Edinburgh International Festival

[pastoralguy]

There was a very fine recital yesterday morning (26th August) from the Queens Hall, Edinburgh. (Edinburgh Festival). An all Brahms programme given by Leonidas Kavokos (vln) and Yuja Wang (pno), in which they played all three of the Brahms violin sonatas, with a Scherzo added as an encore. (FAE Sonata). I was particularly taken by the fiddle playing. He has a nice Strad, and it was performed with excellent musicianship, sound and intonation.

(Note for Pasturalguy ... lovely piano playing too, and you would have enjoyed her very short skirt (Ms Wang's of course)
which I could see was quite revealing on the radio). (But I mustn't get you too excited!)

Actually, we were there! I enjoyed her changing outfits - black in the first half and red for the second half! As a violinist, I was was struck by how well the piano part was played. I spoke to Ms. Wang after and said how much I'd enjoyed her playing. So often, pianists in these works put the sustaining peddle down so the sound becomes a kind of 'mush' but, with Juja Wang, I could hear EVERY note! When I commented this to her she said, 'Yes, Decca have great mikes!'

Lovely concert. In fact, yesterday was quite a day for me. I spoke to Kavakos, Zehetmair (who was coming in for an afternoon rehearsal), and Anne- Sophie Mutter in the evening.

[wenotsoira]

Lovely concert. In fact, yesterday was quite a day for me. I spoke to Kavakos, Zehetmair (who was coming in for an afternoon rehearsal), and Anne- Sophie Mutter in the evening.

So from the sublime to the ridiculious?

[pastoralguy]

So from the sublime to the ridiculious?

I hope you don't mean Ms. Mutter is ridiculous?!

[VodkaDilc]

A late Friday night 35 minute programme on BBC2 devoted to the Edinburgh Fetival. Lots of scope for discussing last week's concerts. Some of the ones I went to, perhaps - Berlioz Requiem shaking the Usher Hall to its foundations, Colin Currie's Queen's Hall performance, a reappraisal of the showman otherwise known as Lang Lang. Actually we got none of these. We did get just under a minute devoted to the Berlin Magic Flute - as much as we can expect from the 21st century BBC, I suppose. Otherwise comedians predominate.

[bluestateprommer]

One (possible) link to the classical music offerings for the 2018 EIF is (hopefully) here:

https://www.eif.co.uk/whats-on/classical-music

Sifting through possibilities of non-UK ensembles at the EIF who might visit the RAH while they're 'in the area', sort of:

* Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop (the Baltimore SO has never been to The Proms)
* Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Jakub Hrůša (the Bamberg SO was last @ The Proms in 2013)
* Oslo Philharmonic, Vasily Petrenko (they just were at the 2017 Proms, so Oslo seems unlikely to return so soon)
* Swedish RSO, Daniel Harding
* Colburn Orchestra, Stephane Deneve (have never heard of this youth orchestra, so can't comment on them)
* YOA Orchestra of the Americas, Carlos Miguel Prieto
* NYO Canada, Jonathan Darlington

PS: OK, maybe this link is much easier to process (at least it is for me), rather than alphabetically.

https://www.eif.co.uk/whats-on/classical-music/calendar

[bluestateprommer]

Just a plug for catching selected EIF Usher Hall concerts from this year's festival, before they get lost in the shuffle. The Scottish CO and Edward Gardner gave a cracking account of Haydn's The Creation (sung in English):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000b49

To be sure, I need to have a look at the others, perhaps to cherry pick repertoire of more personal / off-the-wall interest.

[bluestateprommer]

The EIF program(me) is now out for 2019. Here is the specific link to classical music events, though it just shows up in a general high-level text series of links:

https://www.eif.co.uk/whats-on/classical-music/calendar

[pastoralguy]

The EIF program(me) is now out for 2019. Here is the specific link to classical music events, though it just shows up in a general high-level text series of links:

https://www.eif.co.uk/whats-on/classical-music/calendar

Yes, I was on a 10.00 this morning. I'd said to Mrs. PG last nite that my 'wish list' was for Alicia Weilerstein playing the Dvorak Concerto and a recital by Beatrice Rana. And that's what I got! Ooh, and Sir Simon conducting the LSO in Rachmaninov 2!

[bluestateprommer]

Begun catching up with the Edinburgh Festival R3 relays for this year, with Steven Osborne's last-minute pinch-hitter recital in place of Beatrice Rana. Very gracious spoken intro from SO to set the stage. As you'd expect, he played very well, even if the Schubert maybe lacked a bit in tension in places (or maybe it's the work itself, for me). While I'm far from a Messiaen fan, he was absolutely superb with the 5 Vingt Régards selections, and his Debussy encore.

BTW, while I like Donald Macleod as a presenter (as do many here), he does offer his share of gushing at the end of works, though to nowhere near the extent of the other main object of presenter ire here with respect to The Proms. Sorry, folks, but he does.

FWIW, I am using this particular thread rather than the newer one, mainly out of my habit of recycling, but also because of the persona non grata who had started the other thread. (No reflection on the Forum members who subsequently posted there in good faith, of course.)

[bluestateprommer]

The EIF has announced a lockdown series, "Chamber Music Soundscapes":

https://www.eif.co.uk/whats-on/2020/chambermusicprincesstreetgardens

"The Edinburgh International Festival opens the doors of its home, The Hub on Castlehill, to a series of unique specially filmed performances. Every August, The Queen’s Hall Series welcomes leading soloists and chamber ensembles from around the world for intimate morning recitals. In honour of that tradition, familiar Festival faces and special guests, many of whom are based here in Scotland, perform outstanding programmes of chamber music from the heart of the Festival City.

