What was your last concert?

[LHC]

al

Times review here:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/l...98ac0c8524d663

Guardian review here (no paywall)

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/15/lsorattle-review-barbican-jolas-messaien-wistful-and-life-enhancing-a-terrific-farewell-for-the-departing-chief

[HighlandDougie]

Went to the Barbican last night for the LSO and Sir Simon Rattle in the Messiaen Turangalila Symphony. Terrific performance as you would expect but the LSO brass sounded much, much too loud, uncomfortably so at times, from my seat in the Circle. There seemed to be no roundness in tone, just a total blasting it out. The percussion, however, was just right, The Barbican probably isn't the ideal venue for a piece like this but the heavy brass really did need toning down, if only for the sake of everyone's hearing.

Was anyone else there last night, or for the repeat tonight? I'd be interested in any comments.

Incidentally, tonight's performance is on Radio 3 on June 30.

They are bringing it to the Edinburgh Festival - for which I have tickets in the stalls. Although the Usher Hall acoustics are not perfect, better than the Barbican, although Sir Simon has been pretty attuned to orchestral placement as a way of mitigating the many shortcomings of the latter (middle of Rows L to P of the stalls are usually not too bad, if you can afford the prices).

[Petrushka]

They are bringing it to the Edinburgh Festival - for which I have tickets in the stalls. Although the Usher Hall acoustics are not perfect, better than the Barbican, although Sir Simon has been pretty attuned to orchestral placement as a way of mitigating the many shortcomings of the latter (middle of Rows L to P of the stalls are usually not too bad, if you can afford the prices).

I've been to many big orchestral performances in the Barbican, including a previous Turangalila (RCO/Neeme Jarvi), but this was the first time I felt the brass to be painfully loud, trombones especially, almost beyond endurance. No quibbles about performance though, it was terrific.

[ostuni]

I was also at Wednesday's Barbican Turangalîla, and also in the circle (centre-left). Two other members of our gamelan group were there - we compared notes at last night’s rehearsal. All of us did indeed find the brass rather loud (excitingly so, for me); for those of us centre-left and far left, a more serious balance issue was the quietness of the Ondes (quite the opposite problem to the balance in several recordings…), though our colleague in the centre of the circle found it ok.

The second Turangalîla I've heard in the Barbican in seven months: last November had Nicholas Collon conducting the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra (with William Bracken as a seriously impressive young piano soloist). That time, I was in the Circle right side; the brass certainly weren’t as loud as the LSO's, though it's impossible to say how much that was due to seating, and how much due to orchestra/conductor.

[Bryn]

I was also at Wednesday's Barbican Turangalîla, and also in the circle (centre-left). Two other members of our gamelan group were there - we compared notes at last night’s rehearsal. All of us did indeed find the brass rather loud (excitingly so, for me); for those of us centre-left and far left, a more serious balance issue was the quietness of the Ondes (quite the opposite problem to the balance in several recordings…), though our colleague in the centre of the circle found it ok.

The second Turangalîla I've heard in the Barbican in seven months: last November had Nicholas Collon conducting the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra (with William Bracken as a seriously impressive young piano soloist). That time, I was in the Circle right side; the brass certainly weren’t as loud as the LSO's, though it's impossible to say how much that was due to seating, and how much due to orchestra/conductor.

A composer friend (who just happened to present a BaL on the work several decades ago) and his partner made a similar comment regarding the ondes, though it was stressed that another friend of theirs who sat more centrally heard it well balanced. I guess that when it comes to the Barbican, you have to be in the right place, at the right time.

[Dave2002]

They are bringing it to the Edinburgh Festival - for which I have tickets in the stalls. Although the Usher Hall acoustics are not perfect, better than the Barbican, although Sir Simon has been pretty attuned to orchestral placement as a way of mitigating the many shortcomings of the latter (middle of Rows L to P of the stalls are usually not too bad, if you can afford the prices).

Thanks for the hint - might manage to fit that in - but very much "depends"....

https://www.usherhall.co.uk/whats-on/london-symphony-orchestra-turangalila

[ostuni]

A composer friend (who just happened to present a BaL on the work several decades ago) and his partner made a similar comment regarding the ondes, though it was stressed that another friend of theirs who sat more centrally heard it well balanced. I guess that when it comes to the Barbican, you have to be in the right place, at the right time.

