I finally managed to pick myself up and have the courage to listen to this critic-branded 'earth-shattering' symphony. It wasn't earth-shattering for me at the moment, a problem that I always have with Mahler's music. For the recording, I picked to listen to Karajan's famous 1982-live recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Verdict:
The first movement was fantastic up until around the half-way mark, where the climax of the orchestra was really frightening. I had goosebumps all over me during this period and I'm sure everybody would too. After that, I expected more development but only to be disappointed with the music turning calm and calmer till the end of the movement. The very end of this movement has a very unique note, that for some unexplainable reason, sticks to me. Listen to it yourself and you'll see what I am talking about.
The second movement started out as a dance, but then it's not so dance like anymore. It kinda reminded me of the Scherzo of his 2nd symphony.
The third movement was the one that impressed me the best - it's very much like an orchestra showpiece. But the music itself sounded sarcastic from the very first note till the last note. I guess that's what it intended to sound like as Mahler wrote this movement as 'Rondo Burleske'.
The last movement moved me, close to tears, but right now the top slow movement of Mahler for me is still the slow movement of his sixth symphony. It is widely recognised as the acceptance of death, parting to this world. Perhaps, being a young man, death is something that I haven't thought much yet. I have the same problems with another movement of Mahler that supposedly meaning 'farewell to the earth' - the last movement of Das Lied von Der Erde. I can understand it musically, I gain something out of the movement, but I still cannot view this movement as how it is supposed to represent. Maybe this is just the naive side of me that have not had the slightest idea yet how to accept fate that is coming to you.
Conclusion: nothing to conclude but to listen to it again! I have Bernstein's, Abbado's and Walter's recording of this symphony and it should be interesting to compare the performance of each recordings. Hopefully one of them can help me understand the last movement better, so that I'll gain more out of it than what I gained of it at the moment.
Monday 30 June 2008
Sunday 29 June 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 29 June 2008 - Ravel's Bolero
Featuring:
- Berlioz Le Corsaire Overture
- Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20
- Schoenberg Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
- Ravel Bolero
Boris Berman - Piano
Mario Venzago - Conductor
Marketing technique is applied to the fullest to the title of this concert - crowd-pleasing Ravel's Bolero. As if the other programs in the concert is not as good as Bolero. It succeeded in enticing me to subscribe to this concert, so I guess MSO has nothing to complain about their marketing department. The concert hall (at least the Stall and the Circle) was quite packed at around 90-95% capacity full and I guess almost 95% of those people, including me, attended this concert mainly because of Bolero.
I subscribed to this concert because of Bolero is a pretty much an orchestral showcase, where there are plenty of solo lines for the principals of the instruments. Musically speaking, it's a - forgive me - pretty much boring piece. I'll elaborate that later.
The concert started with Berlioz's Le Corsaire overture, which I am already familiar with before the concert. It's actually quite a good piece, but it will never reach the status of Symphonie Fantastique. The orchestra played well for this piece and I also discovered some of the pieces that I never picked up in the recording that I had. A little note of the conductor, Mario Venzago: he used big gestures when conducting, and at one point, he danced in the podium. He is the first conductor that I've seen so far in my short concert attending career whose hands went full stretch up and from there, along with his body, sank as low as he possibly can. His gesture is precise and meaningful, however and I actually kind of enjoy how he conducted this piece. A warm applause followed after the end of the piece, which I think it's not enough considering how well the orchestra played the piece.
The second piece of the concert is one of the masterpiece of piano concerto repertoire, the Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466. Before the concert, I have not listened to this concerto in my life. I've listened to a snippet of the 2nd movement at the end of the movie Amadeus, but that's about it. 3 hours before the concert, I went to Youtube and found video of Friedrich Gulda playing this concerto and watched it. A fiery performance, and Gulda's technique is magnificent, I was completely absorbed by his performance. The piece was played more tamely by the MSO, and Berman's playing, while was excellent, did not completely satisfy me in the end. He wasn't as engaging as Gulda, I guess. The first movement lacked a little bit in drama and stormy mood department, but the second movement was delicious. The finale was good, but again, Berman's playing did not reach the level of Gulda's playing for me. The concerto ended well, and long applause followed. Most audience will be disappointed not to be offered an encore. And after this concert, I will definitely start looking for recordings of Mozart's piano concerto.
