What was your last concert?

[ostuni]

Some nicely varied musicking on the past 3 Saturdays. A fortnight ago it was the period-instrument Corelli Orchestra & the St Cecilia Singers in Gloucester Cathedral: Bach Magnificat & Brandenburg 4, Vivaldi Dixit Dominus. Ashley Grote's last concert as conductor of this (excellent) choir. It's a glorious building, of course, but the acoustic is a bit much for all those semiquavers...

The acoustic was very different a week ago: Cheltenham Jazz Festival's Big Top, for Marcus Miller and his band (including the stunning young sax player Alex Han). Miller is a legend - wonderful show.

And then last night, Flying Dutchman at the ENO. Some wonderful moments in the production (the arrival of the Dutchman's ship), and some dubious ones (Senta's gang-rape). Clive Bayley (Daland) and Stewart Spencer (Erik) were as good as everybody said they were - I was a lot more impressed with James Cresswell's Dutchman than some of the critics (even if he did look disconcertingly like Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen). The chorus were absolutely superb.

An unexpected bonus in the afternoon: the LSO were rehearsing for their outdoor concert in Trafalgar Square: Stravinsky with Gergiev. I caught most of the second half of the Rite (Nice to hear it done slickly & professionally, after having played it myself in a less-than-confident workshop evening 10 days previously).

[DublinJimbo]

Back to the National Concert Hall for the second-last in the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland season.

An all-French programme tonight:
Debussy: Prélude Á l'Aprés-midi d'un faune
Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos (with husband-and-wife team Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Andrea Nemecz)
Debussy: Jeux
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

Guest conductor was Pascal Rophé.

Another hugely enjoyable concert. The orchestra obviously get on well with tonight's conductor, and played out of their socks for him. The Poulenc was a real hit (what joyous, fun music it is!) and left us with smiles on our faces (we earned a delightful encore in the shape of Little Husband, Little Wife from Bizet's Jeux d'enfants for piano four hands). The Ravel was a triumph, and brought the (rather short) concert to a triumphant close.

I'm afraid that Jeux still remains a hard nut to crack for me. I'd hoped that a live performance might win me over, but that didn't happen, despite some moments of glorious orchestral writing and playing.

[bluestateprommer]

Just came from a concert by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, with Jeffrey Kahane directing from the keyboard in 3 works and from the podium in one:

C.P.E. Bach: Sinfonia in Eb (JK directing from fortepiano)
J.S. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in d, BWV 1052 (keyboard = piano)
Respighi: Gli Uccelli

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25

One nice twist in the Bach was that Kahane led from the piano with the score on his iPad, and controlled the "page" turns with a foot pedal. he's done this before, such as in NYC a while back:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/arts/music/jeffrey-kahane-conducts-new-york-philharmonic-using-ipad.html

Good concert, with a rather lopsidedly long 1st half; my 1st time hearing this orchestra live.

[Don Petter]

The Wu String Quartet: Mendelssohn Op.80, Ligeti Quartet No.1, Schubert D804.

An interesting sandwich.

[amateur51]

Attendance was disappointingly small, but we made up for our numbers by the volume of our enthusiastic response.

I love it when that happens.

I was at a performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It at Shakespeare's Globe yesterday, part of the international festival of Shakespeare's plays. The performance was in Georgian, which has a beautiful script, and there was an electric screen to tell you where you were in the plot. I understood not one word but the sheer joy and inventiveness of the production resulted in a very long applause session to which the cast responded with reciprocal clapping - a great afternoon in the drizzle

[DublinJimbo]

Currently in Germany on a short break cum musical pilgrimage. Arrived in Freiburg last (Tuesday) night and went to the first of three concerts tonight in the wonderful Freiburg Konzerthaus.

Tonight, appropriately enough, it was the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, in what the programme described as "Production II" of Telemann's Tafelmusik.

Ouverture in D major TWV 55:D1 for Oboe, Trumpet, Strings and Basso Continuo
Quartet in D minor TWV 43:d1 for 2 Flutes, Bassoon and BC
Concerto in F major TWV 53: F1 for 3 Violins, Strings and BC
Trio in E minor TWV 42:e2 for Flute, Oboe and BC
Solo in A major TWV 41:A4 for Violin and BC
Conclusion in D major TWV 50:9 for Oboe, Trumpet, Strings and BC

The first half was wonderfully well planned, creating increasing interest as it progressed, with the 3-violin concerto the highlight and its second movement unexpectedly deep and rather profound. The second half didn't quite live up to the promise of the first, though the trio was fine, especially the first movement which strongly suggested an operatic duet.
The concert was much longer than I would have expected, not finishing until almost 10:30 from an 8:00 start. It was noticeable how many of the audience left early, firstly before the final official item and then again before the all-hands-on-deck encore, the announcement of which was unfortunately inaudible.
All in all, an excellent concert (though I won't regret at all if I never again hear a natural trumpet).

[DublinJimbo]

Back to the Freiburg Konzerthaus tonight for a very different programme to last night's.

The SWR Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Michael Gielen in works by Schoenberg, Mahler and Brahms.

Schoenberg: Theme and Variations for Orchestra op. 43b
Mahler: Rückert Lieder (Elizabeth Kulman, mezzo)
Brahms: Symphony No. 3

The Schoenberg was the only item which we were all agreed about (I was accompanied by two members of our Music Group from Dublin). I'm sure I must have at least one recording of this in my collection, but I can't remember ever playing it. It came across tonight really well (after a slightly ragged start), and I'll definitely listen to it again when I get back home.

One of our number was underwhelmed by the Mahler soloist, but the other two (including me) were very impressed and were quite moved by what we heard. All three of us agreed that the orchestral playing was superb.

