What was your last concert?

[Beef Oven!]

Another visit to the Barbican last night, to hear the Britten Sinfonia and Ian Bostridge with Paul Daniel conducting. After the Britten arrangement of Purcell's Chacony came Britten's Young Apollo, a rather odd extended flourish for piano and strings, with the young Turkish pianist Lara Melda. Next came Tippett's Fantasia concertante on a theme of Corelli.
I've always had a slight problem with this piece. It certainly has some lovely moments, but it does rather remind me of the story of Debussy taking a friend to hear a new work by another composer. After a few moments, Debussy whispered "Let's leave now, he's starting to develop !" For me there's far too mucg contrapuntal working out in the Tippett piece.

After the interval Bostridge gave a fantastic performance of Our Hunting Fathers. I don't think that Britten wrote such a radical piece ever again, it really is harrowing to listen to and Bostridge made it so without flinching.
Finally came the Suite on English Folk Tunes 'A time there Was', the composer's homage to so much tradition and the memory of Percy Grainger, a musician he much admired.
This was not a comfort blanket of a concert, but it was well worth the effort.

I think Lara's British. She was born in London and studied at the Royal College Of Music. Her mum and dad are Turkish.

[Bryn]

Not quite the right thread as it has not happened yet. However, re. tonight's electronic music concert at the Performance Space, City University, I have received an email with the following content:

"Due to unforeseen circumstances outwith our control, we regret to announce that Pamela Z will be unable to perform in tonight's concert.

The programme will instead include 'Bosonica' by Diana Salazar and 'Make it Snappy' by Georgia Rodgers."

[Mahler's3rd]

Mahler's 7th Philharmonia/Gustavo Dudamel @ The Royal Festival Hall on Thursday Night & Dvorak's 5th & 7th Last Night Along With Bruch's Violin Concerto (Chloe Hanslip), Czech National Symphony Orchestra/Libor Pesek at Bristol's Colston Hall Last Night

[amateur51]

Mahler's 7th Philharmonia/Gustavo Dudamel @ The Royal Festival Hall on Thursday Night & Dvorak's 5th & 7th Last Night Along With Bruch's Violin Concerto (Chloe Hanslip), Czech National Symphony Orchestra/Libor Pesek at Bristol's Colston Hall Last Night

Wow what a time you're having Mahler's3rd

[Mahler's3rd]

Hello Amateur 51, yes it was a wonderful 24 hours thanks, managed to pop into Lords on Thursday and pick up a signed copy of Andrew Strauss's new book as well while I was in London. Mahler's 7th was superb, I recorded it live from R3 on my Sky Box so look forward to playing it back next week when I'm on night's. Last night also excellent, first time I'd seen Chloe Hanslip live who was teriffic, the Czech Orchestra also on fine form, forgot what a lovely work Dvorak's 5th is. As you probaly know it rarely gets an airing live, so full marks to Libor Pesek for programming Dvorak's 5th & 7th for a change

[Rolmill]

...first time I'd seen Chloe Hanslip live who was teriffic...

Yes, I saw Chloe Hanslip for the first time last weekend, playing the Mendelssohn concerto in Tunbridge Wells, and was impressed - by turns brilliant, intense and delicate.

[Richard Tarleton]

Yes, I saw Chloe Hanslip

So did I - last night in Cardiff, playing the Bruch No 1. She and her 1737 Guarneri del Jesu make a fine team. Terrific indeed - and tiny! Without her heels, signing CDs in the interval, tinier still!

brilliant, intense and delicate

and great rapport with orchestra and conductor, too.

The orchestra was the Czech National SO, under Libor Pešek. This orchestra is only 20 years old, unlike the Czech Phil (1896) or the Prague SO (1934) that we had in Cardiff last season. And very good they were too - Schubert 8 and Dvorak 7. Oh, and the overture to Die Fledermaus before the Dvorak after the interval. It was originally going to be Tales from the Vienna Woods. Perhaps this was to leave space for the encore - which they played without too many curtain calls, Maestro Pešek not so quick on his feet these days - a piece of Piazzola. I didn't hear what it was called, he speaks very quietly, but it featured a solo trumpet part played by the first trumpet who also turns out to be the founder of the orchestra - Jan Hasenöhrl - and very good he was too, clearly held in great affection by the band.

