What was your last concert?

[teamsaint]

RFH, 23 Sept, LPO - Jurowski: Mahler 7

Sensational - kaleidoscopic, phantasmagoric, sweeping and swirling, glamorous and glittering.

I liked it!

Pleased to see that your alliteration recovered over the course of that sentence, Cals.

VJ and the LPO are a combo right at the top of their game, ATM.

Glad you enjoyed it so much.

I wonder how much less of VJ we will be seeing here as he spends more time abroad.

[greenilex]

The mention of Hungarian folk music above reminds me of a happy couple of weeks in Transylvania - no jokes now - where the village bands run a good summer business with folk dance and music students from all over Eastern Europe.

Viola da bratsch particularly impressed me.

[gurnemanz]

I remember years ago seeing an outdoor folk song and dance show on the shores of Lake Balaton including cimbalom and clarinet as well as fiddle. We recently saw the excellent Musikás group at the Wilts Music Centre.

[Nick Armstrong]

VJ and the LPO are a combo right at the top of their game, ATM.

Glad you enjoyed it so much.

I wonder how much less of VJ we will be seeing here as he spends more time abroad.

True although his family home was already in Berlin I gather, so the new appointment may not lead to a sea change in his activities.

Yes, it was a great concert - there's just something so right about the colours and blend and pulse which he conjures from the orchestra, it put me in mind of the aural equivalent of one of those Klimt murals, burnished colours and endless detail cohering to make the whole.

LPO quite the equal of the LSO whose season-launcher I was at last week, equally well-played though a different sound and texture for Bruckner. Both orchestras have staggering principal trumpeters!

[Nick Armstrong]

there's just something so right about the colours and blend and pulse which he conjures from the orchestra, it put me in mind of the aural equivalent of one of those Klimt murals, burnished colours and endless detail cohering to make the whole.

I'm much more on the Telegraph / Arts Desk side than on the Guardian:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/mahlers-seventh-lpo-jurowski-royal-festival-hall-review/

http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/lpo-jurowski-royal-festival-hall-2

http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...al-hall-london

[Petrushka]

True although his family home was already in Berlin I gather, so the new appointment may not lead to a sea change in his activities.

Yes, it was a great concert - there's just something so right about the colours and blend and pulse which he conjures from the orchestra, it put me in mind of the aural equivalent of one of those Klimt murals, burnished colours and endless detail cohering to make the whole.

LPO quite the equal of the LSO whose season-launcher I was at last week, equally well-played though a different sound and texture for Bruckner. Both orchestras have staggering principal trumpeters!

Were the LPO microphones in place for a future CD issue, Caliban?

[Nick Armstrong]

Were the LPO microphones in place for a future CD issue, Caliban?

No - to quote David Nice in the Arts Desk review linked above, "No microphones were present, which means this won’t be a candidate for the LPO Live label; maybe the ever-questing Jurowski just wants to give it a bit more time, but it sounded fairly perfect as it was."

[teamsaint]

No - to quote David Nice in the Arts Desk review linked above, "No microphones were present, which means this won’t be a candidate for the LPO Live label; maybe the ever-questing Jurowski just wants to give it a bit more time, but it sounded fairly perfect as it was."

And clearly no iphone sourced bootleg on the " Rumpole Records" label in the offing......:

[Pianorak]

Mitsuko Uchida at Reading Concert Hall last night:

MOZART Rondo in A minor K.511 and SCHUBERT Impromptus D.899 and D.935, plus one Scarlatti sonata as encore.

Listening to the Schubert I wondered if a Steinway Concert Grand is the right instrument for the Impromptus. A different sound-world altogether, but I think I prefer Peter Katin's Schubert recording on the Clementi square piano of 1832.

[zola]

Mitsuko Uchida at Reading Concert Hall last night:

MOZART Rondo in A minor K.511 and SCHUBERT Impromptus D.899 and D.935, plus one Scarlatti sonata as encore.

Listening to the Schubert I wondered if a Steinway Concert Grand is the right instrument for the Impromptus. A different sound-world altogether, but I think I prefer Peter Katin's Schubert recording on the Clementi square piano of 1832.

I was also at the concert and was not that disconcerted by the Steinway sound. Reading Concert Hall is not exactly cavernous but might just be getting on the large side for a fortepiano and certainly for a square such as the Clementi.

[Pianorak]

I agree, a Clementi square piano would have been quite unsuitable for Reading Concert Hall.

[gurnemanz]

We had earmarked that Uchida concert but my wife was busy and we never made it. I did make it on Wednesday on my own to a local Lunchtime Concert in Corsham. About 20 of us were treated to elegant and very accomplished performances of a couple of Schubert Impromptus and the Liszt B minor from a very talented young pianist, Nafis Umerkulova.