Now, to the most difficult music of the night, Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31. The conductor actually made a speech before playing this piece. He said that although the piece was written around 80 years ago, it is still very modern due to its complexity and the 12-tone system. He made anecdote of 12-tone system, saying that Schoenberg's idea of 12-tone system is that every note will be treated in the same manner, just like how everybody has the same rights in the society. However, he also noted that, as with the society, there are some individuals that have more power than the others, and that is also the case with 12-tone system where the notes, B (B flat), A, C, H (B natural) (representing the word BACH) is treated in a more special way. He did not expect the audience to hum or like the piece and he said he's very happy if the audience is attracted just a little to it, just like how people are attracted to Picasso's cubism paintings. Sure enough, the piece was difficult to play and listen. But amidst the lack of melody in the piece, there were lots of things going on in this piece. Lots of variations, chamber-music like variance and a whole lot more such as col legno playing, contrasting materials, extreme dynamics change, and how the motif in the beginning of the piece was heard again near the end of the piece. I actually kinda liked this music and never bored a single moment in this piece. I would be bored if I only listen to the recording, but the sight of how the piece is played by the orchestra really helped me ATTRACTED to the piece. Needless to say, majority of the audience did not like it, only lukewarm applause followed. I even overheard someone saying, "at least they end the concert with something good, the Bolero".
The Bolero itself that I was looking forward to is to me no comparison to Schoenberg's piece. I ended up bored by the same tune played by different instruments again and again. I even wondered if the strings players are actually bored playing pizzicato for most of the piece, only to join the fun in the end with their sweet sound. Don't take me wrong, the orchestra played very well, and the principals were very good. The snare drums player did a fantastic job in keeping the tempo and the dynamics of the notes are very well judged. But during this piece, I contrasted this piece with Schoenberg's and found how simple Ravel's craft is in this piece compared to Schoenberg's. Anyway, enough with the bashing of Bolero, it's still a crowd-pleasing piece, and I myself was and will always be overwhelmed with the full sound of the orchestra when the cymbals and bass-drums crashed down near the end. But I will think thrice to attend Bolero concert again if MSO program this piece next season or two. The audience shouted bravo in the end, and I was the only person that, as far as I can see, applaused not as enthusiast as the rest of the audience.
To sum up, a very good concert, 3 out 4 programs were played brilliantly, the Mozart's piano concerto just a little bit short from brilliant. Discover a new gem of Schoenberg and find myself not-liking-Bolero-so-much-anymore after listening to Schoenberg's piece. Next concert is: Saint-Saens' 2nd piano concerto in 2 (or 3?) weeks time.
- Berlioz Le Corsaire Overture
- Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20
- Schoenberg Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
- Ravel Bolero
Boris Berman - Piano
Mario Venzago - Conductor
Marketing technique is applied to the fullest to the title of this concert - crowd-pleasing Ravel's Bolero. As if the other programs in the concert is not as good as Bolero. It succeeded in enticing me to subscribe to this concert, so I guess MSO has nothing to complain about their marketing department. The concert hall (at least the Stall and the Circle) was quite packed at around 90-95% capacity full and I guess almost 95% of those people, including me, attended this concert mainly because of Bolero.
I subscribed to this concert because of Bolero is a pretty much an orchestral showcase, where there are plenty of solo lines for the principals of the instruments. Musically speaking, it's a - forgive me - pretty much boring piece. I'll elaborate that later.