My only reservation was the difficulty (IMV) of starting a concert with the Unfinished. It requires rapt attention from the audience, and the feedback loop between audience and orchestra was simply not in place. Too much coughing, for one thing. I've only heard it start a concert once before, when it worked. Also clapping started the moment it was over, which showed some people hadn't been listening.

[Dave2002]

Two recent concerts.

Last Saturday the Heath quartet:

Haydn G Major Quartet Op 77 No 1
Bartók Quartet no 2
Mendelssohn A minor quartet No 2, Op 13

A very good concert, though perhaps the Haydn was played with the most conviction. Just about perfect intonation throughout, but speeds maybe a bit on the fast side. I still find the outer movements of the Bartók a bit hard to take. The Mendelssohn sounds a bit like "the only quartet by Beethoven you'll ever need"!

Last night (Tuesday) a recital by Martino Tirimo including Chopin Preludes and Tchaikovsky Nutcracker (arranged by Pletnev). I didn't really want to hear any of this music, but I did want to hear Tirimo. Some of his Chopin playing is lovely - though at times he slowed up too much, and once or twice he cut the music off at the end, rather than let the sound die away. I enjoy the Nutcracker in its orchestral versions. I really could not see any point in listening to transcriptions, and for me at any rate, last night's performances confirmed this.

I have some CDs with Tirimo playing Mozart and Debussy. I would much prefer to have heard him play music by those composers, or perhaps Haydn and Schubert. I would listen to him playing Chopin again, though I think a whole evening of Chopin is too much. Chopin is, for me, a composer to enjoy in small doses. That he managed to keep the attention of the audience through all 24 of the Preludes was an achievement.

[Sir Velo]

The Mendelssohn sounds a bit like "the only quartet by Beethoven you'll ever need"!

[Bryn]

Takemitsu and Ligeti (BBCSSO, Volkov) at RFH tonight. Enjoyed the performances but not the whispering sociopaths and idiot who failed to heed the announcements requesting the switching off of mobile phones (both 'cases' just behind me).

[Beef Oven!]

Takemitsu and Ligeti (BBCSSO, Volkov) at RFH tonight. Enjoyed the performances but not the whispering sociopaths and idiot who failed to heed the announcements requesting the switching off of mobile phones (both 'cases' just behind me).

I had a guy with his smartphone on, sitting next to me who kept getting emails and messages. His phone was on silent, but it lit up each time! Then, in the quietest of all passages in the Ligeti violin concerto, his phone bleeped. To be honest, it didn't really bother me. I wonder if it was the same guy you're thinking of.

[teamsaint]

the woman next to me kept re arranging her hair during the Takemitsu.

I moved to a better part of town.
Record levels of coughing. Winter , I suppose.

Great evening though, Ligeti should be compulsory in school.

[Bryn]

No, this one was a full on ring. The guy had returned from the interval at the last minute and simply did not bother to heed the crystal clear announcements. He was, however, clearly very embarrassed when the damned thing started ringing. The whisperers did not return for the violin concerto.

[teamsaint]

Actually, I had some whisperers near me in the first half.

Perhaps they were the £4 types !!

( I bet anybody who paid a full price on some of the better seats was mightily pissed off at that offer, never mind the £10 one.....)

[Beef Oven!]

Agreed, the coughing was extraordinary, but dissipated in the second half.

The whisperers weren't the only ones that didn't return for the violin concerto. I suppose a few people took a £4 punt, and felt they'd had enough!

My seat was in the first row, so I wandered off and took a £65 seat, there were plenty available. Teamsaint joined me in the second part, when he'd finished playing with some woman's hair in the back of the stalls.