On Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm EST, this livestream from the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, with James Austin Smith, oboe. Register (free) at this link.

PostClassical Ensemble
Angel Gil-Ordóñez, conductor
James Austin Smith, oboe

Albinoni: Concerto for Oboe and Strings op. 9, no. 2 in D minor
Penderecki: Capriccio for Oboe and 11 Strings
George Walker: Lyric for Strings
Suzanne Farrin: l'onde (della non vostra) for Solo Oboe
Florence Price: Adoration for Oboe and Strings
Berio: Chemins IV
Kevin Puts: Oboe Concerto No. 1

[lunar22]

following on from last month's concert with a soloist doing double duty, there was a deja vu with the multi-talented Patricia Kopatchinskaya not only doing this first Shostakovich concerto (at breakneck speed it might be added) but also performed her own arrangement of of three arias from Ligeti's "Mysteries of the Macabre", playing, singing and doing a hilarious imitation of a mad old witch -- never seen anything like it.  The concert also included a rare performance of the rather under-rated Hartmann's 3rd symphony.

[brewski]

Tonight, the Curtis New Music Ensemble in a program titled "Bold Experiment." Especially looking forward to Black Angels, which I haven't heard live in years.

Villa-Lobos: Choros No. 2
Crawford Seeger: Suite for wind quintet
Meredith Monk: Folkdance and Ellis Island
Eastman: Buddha
Du Yun: The Ocean Within
Crumb: Black Angels

[brewski]

following on from last month's concert with a soloist doing double duty, there was a deja vu with the multi-talented Patricia Kopatchinskaya not only doing this first Shostakovich concerto (at breakneck speed it might be added) but also performed her own arrangement of of three arias from Ligeti's "Mysteries of the Macabre", playing, singing and doing a hilarious imitation of a mad old witch -- never seen anything like it.  The concert also included a rare performance of the rather under-rated Hartmann's 3rd symphony.

What a fantastic program. I would have been happy with the Shostakovich alone, but the Ligeti sounds fantastic. The two times I've seen it were with Barbara Hannigan, first dressed as a dominatrix (!), and then in a plaid schoolgirl outfit. This sounds like yet another stellar interpretation.

And though I don't know the Hartmann, I don't recall ever seeing it on a concert program. Lucky you!

[lunar22]

the concert started with more Ligeti, in fact -- the "Lontano" which is atmospheric in places although not one of my favourites from that composer, I must say. But all in all, it was a relatively adventurous programme done very well -- Metzmacher was conducting the SWR Symphony orchestra.

[brewski]

the concert started with more Ligeti, in fact -- the "Lontano" which is atmospheric in places although not one of my favourites from that composer, I must say. But all in all, it was a relatively adventurous programme done very well -- Metzmacher was conducting the SWR Symphony orchestra.

Oh happy day, here's the concert! I wondered if they had streamed it, and voila. Will be eager to see it very soon.

[Crudblud]

14 Feb - Leonore Piano Trio playing works by Clara and Robert Schumann

Enjoyed very much. Robert's first piano trio is magnificent, and Clara was obviously no slouch as a composer either. Added to the mix were Brahms's scherzo from the F-A-E Sonata, and Elgar's Salut d'Amour as an encore. The concert was held in Upper Chapel, a beautiful Grade II listed building with excellent acoustics. The bells of nearby St. Marie's were ringing all night, so during any moment of silence they could be heard in the distance.

[lunar22]

Oh happy day, here's the concert! I wondered if they had streamed it, and voila. Will be eager to see it very soon.

yes -- meant to say that yesterday's concert was due to be streamed in case anyone's interested (we went the previous day -- many of the concerts are Thursday and Friday and we nearly always get tickets for the Thursday ones through the "Kulturverein")

[lordlance]

Coming Sunday: Cantata Secundum Psalmum C in Diem Natalem Nonagesimum - or: Cantata On Psalm 100 on the Ninetieth Birthday of Arie Romein, who will do the bariton solo himself. Composer Jan-Willem van Ree, for: mixed choir, piano, organ, saxophone, flute, oboe or violin, soprano & bariton soloists, in five parts, opening with an instrumental 'Prélude d'après Claude Debussy et orchestré dans le style de Maurice Ravel'. Marvelous. My own 'Nieuwe Cantorij' performing in the Nieuwe Kerk in Ede: https://2cm.es/S6Nc
                                     

I'll be attending this concert on Saturday -



Sort of excited for the Eroica. I really hope it's not slack and dull. Also a rare chance to hear Overture, Scherzo and Finale.

