What was your last concert?

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  • bluestateprommer
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 3007

    On my more-or-less annual visit to NYC, recently caught a pretty nice trifecta of concerts:

    1. Sat. night with the New York Philharmonic featured guest violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann and a much-liked conductor on this Forum, Manfred Honeck, in what was mostly a very populist program on the surface, but with a few twists. The big twist was the Violin Concerto No. 1 of Bohuslav Martinu, in its 1st-ever NY Phil performances. Very fine performance indeed of the Martinu, with audience applause after the 1st movement, but the latter struck me as more like "Hey, that's a nice piece!" applause rather than the kind of inter-movement applause that normally drives me around the bend. FPZ said something to Honeck during that applause, with a big smile on his face, so he clearly didn't mind the show of appreciation.

    Dvorak's Carnival Overture started the concert, where Honeck used a mix of gestures quite elegant in style, where others here have commented on a certain resemblance of Honeck to Carlos Kleiber, and some more emphatic, borderline heavy-handed movements. But it always works as an opener. The 2nd half was basically a "Vienna on the Hudson" version of 1/2 of the Vienna New Years's Day Concert, 7 works from the Strauss family, 6 by Johann Jr. and 1 by Josef. One interesting thing about "Die Libelle" was the emphasis on the 2nd-to-last note of each phrase of the 1st theme. In terms of stage business, one percussionist went to town with dressing up in hunting gear (American, not Austrian) for "Auf Der Jagd", an outrageously plumed hat for "In Krapfenwald'l" (complete with an all-American duck call near the end), and (at the risk of sounding not very PC) rather "swishy" motions in the surprise encore, Josef's "Feuerfest"', complete with anvil, hence the extra choreography in the encore. The last actually had audience clapping along to the anvils, so there was a Strauss family encore with audience participation, just not the standard such encore. Before the encore, the orchestra had a bit of stage fun during the latter part of "Unter Donner und Blitz", when several musicians pulled out umbrellas and opened them. There was also sudden lights flashing in the hall to mimic "lightning".

    It hit me afterwards, given the high quality of the playing, that this was a lot cheaper and less hassle than actually going to Vienna for the New Year's Concert (not that I've ever been, of course). The hall was quite full, with several large groups of younger folks present. The aiudience clearly had a good time, and no wonder.

    2. Yesterday afternoon, Juan Diego Flores and Vincenzo Scalera gave a recital at Carnegie Hall, the main hall.



    At first, I was a bit concerned that much of the program was opera arias rather than art songs as such. But once JDF and VS started the proceedings, past the 1st 3 concert (I.e. Non-operatic) numbers, the reasons for the programming became clear. For one, he followed "Una furtiva lagrima" with a selection from Lucia di Lammermoor which has the line "Una pietosa lagrima". VS also got 2 chances to shine on his own, including a solo rendition of the Meditation from Thais. The real kicker(s) came at the end, when JDF gave us something like 8 (!!) (**) encores (I've never been to a concert with that many encores), the 1st 4 or so (I started to lose count) with him playing guitar, including "Besame Mucho". The rest included more Donizetti (9 high C's), "Be My Love", "Granada", and "Nessum dorma", where in the last JDF impromptu-conducted the audience to sing the brief choral passage, at least those who knew the words. A decent number did, though not myself. Quite an event and a crowd-pleaser.

    (**) Carnegie's website actually lists 7 encores.

