What was your last concert?

[Nick Armstrong]

Curses - the 'apply for tickets' button suggested there was still room at this enticing concert in a couple of weeks

Britten Diversions for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra
Malcolm Arnold Symphony No. 5

Pavel Kolesnikov piano
Michael Seal conductor

BBC Symphony Orchestra

But on clicking through, hopes dashed - it's full...

Well it all turned out ok in the end! Maida Vale Studios being only about 10 minutes from me, I turned up hopefully about 15 minutes before the start, in case of returns/no-shows...

... and got in easily! Lovely seat centre front of the balcony for the above exhilarating concert.

There was an opener too, Adrian Sutton's Fist Full of Fives, an engaging and accessible number in 5/4 time, very much in the 'English music' tradition, energetic and lyrical by turns - the composer was in the audience.

I loved hearing Diversions live for the first time - a favourite piece for years. Pavel K was spot-on throughout, and the very analytical, clean acoustic of the studio (which makes loud strings and brass just a tad shrill, heard live) made for complete clarity in tandem with his playing style - I heard things I'd never heard before. Top drawer.

And likewise, a first live hearing of Arnold 5 - the scherzo and last movement have a special place in my affections, and the return of the slow movement theme towards the end of the final movement is one of the big 'goose-bump' moments in music for me. It really delivered in this performance. Some great solo work throughout, too - especially a wonderful oboe solo.

As ever, I'm looking forward to hearing the same thing again via the microphones, to compare the experience.

Hurrah for BBC freebies!!

.

Footnote - the queue staff told me that the average take-up on these free tickets is about 40%.... So even if something's 'fully allocated' according to the website, it's probably always worth turning up. I'm glad I did!

[Beef Oven!]

Well it all turned out ok in the end! Maida Vale Studios being only about 10 minutes from me, I turned up hopefully about 15 minutes before the start, in case of returns/no-shows...

... and got in easily! Lovely seat centre front of the balcony for the above exhilarating concert.

There was an opener too, Adrian Sutton's Fist Full of Fives, an engaging and accessible number in 5/4 time, very much in the 'English music' tradition, energetic and lyrical by turns - the composer was in the audience.

I loved hearing Diversions live for the first time - a favourite piece for years. Pavel K was spot-on throughout, and the very analytical, clean acoustic of the studio (which makes loud strings and brass just a tad shrill, heard live) made for complete clarity in tandem with his playing style - I heard things I'd never heard before. Top drawer.

And likewise, a first live hearing of Arnold 5 - the scherzo and last movement have a special place in my affections, and the return of the slow movement theme towards the end of the final movement is one of the big 'goose-bump' moments in music for me. It really delivered in this performance. Some great solo work throughout, too - especially a wonderful oboe solo.

As ever, I'm looking forward to hearing the same thing again via the microphones, to compare the experience.

Hurrah for BBC freebies!!

.

Footnote - the queue staff told me that the average take-up on these free tickets is about 40%.... So even if something's 'fully allocated' according to the website, it's probably always worth turning up. I'm glad I did!

Thanks for the interesting review, glad you enjoyed it. Good thinking on turning up on the the off-chance. I fancied the concert, especially the Arnold but didn’t think

40%? I know what to do in the future!

[teamsaint]

Thanks for the interesting review, glad you enjoyed it. Good thinking on turning up on the the off-chance. I fancied the concert, especially the Arnold but didn’t think

40%? I know what to do in the future!

what a great opportunity to hear an Arnold symphony live. really glad you got to it Cals.
Would love to go to Maida Vale, even though I have no idea what its like, if that makes sense. Which it doesn't, obviously.
I thought the radio broadcast sounded excellent actually. Just like really being there.

If they had held the concert on the A419 Swindon bypass that is.....

[Nick Armstrong]

what a great opportunity to hear an Arnold symphony live. really glad you got to it Cals.
Would love to go to Maida Vale, even though I have no idea what its like, if that makes sense. Which it doesn't, obviously.
I thought the radio broadcast sounded excellent actually. Just like really being there.