My first concert in 5 years (first since COVID) and a few observations:
1. I still don't quite understand the obsession with the 'live concert magic' because for me the seats were kind of uncomfortable (being taller than the average Indian) and I was sitting next to two stout people which cause armrest issues.
2. The women sitting next to me came with her daughter and I'm sure this must be either her first time or she attends infrequently because she was being explained... Things by her daughter during the concert which suffice to say was infuriating. I told her to do the explanation before Eroica. Thankfully Eroica was almost entirely without any talking.
3. Other concert people can sometimes be an issue too in terms of noise which isn't really specific to classical music. It makes going to any live event problematic especially when they take out their phones. I wish all venues Faraday Cage'd their halls so people got no signal. /endrant
4. For whatever reason, despite not being that large a venue, Jamshed Bhabha Theatre has speakers. I've been told concert halls don't use amplification but rely on having great natural acoustics. In today's concert, I do not think that there was distortion but I remember finding the sound itself to be an issue because of the speakers.

Onto the concert itself:

5. You can't really mess up Oberon - much like the Mozart PCs - so that was fine. It wasn't a take no prisoners reference recording but it was perfectly fine. (Note: Of course ANY piece can be butchered if one were to be perverse enough and pull a Celibidache.)

6. SOI only performs, I have to guess, 6? 8? Concerts in a year so it's kind of surprising that they sounded tired in Scherzo, Finale and Overture. It's not a masterpiece. The performance today really drove home about its mediocrity which means you truly need need a great performance to advocate for the piece. This wasn't it and, judging by the clapping after the piece, the audience wasn't that thrilled either.

7. Now onto the main feature presentation: the Eroica. Thankfully the performance of the symphony was far better; the orchestra really isn't world class by any means and the playing isn't clean. I think there were times that certain instruments were out of tune (nothing egregious) but they played with heart. The tempi and size of the orchestra were solidly middle of the road. It wasn't a performance so extraordinary that one will remember it for the rest of their lives but it was good.

Overall rating? 7/10.

[Christo]

That is great new Johan.  All the Dutch people I've ever known and worked alongside were so tall!  So Joyce and I will be like two 'wee' people! 
As you're facing the stage, we are on balcony seats around 36, which I have identified (or at least think I have) are in the right corner seats of the balcony.  I will most certainly look out for you.  Will PM you as the date approaches - if we can even say Hi, that would be another triumph for GMG.    I have Mahler 4, 5 and 9 under my belt, but Mahler 2 has always been my favourite, and to see it when and where I'm seeing it, changes everything for me in my love for our music.

Another GMG member of the first hour, an old friend, we met in London in 1995 with a meeting and concert of the Havergal Brian Society, writer Johan Herrenberg (formerly know as "Jezetha" and by now the world's leading expert on Havergal Brian) will join us. He has a seat at the balcony, he writes. As there's -- of course -- no break, we'll have our free drinks & GMG friends toast in the Concertgebouw before the concert -- and hopefully many will join us to the pub afterwards. Either or not as my invitees as this is a home match for both of us (you're more than welcome). Love to see you all, safe & sound! (The two of us, both "Johans" here at GMG:)
                                   

[Christo]

15 Mar 2025 5.00 PM • Aula Simfonia Jakarta (https://aulasimfoniajakarta.com/en/events/kuyper-conference):
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 2 "Lobgesang" (Hymn of Praise)
     Jakarta Oratorio Society
     Jakarta Simfonia Orchestra
     Stephen Tong, conductor
                               

[Christo]

Will hear this piece by Khatsatur Avetissian (Avetisyan, Avetisian, etc.) live, a concert on the theme of the Silk Road, in the rather beautiful 1891 Buitensociëteit[/b] in the even more wonderful medieval (pre Hanseatic, just partly bombed by the British or Americans -- like most cities in the eastern Netherlands around 1944/45 were often heavily bombed) town of Zutphen, 15 February. By the Ciconia Consort, lead by Dick van Gasteren. (Russian prodigee, Maria Milstein, soloist in the Arutiunian violin concerto)
Also:

• Nino Rota: Concerto per archi
• Sultan Abdülaziz: Gondol Şarkısı
• Ulvi Cemal Erkin: Sinfonietta
• Khachatur Avetisyan: Tsaghkats Baleni & Im Yegheg
• Alexander Arutiunian: Concerto for violin and string orchestra
• Erzerumi Shoror (Armenian traditional)
• Fikret Amirov: Nizami Symphony
• Zhou Long: Song of the Ch'in

Attended this concert yesterday night with (student of Archeology in nearby Deventer) daughter Carolijn. A ten out of ten: simply superb. Huge fan of Ciconia Consort (all 20 young & shining, from 17 til 35 years old, on appearance) and its conductor.

