What was your last concert?

[Ferretfancy]

Another superb evening at the Barbican with the LSO and Bernard Haitink.The concert opened with Britten's Four Sea Interludes, which, although well played, did not quite come off. I had the feeling that Haitink had made an error of judgement. After all, he has conducted the complete Peter Grimes at Covent Garden, and perhaps he thought that some of the emotional weight in the theatre context should be played down in a concert performance. The result was a very four square and measured reading, particularly in the Sunday Morning interlude, which was very slow and deliberate.

After this disappointment, the concert took wing with a peerless performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17, K453 by Maria Joao Pires. I really haven't heard a better judged performance of this lovely work, her range of tone in the cadenzas was very special, and Haitink and the orchestra were at one with her.

After the interval came a marvellously sprung performance of Beethoven's 7th, which quite rightly got a huge roar of enthusiasm at the end. It was great to hear the trio of the scherzo played as marked, instead of slowing down to a stodgy pace as we so often get in lesser performances. Haitink conducted without a score, and the evening had turned into a triumph after a slightly awkward start.

[amateur51]

Another superb evening at the Barbican with the LSO and Bernard Haitink.The concert opened with Britten's Four Sea Interludes, which, although well played, did not quite come off. I had the feeling that Haitink had made an error of judgement. After all, he has conducted the complete Peter Grimes at Covent Garden, and perhaps he thought that some of the emotional weight in the theatre context should be played down in a concert performance. The result was a very four square and measured reading, particularly in the Sunday Morning interlude, which was very slow and deliberate.

After this disappointment, the concert took wing with a peerless performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17, K453 by Maria Joao Pires. I really haven't heard a better judged performance of this lovely work, her range of tone in the cadenzas was very special, and Haitink and the orchestra were at one with her.

After the interval came a marvellously sprung performance of Beethoven's 7th, which quite rightly got a huge roar of enthusiasm at the end. It was great to hear the trio of the scherzo played as marked, instead of slowing down to a stodgy pace as we so often get in lesser performances. Haitink conducted without a score, and the evening had turned into a triumph after a slightly awkward start.

Great review, Ferret - many thanks. Any sign of LSO Live! mics?

[Ferretfancy]

Great review, Ferret - many thanks. Any sign of LSO Live! mics?

Am

I did look carefully, but didn't see any microphones unfortunately. There was quite a bit of platform re-arranging after the Britten for the concerto, so I think I would have noticed.
Incidentally, I am still awaiting delivery of the Kajanus Sibelius, but I'll keep you posted.

Ferret

[Ferretfancy]

Tonight's RFH concert in the "The Rest is Noise" series was conducted by someone new to me, Mikhail Agrest, as Yannick Nezet-Seguin was ill.We heard a sensitive performance of Ravel's Ma Mere l'Oye in its complete ballet form, an excellent performance of Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto by Leila Josefowicz, and finally The Rite Of Spring.
The Ravel punctuated throughout by some of the worst coughing I have heard for a long time, and the quieter passages of the concerto suffered almost as much. I thought that it would not be possible to interrupt the Rite Of Spring, but there was a shattering bellow from some oaf almost immediately after the start of that famous bassoon solo.
Where do these people come from? If a person feels a cough coming on that they cannot suppress, I do have some sympathy, but this was just complete lack of consideration probably caused by sheer inattention.
As for the Rite, well, it nearly always works in some way, doesn't it? The orchestra played well, but I did feel that the opening was a little confused, and nearly all the faster sections were taken at too rapid a tempo which affected articulation. It was suitably weighty though, and the percussion was spectacular, balanced in the quieter moments by some lovely horn playing. Not the Rite of Rites then, bur enjoyable just the same, and Mikhail Agrest did a good job probably at rather short notice.

[Simon B]

Tonight's RFH concert in the "The Rest is Noise" series was conducted by someone new to me, Mikhail Agrest, as Yannick Nezet-Seguin was ill.

Ferret, if you managed to get anything out of the Ravel, I can only admire your fortitude and capacity for concentration in the face of fearsome odds. For me, it was a write-off as hostilities barely ceased for more than a few seconds prior to the next solipsistic narcissist having a psychosomatic bark. A more liberally cretin-sprinkled audience at the RFH there hasn't been in a long while.

Consequently it seemed that the louder this concert got, the better it was. Much of the Rite could be heard over the din. Not a particularly distinguished interpretation overall, more a series of episodes of impressive orchestral playing. Taking over this programme at short notice (and a Rachmaninov concert at the RFH the night before for good measure) was asking a lot of a relatively unknown conductor, so getting through it at all was an achievement really.

1-0 to the audience...

