What was your last concert?

[ostuni]

This week, I'm within striking distance of Aix-en-Provence, and went to a superb concert 2 nights ago. Intriguing programme: extracts from the Bach 48 played on harpsichord by Andreas Staier, and from the Shostakovich 24 played by Alexander Melnikov.

Olli Mustonen has recorded them side-by-side, but playing piano for both. I have vol 1, but rarely listen to it: I find his playing irritatigly perverse, with articulations & dynamics at odds with those clearly marked in DSCH's score. Staier & Melnikov were abslutely fine in this respect - but it's perhaps not surprising that in a big hall (and Aix's modern Grand Theatre de Provence is big) the harpsichord, especially when using just one 8', sounded very tiny. The ear did focus after a while, but it was initially disconcerting.

They were both on stage all the time, and attempted to play without breaks for applause (the audience slowly got the message...). Ist half: 2 JSB p&fs, 3 DSCH, 2 JSB. And the pattern reversed in the second half.

Staier was, as I'd expected, nicely stylish: a certain amount of ornamentation, flexible phrasing. Melnikov was the star for me, though. I know, and love, his Beethoven Vln Sonatas with Faust, but hadn't heard his Shostakovich, which I'm imediately buying when I get home! Definitely a hearing-anew feeling (but not in the Mustonen manner): lots more flexibility in tempo in the preludes (and sometimes in the fugues) than I'm used to hearing (I've got Ashkenazy, that Naxos chappie, and DSCH himself (incomplete, of course) at home). Superb variety of touch, moments of extraordinary delicacy (A major). The big Db p&f, already a quirky piece, sounded gloriously outrageous. Magnificent.

Nice first encore: Staier played the Bach Fmi hpd concerto slow mvt on the bottom 8': Melnikov, standing behind & reaching round both sides, played the string parts on the upper 8' muted.

Sorry this is at such length, with no listen-again feature. Though actually France-Musique was broadcasting it direct: the site seems to suggest it's listenable in the archives, bu I can't find it. THose of you who know your way around the Fr-M site, and with a better computer than I've got in this apartment, might like to try: it's well worth hearing.

[bluestateprommer]

from the other side of the pond

Just spent some time in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I caught a few concerts at the SF Chamber Music Festival:

(1) Mozart: Quintet for Piano and Winds in Eb, K. 452
Frederic Chaslin: "Gypsy Dance" from Wuthering Heights (solo piano version)
Poulenc: Sextet for Piano and Winds

Members of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra; Frederic Chaslin, piano

(2) Ligeti: Six Bagatelles (Joshua Smith, flute; Liang Wang, oboe; Todd Levy, clarinet; Theodore Soluri, bassoon; Julie Landsman, horn)
Dvorak: Terzetto in C, op. 74 (John Dalley, Lily Francis, violins; Cynthia Phelps, viola)
Donald Erb: Sonata for Solo Harp (Yolanda Kondonassis, harp)
Brahms: Viola Sonata No. 2 in Eb, op. 120, no. 2 (Cynthia Phelps, viola; Jeremy Denk, piano)

(3) Telemann: Trio Sonata for Flute, Oboe & Continuo in e from Tafelmusik II/4 (Joshua Smith, flute; Liang Wang, oboe; Kathleen McIntosh, harpsichord)
Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Piano Trio, op. 24 (Lily Francis, violin; Ronald Thomas, cello; Jeremy Denk, piano)
Dvorak: String Quintet in Eb, op. 97 (Johannes String Quartet, with John Dalley, viola)

Very good performances all around, as generally is the case with the SFCMF musicians. Of course, I exclude the productions at Santa Fe Opera that I saw from this post, since the topic explicitly states "concert" rather than "opera" .

[David Samuels]

Have just heard Lief Uver Andsnes playing in K452 on a download from the Risor festival -- http://risor.musicinmotion.no/ -- which was excellent!

