Originally posted by Caliban
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What was your last concert?
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amateur51
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amateur51
Originally posted by Caliban View Post.... would have been a bummer had "Free on Friday" meant anything else!
Good to read that review! Those Friday gigs are brill, aren't they...
Don't say I didn't warn you, Londoners
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Last Monday at the RFH: Budapest Festival Orchestra/Ivan Fischer.
Dohnanyi: Symphonic Minutes
Beethoven: Piano Concerto 1 (Imogen Cooper)
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
I booked this concert months ago and was very much looking forward to hearing the Bartok (which I have loved for many years) live for the first time, and by the performers whose recording was a BaL recommendation a while ago. I was not disappointed. Even Bartok's finest music can seem episodic in the wrong hands but there was no risk of that here. It was good to see the orchestra really enjoying a piece they must play a great deal.
The Dohnanyi (his orchestration of his Ruralia Hungarica piano suite) was a pleasant, if rather unmemorable, curtain raiser. I think one could call Imogen Cooper's playing of the Beethoven aristocratic, but conveying all the necessary joie de vivre in the finale. She chose the big cadenza with the false endings, and it was nice to see orchestra and conductor playing along, pretending to be taken in.
Plenty of HIPP in the Beethoven: natural horns and trumpets, small timps (though modern technology) played with hard sticks. A novel seating arrangement too: oboes replacing second desk of first fiddles, clarinets replacing first desk of seconds and flute and bassoons in front of the cellos. This last gave a pleasing prominence to the flute in the tuttis. Second fiddles were on the right for the whole concert.
One moment I shall not forget was the tam-tam player failing to put a restraining hand on the stand in the fourth movement of the Bartok, with the result that gong and (rather top-heavy) stand fell right over!
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amateur51
Originally posted by rauschwerk View PostLast Monday at the RFH: Budapest Festival Orchestra/Ivan Fischer.
Dohnanyi: Symphonic Minutes
Beethoven: Piano Concerto 1 (Imogen Cooper)
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
I booked this concert months ago and was very much looking forward to hearing the Bartok (which I have loved for many years) live for the first time, and by the performers whose recording was a BaL recommendation a while ago. I was not disappointed. Even Bartok's finest music can seem episodic in the wrong hands but there was no risk of that here. It was good to see the orchestra really enjoying a piece they must play a great deal.
The Dohnanyi (his orchestration of his Ruralia Hungarica piano suite) was a pleasant, if rather unmemorable, curtain raiser. I think one could call Imogen Cooper's playing of the Beethoven aristocratic, but conveying all the necessary joie de vivre in the finale. She chose the big cadenza with the false endings, and it was nice to see orchestra and conductor playing along, pretending to be taken in.
Plenty of HIPP in the Beethoven: natural horns and trumpets, small timps (though modern technology) played with hard sticks. A novel seating arrangement too: oboes replacing second desk of first fiddles, clarinets replacing first desk of seconds and flute and bassoons in front of the cellos. This last gave a pleasing prominence to the flute in the tuttis. Second fiddles were on the right for the whole concert.
One moment I shall not forget was the tam-tam player failing to put a restraining hand on the stand in the fourth movement of the Bartok, with the result that gong and (rather top-heavy) stand fell right over!
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Mahler's3rd
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A fascinating concert at the Barbican tonight with the BBC SO under Stephane Deneve. In Poulenc's Les Animaux Modeles Suite the actor Stephen Mangan gave us some of the fables of La Fontaine on which the original ballet was based. This was a work first performed during WWII in Paris, and at the first performance Poulenc managed to slip in some sly digs at the occupying German officers seated in the stalls.
After the interval, students from the RAM were superb in a truly magical performance of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges, with very imaginative video projections providing haunting imagery to accompany the tale. The BBC SO were superb throughout the evening.
