Last night Stephan Deneve conducted a program of:
Weber--Overture ofthe Spirits
DSCH--First Violin Concerto
Berlioz-Symphonie Fantastique
We attended the pre talk lecture, given by a local Academic here. He was enthusiastic about the Weber and Berlioz but omitted any mention of the Shostakovich, because he wanted to have time to eulogize Nelson Mandela. The speaker himself was a black South African exile who described his own obstacles in obtaining a Music Education while opposed by the apartheid that wanted to deny the opportunity to any black children.
At any rate it was very good concert. I was unfamiliar with the Weber piece and enjoyed it immensely. Deneve is a very energetic conductor. I had seen him years ago in Philadelphia and he seemed somewhat restrained then. Yesterday he was very animated on the podium and very much in control of the proceedings. He even seemed to conduct Ehnes during the long cadenza in the Concerto.
Ehnes won't efface any memories of Oistrakh or Kogan, but does bring a quiet intensity that suited the first movement well. The great third movement was somewhat underplayed and failed to register the full impact that it is capable of making. Ehnes seemed to approach the cadenza cautiously but at it's conclusion seemed to be flying through the finale which wound up being the high point of the concerto rather than just the afterthought that it usually seems.
The SF was well done, with a suitably atmospheric opium like opening, a vigorous bal scene, a pastoral that had great brooding doom like anticipation, a dramatic march to the scaffold, and a wonderful witches sabbath. Great balances throughout. The brass still retains some of it's Solti days vigor during the finale.
Weber--Overture ofthe Spirits
DSCH--First Violin Concerto
Berlioz-Symphonie Fantastique
We attended the pre talk lecture, given by a local Academic here. He was enthusiastic about the Weber and Berlioz but omitted any mention of the Shostakovich, because he wanted to have time to eulogize Nelson Mandela. The speaker himself was a black South African exile who described his own obstacles in obtaining a Music Education while opposed by the apartheid that wanted to deny the opportunity to any black children.
At any rate it was very good concert. I was unfamiliar with the Weber piece and enjoyed it immensely. Deneve is a very energetic conductor. I had seen him years ago in Philadelphia and he seemed somewhat restrained then. Yesterday he was very animated on the podium and very much in control of the proceedings. He even seemed to conduct Ehnes during the long cadenza in the Concerto.
Ehnes won't efface any memories of Oistrakh or Kogan, but does bring a quiet intensity that suited the first movement well. The great third movement was somewhat underplayed and failed to register the full impact that it is capable of making. Ehnes seemed to approach the cadenza cautiously but at it's conclusion seemed to be flying through the finale which wound up being the high point of the concerto rather than just the afterthought that it usually seems.
The SF was well done, with a suitably atmospheric opium like opening, a vigorous bal scene, a pastoral that had great brooding doom like anticipation, a dramatic march to the scaffold, and a wonderful witches sabbath. Great balances throughout. The brass still retains some of it's Solti days vigor during the finale.