What was your last concert?

[Alison]

Was that you cheering your head off at the beginning, Rob?

Agree very much with your comments. Fine detail from John Wilson in the Delius. The sound quality from Salford seemed unusually good.

I lost interest in the VW fairly near the beginning.

Good to have the Ravel at the end of a programme and another reminder of JW's distinction across a broad range of repertoire. The orchestra play very well for him it seems.

[Ein Heldenleben]

My last concert was the Argerich 75th birthday concert at the Wigmore Hall on Monday night . If you've seen any if the reviews I can only say they were charitable. She was great but unfortunately her playing partner scattered notes all over the place And the ticket price - £100.
It took an excellent general rehearsal of Der Rosenkavalier at ROH on Wednesday night to get over it.

[Alison]

Great review Sainty. Knew the soloist would be good!

That's a tremendous position you sat in. I can get completely involved sitting there and for me it's a perfect acoustic for orchestral music. Will definitely buy the CD even though slightly underwhelmed by the recent Third!

[EdgeleyRob]

Was that you cheering your head off at the beginning, Rob?

Agree very much with your comments. Fine detail from John Wilson in the Delius. The sound quality from Salford seemed unusually good.

I lost interest in the VW fairly near the beginning.

Good to have the Ravel at the end of a programme and another reminder of JW's distinction across a broad range of repertoire. The orchestra play very well for him it seems.

Not guilty Alison re the whoop whooping.
John Wilson does seem to have a good rapport with the BBCPO.

[Ferretfancy]

Last night at the Barbican, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Danielle Gatti.

This a rather odd programme. Lisa Batiashvilli payed Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto and was very impressive. I wasn't too enthusiastic about the conducting, it seemed workmanlike rather than inspired.

Things were very different after the interval with a splendidly incisive performance of Stravinsky' Jeux de Cartes. The Concertgebouw play like a massive chamber orchestra, and this was superb. Finally came the Second Suite from Daphnis and Chloe with that wonderful sunrise. I have deep personal recollections concerning the Ravel, and was lost in the beauty of the playing.

I rather wish that I had booked for the second concert tonight, which is largely Wagner with the usual chunks of the Ring

[Dave Payn]

John Wilson Orchestra at Glasgow Concert Halls playing Music from the Movies. (A few weeks ago. Concerts are an occasional treat living on the Isle of Arran as I do!)

[Bryn]

... Isle of Arran ...

Not to be confused with:

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

John Wilson Orchestra at Glasgow Concert Halls playing Music from the Movies. (A few weeks ago. Concerts are an occasional treat living on the Isle of Arran as I do!)

Welcome to the Forum, DP - glad you enjoyed the concert. I imagine that there are more regular treats that make up for the few concerts?

[Dave Payn]

Oh yes, I've tried all of them! Thank you for the welcome.

[EdgeleyRob]

Bax : Tintagel (eat your heart out Strauss )
Vaughan Williams : A London Symphony

BBC Philharmonic,John Wilson

Studio concert at Media City Salford,recorded for future broadcast.

Bax,well,I thought that's a bit scrappy,around and about the Tristan bit,and lo and behold they must have read my mind,because they re recorded that bit
The rest of the tone poem was perfect.
Not being live on the radio they can do that you see,just as if they were recording it for release on cd.

RVW,absolutely stunning IMO,except for the opening Cor Anglais solo in the slow movement in which the poor lady completely missed the first note.
But no worries they re did that too,and several other bits,so not as stunning as I thought obviously.

So when this concert is eventually broadcast it will be well worth a listen because it not only had it's face washed,as Ralph used to say,but had a good soak in a hot bath,and if it ever makes it to cd it will be a must have

[Pulcinella]

JSB: French Suites
Angela Hewitt
Jack Lyons Hall, University of York

First time in the hall, and first time hearing Angela Hewitt live (I have some recordings).
Didn't buy a programme, but assume that it was her own Fazioli piano: VERY bright sound, and a lively acoustic in the hall. Appreciative audience (included Francis Jackson); Rameau encore.

Have thought of trying to get my own fingers back in trim, now I have room for a piano, but after hearing (and watching!) this performance I'm too daunted to contemplate even the simplest of movements of one of these suites!

Maybe the two-part inventions to start with?


A splendid start to concert going in my new home city.

PS: Live on R3 next Friday, when she repeats the programme at (The) Wigmore Hall.

[teamsaint]

performers
Isabelle van Keulen, viola
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
repertoire
Bohuslav Martinu: Memorial to Lidice
Giya Kancheli: Mourned by the wind - liturgy for viola (or cello) & orchestra
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.9 in E minor

Just a few quick observations, as it has been a busy week for me.