[makropulos]

I'm back from my annual visit to the Festival Messiaen au Pays de la Meije in the French Alps. This year I went to a couple of excellent concerts of which the most interesting was Stockhausen's Stimmung, done quite wonderfully in the very nice small hall at Monetier-les-Bains that worked so well last year for Boulez's Anthème II and other pieces with live electronics. The Stockhausen was pretty captivating this year - great to hear it in such intimate surrounding. So, too, was a concert by the Trio élégiaque and friends: the piano quintet arrangement of Milhaud's La Création du monde, Vues aériennes by Tristan Murail (this year's guest composer) and a terrific performance of the Ravel Piano Trio. As for Messiaen, the performance of the Quartet for the end of Time included the best live rendition of Abîme des oiseaux that I've ever heard (Paul Meyer - stupendous), and more or less the worst playing of some of the other movements thanks to a dreadful pianist. Unfortunately I had to miss Isabelle Cals singing "Harawi" - she did a terrific "Chants de Terre et de Ciel" a few years ago. And really, it's hard to imagine a more stunningly beautiful location for a festival. I'm glad to report that I've been asked back next year, so looking forward to that already.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

ah bless thw weekly lunchtime concert at All Saints .... yesterday we had a special treat ... a young soprano, postgrad singing student, Miranda Heldt accompanied by Jennifer Partidge ..

two delightful mini sets Faure 'Poeme d'un jour' and Satie 'Trois Melodies' ... beautifully and appropriately performed, a Mozart aria that was ok, but the real delight was Rusalka [Dvorak] ... bang in the centre of her voice, this was as pure and fresh as a mountain spring ... the song's familiarity erased by the authentic expression of both performers ... tears all round ...

[Hornswoggler]

Most recent concert - yesterday evening in the Usher Hall, with the Philharmonia and Salonen playing the Poem of Ecstasy and the Rite of Spring, sandwiching Ravel's Sheherazade. The playing in the two big works was nothing short of sensational, and the timpanist's contributions reminded me of the halcyon days of James Bradshaw. The Philadelphia Orchestra will have to go some to match this.

[BBMmk2]

Shoul;d have put this down sometime back! Proms 41 and 43. Really good concertts to! Prom 43 just up my street! nWell both were!

[amateur51]

Yesterday lunchtime members of the Royal Academy of Music's Percussion Ensemble gave a free concert of Steve Reich's music as part of its celebration of Reich's 75th birthday.

The pieces played were:

Clapping Music (1971)

Nagoya Marimbas (1994)

Music for Pieces of Wood (1973)

Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings (2005) directed by Neil Percy

A good-sized crowd greeted each performance with intense concentration and much enthusiasm. My friend who is getting to know more about music turned to me grinning and said that it was like having his ears cleaned, listening with that level of concentration to such wonderful sonorities and rhythms.

A grand event

[Chris Newman]

Tonight I shall be going St Thomas's Church in Salisbury which has lovely accoustics to hear the delightful little Salisbury Sinfonia who are playing

Stravinsky's Pulcinella (complete ballet with Julia Craig, Soprano, Ian Wicks, Tenor and Richard Hooper, Bass)
Beethoven Symphony no. 5 in C minor

This excellent little semi-professional band are conducted by Tim Murray, who regularly works in London, particularly with the Royal Opera and Young Vic.

St Thomas's Church is one of the churches which actually predate Salisbury Cathedral (it was built so that the builders, masons, plumbers and carpenters could worship whilst the people of Sarum could go to St Martin's Church) and is famous for its terrifying "Doom" painting that reminds us of what happens to sinners.

[Ferretfancy]

Two nights ago at the Barbican, with the BBC SO and Behlohlavek, a short new piece by a young composer called Jiri Kaderabek, followed by Dvorak's The Golden Spinning Wheel, and after the interval came the highlight for me, Martinu's Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra. I had quite forgotten what a beautiful work it is, and the soloist,Maxim Rusanov was superb.The evening ended with a vigorous performance of Janacek's Taras Bulba.

I had originally booked a seat in the Balcony for this, but was offered a free upgrade to the Stalls, because the concert was so poorly attended, a shame because the BBC SO were in very good form.

[amateur51]

Two nights ago at the Barbican, with the BBC SO and Behlohlavek, a short new piece by a young composer called Jiri Kaderabek, followed by Dvorak's The Golden Spinning Wheel, and after the interval came the highlight for me, Martinu's Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra. I had quite forgotten what a beautiful work it is, and the soloist,Maxim Rusanov was superb.The evening ended with a vigorous performance of Janacek's Taras Bulba.

I had originally booked a seat in the Balcony for this, but was offered a free upgrade to the Stalls, because the concert was so poorly attended, a shame because the BBC SO were in very good form.

How was the sound in the stalls, Ferret? I have dodgy hearing (tinnutus + hearing loss, aleviated by digi-hearing aids) and I prefer the back of the balcony usually because I feel that the sound bounces back at me and my experience is that I hear better those sounds that come from behind me. What a palaver!