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amateur51
Originally posted by Ferretfancy View PostA fascinating concert at the Barbican tonight with the BBC SO under Stephane Deneve. In Poulenc's Les Animaux Modeles Suite the actor Stephen Mangan gave us some of the fables of La Fontaine on which the original ballet was based. This was a work first performed during WWII in Paris, and at the first performance Poulenc managed to slip in some sly digs at the occupying German officers seated in the stalls.
After the interval, students from the RAM were superb in a truly magical performance of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges, with very imaginative video projections providing haunting imagery to accompany the tale. The BBC SO were superb throughout the evening.
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Originally posted by amateur51 View PostThat sounds to have been a treat, Ferret - many thanks for your report. Was the hall pretty full?
I encountered a whole bunch of Proms chums last night, they know a interesting concert when they see one!
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amateur51
Originally posted by Ferretfancy View PostAs usual for these Friday evening BBC SO concerts, the stalls were fairly full but upstairs was thinner. These are not wildly expensive concerts by the price standards of other London orchestras, and they have very imaginative programming and generally fine performances. Unfortunately, papers like the Guardian rarely cover them, which is a great pity.
I encountered a whole bunch of Proms chums last night, they know a interesting concert when they see one!
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Curalach
Originally posted by amateur51 View PostHooray! Many thanks for the alert, Curalach
http://http://www.theartsdesk.com/cl...-barbican-hall
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The Rest is Noise season continued at the RFH last night with the LPO and Jurowsky. Last night we heard European works written during the 1930s, Webern's Variations for Orchestra, Berg's Lulu Suite, Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, and Martinu's Concerto for Double String Orchestra, Piano and Timpani.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the hall was only about two thirds full for some splendid playing. The excellent soprano soloist in the Berg was Barbara Hannigan, who I believe has just released a recording of Britten's Les Illuminations. She sidled slowly onto the platform as Lulu, slouching with folded arms against the side wall, which perhaps was a stand in for a lampost, and then ambled forward to sing.
Jurowski was his usual precise self, although I do question his decision to give us all a fifteen minute lecture on the music at the start of the programme. I think it's safe to assume that last night's audience would either be familiar with the works, or at least have done some homework.
After the interval, the Bartok featured the two string orchestras, with five basses each side and an extra desk in each string section making about 70 players with the centrally placed piano and percussion. Jurowski tended to be a bit fast in places, I thought, but all the key moments were superb. The Martinu capped the evening's music making for me. Why is this marvellous piece not heard more often? The piano and timps were played by Catherine Edwards and Simon Carrington, both orchestra principals. The massed string sound was magnificent, and we were lucky to have a bird's eye view from a box, which really adds to the pleasure.
I probably won't be free for more concerts until the Proms begin, this was a fine evening before taking a pause !
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amateur51
Originally posted by Ferretfancy View PostThe Rest is Noise season continued at the RFH last night with the LPO and Jurowsky. Last night we heard European works written during the 1930s, Webern's Variations for Orchestra, Berg's Lulu Suite, Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, and Martinu's Concerto for Double String Orchestra, Piano and Timpani.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the hall was only about two thirds full for some splendid playing. The excellent soprano soloist in the Berg was Barbara Hannigan, who I believe has just released a recording of Britten's Les Illuminations. She sidled slowly onto the platform as Lulu, slouching with folded arms against the side wall, which perhaps was a stand in for a lampost, and then ambled forward to sing.
Jurowski was his usual precise self, although I do question his decision to give us all a fifteen minute lecture on the music at the start of the programme. I think it's safe to assume that last night's audience would either be familiar with the works, or at least have done some homework.
After the interval, the Bartok featured the two string orchestras, with five basses each side and an extra desk in each string section making about 70 players with the centrally placed piano and percussion. Jurowski tended to be a bit fast in places, I thought, but all the key moments were superb. The Martinu capped the evening's music making for me. Why is this marvellous piece not heard more often? The piano and timps were played by Catherine Edwards and Simon Carrington, both orchestra principals. The massed string sound was magnificent, and we were lucky to have a bird's eye view from a box, which really adds to the pleasure.
I probably won't be free for more concerts until the Proms begin, this was a fine evening before taking a pause !
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