What was your last concert?

[Russ_H]

Mixed feelings to report.

I went to the Sage, Gateshead for a performance of Bruckner's eighth. The conductor was
meant to be Andris Nelsons, but he was not well, so his place was taken at short notice by
Simone Young. The first half was a talk delivered by Stephen Johnson, with musical excerpts
provide by the CBSO. Simone takes an interest in the unadulterated versions of Bruckner's
works, so the original 1887 version was performed.

It was magnificent.

Why my mixed feelings? I doubt if the audience numbered two hundred. A shockingly low
turnout. Embarrassingly low. Perhaps the weather did not help, as there had been snow,
which had caused transport problems. It must be dispiriting for the players in such
circumstances.

[Old Grumpy]

Mixed feelings to report.

I went to the Sage, Gateshead for a performance of Bruckner's eighth. The conductor was
meant to be Andris Nelsons, but he was not well, so his place was taken at short notice by
Simone Young. The first half was a talk delivered by Stephen Johnson, with musical excerpts
provide by the CBSO. Simone takes an interest in the unadulterated versions of Bruckner's
works, so the original 1887 version was performed.

It was magnificent.

Why my mixed feelings? I doubt if the audience numbered two hundred. A shockingly low
turnout. Embarrassingly low. Perhaps the weather did not help, as there had been snow,
which had caused transport problems. It must be dispiriting for the players in such
circumstances.

I think the weather most certainly would have had something to do with it - roads in Newcastle and Gateshead and surrounding area were effectively gridlocked for several hours during the early evening!



OG

[LeMartinPecheur]

Gould Piano Trio in Truro last night. The highlight was undoubtedly Macmillan's '14 Short Pieces' for pf trio, a completely misleading title as it plays continuously, is anything but insignificant and is devastating in impact. Does anyone else know it?

There's a recording by the Goulds on Wigmore Live but I suspect that it 's a work you need to experience live. The Goulds' physical, visual presentation of it was a significant part of the effect.

[clive heath]

Thursday night, 6/12/12, Festival Hall, Philharmonia and a name new to this forum, David Afkham, conducting Coriolan, Brahms 3 and, with Arabella Steinbacher, the Beethoven Violin. I was particularly impressed by the fourth movement of the Brahms with terrific rhythmic tension contrasting with the beautifully flowing three against four of the main theme. In the Beethoven he reduced the accompaniment to chamber music proportions at times and the soloist seemed to be integated into the texture as though having stepped up from the second desk, in spite of the dazzling gown, and if this reads like a diss, not so. The whole feel was of a classical, not romantic, composition and in the dry-ish acoustic very rewarding.

p.s. written before this review was found

http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=10679

p.p.s Saturday night, 8/12/12 Festival Hall, Philharmonia, Maazel and Tchaikovsky's 6th which contains the other "5 beats in as bar" item to capture the public's attention, the third movement. Prokoviev's 2nd violin concerto and excerpts from the "Romeo and Juliet" ballet score completed the bill. I can do no better than refer you to

http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=10685

with which I wholeheartedly concur and note that some of Maazel's recent outings with this orchestra especially in Mahler have not been well received.

[AjAjAjH]

Bolton Parish Church. Sunday 9th December.

Scratch 'Messiah' part 1 plus Halleluiah Chorus.
Ad Hoc choir of Manchester clergy and others.
4 local soloists.
Bolton Chamber Orchestra conducted by the Archdeacon of Rochdale. (She is their regular conductor.)

We had 2 hours rehearsal and it was great fun.

'His yoke is easy' it certainly was not!!!!!!

[gradus]

Meant to mention it before; Belcea Quartet's final Beethoven Quartet series performance at Snape. Sadly a half-filled recital room but heartfelt performances of op.18/3, op.74 and op.130.
I suspect inadequate marketing efforts account for empty seats.

[Ferretfancy]

A revelatory event at the Barbican this evening, when Marc Minkowski directed the BBC SO, BBC Singers and soloists in a semi-staged performance of Grieg's complete incidental music to Ibsen's Peer Gynt. The original verse play is of course very long, and always seems to be very difficult to stage successfully.
The solution tonight was to have a narrator and actors using English for the spoken roles, and the vocal and choral numbers sung in Norwegian with surtitles.

All the actors were drawn from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Patrick Walshe McBride is in his last year at the school, and was an irrepressible Peer Gynt, strongly supported by his student colleagues.

The singers were Anne Hallenberg as Anitra, Miah Persson as Solveig and Johannes Weisser as Peer Gynt, all excellent.

The overriding impression was that Grieg's music is far more dramatically effective in this context. All the familiar music from the suites is there, but there is much more, some of it very forward looking, and the BBC SO were in top form.

Judge for yourself if you wish, as the concert is being broadcast on Sunday 23rd on R3 with the usual option on iPlayer.

[gurnemanz]

Meant to mention it before; Belcea Quartet's final Beethoven Quartet series performance at Snape. Sadly a half-filled recital room but heartfelt performances of op.18/3, op.74 and op.130.
I suspect inadequate marketing efforts account for empty seats.

I would have been tempted to come along but too far away. Full house at Wigmore last Saturday for Belcea in Haydn, Smetana and Shostakovich Quintet + Katya Apekisheva.

[David-G]

(Re Peer Gynt.) Thanks Ff, I shall look forward to this. I often feel that "incidental music" works much better in a dramatic context. I have seen Miah Persson a couple of times, she has always been delightful. I was at a very different event at the Festival Hall this evening, I wrote about it in the Wagner thread.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

I was also there, Ff, in a reviewing capacity. Like you, I thought it was a fabulous performance and I'm keen to see how it comes across the airwaves on R3. I suspect balance issues (I found the actors over-miked) will be ironed out by the BBC engineers.