The concert started with Berlioz's Le Corsaire overture, which I am already familiar with before the concert. It's actually quite a good piece, but it will never reach the status of Symphonie Fantastique. The orchestra played well for this piece and I also discovered some of the pieces that I never picked up in the recording that I had. A little note of the conductor, Mario Venzago: he used big gestures when conducting, and at one point, he danced in the podium. He is the first conductor that I've seen so far in my short concert attending career whose hands went full stretch up and from there, along with his body, sank as low as he possibly can. His gesture is precise and meaningful, however and I actually kind of enjoy how he conducted this piece. A warm applause followed after the end of the piece, which I think it's not enough considering how well the orchestra played the piece.
The second piece of the concert is one of the masterpiece of piano concerto repertoire, the Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466. Before the concert, I have not listened to this concerto in my life. I've listened to a snippet of the 2nd movement at the end of the movie Amadeus, but that's about it. 3 hours before the concert, I went to Youtube and found video of Friedrich Gulda playing this concerto and watched it. A fiery performance, and Gulda's technique is magnificent, I was completely absorbed by his performance. The piece was played more tamely by the MSO, and Berman's playing, while was excellent, did not completely satisfy me in the end. He wasn't as engaging as Gulda, I guess. The first movement lacked a little bit in drama and stormy mood department, but the second movement was delicious. The finale was good, but again, Berman's playing did not reach the level of Gulda's playing for me. The concerto ended well, and long applause followed. Most audience will be disappointed not to be offered an encore. And after this concert, I will definitely start looking for recordings of Mozart's piano concerto.
Now, to the most difficult music of the night, Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31. The conductor actually made a speech before playing this piece. He said that although the piece was written around 80 years ago, it is still very modern due to its complexity and the 12-tone system. He made anecdote of 12-tone system, saying that Schoenberg's idea of 12-tone system is that every note will be treated in the same manner, just like how everybody has the same rights in the society. However, he also noted that, as with the society, there are some individuals that have more power than the others, and that is also the case with 12-tone system where the notes, B (B flat), A, C, H (B natural) (representing the word BACH) is treated in a more special way. He did not expect the audience to hum or like the piece and he said he's very happy if the audience is attracted just a little to it, just like how people are attracted to Picasso's cubism paintings. Sure enough, the piece was difficult to play and listen. But amidst the lack of melody in the piece, there were lots of things going on in this piece. Lots of variations, chamber-music like variance and a whole lot more such as col legno playing, contrasting materials, extreme dynamics change, and how the motif in the beginning of the piece was heard again near the end of the piece. I actually kinda liked this music and never bored a single moment in this piece. I would be bored if I only listen to the recording, but the sight of how the piece is played by the orchestra really helped me ATTRACTED to the piece. Needless to say, majority of the audience did not like it, only lukewarm applause followed. I even overheard someone saying, "at least they end the concert with something good, the Bolero".
The Bolero itself that I was looking forward to is to me no comparison to Schoenberg's piece. I ended up bored by the same tune played by different instruments again and again. I even wondered if the strings players are actually bored playing pizzicato for most of the piece, only to join the fun in the end with their sweet sound. Don't take me wrong, the orchestra played very well, and the principals were very good. The snare drums player did a fantastic job in keeping the tempo and the dynamics of the notes are very well judged. But during this piece, I contrasted this piece with Schoenberg's and found how simple Ravel's craft is in this piece compared to Schoenberg's. Anyway, enough with the bashing of Bolero, it's still a crowd-pleasing piece, and I myself was and will always be overwhelmed with the full sound of the orchestra when the cymbals and bass-drums crashed down near the end. But I will think thrice to attend Bolero concert again if MSO program this piece next season or two. The audience shouted bravo in the end, and I was the only person that, as far as I can see, applaused not as enthusiast as the rest of the audience.
To sum up, a very good concert, 3 out 4 programs were played brilliantly, the Mozart's piano concerto just a little bit short from brilliant. Discover a new gem of Schoenberg and find myself not-liking-Bolero-so-much-anymore after listening to Schoenberg's piece. Next concert is: Saint-Saens' 2nd piano concerto in 2 (or 3?) weeks time.
