What was your last concert?

[Flosshilde]

Last Thursday: Glyndebourne Touring Opera's Handel Rinaldo. Musically excellent but seriously weird visually with the action transplanted into a school with the Crusaders as boys in school uniform yet donning breastplates, gauntlets and helmets, waving swords, and riding bicycles; and the Saracens as the girls from the same (or maybe a neighbouring?) establishment. In some weird way I found it started making sense after Act 1....

The production I saw a few years ago at the RSAMD had Rinaldo entering astride a large rocket for the finale, accompanied by cheerleaders. The Glyndebourne show sounds quite tame by comparison. The RSAMD did have Reno Troilus singing Rinaldo, which made up for a lot.

[Richard Tarleton]

My next concert will, I hope, be the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on Friday, performing some of the cantatas in Bach's Christmas Oratorio. However, my recent cold has left me with a rather irritating ticklish cough, so I'm caught in a conundrum - should I forgo a concert I was very much looking forward to, or should I go & risk irritating people by coughing? I would of course suck Strepsils & muffle it with a handkerchief, but I would still feel somewhat uncomfortable for behaviour that I would disaprove of in others, for my own selfish enjoyment? Still, perhaps the cough will be better by Friday.

It's the smell of cough sweets that is just as worrying for others as the coughing - the antiseptic aura surrounding you that they know is really masking a miasma of germs. Sorry this isn't helping I know . I'm convinced the sugary stickiness of cough sweets actually makes you cough. Best thing is a 250ml bottle of water to sip whenever you feel it coming on. You could break the ice when you sit down by assuring them you're past the infectious stage.

[amateur51]

Last Saturday I attended an afternoon concert given by the Royal Academy iof Music's Junior Academy Orchestra, conducted by Howard Williams.

They gave us three spirited accounts of Shostakovich Festive Overture, Holst Ballet suite from The Perfect Fool and Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances and really played their socks off for us. The future of classical music in UK seems secure if this bunch of talented youngsters is anything to go by.

I realised that the first time I saw Howard Williams was in a performance of Birtwistle's Punch and Judy directed by David Freeman for Opera Factiory in London in the early 1980s, I think.

We've both lost a fair amount of hair since then. He was wonderful with the players, clearly making demands of them but giving very clear cues & upbeats.

A great afternoon

[Chris Newman]

I have just got in from a lovely night at Southampton's Mayflower Theatre with Welsh National Opera's production of Leoš Janáček's Káťa Kabanová. It featured very fine playing from the WNO Orchestra under Gareth Jones and a superb cast led by Amanda Roocroft (Káťa), with Peter Wedd (Boris), Clive Bayley (Dikoj), Leah-Marian Jones (Kabanicha), Stephen Rooke (Tichon). There was not a weak character or voice in the entire show. The production forces the singers to perform mostly front stage so nobody has to force the tone and yet allcan act intimately with the voices. This is a great advantage with Amanda Roocroft as she has a tendency to spread under pressure; here she was perfection. Sadly it is the last performance of the current run.

[Ferretfancy]

Last night at the Barbican for Gergiev and the LSO with Anne-Sophie Mutter playing the Tchaikovsky. I thought it was an execrable performance, which was nevertheless cheered to the heights. We got virtually every vulgar trick in the book, coarse tone, inattention to the shape of a phrase, awkward pauses and sudden accelerations, everything done for cheap effect. I was appalled. There is no doubt that she can do everything on the violin, the problem is that on this occasion she chose to do so.

The programme started with a lovely performance of Liadov's The Enchanted Lake, and after the interval Anne-Sophie returned for Wolfgand Rihm's Lichte's Spiele, a gentle work for violin and small orchestra which she had commissioned. This was quite another matter compared to the Tchaikovsky, and she played with a beautiful singing tone throughout. It was the first time I had heard this piece, and it made a strong impression. What a difference between the two performances !

The evening ended with a stunning performance of Shostakovich's Sixth, in which Gergiev managed to avoid that broken backed feeling that you sometimes get in this symphony after the haunting first movement. The LSO were absolutely at the top of their form, a marvellous ending to a slightly puzzling evening!