[Ferretfancy]

Simon B

I did wonder at one point whether the children's event in the RFH before the concert had something to do with it, but they were not coughs produced by childish throats were they ? I love the Ravel, but perhaps it was a mistake to programme such delicate music as a concert opener, matbe the 1812 Overture or Zampa would have suited the sea lions better.
I'm in full agreement with you especially regarding the Rite. There should always be an implacable character in the performance which was missing last night. Just to compound our difficulties, the RFH cafe has withdrawn our favourite beef watercress and horseradish cream on sourdough bread !

[Mahler's3rd]

Yesterday went to Wigmore Hall, for the Kuss Quartet in the morning, Marielle & Katia Labeque in the afternoon (They are Phenomenal) at The QEH and Royal Festival Hall last night for Bridge, Shostakovich & Britten's "Spring Symphony", The Philharmonia/Gardner, smashing day all round, The Shostakovih Piano Concerto No 2 with Kirill Gerstein was superb

[Karafan]

Yesterday. St George's Hall, Bradford.
Polish NRSO under Jacek Kaspszyk.
Bernstein - Candide overture (brilliantly ebullient).
Penderecki - Chaconne (played with haunting beauty and it lingered long in the mind).
Beethoven - 4th piano concerto, with Mikhail Rudy (lacking the last ounce of fantasy and, sadly, remained resolutely earthbound).
Mahler - Symphony No 5 (superbly characterful playing with all sections excelling themselves - brass superb, woodwind rustic and with masses of personality, strings (especially the celli) tremednous.)
Great conducting with tempi finely judged and ensemble playing of great verve and incisive attack.

A wonderful Sunday afternoon.

[clive heath]

A weekend of music in reverse order.

RFH, Sunday Feb 24th, 7.30pm, Philharmonia, Ashkenazy,
Brittens "Quatres Chansons Françaises" .........what a wonderful work this is, as though Britten was as smitten with Ravel's Schéhérezade as many of us are at first hearing and was inspired to pay "hommage" and succeeded brilliantly. Medium size orchestra sparingly used for most of it, shamelessly juicy chords and a bass-clarinet to act as the wind sections sub-woofer. Beautifully sung by Elizabeth Watts.

Mozart Piano Concerto K.467 in C Major. I have this by Schnabel on my site so I know it pretty well. This was a superb performance with sprung rhythms and precise articulation from orchestra, woodwind especially and matched note for note by the soloist Tamara Stefanovitch. The conductor set a sprightly speed for the third movement (Vlad the Impeller, sorry) and with only a modest cadenza ( compared to Schnabel's own) it all seemed over too soon!

Mahler 4th Symphony. I wasn't expecting the xylophone and there was the bass-clarinet again which I hadn't heard as such in the Karajan BPO recording. I'm not sure I'll need another 4th after this. The conductor, who uses his whole body to prompt the phrasing, even throwing in the occasional "who? me?" look, marshalled the sinuous, the trilly and the spiky elements of this kaleidoscopic symphony to marvellous effect.

Same day 3 pm St. Mary's Church, Perivale, Ji Lui, piano
A rising star in the piano world, with a Wigmore Hall coming up in May (26th),Ji gave us the Moonlight Sonata and Suite Bergamasque together with with some Chopin and Liszt. The 8 ft piano in a small space that sits about 80 max meant that the music lacked some extremes of shading but technique, phrasing and drama were all spot-on. He showed some interest in my suggested revision of a bar in the Debussy!

Saturday the day before, Madrigal singing at a one-time home of Eric Gill under the genial guidance of the conductor of the Trowbridge Symphony Orchestra, David Price.

St. Barnabas Church, Ealing. Friday 22nd, Piano Quartets by Mahler and Brahms Op. 60
Chihiro Ono (vln), Maia Broido(vla), Matthew Huber(vco), Robin Green (pno)
An early work by Mahler and a classic from Brahms. The church is large and resonant and like too many pianists ( tho' not Ji, above) the piano was pedalled to within an inch of its life (as it was by the accompanist of Julian Lloyd-Webber in his recital including the Delius Sonata in Ealing Town Hall last year) thus every note from the strings sets off sympathetic vibrations in the undamped strings of the piano resulting in a muddy sound. For a better balance see the recording on my site!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Brittens "Quatres Chansons Françaises" .........what a wonderful work this is, as though Britten was as smitten with Ravel's Schéhérezade as many of us are at first hearing and was inspired to pay "hommage" and succeeded brilliantly. Medium size orchestra sparingly used for most of it, shamelessly juicy chords and a bass-clarinet to act as the wind sections sub-woofer. Beautifully sung by Elizabeth Watts.

Perfect summary of these wonderful songs, clive!

[Flosshilde]

My last concert was Thursday afternoon's by the BBCSSO at the City Halls - broadcast live. I only realised it was on when I looked at the R3 schedule on Wednesday. It was a much-reduced orchestra, with Mozart in the first half (which I would have missed if I'd done my homework properly); the second half was Haydn's Missa in tempore belli, with the BBC Singers. A super performance, I thought, & a great work, although there were only a few places where the 'tempore belli' was evident.