Yes, I rather imagine that we're talking about the same people! (I didn’t get to chat with the composer at the Barbican, but his partner and I were comparing notes during a break in our rehearsal)

[rauschwerk]

Two days ago, at Snape Maltings. Sinfonia of London/John Wilson.

Walton: Scapino Overture
Delius: Summer Night on the River
Britten: Scottish Ballad (with Pavel Kolesnikov & Samson Tsoy)
Elgar: Symphony 2

I went mainly to hear the quirky, entertaining Britten piece but enjoyed every second of this splendid concert. What a band! John Wilson's conducting was also something special. His grip of the Elgar piece was something out of the ordinary, at least to my ears. All was enthusiastically received by a capacity audience.

TV cameras were there.

[pastoralguy]

They are bringing it to the Edinburgh Festival - for which I have tickets in the stalls. Although the Usher Hall acoustics are not perfect, better than the Barbican, although Sir Simon has been pretty attuned to orchestral placement as a way of mitigating the many shortcomings of the latter (middle of Rows L to P of the stalls are usually not too bad, if you can afford the prices).

Yes, I thought about attending that concert too but I’m not a great fan of Messiaen’s most popular orchestral work. I heard the RSNO play it many years ago and that was enough! (It was the same night the Herald of Free Enterprise sank and I remember turning the tv on for the news and being appalled at the senseless loss of life).

If I do attend, I’ll probably sit in the upper circle in the low numbers where the ‘bones are masked by the hall’s architecture. Perhaps I need to hear it again…

[Simon B]

I was also at Wednesday's Barbican Turangalîla, and also in the circle (centre-left). Two other members of our gamelan group were there - we compared notes at last night’s rehearsal. All of us did indeed find the brass rather loud (excitingly so, for me); for those of us centre-left and far left, a more serious balance issue was the quietness of the Ondes (quite the opposite problem to the balance in several recordings…), though our colleague in the centre of the circle found it ok.

For... reasons... I was at both the Wed (Stalls centre row P) and Thu (Circle centre, row 3) performances. Within the context of Turangalila being one of the most consistently noisy works that gets regular performances, I didn't notice anything unusual.

It was noticeable that the percussion were mostly being a bit more refined than in some of the more exuberant Turangalilas I've seen over the years, probably for the sake of everyone's hearing. The brass just sounded normal for the LSO to me - i.e. prominent and with lots of front on the notes. Possibly noteworthy was that of the heavies, only the piccolo trumpet (currently the only trumpeter the LSO has), bass trombone and tuba were LSO members. Either by coincidence or as a nice touch, the first trumpet was Jon Holland who recently retired from the CBSO having been their principal trumpet since 1987 during the Rattle era, was probably appointed by him, and is presumably on Rattle's CBSO Turangalila recording.

The ondes did seem to be less prominent than usual - a relief as a previous encounter with the piece at the Barbican sat too close to its speakers had me wanting to put my fingers in my ears.

Ultimately the Barbican isn't the right place for this work. Of probably 20 live ones I've been to, the most thrilling remains Y-P Tortelier and the BBC Philharmonic at the 1996 Proms which featured some absolutely blistering brass and percussion playing. The Albert Hall is much more suitable, allowing for space around the notes and for the brass and percussion to give it maximum welly without anyone needing to take cover.

[Old Grumpy]

Recently attended a concert by these guys. Four accomplished and respected (respectable ~ ?) musicians from Haringaria (sic) doing their thing and having fun. A storming genre-b(l)ending performance - the audience at Helmsley Arts Centre loved it. Catch them if you can!

[Nick Armstrong]

London Chamber Ensemble

Howells: String Quartet no.3 'In Gloucestershire' - first performance of original version (1916)

Schubert: String Quintet in C, D.956

St James, Sussex Gardens, London W2 3UD

An absolute treat, this afternoon concert (free admission, donations ) today by the ensemble led by neighbour & friend Madeleine Mitchell under the aegis of the Schubert Society of Great Britain.