    3. That same day, in fact, less than 1 hour later, the Schumann Quartet, baritone Nikolay Borchev, and pianist Wu Qian gave a terrific concert at Alice Tully Hall. NB & WQ were sandwiched in the middle of the program, with Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death before intermission and Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" just after. Though young, NB clearly brought authentic style to the Mussorgsky, and his German was quite idiomatic later on, no doubt where his years working in Germany have helped. The Schumann Quartet (not named for either composer, BTW - Schumann is the family name of the 3 brothers in the Quartet) did an absolutely splendid job in the Rachmaninov Two Pieces at the start, and the Schubert "Death and the Maiden" Quartet at the end. One interesting feature of their interpretation of the latter was that they used sparing vibrato in the 1st movement, but went for the fuller vibrato sound in the finale. Excellent group, and well worth catching if they ever get to your neighborhood.
    Last edited by bluestateprommer; 11-12-18, 23:48. Reason: typo; correction on # of JDF encores

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    • ChrisBennell
      Full Member
      • Sep 2014
      • 171

      Yesterday morning in Oxford, at the Coffee Concerts - Carducci Quartet in sparkling form (as usual!).

      Philip Glass String Quartet No 5
      Beethoven String Quartet Op95.

      As an Encore: Four for tango by Piazzolla

      A thoroughly uplifting concert: I didn't know the Glass, but I'll definitely be hearing it again. The Piazzolla I've already found on Youtube by the Carducci!

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      • ferneyhoughgeliebte
        Gone fishin'
        • Sep 2011
        • 30163

        HCMF 2018; "Monday Freebies", 19/11/18

        HCMF has a formidable history of making new Music avaialble to audiences no matter what their social/financial status, with many free concerts and events included in the ten-day festival programme. Foremost in this respect is the annual series of free events taht take place throughout the day every Monday of the Festival - concerts about 20-30minutes long (although some are longer) scattered around the University/town that interested people (as well as the Festival regulars) can pop along to. If what you're listening to doesn't appeal, then something different comes along before long - and there is a wide range of contemporary Musical "styles" on offer, with nothing "diluted" in order to "appeal" to preconceptions of what other people might want to hear. This is genuine "outreach" and "accessibility" - audiences are given "the real thing(s)" to experience, and the opportunity to chat and share opinions with each other, and with the performers and composers concerned.

        Naturally, perhaps, not everything will appeal to everyone - I wasn't too keen on the Minimalism of the opening event (some sub-Shaker Loops material: the sort of Music that I listen to in the same way that I read my Home Insurance documents; in the hope/fear that I might encounter something worth knowing in the small print, but coming away feeling that everything had been made clear on the first two pages); but solo saxophonist Tom Sanderman's astonishing technical skill and his very clear enjoyment of the Music brought its own compensatory rewards. Quite a few pieces didn't grip my attention throughout, with those endless "you put the 'phone down""No; you put the 'phone down" endings - others had a sort of horrific fascination throughout (Kathryn Williams' gymnastic work-out with piccolo - which served to show that doing exercise makes it increasing difficult to play a wind instrument [I didn't really need this extra dissuasion!] - was increasing painful to watch). And there was also a lot of very good Music - a concert by the Drift Ensemble foremost for me; I shall keep watch for Music by Colin Frank(b1993) and by Cristian Morales Ossio(b1967) in future - and mention, too of a performance of Beckett's Quad with a percussion score added; the four actors' movements weren't as "sharp" as I remember frm the television film, and the abandoning of the instruments for the second half of the performance made me question why they'd been there in the first place (which I hadn't been wondering when they were playing).

        But an invigorating and immensely enjoayable day of events - helped in no small part by the company of Forumistas who also attended. (you know who you are! )
        [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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        • gurnemanz
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 7380

          Yesterday we were in London for a matinee of the Donmar's interesting but ultimately iffy role-reversal take on Measure for Measure. We decided to stay on for the evening, grabbed a bite and took in Wigmore's evening offering with the Nash Ensemble. A most rewarding concert, starting with a rare outing for Schumann's Andante and Variations for 2 pianos, 2 cellos and horn, followed by a beautiful Wesendonck Lieder from Christine Rice and concluding with a spirited and totally committed rendition of an old favourite, the Brahms Piano Quartet Op. 25. Recorded for broadcast this Tuesday.