[clive heath]

RFH, Sunday, March 3rd, Andris Nelsons, Philharmonia, Arabella Steinbacher and an outing for Katy Woolley who took First Horn Chair.

Till Eulenspiegel. Katy to the fore in a whipcrack sharp reading and very loud in parts (if I played music this loud at home, next door would probably fall down!) but with plenty of the wit and subtlety that makes this piece so rewarding.

Berg, Violin Concerto. The soloist, who played the Beethoven with a chamber-sized orchestra last year, was up against much larger forces here. Spoilt by studio recordings where the violin is almost certainly miked, I had to recast the work as a Threnody for Orchestra with violin obbligato which was passionate and soulful by turns when audible. The music inhabits a space on the far edges of tonality and rather like the Strauss is a virtuoso piece for the orchestra, if considerably less flamboyant.

"Pastoral" Symphony. I have just uploaded Toscanini's 1937 recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra to my site which has a dramatic "storm" not quite matched by this performance although in nearly every other respect (throughout the symphony), phrasing, rubato, balance ( especially the lack of top-lining), Andris Nelsons' reading was the equal if not superior... and he doesn't half leap about! which got big smiles from the 9-ish year old girl with her family in the audience. Impeccable Horn in the Peasants Dance. Do give the Toscanini a listen, it's one of his good ones.

All in all a very enjoyable afternoon, making me give the Nelsons Brahms cycle next season serious consideration.

Now for the Quiz; the voice admonishing us to turn off this and that and not take photographs, someone famous surely?

[amateur51]

RFH, Sunday, March 3rd, Andris Nelsons, Philharmonia, Arabella Steinbacher and an outing for Katy Woolley who took First Horn Chair.

Till Eulenspiegel. Katy to the fore in a whipcrack sharp reading and very loud in parts (if I played music this loud at home, next door would probably fall down!) but with plenty of the wit and subtlety that makes this piece so rewarding.

Berg, Violin Concerto. The soloist, who played the Beethoven with a chamber-sized orchestra last year, was up against much larger forces here. Spoilt by studio recordings where the violin is almost certainly miked, I had to recast the work as a Threnody for Orchestra with violin obbligato which was passionate and soulful by turns when audible. The music inhabits a space on the far edges of tonality and rather like the Strauss is a virtuoso piece for the orchestra, if considerably less flamboyant.

"Pastoral" Symphony. I have just uploaded Toscanini's 1937 recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra to my site which has a dramatic "storm" not quite matched by this performance although in nearly every other respect (throughout the symphony), phrasing, rubato, balance ( especially the lack of top-lining), Andris Nelsons' reading was the equal if not superior... and he doesn't half leap about! which got big smiles from the 9-ish year old girl with her family in the audience. Impeccable Horn in the Peasants Dance. Do give the Toscanini a listen, it's one of his good ones.

All in all a very enjoyable afternoon, making me give the Nelsons Brahms cycle next season serious consideration.

Now for the Quiz; the voice admonishing us to turn off this and that and not take photographs, someone famous surely?

Thanks for the report, clive - sounds like you had a good time.

I've always reckoned that 'The Voice' is Sir Ian McKellen (aka Serena )

[LeMartinPecheur]

Mine was QEH last Friday, an intriguing assemblage by a small ensemble from the Berlin Philharmonic of music you might have caught in Berlin in the 20s. Cabaret songs by Hollaender, Weill, Eisler u.a., odd movements of Prokofiev's flute sonata, Hindemith's trumpet sonata, and a Schulhof trio, one song from Pierrot Lunaire and much else. It was all linked by a narrator who also recited a number of German poems of the period. Not at all what I was expecting but a very stimulating and enjoyable evening.

Was surprised that a concert so far off the usual axis (or so it seemed to this country boy) was a sell-out. Was it the 'The Rest is Noise' series tie-in and/or the BPO's clout, or is there a bigger market in London for 20s German cabaret-song than I'd suspected?

[Simon B]

Salonen/Philharmonia at the RFH this evening in an almost all (bar La Mer) Lutoslawski concert. Blissfully quiet and attentive (relative to the appallingly disruptive rabble for the LPO a few weeks ago) and surprising sizeable crowd.

The high point was the Lutoslawski cello concerto (soloist Truls Mork complete with music flying off stand at inopportune moments), crisp, alive and expertly marshalled by Salonen, particularly in the semi-improvisational bits.

The Concerto for Orchestra (which can hardly fail, providing the torrent of notes and technical challenges are dashed off with panache!) just fell very slightly short of out and out brilliance. One or two moments were ever so slightly tentative relative to the ideal let-rip performance. Maybe the lion's share of rehearsal went on the less familiar cello concerto? Still pretty thrilling though.