If they had held the concert on the A419 Swindon bypass that is.....

Well worth trying to organise a visit, ts. It's a very direct acoustic, which I like - but may not suit all music. Can't argue with free tickets, though. And it was so great to slip out afterwards into the gloaming of a London afternoon in November, pre-rush hour, for some sustenance - and then home by 5pm.

We must keep scanning the advance info re good freebies coming up there.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed Pavel Kolesnikov's facebook post about his performance today:

"Playing some pieces is like embracing a dear person; some - like climbing a rock; some - like walking up the mountain; some - holding a diamond diadem in your trembling hands; sometimes like making your way through the wonderland, sometimes through ever familiar landscape. Playing Britten is like...suddenly seeing the stars sparkling; suddenly hearing the murmur of the woods; suddenly feeling the smell of the sea; suddenly opening your eyes, your ears, rewiring your senses and and seeing, hearing, feeling anew, afresh, from the scratch. Like opening the ordinary window and just not being able to take your eyes off. Live at BBC Radio 3 at 2 pm today."

[teamsaint]

Well worth trying to organise a visit, ts. It's a very direct acoustic, which I like - but may not suit all music. Can't argue with free tickets, though. And it was so great to slip out afterwards into the gloaming of a London afternoon in November, pre-rush hour, for some sustenance - and then home by 5pm.

We must keep scanning the advance info re good freebies coming up there.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed Pavel Kolesnikov's facebook post about his performance today:

"Playing some pieces is like embracing a dear person; some - like climbing a rock; some - like walking up the mountain; some - holding a diamond diadem in your trembling hands; sometimes like making your way through the wonderland, sometimes through ever familiar landscape. Playing Britten is like...suddenly seeing the stars sparkling; suddenly hearing the murmur of the woods; suddenly feeling the smell of the sea; suddenly opening your eyes, your ears, rewiring your senses and and seeing, hearing, feeling anew, afresh, from the scratch. Like opening the ordinary window and just not being able to take your eyes off. Live at BBC Radio 3 at 2 pm today."

Indeed.
And I shall listen again, this time without bypass noise.

AND get checking those schedules.....

Perhaps Arnolds wonderful symphonies will start to get more of the exposure in concert halls that they so deserve.

I'd imagine that the " direct acoustic" you describe would suit Arnold's music very well. It certainly sounded that way on R3.

[EdgeleyRob]

Glad you enjoyed Cali,sounded terrific on the wireless.
Marvellous Ginastera Harp Concerto and Walton 1 followed the live broadcast too.
Got Britten Illuminations and DSCH 5 tomorrow afternoon in Salford.
Missed out on Elgar Alassio and Walton Cello Concerto this coming Friday.
Billy Budd at the Lowry on Thursday will make up for it,not free though that one,in fact the opposite

[HighlandDougie]

Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, op.77
Mahler: Symphony No 5 in C Sharp minor

Joshua Bell (violin)/Orchestre de Paris/Daniel Harding

First visit to the new(ish) big hall of the Philharmonie de Paris. JB may have flawless technique and a fine tone but I thought that the acoustics (err, sort of "big barn") didn't really suit the Brahms - it all seemed a bit distant or maybe that's because I was in the upper circle. Enjoyable but not stellar.

The Mahler, though, was a different matter. DH had the orchestra in a tiered hemisphere in front of him, with divided strings and the double bass section at the top left. It looked a bit strange at first but it sounded absolutely wonderful. Crystal-clear but with warmth and a real sense of (forgive the HiFi-bore cliché) a soundstage. Orchestra in great form, as was DH - as good a Mahler 5 as I've ever heard. And the O de P clearly like their new Principal Conductor (why are people in this country so rude about him?). The venue is in a kind of Parisian equivalent of, say, Shepherd's Bush but it's on Métro Line 5 so easy to get to/get from. A really good evening.