Saturday 14 June 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 14 June 2008 - Emanuel Ax Plays Chopin
Featuring:
- Frank Bridge The Sea
- Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2
- Sibelius Symphony No. 5
Emanuel Ax - Piano
Robin Ticciati - Conductor
As the concert title suggests, the main dish of the concert is the Chopin's second piano concerto and that's the very reason why I chose to subscribe to this concert.
The second piano concerto is actually not my favourite piano concerto of Chopin - I very much prefer the first piano concerto -, but the slow movement of the first piano concerto cannot beat the elegant and the beauty of the first opening bars for the piano of the second piano concerto where the famous gorgeous melody lines are played.
2 weeks before the concert, I found out that Emmnuel Ax would be giving a recital in ANAM. The program announced are very interesting, Schubert's Impromptus D. 935, the Sonata in A major, D. 664 and some Chopin works. On the night of the recital, I've felt a bit disappointed when I found out that there was no Chopin pieces in the program and to my further disappointment, Chopin's place is replaced by Liszt - which I am not a big fan of. Nevertheless, the concert was marvelous and the highlight of the concert for me is the A major sonata. I practically smiled throughout the last movement. The dance-like theme in that movement makes me very happy. Emanuel Ax plays brilliantly and the most wonderful thing is, he made Liszt to be at least tolerable to me. His rendition of Mephisto Waltz is almost scary, he really made light of that supposedly difficult piece. In the end, he gave two Chopin's pieces which I am not familiar with, but it was played with such restraints and when the pieces ended, some audience were left sighing and muttered the word 'beautiful'.
Back to today's concert, the concert started with a orchestral piece by Frank Bridge The Sea(MSO really keeps its 'The Voice of the Sea' theme throughout this season). The piece was better than I expected. An impressionist piece, very much like Debussy's La Mer, it actually never bores me. The first movement - Seascape - contains a very delicate dialogue between the oboes and clarinets that interest me very much. The second movement, - Sea-foam - is a scherzo like movement, that again included wonderful passages for the woodwinds. In the third movement, - Moonlight -, the harp player shone. The finale - Storm - is a musical depiction of what would happen if you ever saw a storm in the sea. This movement is illustrated with furious passage in the orchestra, with the percussion - timpani and bass drum provides the additional dramatic scene. A good memorable piece by Frank Bridge.
Next is the second piano concerto by Chopin. I was not affected very much of the music by the first movement (as always been the case), but the music sounded right, so I would say the orchestra and soloist played this movement in the way that how it is supposed to be played. I paid my fullest attention to the opening bars of the second movement just to capture that gorgeous melodies that I've mentioned above. And moments later, the moment came. It was marvelous and I've always been and will be affected by it. The rest of the second movement was gorgeous as well. I always feel disappointed with the orchestration of the finale, somehow, the orchestration just doesn't work. So, I have no comment on it apart from the piano part. The playing is so fine, my heart was actually racing at the very last part of the finale. Loud applause followed and we were given an encore - Nocture in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1.
The gem of this concert - at least for me, because everybody just seemed cannot put the Chopin out of their head - is Sibelius' 5th Symphony. I gave it my first listening last night and it didn't disappoint. And it became much more when I heard it in the concert hall today. I still struggled in the complicated first movement, but the end of this movement is just fantastic. The second movement was played very delicately by the orchestra and I enjoyed the little variation that's going on in it. The finale was intense and arousing. The famous horn line is just wonderful. I had it in my head for at least 2 hours after the concert. It's so gorgeous, depicting 16 swans taking off to the sky at the same time. What a sight it must be for Sibelius when he witnessed it. The very end of the movement was just wonderful. Huge applause from the audience.
A word about the conductor: he's just 25 years of age.
- Frank Bridge The Sea
- Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2
- Sibelius Symphony No. 5
Emanuel Ax - Piano
Robin Ticciati - Conductor
As the concert title suggests, the main dish of the concert is the Chopin's second piano concerto and that's the very reason why I chose to subscribe to this concert.