The Howells was fascinating and beautifully done - the slow movement transported me like nothing else recently.

The background to this first performance is remarkable. Howells first wrote the piece in 1916 but managed to leave the score on a train He promptly re-wrote it as closely as possible to the original: this is the version that was performed today. Three movements had received a private performance at the flat of Marion Scott at No. 92, Westbourne Terrace (just up the road from today’s venue) with the likes of Stanford, Gurney et al. in attendance. Today’s was the first full performance because these parts too subsequently disappeared () and have only recently been unearthed in an archive. (The version of the piece that has received performances and recordings hitherto was written in the 1920s by Howells, attempting to recall/reproduce the original but differing substantially from it, understandably)

Wonderful to hear (not least with the local historical colour adding to the frisson) - and of course an excellent live performance of the Schubert Quintet is an experience in itself…

This sort of concert is far more appealing to me these days than Proms etc… Must be getting old….

[rauschwerk]

Last night at Snape Maltings:
The King's Singers and Fretwork: 'Tom and Will'
The music of Thomas Weelkes and William Byrd, with new pieces by James MacMillan and Roderick Williams

A thoroughly satisfying concert. I had heard some tracks from the album bearing the same title as this concert, but in the Snape acoustic they sounded even better. It seems to me that Weelkes is a neglected figure compared with Byrd. A good deal of his best work seems to be contained in the three madrigal books published in his early 20s. His descent into alcoholism was very sad, given his early promise.

The singer who introduced Byrd's 'Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles' said that it concluded with the finest setting of 'Amen' that he knew, and it was hard to disagree.

[edashtav]

London Chamber Ensemble

Howells: String Quartet no.3 'In Gloucestershire' - first performance of original version (1916)

Schubert: String Quintet in C, D.956

St James, Sussex Gardens, London W2 3UD

An absolute treat, this afternoon concert (free admission, donations ) today by the ensemble led by neighbour & friend Madeleine Mitchell under the aegis of the Schubert Society of Great Britain.

The Howells was fascinating and beautifully done - the slow movement transported me like nothing else recently.

The background to this first performance is remarkable. Howells first wrote the piece in 1916 but managed to leave the score on a train He promptly re-wrote it as closely as possible to the original: this is the version that was performed today. Three movements had received a private performance at the flat of Marion Scott at No. 92, Westbourne Terrace (just up the road from today’s venue) with the likes of Stanford, Gurney et al. in attendance. Today’s was the first full performance because these parts too subsequently disappeared () and have only recently been unearthed in an archive. (The version of the piece that has received performances and recordings hitherto was written in the 1920s by Howells, attempting to recall/reproduce the original but differing substantially from it, understandablyuseful )

Wonderful to hear (not least with the local historical colour adding to the frisson) - and of course an excellent live performance of the Schubert Quintet is an experience in itself…

This sort of concert is far more appealing to me these days than Proms etc… Must be getting old….

Useful information about the Howells, ‘for the record’.

[HighlandDougie]

LSO/Sir Simon in ‘Turangalila’ in the Usher Hall at the EIF. Not sure quite how they managed to cram everyone onto the stage - the back desk of the first violins appeared to be sharing his performance space with the xylophone, for instance. Keyboards all lined up at the front of the stage with Sir S behind. Cynthia Millar very audible as a result so it was a real pleasure to hear the contribution made by the O-M to the piece. Sir Peter Donohoe, looking positively Edwardian, in great form (easy to forget what a fine pianist he is). Brass carefully placed so the trombones not too overpowering. Percussion audible throughout. I’m still not sure that the music isn’t just on the wrong side of being trashy but it makes a glorious noise. The exuberance, energy, passion and joy were all brought out magnificently - I cannot imagine hearing a better performance, helped by the really rather good acoustics of the hall.

Very fine performances of the Janacek 1st SQ and LvB Op 130/Op 133 earlier. Mark-Anthony Turnage’s latest SQ possibly not quite in the same league but well worth hearing (it was its first public outing so he duly appeared with trademark blue pork pie hat at the end).

A very enjoyable day’s music in a very unsummery Edinburgh.