[Suffolkcoastal]

It is such a pity that interesting concerts such as this are so poorly attended. I don't know what more can be done to make concert goers more aware that there are countless hundreds even thousands of beautiful and rewarding works out there, and to persuade them to listen to works outside the same old repertoire. The current R3 regime is of course not helping with this.

[Curalach]

Last night we heard a performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto which was the best performance I have heard of the piece in a very long time. The soloist was Vadim Gluzman. Everything I have heard Gluzman play over the last few years has been exceptional. The RSNO accompanied well with a conductor who was unknown to me, Tomas Hanus, who has a rather odd windmill style which seemed to me quite un-musical.
The concerto was preceded by a very mannered Hebrides Overture and followed by a rare outing for Dvorak 6. The orchestra did it great credit, mainly by keeping their heads down and ignoring the podium. Cellini would have agreed!
Packed house.

[Chris Newman]

Tonight I shall be going St Thomas's Church in Salisbury which has lovely accoustics to hear the delightful little Salisbury Sinfonia who are playing

Stravinsky's Pulcinella (complete ballet with Julia Craig, Soprano, Ian Wicks, Tenor and Richard Hooper, Bass)
Beethoven Symphony no. 5 in C minor

This excellent little semi-professional band are conducted by Tim Murray, who regularly works in London, particularly with the Royal Opera and Young Vic.

St Thomas's Church is one of the churches which actually predate Salisbury Cathedral (it was built so that the builders, masons, plumbers and carpenters could worship whilst the people of Sarum could go to St Martin's Church) and is famous for its terrifying "Doom" painting that reminds us of what happens to sinners.

Very glad I went last night. Pulcinella was very good fun. The orchestra, soprano and tenor soloists were especially good. Last time I heard the complete Pulinella music live was in the early 70s with John Dankworth conducting. The Beethoven was a good fast, no nonsense performance which would have pleased Sir Charles Mackerras or Arturo Toscanini. The Salisbury Sinfonia's next concert is February 11th when they celebrate Hugh Wood's 80th Birthday with his recent Divertimento for Strings, Dvorak's VC with local violinist Rosie Tompsett and Schumann's Second Symphony.

Have gone down with a sore throat and cold since

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Two nights ago at the Barbican, with the BBC SO and Behlohlavek, a short new piece by a young composer called Jiri Kaderabek, followed by Dvorak's The Golden Spinning Wheel, and after the interval came the highlight for me, Martinu's Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra. I had quite forgotten what a beautiful work it is, and the soloist,Maxim Rusanov was superb.The evening ended with a vigorous performance of Janacek's Taras Bulba.

I had originally booked a seat in the Balcony for this, but was offered a free upgrade to the Stalls, because the concert was so poorly attended, a shame because the BBC SO were in very good form.

I was there too (though you were never in danger, Ferretfancy!) and in the stalls as well - from where it sounded very fine, to answer a question from elsewhere. But it was shockingly poorly attended, wasn't it? I do agree about the BBCSO's form at the moment, and I think questions have to be asked about the marketing of the Barbican series; for example, I understand there's a £5 standby ticket thing for students, but why aren't there more students at these concerts? There are probably answers, but it doesn't seem to add up. I hope they have answers that satisfy the Myerscough people...

Less than a week earlier, the BBCSO and David Robertson had given what Classical Source, in one of only two reviews I've tracked down, called a "supreme performance of Turangalîla". If that had been any of numerous "glamour" bands, the press would have been there in droves and the concert would no doubt have been trailed far and wide on Radio 3 and plugged left right and centre in the papers as well.

JB seems to have to work harder than most for the appreciation of the London critics - even though the BBCSO's transformation from the wreckage of the Slatkin era is largely his work. That said, they seemed to turn out in greater numbers than might have been expected for the Czech concert. Unfortunately, the dailies don't seem to treat reviews as seriously as the websites - don't ask me about the times the Telegraph couldn't actually identify the performers! - and so far I've seen just a lukewarm Guardian review.

The next BBCSO concert at the Barbican is on 10th December and includes the Sibelius and Walton takes on Belshazzar's Feast. BBC Music Magazine's mention of this in its listings seems more interested in plugging an Oxbridge concert across town the same week. Ah well, if that's the way the publicity machine works...