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          • ardcarp
            Late member
            • Nov 2010
            • 11102

            Friday, St Matthew Passion (agreed, strange time of year), Exeter Cathedral, English Touring Opera. One of those 'Jonathan Miller' style productions, i.e. semi-acted. 7 soloists all excellent...but confusingly for the audience, sharing the role of Evangelist and Christus. Especially noteworthy was countertenor Will Towers (think 'erbarme dich'). Old Street Band unbelievable players, especially flutes and oboes (of varying shapes and sizes) some of whom, as did 2 violinists, played their obbligati standing up, from memory, and communicating visually with their vocal counterparts. All directed by Jonathan Peter Kenny, himself a soloist in that iconic Jonathan Miller production all those years ago. Speeds Baroque-plus-plus. This was the last of ETO's tour...I think....and one can only boggle at the singers' schedule, not only doing a week of staged Baroque operas in nearby theatres* and then doing the Matt Pash from memory. Cathedral sold out and packed, BTW.

            * Including Handel's Radamisto, Carissimi's Jonas and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.

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            • ferneyhoughgeliebte
              Gone fishin'
              • Sep 2011
              • 30163

              Sciarrino at HCMF 2018

              Another of my favourite composers, over two hours' worth of Music by this composer featured over the final week of the Festival - though not, unfortunately, the composer himself. (Sciarrino has a "history" of appearances at Huddersfield - not turning up at one in which he was programmed to appear in conversation, appearing at another in which he wasn't expected. On this occasion, he sent his apologies and excused himself on health and workload grounds.)

              Sciarrino, a highly prolific composer, has created a highly personal and instantly recognisable Musical language. Whisps of whistling sounds rich in harmonics and multiphonics; tiny glissandi; wry interjections from "heavily" muted (harmon and wah-wah) brass instruments, solo or in pairs; melodic fragments that start from a long-held note and then quickly descend in an effervescent arabesque; spare, intensely quiet Music bordering on silence, but with sudden telling explosions of violent activity - only for these to recede, leaving the resonances humming in the air; uncanny, teasing fragments of folk-like melodies that creep out of the texture, then, just as soon as they register, vanish back again - like a character in a film emerging from the shadows, then disappearing as soon as they realize that they've been recognised. It can seem, on casual overhearing, very "samey" - like Moore's sculptures; but (also as with Moore) more careful attention is rewarded by a seemingly endless outpouring of invention, the details fascinating and entrancing. I have been a fan for over twenty years - captivated by the beauty, the humour, and the mystery of this Music.

              On Friday, 23rd November, the Divertimento Ensemble (with whom the composer was expected to travel to Huddersfield) presented two works - Archeologia del telefonofrom 2005 for 13 instruments, in which the composer imagines a museum in the future displaying the toys and devices that are novel to us now, with the viewer regarding the exhibits with puzzled curiosity. It was beautifully performed, with appropriate audience enthusiasm for the throwaway <hoho> ending.



              This was followed by the UK premiere of last year's Il sogno di Stradella ("The Dream of Stradella") - for a similar ensemble (the composer allows the solo string 5tet parts to be played by an ensemble of 13 in larger halls - unnecessary in St Pauls Hall) but with the piano very much the Soloist in this concertante work (Jonathan Biss at the world premiere, Maria Grazia Bellocchio here in Huddersfield). Another work which balances on the knife-edge of the charming and the creepy, phrases from older Music (presumably originating in Stradella, but details weren't given in the programme notes) sometimes clearly stated, sometimes distorted - sometimes presented by the piano, sometimes scattered klangfarben-like amongst the instrumentalists - sometimes stretches of material, sometimes the same phrase constantly repeated, with miniscule alterations on each return. The focal point was an extended presentation of this melodic material, flitting between piano and winds, whilst the strings sustained a dissonant, sul pont. con pressione chord - as if the Music were being performed near a sheet metal factory. Remarkable work - it is being broadcast on tomorrow night's Hear & Now (1/12/18; 10:00pm) - I'm very keen to hear it again.
              [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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              • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                Gone fishin'
                • Sep 2011
                • 30163

                Sciarrino at HCMF 2018 (2) &quot;Carnaval&quot;

                Maurizio Pollini is another great enthusiast for Sciarrino's Music, commissioning many works from the composer and featuring it regularly in his performances. And he doesn't just commission solo piano works; in 2010, Pollini requested another work from Sciarrino to include Piano, but which otherwise could be as "free" in genre and structure as the composer felt was needed. The result was Carnaval, which is a ... well ... hold on, this is a bit tricky ...