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=835:peer-gynt-barbican-15th-december-2012-&catid=10:concert-and-recital-reviews&Itemid=16

[Ferretfancy]

I was also there, Ff, in a reviewing capacity. Like you, I thought it was a fabulous performance and I'm keen to see how it comes across the airwaves on R3. I suspect balance issues (I found the actors over-miked) will be ironed out by the BBC engineers.

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index...iews&Itemid=16

I agree that the sound reinforcement was too loud, although it did settle down after a while. However as the performers wore face mikes I'm sure that can be adjusted for the balance. One of the historical oddities at the Barbican is the lack of an organ, which means that the requirement in performances has to met by an electronic instrument, which is a great pity. Blame the LSO management for their failure to give sensible input at the time when the orchestra were offered a residency during the design stage of the hall.

[clive heath]

Somewhat belatedly!, Maazel again at the Festival Hall with the Philharmonia, 13/12/12, this time the 2nd Prokoviev Concerto is that of the Piano with Daniil Trifanov seemingly throwing the notes back into the piano from which they are trying to escape as though being exorcised. A performance where the pianist gave the impression that he wasn't quite in control (he was) and none the worse for that. Maazel kept the accompaniment under tight control as though to emphasize the manic nature of the piano writing. "The Firebird" was also under tight control and perhaps lost a little magic but this reading was an interesting variation where I found myself picturing how the dancers might be responding to the precise rhythms and texture with their arabesques and elisions. Rachmaninov's "The Rock" and Scriabin's "Poem of Ecstasy" completed the programme, the latter showing how the Maazel obsession with detail but can lead to an emotional outcome, you get caught up in the detail and become involved that way rather than being seduced by overt romanticism via rubato and fancy phrasing. That's not to say there was no rubato but what there was was subtle.

[David-G]

I braved the rain to attend a festive "Christmas Oratorio" (parts 1, 2, 3 and 6) at Smith Square. The OAE were playing, with the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge. Soloists were Katherine Watson, Iestyn Davies, James Gilchrist, and the wonderful Matthew Brook who we heard in the OAE Messiah at the Festival Hall last week. The conductor was Stephen Layton. The whole thing was very fine, and the soloists excellent. Some splendid trumpet playing from David Blackadder and colleagues, and a beautiful flute obbligato from Lisa Beznosiuk. Apparently it will be recorded in the New Year.

[Thropplenoggin]

I braved the rain to attend a festive "Christmas Oratorio" (parts 1, 2, 3 and 6) at Smith Square. The OAE were playing, with the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge. Soloists were Katherine Watson, Iestyn Davies, James Gilchrist, and the wonderful Matthew Brook who we heard in the OAE Messiah at the Festival Hall last week. The conductor was Stephen Layton. The whole thing was very fine, and the soloists excellent. Some splendid trumpet playing from David Blackadder and colleagues, and a beautiful flute obbligato from Lisa Beznosiuk. Apparently it will be recorded in the New Year.

Sounds excellent - lucky you!

[Nick Armstrong]

Somewhat belatedly!, Maazel again at the Festival Hall with the Philharmonia, 14/12/12, this time the 2nd Prokoviev Concerto is that of the Piano with Daniil Trifanov seemingly throwing the notes back into the piano from which they are trying to escape as though being exorcised. A performance where the pianist gave the impression that he wasn't quite in control (he was) and none the worse for that. Maazel kept the accompaniment under tight control as though to emphasize the manic nature of the piano writing. "The Firebird" was also under tight control and perhaps lost a little magic but this reading was an interesting variation where I found myself picturing how the dancers might be responding to the precise rhythms and texture with their arabesques and elisions. Rachmaninov's "The Rock" and Scriabin's "Poem of Ecstasy" completed the programme, the latter showing how the Maazel obsession with detail but can lead to an emotional outcome, you get caught up in the detail and become involved that way rather than being seduced by overt romanticism via rubato and fancy phrasing. That's not to say there was no rubato but what there was was subtle.

I enjoyed that review, clive! And I'm envious of you having seen and heard Trifonov live - though, personally, it wouldn't have been in that piece. I can't wait to hear him in Rachmaninov.

Puzzled, though - because equally belatedly, I've been meaning to post about the last concert I attended - also at the RFH on 14/12/12... but it wasn't Maazel and the Philharmonia! It was this one:

14 December 2012 7:30pm

Brahms Tragic Overture
Wagner (arr. Henze) Wesendonck Lieder
Bruckner Symphony No. 1 (1877 Linz edition)

LPO
Vladimir Jurowski conductor
Anna Larsson contralto

(Just looked them up - yours was the previous evening I think!)

I wasn't too impressed with the timbre of Ms Larsson's voice, a very chesty mezzo - I tuned out and I must confess, fell asleep (the orchestra was surprisingly small, almost a chamber ensemble). But on the )big) plus side, a cracking, riveting Brahms 'Tragic' and a fascinating Bruckner symphony - not one I know, the word 'experimental' kept occurring to me: understandable, AB starting to hew out his symphonic style. But it struck me that had I been told it was the sketches for his 10th, I might not have been surprised - the pared back elements of the Bruckner style seemed almost as consistent with a composer moving on to sparer things after all the rest, rather than before. Absolutely sensational playing from the brass in particular, esp. the trombones. The three of them seemed almost to be in the centre of things - musically and physically - they were just right of centre, the line of basses behind them, trumpets and then timps to their left. I went on a little dramatic fantasy trip as I listened - the trombones were like hell-and-damnation preachers, the rest of the orchestra reacting to their declamations by repeating them in various ways, chattering, jabbering, joining them... Electrifying stuff!