[kindofblue]

Went to see the Australian jazz trio The Necks at Band on the Wall on Tuesday night. They played two forty-minute+ sets, which I think were completely improvised. One of the three musicians started to play, and then the others gradually joined in. Gripping. The pianist Chris Abrahams is a quite stunning performer, and all three brought an astonishing level of creativity to their playing. Not for everyone, granted, but I found it inspirational.

[Bryn]

Earlier this year I attended a performance by Dave Smith of solo piano arrangements by John Tilbury of Beatles songs. Yesterday afternoon it was John Tilbury himself who played them on a Bechstein baby at a soiree in Crouch End. Next week he plays them at the Approximation Festival in Düsseldorf.

[vinteuil]

First visit to the new(ish) big hall of the Philharmonie de Paris. ... The venue is in a kind of Parisian equivalent of, say, Shepherd's Bush but it's on Métro Line 5 so easy to get to/get from. .

... this resident of Shepherd's Bush wd be delighted if there were something like the Philharmonie within walking distance

I think a closer London equivalent of the Parc de la Villette where the Philharmonie is located - in the 19th arrondissement at the north-eastern limits of Paris within spitting distance of the Peripherique - would be the Olympic Park out at Stratford...

[ ... I wd see the Parisian equivalent of Shepherd's Bush as being, say, the more robust end of the rue de Vaugirard - where it crosses the rue de la Convention ]



.

[teamsaint]

Nadav Hertzka - piano

Tchaikovsky
The Seasons Op. 37b
January
February
April
June
September
October
December

Janáček
Piano Sonata 1.x.1905
I. Con Moto
II. Adagio

Bartok
Allegro Barbaro

St Brides Church Fleet St.
Free Recital today .

As I was in London, I thought his looked a tempting way to spend lunchtime, and a very good decision it proved.
Hertzka seems to specialise in The Seasons, having recorded it on CD, and he made a fine job of these selections. His playing seemed to emphasise restraint and structure, but always with plenty of firmly applied sensitivity. He clearly loves the music, and the audience was thoroughly engrossed,apart from the man next to me who took his coat off in the middle of January. A lovely performance , and his recording, available on Spotify I think,, is well worth seeking out I suspect.
I don’t know the Janacek, but this was delivered in a similar style to the Tchaik, with plenty of emotional intensity. I'll definitely try to get to know this better. Ending rather had the edge taken off it by extraneous noise at the back of the church, sadly.
The recital concluded with some very punchy Bartok, which showcased Hertzka’s ability to set off a few musical fireworks when required.
The acoustic seems quite friendly for piano at St Brides. The piano is usually positioned half way down the church, allowing an intimate atmosphere, and, I suspect, helping to keep the sound fairly clean for the audience.
Yet another example of the wealth of talent that there is around. He also has a winning demeanour, and exudes quiet confidence in his playing. This was a real treat, very well worth the effort.

[Beef Oven!]

Great review ts, many thanks.

What an excellent way to use your lunch-break.

[Ferretfancy]

At the Royal Festival Hall last night I heard a tremendous performance of Shostakovich 8 with the Philharmonia conducted by Juraj Valcuha. He's new to me, and unfortunately the programme book gave no information, other than the usual list of his recent appearances elsewhere.

He has a rather austere, even slightly forbidding manner, but he achieved great results last night, missing nothing in tension, not to say savagery where required. The orchestra were at their wonderful best, especially the superb Jill Crowther in that wonderful cor anglais soliloquy. The audience was absolutely silent throughout.

In the first half we heard Bartok's Second Violin Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann as soloist. This was a very brilliant rather spiky performance with a few rushed fences to my mind, which detracted from the overall effect. Bartok should be a little more contemplative than we had here. The numerous orchestral outbursts made their impact, but somehow something was missing.
As an encore Zimmermann played a violin transcription of Rachmaninov's Prelude Op. 23 No. 5, a very famous piece which sounds much better in the original for piano. He played it with great skill, making the best of it, but I couldn't help wondering why he chose it.