                Essentially, it's a collection of 11 madrigals for five singers (here, five of the superb choir, Exaudi - including the phenomenon that is Juliet Fraser) often a capella, occasionally with instrumental accompaniment (the magnificent Explore Ensemble - the whole evening superbly conducted by the phenomenon that is James Weeks) AND one movement (the eleventh of the twelve numbers that make up the work) a mini-concerto for piano and instrumental ensemble ... well, except that the piano drops out about half-way through ... and there was more of a traditional "solo role" in Il sogno di Stradella. Nonetheless, the piano part requires the highest of technical skill from the performer (here Explore Ensemble's regular pianist, Emmanuelle Fleurot - who's also rather phenomenal!) - and Paganini felt hard done by with Harold en Italie!!!

                It is a bizarre concept - but what easily might have been an ego-orgy of self-indulgence from many another composer, revealed itself as a beautiful and totally convincing masterpiece; the unique structural features became almost irrelevant as the work cast its spell over the listeners - a kaleidoscopic hour of captivating Music; the individual events somehow melded by a hidden sonic "narrative" with compelled the listeners' attention and impelled the Music on; this seemed like a much shorter period than 65minutes.

                There were microphones distributed around the players - but no indication of any future broadcast, and it's not on the list of forthcoming editions of H&N - and the mics might have just been left between concerts, with no intention of recording. It would be a terrible loss, though, if this marvellous performance of a fantastic piece were to be preserved only in the memories of those lucky few of us who were there to hear it. Fingers crossed.
                [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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                • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                  Gone fishin'
                  • Sep 2011
                  • 30163

                  Sciarrino at HCMF 2018 (3) - the Ardittis; Sunday, 25/11/18

                  Not just the Quartet, but also counter-tenor Jake Arditti, son of composer Hilda Parades (whose monodrama Harriet was performed earlier in the Festival, but not recorded for broadcast) and Quartet founder & leader Irvine Arditti.

                  Jake was the singer in Sciarrino's Cosa Resta ("That which remains"/"What's Left") from 2017. The characteristics of Sciarrino's string writing were mostly present - and surely they must be getting predictable and over-familiar by now? I think it is further proof of Sciarrino's mastery of his material that he is able to represent these "characteristics" afresh with each piece (I've said the same thing about Rebecca Saunders' very different Music) - familiar characters appear, but always heard in new way, saying different things in the new contexts, adjusting to the new climates of each work. The real constant is the quality of the work as it moves through each piece - a point emphasised by the inclusion of the Seventh Quartet from 1999. Describing the characteristics, you'd end up with a similar list in these two works, and they are very clearly by the same composer - but equally obvious are the differences between them (and with the other works performed in the Festival - and with any other work by Sciarrino). Between and within each piece, Sciarrino's world moves slowly, but inexorably - taking is to ever new landscapes for as long as we stay with it.

                  (And superb performances, of course - Jake Arditti is a talent well worth seeking out.)
                  Last edited by ferneyhoughgeliebte; 30-11-18, 15:43.
                  [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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                  • Richard Barrett
                    Guest
                    • Jan 2016
                    • 6259

                    Yesterday evening I was at a concert at my place of work which contained classic electronic music by Berio and Maderna, Nono's sofferte onde serene, two multimedia pieces by present students, an electroacoustic sextet improvisation in which I participated, and a duo of myself and guitarist Han-earl Park, but that wasn't my last concert, which was this afternoon in the very same hall, when students from the Early Music department performed Purcell's Hail, bright Cecilia, rather beautifully in fact. I'm having a hectic and in some ways frustrating week but at moments like this my "job satisfaction" hits 100%.