The concert opened with the Kancheli, which I had listened to a couple of times, and which has had a couple of recordings I think, but perhaps isn't that well known. I'm a bit of a sucker for this kind of sound world, eastern european folk inspired, brooding ( for the most part ) and high on atmosphere. Not too far away from the kind of thing that Nurymov was adept at, I would say.Perhaps the " high on atmosphere" aspect is what perhaps makes this a work that doesn't quite sustain its impact for its full and substantial length though. there is plenty to enjoy, with lots of colourful combinations of instruments, including three different keyboards, ( concert grand, harpsichord, and something that looked like a regular upright piano, but made a non standard sound, not sure what it was).
The solo part is specified for viola or cello, and we were given the viola version. Not an easy piece to carry off for the soloist, with not much scope for flashy virtuosity,but we were given a fine and engaging performance. The piece got a good reception from the audience, and the composer who was present was given a great ovation as he was called to the stage.

The Martinu must be a hard work to programme, with its dedication to the memory of truly awful events. I'm not sure how you really place this well in this kind of concert, and as an opener to the second half it seemed out of context to me.But I'm not really sure what the right context would be. Powerful music as ever from a great composer, but it just didn't work for me in this situation.

The Vaughan Williams of course was the big draw. I think some must have been curious to hear what VJ made of it. Not sure what his track record is with RVW, but no doubts in my mind that he and they could make a great job of it. They certainly found plenty in the music to captivate their audience. I feel sure in my mind that his aim was to have a performance that built steadily , because the first movement was certainly understated if anything.But the intensity grew through the movements, receiving a noticeable gear change in the third, and leading us into a powerful final movement, with the orchestra at their impressive best. My comment to Beef Oven! was along the lines of " well that just got better and better", but he got closer to it with an observation that the performance produced a great cumulative effect. ( I'm paraphrasing, but " cumulative " is the important word. )
Terrific stuff in any case, and yet another LPO night to savour, and with a little risk taking in the repertoire.

A thin turnout I'm afraid. Front stall pretty s full, but the rear stalls can't have been more than a third full, and not many in the balcony. It is a very big hall, I suppose, but still a shame to see so many empty seats.

Oh , yes, sorry to hear that Ferretfancy missed the concert, I do hope you are feeling better now FF.

[EdgeleyRob]

Thanks ts,super review.
A shame about the poor turnout.

[Beef Oven!]

Good summary ts

I really enjoyed the first 10 minutes of the Kancheli, was there at 18 minutes, but lost interest soon after. It’s too long for the amount of music it contains. Lovely sound-world, very unusual but not for 35 minutes.

The Martinu was simply excellent music, well-played. As interesting as his symphonies, IMO.

The RVW 9 was stupendous. I thought the performance of the first movement was well articulated with beautiful clarity of sound from all sections of the orchestra who all meshed together - perfect ensemble. It avoided sounding congested or gloopy as it can in some recordings (maybe this is just the difference between a live performance and a recording). I didn’t find it understated as ts did, rather it was not overblown as it can be in some performances. But I know what ts means.

It strikes me that the key to the second movement is flow and drive and the LPO delivered that perfectly. Sometimes this movement can sound rather pedestrian with melodies in search of rhythm. Not here.

The key to the third movement IMO, is swing, and the LPO swang! Jurowski was writhing from the waist up (as we white blokes tend to do) and the orchestra responded.

The finale was best of all. ts and I agreed that the music seemed to just get better as it went along, but I wondered whether we were simply experiencing an accumulation of our enjoyment. But anyhow, ‘cumulative’ it was!

I’d always had a nagging doubt about this symphony (along with 8) but this performance convinced me of its greatness. There’s no doubt that Jurowski and the LPO are a very special partnership, indeed.

On the down-side, the hall was half-way between a third and half empty. LPO, Jurowski, Vaughan Williams, in London. How can this be?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Many. many thanks to ts and BeefO for such excellent reviews. I so wish that I could have been at the concert - I've never heard any of the pieces Live, and would have loved to hear the RVW in particular. A fraction of the cost of the High Speed link spent on a late-night London-Edinburgh train service would have me spending my money more frequently in the Capital.

A little disheartening that the hall had so many unsold seats - and one that highlights the difficulties orchestral managers have when they dare to programme unfamiliar repertoire: if London (and that orchestra with that conductor) can't draw the crowds with RVW, what chance Martinu (let alone Kancheli) in, say, Bradford? There's no motivation to move away from the Classic FM "favourites"

Still - to Jurowski and the LPO for their commitment!