Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto - AWESOME! It's so witty, it's so Prokofiev. The coda of the last movement is like a never ending ecstasy. The relentless strings against the piano - very exciting!
Schubert's D. 958 (Piano Sonata #19), D. 959 (Piano Sonata #20), and D. 944 (Symphony No. 9). Schubert is moving up fast in my playlist. He wrote music with such purity and brilliance, I cannot fail to stand in awe when listening to his music. The slow movements of both D. 958 and D. 959 can bring me down anytime, while the slow movement of D. 944 stuck in my head for hours when I first time listened to it. I am never and will never be tired when listening to his masterpieces. They're just timeless.
Berlioz's Harold in Italy - after several listening, I begin to like this piece very much. It's like Symphony Fantastique, but just a tad less fantastic. It's still great anyway.
Mahler's 9th symphony - a tough one to crack, just like the rest of Mahler. But as usual, the reward of being persistent listening to it is very high! I can't say I understand the symphony perfectly - who ever does? - but if you're not carried away in the climax of the finale where basically it seems like Mahler himself is finally saying his last goodbye to the world in a very neurotic fashion, something is seriously wrong with you.
Bach's Goldberg Variations - what a piece! I bought Pinnock's recording of it on the harpsichord. Wonderful recording and playing. I've also listened to Gould's 81 recording in Youtube. Vastly different interpretation and sound (piano vs. harpsichord), but they're both very enjoyable. The minor key variations are something special, the canons are amazing. And what an effect that Aria has when it is played again in the end! It's like telling the listener, you have arrived at the end of the journey, sit back and relax, reminisce about the journeys you just took while not forgetting where you start your journey from. Glorious piece!
Saturday 28 February 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 27 February 2009 - Figaro, Franckly
Featuring:
- Mozart The Marriage of Figaro: Overture
- Villa-Lobos Concerto for guitar and small orchestra
- Franck Symphony in D minor
Edoardo Catemario - Guitar
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
New year, new season concert. Before this opening concert, MSO played 4 free concerts in Sidney Myer Music Bowl. They're all marvelous, the highlight for me is the playing of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto, Gershwin Piano Concerto, Schubert's 9th Symphony, Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez, and the most-remarkable concert of Beethoven's 9th symphony where almost all of the audience gave a standing ovation to.
One thing that is always to be grateful to when attending the Town Hall concert is the free organ recital by Calvin Bowman. It's more to be appreciated this season, because another free pre-concert program: the music talk is not going to exist this season. On the organ recital program, we have Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542. The Fantasia part is a little bit too fantasia to my taste and also I blame my late arrival to the concert hall to not be able to listen to the fantasia from the start. The fugue, however, is wonderful, as expected from the master of Fugue himself. The next program is Wesley's An old English Meldoy arranged by A.E. Floyd. It's a short piece, with folk music being the main tune of the piece. Quite enjoyable. The piece that made the best impression of the night is the 2 movements of Widor's Symphony No. 5. Dr. Bowman played the Adagio and Toccata from the symphony.
On to the concert. It was good, but not great concert. It doesn't help that the program is too short. Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro always entertains, but I was quite disappointed with the guitar concerto by Villa-Lobos. While it contains some interesting passages, the second movement doesn't work too well although the soloist's playing of the cadenza is great. The finale is hardly exciting, I was quite bored with it to be honest. However, the encore given by the soloist is amazing. Unfortunately, I did not catch what piece is that and who composed it when the soloist mentioned it.
Franck's symphony in D minor turns out to be the surprise of the night, it was actually quite interesting. The Leitmotif is present throughout the symphony and I was impressed by the creativity in the 2nd movement. The main theme of the finale is a little bit too pretty and popular-sounding, but when the full brass section blasted it towards the end, you cannot help but overwhelmed to the sound. Great performance from MSO. Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana is the encore by the orchestra for the night.
Next week's concert: Mahler's 2nd symphony. Enough said. Can't wait for it!
- Mozart The Marriage of Figaro: Overture
- Villa-Lobos Concerto for guitar and small orchestra
- Franck Symphony in D minor
Edoardo Catemario - Guitar
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
New year, new season concert. Before this opening concert, MSO played 4 free concerts in Sidney Myer Music Bowl. They're all marvelous, the highlight for me is the playing of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto, Gershwin Piano Concerto, Schubert's 9th Symphony, Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez, and the most-remarkable concert of Beethoven's 9th symphony where almost all of the audience gave a standing ovation to.
One thing that is always to be grateful to when attending the Town Hall concert is the free organ recital by Calvin Bowman. It's more to be appreciated this season, because another free pre-concert program: the music talk is not going to exist this season. On the organ recital program, we have Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542. The Fantasia part is a little bit too fantasia to my taste and also I blame my late arrival to the concert hall to not be able to listen to the fantasia from the start. The fugue, however, is wonderful, as expected from the master of Fugue himself. The next program is Wesley's An old English Meldoy arranged by A.E. Floyd. It's a short piece, with folk music being the main tune of the piece. Quite enjoyable. The piece that made the best impression of the night is the 2 movements of Widor's Symphony No. 5. Dr. Bowman played the Adagio and Toccata from the symphony.
On to the concert. It was good, but not great concert. It doesn't help that the program is too short. Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro always entertains, but I was quite disappointed with the guitar concerto by Villa-Lobos. While it contains some interesting passages, the second movement doesn't work too well although the soloist's playing of the cadenza is great. The finale is hardly exciting, I was quite bored with it to be honest. However, the encore given by the soloist is amazing. Unfortunately, I did not catch what piece is that and who composed it when the soloist mentioned it.
Franck's symphony in D minor turns out to be the surprise of the night, it was actually quite interesting. The Leitmotif is present throughout the symphony and I was impressed by the creativity in the 2nd movement. The main theme of the finale is a little bit too pretty and popular-sounding, but when the full brass section blasted it towards the end, you cannot help but overwhelmed to the sound. Great performance from MSO. Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana is the encore by the orchestra for the night.
Next week's concert: Mahler's 2nd symphony. Enough said. Can't wait for it!
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