Blomstedt

[richardfinegold]

Hard to believe he is a nonagenarian. Last night CSO concert was a gem, featuring the Mozart 23 PC and the Brahms Second that was glowing. The soloist, a French Pianist named Bernard Chemoyen, was fine but Blomstedt would positively bound off the podium to congratulate players. Long may he reign

[BBMmk2]

I thought for a moment he had died! Congratulations to this amazing man!

[cloughie]

Hard to believe he is a nonagenarian. Last night CSO concert was a gem, featuring the Mozart 23 PC and the Brahms Second that was glowing. The soloist, a French Pianist named Bernard Chemoyen, was fine but Blomstedt would positively bound off the podium to congratulate players. Long may he reign

Good to hear - one of a number of good conductors who have done a great job over many many years with very good performances and recordings but somehow have been somewhat under the radar - I recently bought his San Francisco Years box which is excellent.

[gradus]

Good to hear - one of a number of good conductors who have done a great job over many many years with very good performances and recordings but somehow have been somewhat under the radar - I recently bought his San Francisco Years box which is excellent.

Only concert I ever attended in the US was Blomstedt and the San Fran orchestra in Schubert 9, not I'm afraid my favourite piece, a view seemingly shared by the local populace as the concert was only about a third full. That apart he has a substantial track record of well-received recordings but remains one of those conductors whose rare appearances here have led to him being under-rated - I think.

[Sir Velo]

His series of the Nielsen symphonies with the SFSO will always be the benchmark for me.

[richardfinegold]

I thought for a moment he had died! Congratulations to this amazing man!

He is scheduled to return here next year, and Nielsen 5 is on the program. I was hesitant about purchasing those tickets—what if something happens to him, he will be 93 years old, etc—but after this concert I went ahead and did so.

His first Nielsen Symphony cycle, with a Danish Orchestra, was a budget priced 3 lp set and my first exposure to Nielsen. His complete Beethoven and Schubert Symphony cycles with the Dresden Staatkapelle weren’t released here at the time of their recording, but eventually as really inexpensive Brilliant reissues. My favorite SFSO recordings were his Richard Strauss, Carmina Burana, and the Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis.

[Petrushka]

Blomstedt is looking a good possibility to be the first conductor to direct his own 100th birthday concert. Touch wood, let's hope it happens.

[alywin]

I was hesitant about purchasing those tickets—what if something happens to him, he will be 93 years old, etc—but after this concert I went ahead and did so.

It's a risk we all take, isn't it? (Age is no guarantee: I was unusually slow last year to book a ticket for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican next month - I think I suspected it would never happen :( ) But if you don't, he'll be 94 the year after, and the risk will be even higher. I've only rarely seen Blomstedt in concert - I'm not sure he conducts much in the UK - but I've never known him give anything other than a very good concert. I have at least one disc of his - is it the Alpine Symphony? - and couldn't believe even then how far back it dated. I believe it's still held to be one of the best around ...

[LMcD]

His series of the Nielsen symphonies with the SFSO will always be the benchmark for me.

[jayne lee wilson]

His series of the Nielsen symphonies with the SFSO will always be the benchmark for me.

I actually prefer his Danish RSO versions, with wonderful recordings of the 3 Concertos along-with.... but everything Nielsonian changed after 2014-15....!

All of his Bruckner is worth close attention, most of all the MDR Leipzig Cycle, with topnotch recordings of the original 2 and 3...

[bluestateprommer]

Reviews of this CSO concert:

Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/enter...ffi-story.html

Chicago Classical Review: https://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2...irited-brahms/

It appears that the pianist didn't play an encore, which seems a shame as there looked to be plenty of time for one (or two). Perhaps the Tribune reviewer expressed something like reservations, but ultimately was won over. Will indeed have to keep an eye planned on the calendar for a year from now.

[richardfinegold]

Reviews of this CSO concert:

Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/enter...ffi-story.html

Chicago Classical Review: https://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2...irited-brahms/

It appears that the pianist didn't play an encore, which seems a shame as there looked to be plenty of time for one (or two). Perhaps the Tribune reviewer expressed something like reservations, but ultimately was won over. Will indeed have to keep an eye planned on the calendar for a year from now.

He played an encore for our Saturday concert. He announced it as the slow movement from a Haydn Sonata, but didn’t otherwise identify it, and since I don’t listen to Haydn’s Piano music, I wouldn’t be able to identify it.
One endearing moment of this wonderful concert: During the Mozart Concerto, there are many passages where the Pianist plays sans Orchestra. Blomstedt quite visibly keeps time during these intervals with a right hand wrist action. During the slow movement, the soloist slowed at one brief interval to near stasis, and Blomstedt turned backwards and shot him a glance of irritation, and then the music resumed. It was quie amusing to see the nonagenarian Conductor telling the millennial to get on with it...

[richardfinegold]

I actually prefer his Danish RSO versions, with wonderful recordings of the 3 Concertos along-with.... but everything Nielsonian changed after 2014-15....!

All of his Bruckner is worth close attention, most of all the MDR Leipzig Cycle, with topnotch recordings of the original 2 and 3...

I have both of his Nielsen cycles, and for me there isn’t much to distinguish them from each other: the SFSO cycle in better sound but the Danish cycle has those wonderful fillers. That Bruckner cycle is lovely, in SACD, but pricey

[BBMmk2]

He is scheduled to return here next year, and Nielsen 5 is on the program. I was hesitant about purchasing those tickets—what if something happens to him, he will be 93 years old, etc—but after this concert I went ahead and did so.

His first Nielsen Symphony cycle, with a Danish Orchestra, was a budget priced 3 lp set and my first exposure to Nielsen. His complete Beethoven and Schubert Symphony cycles with the Dresden Staatkapelle weren’t released here at the time of their recording, but eventually as really inexpensive Brilliant reissues. My favorite SFSO recordings were his Richard Strauss, Carmina Burana, and the Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis.

All the best for that. I’ll have to hear those recordings!

[LMcD]

The Blomstedt/DRSO set seems to be widely available for under a tenner.