While it is still impossible to have an audience present for these recitals, they will be available on our YouTube channel, with new performances every Monday to Friday for three weeks this August. At a time when Edinburgh would ordinarily come alive with music, these exquisite sounds will be relayed to speakers scattered across Princes Street Gardens, livening up lunchtime for listeners."

Listing of the scheduled events:

"10 August: Nicky Spence (tenor) & Malcolm Martineau (piano): Shakespearean Songs

11 August: Philip Higham (cello) & Susan Tomes (piano):
Beethoven: Cello Sonata in C Op.102 No.5
Nadia Boulanger: Three Pieces for Cello & Piano
Debussy: Cello Sonata
Martinu: Nocturne for cello & piano
Suk: Serenade Op.3

12 August: Members of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra:
Sally Beamish: Ariel for solo viola
Mendelssohn: Octet

13 August: Steven Osborne (piano):
Schubert: Impromptu No.1 in F major D.935
Rachmaninov: 'Nunc Dimittis' (from All-Night Vigil Op.37 transcribed for piano)
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.32 in C minor Op.111

14 August: Members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra:
Glazunov: Reverie Orientale
Rebecca Clarke: Prelude, Allegro & Pastorale
Weber: Clarinet Quintet

17 August: Andrea Baker (mezzo soprano) & Richard Lewis (piano): "Sing Sistah Sing!"

18 August: Elias String Quartet:
Sally Beamish: Reed Stanzas
Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat Op.64 No.6
Trad (arr Grant): Scottish Folk Tunes

19 August: Hebrides Ensemble:
Judith Weir: Sketches from a Bagpiper’s Album
Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence

20 August: Angela Hewitt (piano) & Members of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra:
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 894
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1 (chamber version arr Lachner)

21 August: Dunedin Consort:
Isabella Leonarda: Sonata duodecima
Telemann: Paris Quartet TWV43:G1
Jacquet de la Guerre: Violin Sonata No.1
Leclair: Flute Sonata in E Minor, Op.9 No.2
JS Bach: Trio Sonata in G Major BWV 1038

24 August: Catriona Morison (mezzo soprano) & Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Songs and lieder by Purcell, Viardot, Schumann, Britten and Lewis Murphy.

25 August: Maxwell Quartet:
Haydn: String Quartet Op.74 No.2 in F
Anna Meredith: A Short Tribute to Teenage Fanclub
Roukens: Visons at Sea

26 August: Mark Padmore (tenor) & Paul Lewis (piano):
Clara Schumann: Lieder
Schumann: Dichterliebe

27 August: Ursula Leveaux (bassoon) & Malcolm Martineau (piano):
Saint-Saens: Bassoon Sonata
Clara Schumann: Three Romances (transcribed for bassoon & piano)
Mendelssohn: Sonata No.1 (transcribed for bassoon & piano)

28 August: Paul Lewis (piano) & Members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra:
Beethoven: Fantasy Op.77
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 (chamber version arr Lachner)"

Some really nice selections here. so more fresh material to listen to / watch during lockdown.

[oddoneout]

these exquisite sounds will be relayed to speakers scattered across Princes Street Gardens, livening up lunchtime for listeners.

Music to the People - bit more advanced than Proms in the Park.
All credit to those involved for this initiative - interesting and varied items there.

[bluestateprommer]

Watched the first EIF "CMS" offering, the Nicky Spence & Malcolm Martineau mini-recital. The one debit to mention 1st is that the editing between the songs is really abrupt, so that barely has one song finished than the film cuts to the next song. There's even one 'jump cut' moment between songs, where none of the 3 parties in the film has moved notably from his/her spot, quickly visible. But with that said, this was again another very enjoyable recital from this team, totally different selections from their pinch-hit City Halls, Glasgow recital last month. The one song where I kept "hitting repeat", as it were, was the shallowest selection, of course, but the most fun to listen to, namely "Dunsinane Blues" of John Dankworth.

It's also not quite clear if each video is available for 30 days, or if the series stops in total from the 30th day after the NS/MM recital. I'm probably misreading things, but just a heads-up that if you want to watch these videos, you shouldn't lose too much time. The videos themselves so far are not even a full hour, so that's an advantage that way.

[bluestateprommer]

Generally way behind on these EIF videos, as I just finished with the BBC SSO selected musicians video of Sally Beamish's Ariel and the Felix Mendelssohn Octet, and the Philip Higham / Susan Tomes video earlier. The one debit that I'd mentioned before with the Nicky Spence / Malcolm Martineau video holds true with these videos, namely the "quick cuts" to the next movement / selection, with barely any time to relax mentally after the prior selection / movement has just ended. But a small, very niche First World-price to 'pay' for these videos, to be sure.

[cloughie]

Just switched off a dreadfully vibrato-laden 4 Last Songs from this morning’s EIF repeats - Dorothea Roschmann - surely they could have found a better one! It was in the interval so may have been her CD with RottPO and Nezet-Seguin! The Brautigan recital good however!

[bluestateprommer]

Caught 3 of the retrospective EIF vocal recitals in this series recently (having missed the last 2 the first time around), all solid selections:
1. Sarah Connolly & Malcolm Martineau
2. Andreas Scholl & Tamar Halperin
3. Anne Sofie von Otter, Daniel Hope, Bengt Forsberg, & Bebe Risenfors

There was certainly a didactic element in the last of these, to be sure, very understandable given the circumstances behind the creation of the works. Also, ASvO noted at the time some changes from the originally printed program, which I've incorporated for the record into the Forum Calendar. (In reality, no one will ever look for them, but at least the correct listing is out there.)