[Flosshilde]

My next concert will, I hope, be the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on Friday, performing some of the cantatas in Bach's Christmas Oratorio. However, my recent cold has left me with a rather irritating ticklish cough, so I'm caught in a conundrum - should I forgo a concert I was very much looking forward to, or should I go & risk irritating people by coughing? I would of course suck Strepsils & muffle it with a handkerchief, but I would still feel somewhat uncomfortable for behaviour that I would disaprove of in others, for my own selfish enjoyment? Still, perhaps the cough will be better by Friday.

Well, I did go, & managed not to cough during the performance. Enjoyed it very much, although the two female singers, Mhairi Lawson (sop) & Clare Wilkinson (mezzo) were a bit variable - not in quality, but in audibility. Wilkinson was very quiet in her first contribution, but did boost the volume later. Lawson was rather quiet during the whole first half - during her duet with bass in the 3rd cantata she was barely audible. However, in the second half she was much better. The two men Andre Satples, tenor, & Andrew Foster-Williams, bass-baritone) were very good.

Whenever I go to a concert of Bach I always wonder why I don't listen to more at home.

Next concert coming up - BBCSSO & Duke Bluebeard's Castle on Thursday.

[pastoralguy]

Well, my wife and I went to hear the BBCSSO last Thursday in the City Halls in Glasgow CONducted by Andrew Manze. The first half was a 'fruity' performance of Sibelius 4 which ended up sounding like an OTT performance of Tchaikovsky 6. Well played but a bit ill-conceived.

After the interval, we heard a performance of the Dvorak clarinet concerto. It was spoiled by some 'cellist sitting at the front of the stage playing an unnecessary obligato. Give Manze his due - he did his best to drown the 'cellist out by encouraging the wind and brass to play as loudly as possible but was only partially successful. Actually, the 'cellist could have stayed in his hotel room and played solo Bach for all the difference his presence made.

I should wish Manze all the best with his CONducting career. Having failed his Grade 8 violin exam he was obviously getting fed up being stuck with grade 7 pieces. Perhaps, with his new found wealth, he'll be able to afford a better hearing aid.

[pastoralguy]

Last night at the Barbican for Gergiev and the LSO with Anne-Sophie Mutter playing the Tchaikovsky. I thought it was an execrable performance, which was nevertheless cheered to the heights. We got virtually every vulgar trick in the book, coarse tone, inattention to the shape of a phrase, awkward pauses and sudden accelerations, everything done for cheap effect. I was appalled. There is no doubt that she can do everything on the violin, the problem is that on this occasion she chose to do so.

I've been a big fan of A-S M since she first burst on the scene with Herbie and his band. (We were born on the same day and she was making records for DG whilst I was struggling with Grade 7!)

However, in recent years, her playing has become so self conscious as to be almost unlistenable to. Recently, I've heard her twice in recital and once playing the Beethoven Concerto where the music played second fiddle to her incredible violinistic ability.

Such a sad development to such a gifted player.

[Curalach]

My wife and I hugely enjoyed the concert given by the RSNO in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday.
The programme was particularly interesting, comprising an early and a late Debussy piece and both Shostakovich Piano Concertos. The Debussy pieces were Printemps and Jeux composed a quarter century apart, as were the DSCH concertos.
A better conductor of Debussy's music than Stéphane Denève, I have yet to discover. These were masterful performances in which the quality of orchestral playing was outstanding.

The protagonist in the concertos was Steven Osborne with John Gracie in the Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings. The rapport between soloist and conductor was almost tangible, they are close friends, and resulted in unforgettable performances with impeccable orchestral accompaniment.

One might have thought that the combination of lesser known Debussy and Shostakovich would scare off the punters but it was a large audience. Indeed the RSNO has been playing to very large audiences this season including several sell-outs. Good to see.