The second piano concerto is actually not my favourite piano concerto of Chopin - I very much prefer the first piano concerto -, but the slow movement of the first piano concerto cannot beat the elegant and the beauty of the first opening bars for the piano of the second piano concerto where the famous gorgeous melody lines are played.
2 weeks before the concert, I found out that Emmnuel Ax would be giving a recital in ANAM. The program announced are very interesting, Schubert's Impromptus D. 935, the Sonata in A major, D. 664 and some Chopin works. On the night of the recital, I've felt a bit disappointed when I found out that there was no Chopin pieces in the program and to my further disappointment, Chopin's place is replaced by Liszt - which I am not a big fan of. Nevertheless, the concert was marvelous and the highlight of the concert for me is the A major sonata. I practically smiled throughout the last movement. The dance-like theme in that movement makes me very happy. Emanuel Ax plays brilliantly and the most wonderful thing is, he made Liszt to be at least tolerable to me. His rendition of Mephisto Waltz is almost scary, he really made light of that supposedly difficult piece. In the end, he gave two Chopin's pieces which I am not familiar with, but it was played with such restraints and when the pieces ended, some audience were left sighing and muttered the word 'beautiful'.
Back to today's concert, the concert started with a orchestral piece by Frank Bridge The Sea(MSO really keeps its 'The Voice of the Sea' theme throughout this season). The piece was better than I expected. An impressionist piece, very much like Debussy's La Mer, it actually never bores me. The first movement - Seascape - contains a very delicate dialogue between the oboes and clarinets that interest me very much. The second movement, - Sea-foam - is a scherzo like movement, that again included wonderful passages for the woodwinds. In the third movement, - Moonlight -, the harp player shone. The finale - Storm - is a musical depiction of what would happen if you ever saw a storm in the sea. This movement is illustrated with furious passage in the orchestra, with the percussion - timpani and bass drum provides the additional dramatic scene. A good memorable piece by Frank Bridge.
Next is the second piano concerto by Chopin. I was not affected very much of the music by the first movement (as always been the case), but the music sounded right, so I would say the orchestra and soloist played this movement in the way that how it is supposed to be played. I paid my fullest attention to the opening bars of the second movement just to capture that gorgeous melodies that I've mentioned above. And moments later, the moment came. It was marvelous and I've always been and will be affected by it. The rest of the second movement was gorgeous as well. I always feel disappointed with the orchestration of the finale, somehow, the orchestration just doesn't work. So, I have no comment on it apart from the piano part. The playing is so fine, my heart was actually racing at the very last part of the finale. Loud applause followed and we were given an encore - Nocture in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 1.
The gem of this concert - at least for me, because everybody just seemed cannot put the Chopin out of their head - is Sibelius' 5th Symphony. I gave it my first listening last night and it didn't disappoint. And it became much more when I heard it in the concert hall today. I still struggled in the complicated first movement, but the end of this movement is just fantastic. The second movement was played very delicately by the orchestra and I enjoyed the little variation that's going on in it. The finale was intense and arousing. The famous horn line is just wonderful. I had it in my head for at least 2 hours after the concert. It's so gorgeous, depicting 16 swans taking off to the sky at the same time. What a sight it must be for Sibelius when he witnessed it. The very end of the movement was just wonderful. Huge applause from the audience.
A word about the conductor: he's just 25 years of age.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde
A symphony for tenor and alto for voice and orchestra is the description of this work by Mahler himself. Consisting of 6 movements, the tenor and alto are assigned 3 alternating movements starting with the tenor in the first movement and ended with alto's solo in the last movement.