A rare rock gig for us. We've stuck with Richard Thompson over the decades (since Fairport days). He is one of this country's greatest instrumental virtuosos and a fine singer-songwriter. He was in superb form at the Festival Hall on Saturday.

PS He's on Later with Jules tonight.

[teamsaint]

We had earmarked that Uchida concert but my wife was busy and we never made it. I did make it on Wednesday on my own to a local Lunchtime Concert in Corsham. About 20 of us were treated to elegant and very accomplished performances of a couple of Schubert Impromptus and the Liszt B minor from a very talented young pianist, Nafis Umerkulova.

A rare rock gig for us. We've stuck with Richard Thompson over the decades (since Fairport days). He is one of this country's greatest instrumental virtuosos and a fine singer-songwriter. He was in superb form at the Festival Hall on Saturday.

PS He's on Later with Jules tonight.

you have some interesting stuff going on up there in the North of the county , Gurney.

I saw Richard Thompson for the first time a few years ago at Wickham. A spellbinding solo performance, from a superb guitarist, and wonderful songwriter, as you say. I would unhesitatingly recommend his concerts, even to non fans. Good to hear he was on form at the RFH.

Little known fact. Vincent Black Lightning 1952 is the most requested song on PSB radio in America. Apparently.

[teamsaint]

An interesting looking 2015/16 season at the Anvil , Basingstoke was launched ( or kicked off) last night with this entertaining looking programme.
• Philharmonia Orchestra
• Daniil Trifonov (piano)
• Rafael Payare (conductor)
1. Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture - Pyotr Tchaikovsky
2. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No 4 in G minor Op 40 - Sergey Rachmaninov
3. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op 43 - Sergey Rachmaninov
4. Pictures at an Exhibition - Modest Mussorgsky, arranged by Maurice Ravel

Some interesting music on offer, and two rising young stars with big reputations, so it looked well worth a trip out to see if they live up to their billing.Basingstoke was at its early autumn best , to help put the near full house in good spirits for the evening.

The Tchaikovsky gave us a perfect first opportunity to see Rafael Payare in action .He has a intriguing style, switching rapidly between spells of athletic movement around the podium, frequently crouched low, and contrasting spells of more traditional style, in a way that demands the orchestras attention. He is by no means afraid to be demonstrative, and it’s an all action approach to the art. With his profile and youth,he looks a certainty to become a favourite with the media in this country. You can just imagine Radio 3 gushing endlessly !!
The Tchaikovsky was excellent, not easy to compare favourably with so many other performances, but the Philharmonia made a terrific noise at the climaxes, and it provided a fine start to the evening.

To Trifonov.The big build up he has had on this board had given me high expectations. Rach 4 needs a good performance to take the audience with it, I would think, and true to his reputation, Trif delivered. I was sitting in a front row Stalkers seat, (TM Caliban) about 2 to 3 yards from him, and it was a sensational experience to be that close . I don’t think he could have put more into the performance. Huge climaxes, and a carefully considered slow movement. Much of the time he hunches over the keyboard, a wide eyed stare fixed on his hands, as if they might escape if he doesn’t keep a close watch on them. This was a really physical performance, and he was visibly perspiring early on. An object lesson in commitment, and he made a great case for the piece.
If anything the Paganini Fantasy after the interval was even better. There is plenty of scope for thoughtful interplay with the orchestra, and every opportunity was taken. The inverted 18th variation was just as you might wish it, absolutely sumptuous, and in general he mixed delicacy with power quite beautifully. Some fine refined playing form the orchestra in this, who incidentally had a guest leader for the evening I think. Trifonov got a huge and well deserved response from the audience, and left us in unassuming style. He is simply class.

A very full evening of music( it ran to around 2 hours) was concluded with the Mussorgksy. I suppose one of the things you want from a performance is to know and understand more about it than you did beforehand.No problems here, this was a no holds barred effort, with wonderful evocations of the scenes, and somehow blended nicely into a whole. Payare managed everything in hands on fashion, and the orchestra responded in truly magnificent fashion. There were some particularly snarly and threatening cattle, but the whole thing dripped with atmosphere, and the Great Gate was a spectacular demonstration of power , with Payare and the orchestra throwing everything at it.
A big audience was absolutely delighted with the evening, and will surely be back more more of what looks an excellent Anvil season ahead.


Here's Rafa:

[Nick Armstrong]

his hands, as if they might escape if he doesn’t keep a close watch on them.

Yes - I got a similar impression in May, as if his hands are in some way separate entities, by which he is constantly surprised and delighted, and as you say which have to be kept an eye on!

Great review teams of a proper concert programme which received some proper good playing, it seems. Plus the autumnal charms of Basingstoke - what more could you want?!