[The new erato]

I want to plug the wonderful annual festival of baroque music in my hometown Trondheim, I visited for the first time two years ago with wonderful perfromances of Rameaus Les Indes Galates, Handels Il Trionfo and early Venetian opera scenes with the likes of Lefiliatre, and I was there aganin this year.

Carmignola in 3 Bach cello suites, an brilliant program of again early Italian music borh instrumental and vocal with a really superb Jan van Elsacker, and Orlandinis Arsace in a new performing edition researched by the musical department of the Trondheim University. More pictures to follow.

[The new erato]

And daily concerts of Weckman works on the restored Wagner organ, and Stile Antico in a mainly Paletrina program (though I enjoyed the Josquin and Agricola works the most), in the Trondheim cathedral. And a great performance of the Maria Vespers.

[brewski]

On Wednesday, this livestream with "Musicians from Marlboro" at the American Philosophical Society. (As usual, it's free and will be available for 72 hours afterward.)

Sang Yoon Kim, clarinet
Maria Ioudenitch & Stephanie Zyzak, violin
Hiroki Kasai & Natalie Loughran, viola
Peter Stumpf, cello
Evren Ozel, piano

R. Schumann: Märchenerzählungen, Op. 132
Kurtág: Hommage à R. Schumann, Op. 15d
R. Schumann: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 41, No. 2
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115

[Christo]

Coming Sunday: Cantata Secundum Psalmum C in Diem Natalem Nonagesimum - or: Cantata On Psalm 100 on the Ninetieth Birthday of Arie Romein, who will do the bariton solo himself. Composer Jan-Willem van Ree, for: mixed choir, piano, organ, saxophone, flute, oboe or violin, soprano & bariton soloists, in five parts, opening with an instrumental 'Prélude d'après Claude Debussy et orchestré dans le style de Maurice Ravel'. Marvelous. My own 'Nieuwe Cantorij' performing in the Nieuwe Kerk in Ede: https://2cm.es/S6Nc
                                     

It was, we might say, a (huge) success. The "Cantorij" sang our heads of, the saxophone - exchanging the soprano saxophone for the tenor saxophone twice - was simply superb. Even better, the player - she - acted as the elder at the same time, as this was nothing but a lazy Sunday afternoon "cantata service" in the mood of Bach.
           Only one drawback: the organ, added as an extra layer of sound, "the strings', underneath the sparkling Ravel-like instrumentation, couldn't play because of the freezing conditions, it was simply sounding almost half a note too low to be able to combine with the five other instruments. We hope to repeat the cantata in Spring or Summer, but it's hard to find a possibility with all 26 singers & six instrumentalist being available again.   

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

This upcoming Sunday:

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
David Afkham, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violinist
Wagner: Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
Sibelius: Violin Concerto
Schoenberg: Pelleas and Melisande

Good concert. I wasn't totally convinced by Tetzlaff's approach - I wish he would have lingered a bit more over the beautiful bits - but I was engaged throughout. The Schoenberg (dour and doom-laden Straussian tone poem) was well done, a very enveloping experience with huge orchestral sound. I read a review that complained about Afkham's heavy-metal approach (thunderous brass and so on), but I liked it that way.

[brewski]

On Wednesday, this livestream with "Musicians from Marlboro" at the American Philosophical Society. (As usual, it's free and will be available for 72 hours afterward.)

Sang Yoon Kim, clarinet
Maria Ioudenitch & Stephanie Zyzak, violin
Hiroki Kasai & Natalie Loughran, viola
Peter Stumpf, cello
Evren Ozel, piano

R. Schumann: Märchenerzählungen, Op. 132
Kurtág: Hommage à R. Schumann, Op. 15d
R. Schumann: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 41, No. 2
Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115

For anyone who loves the Brahms, especially (though everything was excellent), this concert is available through Friday. The clarinetist, Sang Yoon Kim, is new to me, and principal clarinet with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

[ultralinear]

Alpensinfonie tonight (LPO/Gardner.)

[brewski]

Later today, looking forward to all three pieces. Kavakos is a favorite, and haven't heard Luisi since his days conducting the Met Opera Orchestra.

The Philadephia Orchestra
Fabio Luisi, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Sørensen: Evening Land
Korngold: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No. 4