[gurnemanz]

I have just got in from a lovely night at Southampton's Mayflower Theatre with Welsh National Opera's production of Leoš Janáček's Káťa Kabanová. It featured very fine playing from the WNO Orchestra under Gareth Jones and a superb cast led by Amanda Roocroft (Káťa), with Peter Wedd (Boris), Clive Bayley (Dikoj), Leah-Marian Jones (Kabanicha), Stephen Rooke (Tichon). There was not a weak character or voice in the entire show. The production forces the singers to perform mostly front stage so nobody has to force the tone and yet allcan act intimately with the voices. This is a great advantage with Amanda Roocroft as she has a tendency to spread under pressure; here she was perfection. Sadly it is the last performance of the current run.

Sounds great. We went to the Wiltshire Music Centre on Sunday and Ensemble 360 did the Intimate Letters Quartet with some of the letters to Kamila Stösslová (who also inspired Katya) read by Timothy West. They also did a marvellous Schubert Quintet with a double bass playing the second cello part - beautifully done by the alluring Laurène Durantel:

http://www.musicintheround.co.uk/editorial.php?id=66

[kuligin]

Last night the Ebene Quartet at the Manchester Chamber Music Society. A very enthusiatic and very full hall for this quartet who are " young generation artists" and the concert from the large number (12) of microphones will no doubt be broadcast.

The players are very talented but, and clearly from the applause my views are in a minority of one, but I thought they did not quite add upto a quartet rather 4 individuals, there was little body language and the tempos seemed subject to abrubt changes

The programme

Divertimento k136, I prefer this as a string piece, the finale was very fast and played in that aggressive way
I associate with some HIPP Vivaldi, no room for the music to breathe

Next Borodin Quartet 2, I enjoyed this more until the finale where the constant slowing up and speedying up spoilt the movement. Very fast accelerando at the end.

Finally the great Schubert String Quintet, this was the best performance, the unanimity of the attack was very impressive, the Scherzo went particularly well, with the Trio a real Lento, again the problem as the finale, with regular extreme tempo changes and the last Presto section IMHO just a rushed mess

[HighlandDougie]

I also was at Saturday's RSNO concert in Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall (see Curalach's post above) and, while I enjoyed Steven Osborne's playing very much - and that of John Gracie, I'm less enamoured of M. Dénève's Debussy than Curalach. My slight disappointment was the Printemps, which was just a little too langorous and mannered for my taste. But Jeux (one of my favourite pieces of music) was pretty fine. It was indeed good to see such a well-filled hall, although nothing will persuade me - not even Steven Osborne's dazzling pianism - that the 2nd Shostakovich concerto isn't just on the wrong side of being pretty trashy. Was he being ironic? Maybe but the contrast with the 1st concerto was particularly telling when both works were so well-played. All of it was more engaging than the Gergiev Shostakovich 10th in the Barbican the previous weekend which was just a bit too Gergiev-on-autopilot, although very well played by the LSO (Anne-Sophie Mutter in Gubaidulina was quite the opposite).

[Ferretfancy]

At the Barbican on Sunday for Colin Davis and the LSO with Mitsuko Uchida. Sir Colin seems rather frail these days, and conducts sitting on a high chair, The Concert started with Haydn's 98th Symphony, it wasn't exactly pedestrian, but a bit four square I thought, big band of course but rather charmless. Mitsuko Uchida was efficient in Beethoven's 4th, and there was some lovely quiet phrasing, but again it seemed a little routine.
Things improved after the interval with the orchestra on form for Nielsen's 2nd. Although I know it well, I don't remember when I last heard a live performance, and this was very enjoyable with a much more galvanised Colin Davis.
All in all, a bit of a mixed bag, a little disappointing because I love his recordings of Haydn with the Concertgebouw. I'll be there again next Sunday for the Emperor and the Espansiva, which is a great favourite of mine.

[3rd Viennese School]

It was last night! Mrs. 3rd Viennese School playing down the road from this very hospital in a Christmas Concert.

And on Saturday in Limehouse, Docklands, playing the violin in a classical concert in a Church.

She didnt play Schnittke though!

3VS

[Flosshilde]

At the Barbican on Sunday for Colin Davis and the LSO with Mitsuko Uchida.

Did they do the same programme twice? It was broadcast live (according to the schedule) on Tuesday night.