This was still a fine concert, and I left the hall suitably drained emotionally by the magnificent symphony.

[Pulcinella]

...the audience was thoroughly engrossed,apart from the man next to me who took his coat off in the middle of January.

More evidence of climate change, eh?

I don’t know the Janacek, but this was delivered in a similar style to the Tchaik, with plenty of emotional intensity. I'll definitely try to get to know this better. Ending rather had the edge taken off it by extraneous noise at the back of the church, sadly.

Lots of options, but (imo) you could do a lot worse than listen to Firkusny in this repertoire.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/DG/E4497642

I have a single CD, which has the Overgrown path, In the mists, Variations, and Sonata.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, 2016

1) Klangforum Wien/Beat FURRER; Sunday 20/11/16

Eva REITER: Noch sind wir ein wort ...
Reinhard FUCHS: Mania
Beat FURRER: Intorno al Bianco
Rebecca SAUNDERS: Skin

My first visit to this year's Festival - all the works new to me, and a perfect blend of names I know well (Saunders and Furrer), one which I'd heard before but whose work I'm not familiar with (Reiter), and a composer entirely unknown to me before (Fuchs).

After some shuffling around of the advertised programme order (on the "We're about to play the piece you thought you'd just heard" principle) the first piece was the Reiter; a quarter-hour piece in which the twenty strong ensemble were all involved - none of them playing their usual instruments, instead performing on cardboard tubes of different sizes (blowing/singing into, scraping/tapping) - producing an agreeably varied composition that held attention with wit and invention throughout.

Fuch's piece was more "conventional" (orthodox instruments, more standard notation, no electronics, no improvisation) - and whilst I remember that I quite enjoyed it as it was being played, I can't remember any specific details about it as I write now, other than it was a swift and vigorous piece, I was possibly trying to match the composer's Programme Note about the piece to the sounds that I heard - and couldn't find any of the stated connections with what I heard and what I know of David Lynch's work.

Ironically, I might have been able to make a connection between Lynch's obsessive focussing on repeated/static images and the Music of Furrer's Intorno al Bianco ("around the white"), for Clarinet and String Quartet, in which, for all the hectic rhythmic activity of the first quarter-hour, harmonic motion was very slow. I have very mixed feelings about Furrer's Music - at its best, it is powerful, convincing, and intensely moving. But there is quite a lot of work that sounds to me as if the principal idea is the playing out of a system or logorithm - this need not be a criticism; some Music that is "system-based" can also be "powerful, convincing, and intensely moving" in its own terms. But not (for me) this piece, where the sounds didn't capture my interest - it might have done, had this first quarter-hour continued more obsessively, so that the "this has gone on long enough" threshold had been exceeded so much that it became irrelevant. Instead, the composer decided to have a "contrasting" section - leaving the first part undefined, and creating a rather "academic" binary structure that I thought went on for far too long.

The best was saved until last, when the rather wonderful Juliet Fraser joined the ensemble for the UK premiere of Saunder's Skin. Saunders is one of my favourite composers (and not just "living today") - to make a list of the sounds that the piece uses might look on paper like the same old Saunders "vocabulary" - rumbling Bass Drum taps, wah-wah electric guitar, delicate chords contrasting with sharp attacked dissonances; the slow accumulation to a massive climax ... only Musical Boxes weren't there! BUT, the grammar that the composer forges from this seemingly limited vocabulary is so flexible that everything here sounded freshly-minted. Above all is the change of tone/mood here - never has Saunders' Music been so downright disturbing: gone are the "magic garden" enchantments of, say, Chroma - the dream has become nightmarish, the magic darkened. Powerful, powerful stuff that drew the enthusiastic appreciation of the superb performers who gave the work their total commitment and dedication. A very special event.