What was your last concert?

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  • Jasmine Bassett
    Full Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 50

    I would second everything that TS said about the concert in Basingstoke last night. It was one I had been looking forward to since the new season's brochure came out earlier in the year - and I was not disappointed.

    I have to admit I was there to hear Daniil Trifonov play after seeing the documentary on BBC4 last year and knew nothing about the conductor, not being aware he was rising star (although to conduct the Philharmonia with Tifonov as soloist suggests he has to have some sort of track record). He conducted both the opening Tchaikovsky and the concluding Mussorgsky without a score. His technique was obviously not modeled on that of Sir Adrian Boult (for example) but was a performance in its own right. Whatever the means, the results were spectacular. He seemed to be able to get from the PO that rich string sound with lots of bass that is IMHO not very often heard from a British orchestra and which I usually associate with some of the major European orchestras. I don't think it's a feature of the hall, having heard the PO and other orchestras from the same mid stalls location on many occasions, but the woodwind, bassoon in particular, seemed particularly prominent.

    As TS suggests Trifonov has an idiosyncratic style of playing not only hunching over the keyboard but also at times sitting bolt upright seemingly immovable with just the fingers moving - but what fingers - seemingly doing nothing other than producing a wonderful intimate, delicate sound from the piano. I didn't have the same close-up view as TS but in the quieter passages Trifonov's fingers seemed to be just stroking the keys - to glorious effect.

    I haven't looked at the PO's calendar to see if they have given this concert before but the dialogue between the orchestra and soloist in the concerto could not have been better.

    I think I'm in danger of becoming a Trifonov groupie.

    It was definitely a night to remember.

    Comment

    • french frank
      Administrator/Moderator
      • Feb 2007
      • 30250

      Well ……… RP 'Born in 1980 and a graduate of the celebrated El Sistema in Venezuela'
      It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

      Comment

      • ferneyhoughgeliebte
        Gone fishin'
        • Sep 2011
        • 30163

        Originally posted by Zucchini
        All v well written if I may be so bold as to say. Enjoyed reading it & wish I'd been there


        SO glad to hear you enjoyed it , ts - Daniil is bloody good, isn't he! (I hadn't realized the "PagRhap" was also on the menu!)
        [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

        Comment

        • Zucchini
          Guest
          • Nov 2010
          • 917

          Originally posted by french frank View Post
          Well ……… RP 'Born in 1980 and a graduate of the celebrated El Sistema in Venezuela'
          I had warned teamst on the coughing thread that Payare is seriously good.

          ...and I thought your "Well..." was going alert readers to his missus - Alisa Weilerstein (who plays the cello a bit)

          Comment

          • Nick Armstrong
            Host
            • Nov 2010
            • 26523

            Originally posted by french frank View Post
            Well ……… RP 'Born in 1980 and a graduate of the celebrated El Sistema in Venezuela'
            Here he is in his 'blowing' days before his 'waving' days - at the 2011 Proms Mahler 2 amid the Bolívar horn section

            "...the isle is full of noises,
            Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
            Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
            Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."

            Comment

            • french frank
              Administrator/Moderator
              • Feb 2007
              • 30250

              Originally posted by Caliban View Post
              [COLOR="#0000FF"]Here he is in his 'blowing' days before his 'waving' days - at the 2011 Proms Mahler 2 amid the Bolívar horn section
              He's come a long way pretty fast with his conducting. Eat your heart out, Gustavo!
              It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

              Comment

              • Nick Armstrong
                Host
                • Nov 2010
                • 26523

                Originally posted by french frank View Post
                He's come a long way pretty fast with his conducting. Eat your heart out, Gustavo!
                To be fair I suspect he was doing a fair bit of waving over the years before 2011, when not applying that elaborate piece of machinery to his mouth!
                "...the isle is full of noises,
                Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
                Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
                Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."

                Comment

                • Nick Armstrong
                  Host
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 26523

                  Originally posted by Jasmine Bassett View Post
                  knew nothing about the conductor, not being aware he was rising star (although to conduct the Philharmonia with Trifonov as soloist suggests he has to have some sort of track record). ... He seemed to be able to get from the PO that rich string sound with lots of bass that is IMHO not very often heard from a British orchestra and which I usually associate with some of the major European orchestras.
                  I find I have this recorded on the bedside DAB radio from TTN on 24 June:
                  Beethoven: Symphony No.1 in C (Op 21)
                  Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Payare (Conductor)

                  Very good it is too, by and large, although at one point in the first movement the orchestra comes apart for a bar or so (the woodwind seem to be a beat or two away from their colleagues...).