After around 10 listenings of different recordings of this work, from Klemperer, Kubelik, Walter, Haitink and Horenstein, I've came to a conclusion that I prefer the Tenor movements more than I prefer the Alto's. My favourite Tenor for DLvdE is none other than Wunderlich in the Klemperer recordings. I cannot help but drop my jaw everytime I listen to him in the first song, 'The Drinking Song of Earth's Misery'. How he kept himself being outdone from the orchestra sound in the famous ape lines still wonder me. And listen to his gorgeous rendering of more delicate 'Of Youth' and 'The Drunkard in Spring' and you can tell that this recording is for the ages. Other tenors are quite good but I don't think they've ever reached Wunderlich's level.
For the Alto part, my favourite movement is the 'Of Beauty' movement. I always love the transition between the slow tempo to the galloping tempo in the middle of the song describing the arrival of horse-riding-good-looking-young-fella. And Janet Baker's rendering in Haitink's recording is the benchmark for me. She is just too exciting and I can't help myself bouncing to her voice when she delivered her fast passages after the galloping theme from the orchestra. The last movement which has always been perceived as the crown of DLvdE is a little bit too long for me, but Kathleen Ferrier's reading in Walter's recording is too overwhelming so that one cannot but to be moved by her. The second movement is just a little bit too sleepy for me but I've gained a bit more appreciation of it nowadays.
Now when will I have the courage to listen to Mahler's so called earth shattering 9th symphony..I'll make sure that I do it before the end of this month.
After around 10 listenings of different recordings of this work, from Klemperer, Kubelik, Walter, Haitink and Horenstein, I've came to a conclusion that I prefer the Tenor movements more than I prefer the Alto's. My favourite Tenor for DLvdE is none other than Wunderlich in the Klemperer recordings. I cannot help but drop my jaw everytime I listen to him in the first song, 'The Drinking Song of Earth's Misery'. How he kept himself being outdone from the orchestra sound in the famous ape lines still wonder me. And listen to his gorgeous rendering of more delicate 'Of Youth' and 'The Drunkard in Spring' and you can tell that this recording is for the ages. Other tenors are quite good but I don't think they've ever reached Wunderlich's level.
For the Alto part, my favourite movement is the 'Of Beauty' movement. I always love the transition between the slow tempo to the galloping tempo in the middle of the song describing the arrival of horse-riding-good-looking-young-fella. And Janet Baker's rendering in Haitink's recording is the benchmark for me. She is just too exciting and I can't help myself bouncing to her voice when she delivered her fast passages after the galloping theme from the orchestra. The last movement which has always been perceived as the crown of DLvdE is a little bit too long for me, but Kathleen Ferrier's reading in Walter's recording is too overwhelming so that one cannot but to be moved by her. The second movement is just a little bit too sleepy for me but I've gained a bit more appreciation of it nowadays.
Now when will I have the courage to listen to Mahler's so called earth shattering 9th symphony..I'll make sure that I do it before the end of this month.
Monday 9 June 2008
Mozart vs. Haydn Symphonies
I've been listening to Mozart's Symphonies from No. 35-41 and Haydn's Symphonies from No. 101-104 + 94. I admit Mozart's symphonies are prettier, have catchier tune, made me happy and just perfect. But, there's this sophisticated feeling that one gets when listening to Haydn. His symphonies do not have the immediate tune that running in your head after you listen to them (bar the last movement of the 104, I often hummed to it when I'm alone walking on the street), but you will feel that at the end of each of his symphony, Haydn's symphonies are really well constructed hence sophisticated. I don't know how to describe it, but one just have to listen to say Haydn's 102 and contrast it with Mozart's say, 35 or 38. People should really give Haydn more listening. He is undeservedly got low count listening in Last.fm considering he is called 'father of the symphony and string quartet'.
Overall the last symphonies of both composer are my favourite symphonies of them. How can you top the last movement of Jupiter or the bounciness of the finale of the London symphonies? I know I'll never get tired listening to them cause they always make me so happy :)
Overall the last symphonies of both composer are my favourite symphonies of them. How can you top the last movement of Jupiter or the bounciness of the finale of the London symphonies? I know I'll never get tired listening to them cause they always make me so happy :)
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