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                    • Bryn
                      Banned
                      • Mar 2007
                      • 24688

                      Last evening: N O (Nathan) Moore, Rohan De Saram, John Butcher and Eddie Prévost at iklectik for the launch of John Butcher and Eddie Prévost's new CD, "Visionary Fantasies". The evening's two sets were both quite, quite superb. They melded in a way that left one wondering who was playing which sound, much of the time. The first set started with Nathan and Rohan playing a very quiet drone sound between them that came across almost like that of a tampura. From there, the music evolved, only rarely rising above piano, and mostly pianisimo. Eddie launched the secons set with bowed tam-tam, alternating with bowed cymbal, sometines resting on the head of a side drum sometmes free to resonate. The evening was recorded by Giovanni La Rovere for intended future release. Wel worth keeping an eye open for it.
                      Last edited by Bryn; 15-12-18, 18:13. Reason: Typo

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                      • Richard Barrett
                        Guest
                        • Jan 2016
                        • 6259

                        Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                        Eddie launched the second set with bowed tam-tam
                        That must have taken everyone by surprise.

                        John and Eddie's previous CD interworks is a marvel.

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                        • Bryn
                          Banned
                          • Mar 2007
                          • 24688

                          Originally posted by Richard Barrett View Post
                          That must have taken everyone by surprise.
                          An audience of cognocenti, so no.

                          Originally posted by Richard Barrett View Post
                          John and Eddie's previous CD interworks is a marvel.
                          Indeed, and I was at the performances on the new disc, so know this is another stotter.

                          Comment

                          • Bryn
                            Banned
                            • Mar 2007
                            • 24688

                            This afternoon Maida Vale Studio 1 concert (Lindberg, Kabelvsky, Bartok - BBCSO conducted by Dalia Stasevska). The Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, in particular, was captivating. I look forward to hearing what the 'Sounds' makes of it. Though the other works were clearly very well performed, I did not find much musical substance in them. I will try again with the Two Episodes (which Stasevska is taking across the Pond soon), but the Cello Concerto will not be getting another hearing here.

                            [Oh, and I picked up a free copy of the Yuletide double edition of the Radio Times on the way out. Why the BBC were giving it away is a mystery.]
                            Last edited by Bryn; 14-12-18, 21:03. Reason: Update.

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                            • MrGongGong
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 18357

                              Just back from Colin Walsh's annual performance of La Nativité du Seigneur in Lincoln Cathedral
                              Always wonderful, cold and epic

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                              • HighlandDougie
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 3080

                                Well I certainly can't top Mr GG's outing to Lincoln ("cold and epic", indeed) but Leonidas Kavakos, the LSO and Sir Simon at the Barbican last night was a treat. I last heard LK in the Brahms at the Barbican with the Leipzig Gewandhaus/Riccardo Chailly whenever it was they did their mini-Brahms season there. I thought that last night's performance was better from the soloist - he seemed more at ease (and played beautifully) - not quite so sure about Rattle's approach to the work (it was a bit too romantic for my taste). But very fine - and Tartini's Devil's Trill a suitably audience-wowing encore (with Sir Simon sitting at one of the two harps di=uring it, looking a bit like, err, Harpo Marx).

                                Debussy's 'Images' was pretty faultless, although I'm of the "Rondes-de-Printemps-comes-last-not-Ibéria" school. And, courtesy of the Rumanian Cultural, err, something, Enescu's First Rumanian Rhapsody. I doubt if it's been heard in London done by one of the major orchestras for a long time. And, despite the faintly snooty comments on Bachtrack about the concert (a pretty rubbish review, I thought, overall) and about the Enescu (a work I haven't heard for years), the LSO and Sir Simon were clearly having fun. Stellar playing by the orchestra - especially the woodwind. It's being repeated on Wednesday at the Barbican so well worth a visit for a pre-Christmas treat.

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