                  Originally posted by Jasmine Bassett View Post
                  I think I'm in danger of becoming a Trifonov groupie.

                  It was definitely a night to remember.
                  Really pleased you had such good experience. A number of us went to hear him play Rachmaninov's 3rd PC with Ashkenazy conducting the same orchestra, and all rated it one of the very best things we had ever heard.
                  "...the isle is full of noises,
                  Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
                  Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
                  Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."

                  Comment

                  • Jasmine Bassett
                    Full Member
                    • Dec 2010
                    • 50

                    I hope my next Concerto concert is going to be equally as memorable - Maria Joao Pires playing Mozart K 595 with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in Birmingham on 19 October.

                    Comment

                    • Zucchini
                      Guest
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 917

                      Originally posted by Jasmine Bassett View Post
                      Maria Joao Pires playing Mozart K 595 with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in Birmingham on 19 October.
                      She will be wonderful, so will the orchestra and Chailly will look after her to perfection! Guaranteed!

                      Comment

                      • VodkaDilc

                        Originally posted by teamsaint View Post
                        An interesting looking 2015/16 season at the Anvil , Basingstoke was launched ( or kicked off) last night with this entertaining looking programme.
                        • Philharmonia Orchestra
                        • Daniil Trifonov (piano)
                        • Rafael Payare (conductor)
                        1. Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture - Pyotr Tchaikovsky
                        2. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No 4 in G minor Op 40 - Sergey Rachmaninov
                        3. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op 43 - Sergey Rachmaninov
                        4. Pictures at an Exhibition - Modest Mussorgsky, arranged by Maurice Ravel

                        Some interesting music on offer, and two rising young stars with big reputations, so it looked well worth a trip out to see if they live up to their billing.Basingstoke was at its early autumn best , to help put the near full house in good spirits for the evening.

                        The Tchaikovsky gave us a perfect first opportunity to see Rafael Payare in action .He has a intriguing style, switching rapidly between spells of athletic movement around the podium, frequently crouched low, and contrasting spells of more traditional style, in a way that demands the orchestras attention. He is by no means afraid to be demonstrative, and it’s an all action approach to the art. With his profile and youth,he looks a certainty to become a favourite with the media in this country. You can just imagine Radio 3 gushing endlessly !!
                        The Tchaikovsky was excellent, not easy to compare favourably with so many other performances, but the Philharmonia made a terrific noise at the climaxes, and it provided a fine start to the evening.

                        To Trifonov.The big build up he has had on this board had given me high expectations. Rach 4 needs a good performance to take the audience with it, I would think, and true to his reputation, Trif delivered. I was sitting in a front row Stalkers seat, (TM Caliban) about 2 to 3 yards from him, and it was a sensational experience to be that close . I don’t think he could have put more into the performance. Huge climaxes, and a carefully considered slow movement. Much of the time he hunches over the keyboard, a wide eyed stare fixed on his hands, as if they might escape if he doesn’t keep a close watch on them. This was a really physical performance, and he was visibly perspiring early on. An object lesson in commitment, and he made a great case for the piece.
                        If anything the Paganini Fantasy after the interval was even better. There is plenty of scope for thoughtful interplay with the orchestra, and every opportunity was taken. The inverted 18th variation was just as you might wish it, absolutely sumptuous, and in general he mixed delicacy with power quite beautifully. Some fine refined playing form the orchestra in this, who incidentally had a guest leader for the evening I think. Trifonov got a huge and well deserved response from the audience, and left us in unassuming style. He is simply class.

                        A very full evening of music( it ran to around 2 hours) was concluded with the Mussorgksy. I suppose one of the things you want from a performance is to know and understand more about it than you did beforehand.No problems here, this was a no holds barred effort, with wonderful evocations of the scenes, and somehow blended nicely into a whole. Payare managed everything in hands on fashion, and the orchestra responded in truly magnificent fashion. There were some particularly snarly and threatening cattle, but the whole thing dripped with atmosphere, and the Great Gate was a spectacular demonstration of power , with Payare and the orchestra throwing everything at it.
                        A big audience was absolutely delighted with the evening, and will surely be back more more of what looks an excellent Anvil season ahead.
                        This pretty well describes the repeat of this programme at the RFH last night. Stunning playing form the Philharmonia (minus some of their key principals) and it was wonderful to see Trifonov and Payare. What a generous programme too. Perhaps someone who was there could identify Trifonov's encore, which I could not put a name to. It was astonishing that he still had the stamina for it, after two major Rachmaninov works.