I didn't much care for Michael Gielen's interpretation of the Brahms. The first three movements were all taken at a single andante pace, ignoring two out of three of Brahms's tempo markings, though the finale was much, much better. Wonderful orchestral playing again, but an uninspiring performance as far as I was concerned. The sight of eight double basses immediately suggested that we were in for big-band Brahms, but it wasn't just that which I found unsatisfying: basically, two-thirds of the symphony came across as turgid, hung fire, and failed to convince me. In fairness, the guy who hated the Mahler soloist loved the Brahms.

[Beef Oven]

Back to the Freiburg Konzerthaus tonight for a very different programme to last night's.

The SWR Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Michael Gielen in works by Schoenberg, Mahler and Brahms.

Schoenberg: Theme and Variations for Orchestra op. 43b
Mahler: Rückert Lieder (Elizabeth Kulman, mezzo)
Brahms: Symphony No. 3

The Schoenberg was the only item which we were all agreed about (I was accompanied by two members of our Music Group from Dublin). I'm sure I must have at least one recording of this in my collection, but I can't remember ever playing it. It came across tonight really well (after a slightly ragged start), and I'll definitely listen to it again when I get back home.

One of our number was underwhelmed by the Mahler soloist, but the other two (including me) were very impressed and were quite moved by what we heard. All three of us agreed that the orchestral was superb.

I didn't much care for Michael Gielen's interpretation of the Brahms. The first three movements were all taken at a single andante pace, ignoring two out of three of Brahms's tempo markings, though the finale was much, much better. Wonderful orchestral playing again, but an uninspiring performance as far as I was concerned. The sight of eight double basses immediately suggested that we were in for big-band Brahms, but it wasn't just that which I found unsatisfying: basically, two-thirds of the symphony came across as turgid, hung fire, and failed to convince me. In fairness, the guy who hated the Mahler soloist loved the Brahms.

It takes all sorts!

[jayne lee wilson]

Great stuff, DJ - what's the acoustic like, hall shape, size of Auditorium?

[DublinJimbo]

Great stuff, DJ - what's the acoustic like, hall shape, size of Auditorium?

Seating capacity is 1750. The acoustics are wonderful, as we were able to judge from two successive nights with very different forces. The upper side walls are lined with adjustable acoustic baffles.

It's basically a rectangular box, but with a steeply raked upper-level tier on either side which extends for about two-thirds of the length, and a full -width balcony at a slightly higher level again. Walls and floor are predominantly covered in dark timber. Uniquely, the main seating area is apparently infinitely variable, since each night featured a different configuration — for the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra the seating ran uninterrupted from side to side, with the first ten or so rows on the flat and the remainder raked; for the full orchestra only four rows were on the flat and a centre aisle was included.

[Dave2002]

La Cenerentola, Glyndebourne. Very good, and the music fun, but the stars were the orchestra, the conductor James Gaffingham, and Elizabeth DeShong - she was absolutely superb.

[DublinJimbo]

The last of three concerts on this Rhine Valley trip. This time we were in Baden-Baden, at the Festspielhaus for the third offering in the Pfingstfestspiele (Whit Festival).

Bach: Mass in B minor
Hana Blazikova, Johannette Zomer (sopranos); Robin Blaze (counter-tenor); Gerd Türk (tenor); Peter Kooij (bass)
Bach Collegium Japan / Masaaki Suzuki

A tremendous performance. The sixteen singers of the Bach Collegium made a wonderful noise, from hushed devotional (Et incarnatus and Crucifixus) to full-throated jubilation (Et resurrexit, Sanctus, Osanna). The soloists were all good, with Gerd Türk's Bendictus especially affecting. The instrumental part of the Collegium were superb throughout (I was particularly taken by the flutes and the 'Bach trumpets' made up for the many sins of the natural trumpet of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra on Wednesday). Masaaki Suzuki himself displayed a wonderful grasp of this great score and directed his forces with unfailing aplomb.

It's been a wonderful trip, and the musical content has been nicely varied and of a uniformly high standard. With gun to head, I'd have to give the honours to tonight's experience as the pick of the bunch, with Bach triumphant. A quote in the programme from Mauricio Kagel sums things up nicely: "It may be that not all musicians believe in God, but they all believe in Bach."

[aeolium]

At the weekend I enjoyed two concerts at the Carducci Festival at Highnam in Gloucestershire. Fine performances in a beautiful setting and warm late spring weather. I particularly liked the playing of the Brahms works, and the Carduccis and Roderick Williams in Barber's Dover Beach (a pity that the combination of string quartet and voice is so much rarer than piano and voice).

[BBMmk2]

Last Saturday, my school (where I work), had held a magnificent concert that was played by Emma Johnson(clarinet), Andrew Lloyd Webber(cello), and John lill(piano).

The main works were LvB's and Brahms Clarinet Trios. These were marvelously executed performances from the above artists. Lots of black notes there, talking of which, with the artists' solo spots, John Lill gave a stonker of performance of Prok's Toccata, Op.7. It was given a standing ovation!

Other ones were Weber's Grand Duo Concertante. This was a real duo! The battle between the clarinetist(EJ) and pianist(JL) was formidable!

Other music was with AL on cello, who performed a coup[le of his father's compostions to grerat aplomb. WLW's music should be heard nmore often, imo.

They finished of with the Brahm's Clarinet Trio. A very well executred performance here. All musicians molding into one! Great communication between these fine players throughpout the evening!

[amateur51]

Last Saturday, my school (where I work), had held a magnificent concert that was played by Emma Johnson(clarinet), Andrew Lloyd Webber(cello), and John lill(piano).

More likely to have been his cello-playing brother Julian, BBM?