                        Comment

                        • VodkaDilc

                          Originally posted by Zucchini
                          Wasn't there but Philharmonia facebook says "Daniil Trifonov's encore last night at the Royal Festival Hall was Alla Reminiscenza' from Nikolai Medtner’s Forgotten Melodies, Op. 38."
                          Thank you, Zucchini. If only I was fifty years younger, I might have thought of looking on the Philharmonia Facebook page. Interestingly, I overheard someone asking for details of an encore at the RAH enquiry desk during the Proms. The attendant had the information at his fingertips. Somehow, with the multi-purpose RFH, I don't think that would have happened. In fact, would many of those milling around the public areas of the RFH know that a concert was taking place? (This is not a criticism of the admirable policy of welcoming the public into the area. The founding fathers of the 1950s would be delighted.)

                          Comment

                          • David-G
                            Full Member
                            • Mar 2012
                            • 1216

                            Most interesting Mozart recital by Robert Levin at the Wigmore Hall this evening. A Mozart recital on a Paul McNulty copy of an 1805 Walter. A Mozart concert with a difference - several of the pieces were quite new to me. It opened with an early fragment that Levin had completed. We then had three sonatas, plus a marvellous transcription by Mozart of the Entfuhrung overture which I had never heard before, interspersed with Preludes. These are a set of four Preludes by Mozart which modulate from one key to another, and can't really be played on their own. Amazing music ... "their perpetual flamboyance and impulsiveness may astonish some listeners. In no other compositions are we so close to Mozart the master improviser." Levin arranged the programme so that each Prelude modulated from the key of the previous sonata to the key of the next. A very logical and satisfying programme. The repeats in the sonatas were decorated by Levin in very convincing Mozartian style. The Entfuhrung overture sounded marvellous on this piano - suitably jangly, without a jangle pedal! The encore was extraordinary - a Mozart piece quite new to me, the only source of it is a painted portrait of Mozart, where it is on the music rest of the instrument in the picture!

                            Comment

                            • HighlandDougie
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 3081

                              Sibelius: Symphonies No 5, 6 & 7

                              BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Dausgaard

                              TD has a dynamic conducting style: clear beat and gestures, active on his feet and seemingly communicating well with the orchestra. That dynamism was reflected in the performances (at Perth Concert Hall last night). Sibelius very much to my taste: unfussy, scrupulously controlled dynamics yet willing to let the music ebb and flow in a natural way. I'm struggling to think of a trio of performances of these symphonies which I've enjoyed more. The transitions in the 5th were handled well - no unnecessary rals. and rits. - and no slight speeding up at the very end. Comment has been made elsewhere about Donald Runnicles's work with the strings of the BBC SSO and, on the basis of last night, it has been well worth it. They sounded excellent - helped by the hall's acoustics (and the fact that Sibelius, unlike Mahler, doesn't swamp what is not a huge hall). A bit of tentativeness on the part of the winds at the beginning of the 5th disappeared pretty quickly - and by the 6th (that introduction to the slow movement), sounded fine. I love the 6th - I'm still not sure I wholly understand it but I think that I would have to travel far to hear such a good performance. Much, much better to my ears than Simon Rattle and Kristian Jarvi (the last two live performances I've heard). It's difficult to mess up the 7th with a good orchestra and this was no exception. A friend whom I met as I was leaving said that it brought tears to his eyes. No doubt there were details which I missed which weren't right but, caught up in a concert where the conductor and orchestra shone, the music sang and the heart swelled, it's hard to be critical. It was being recorded, probably for afternoon transmission sometime. Well worth catching - and stored away for me with concerts with Paavo Berglund and Osmo Vanska as a great Sibelius evening.

                              Comment

                              • teamsaint
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 25195

                                Thanks for the review, HD. Sounds like an excellent evening.

                                hopefully we'll all be able to enjoy it on R3 soon.

                                This summer's Prom of the same programme wasn't a complete success IMO, so it should be interesting to compare.
                                I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

                                I am not a number, I am a free man.

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