Featuring:
- Faure Pavane
- Debussy La Mer
- Rachmaninov The Bells
Jacqueline Porter - Soprano
Steve Davislim - Tenor
Jose Carbo - Baritone
Melbourne Symphony Chorus - chorusmaster: Jonathan Grieves-Smith
Vladimir Ashkenazy - Conductor
A very short review this time. I'm still trying to sort the mess that I've found in my home after coming back from the Saturday's concert.
Faure's Pavane - heart melting, beautiful, well-played, yada yada. The weird thing about the whole performance was: the chorus. The chorus was supposedly singing a double duet poem about the quarrel of two imaginary pairs of lovers. I don't understand French or familiar enough with the poem to be affected by the text. Although Faure originally wrote the piece in this form, I still prefer very much listening to it without the text and imagine stuffs on my own.
La Mer - Ahhhhhhhhh La Mer again. I won't complain - I love La Mer. Very good performance, especially the rousing climax in the finale. I forgot other good impressions I have with the concert, sorry :(
As good as La Mer performance went, I think I was satisfied the most with the performance of Rachmaninov's The Bells. I have never liked this piece apart from the playful 1st movement, although Rachmaninov claimed that it is his favourite composition. Ashkenazy changed my opinion of the piece by revealing the beautiful, long lyrical Soprano lines in the second movement; the excitement of brass in the frightful third movement and finally, the last movement - ala Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. The rising melody right after the very last words of the solo bass was the emotional highpoint for me in the whole concert. That moment felt like an alto singing the "Ewig, ewig" at the end of Das Lied von der Erde. The 3 soloists sung beautifully.
Average attendance. The balcony is almost empty, but compensated with 85% stall capacity and almost full circle.
Next concert: ACO's concert next week.
Showing posts with label debussy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debussy. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 20 May 2009 - Victory!
Featuring:
- Debussy Printemps, orchestrated by Henri Busser
- Elgar Cello Concerto
- Prokofiev Symphony No. 5
Matthew Barley - Cello
Yan Pascal Tortelier - Conductor
Despite my rant against the change in programming, I really enjoyed this performance. Debussy's colourful Printemps with the beautiful main theme first played by the flute in the beginning and transformed throughout the 2 movements of this piece is a delight. Although it wasn't Debussy who orchestrated this piece, it nevertheless retained a charming trademark Debussy orchestral writing. I was less impressed with the theme of the second movement: it was too popular sounding, not unlike the main theme of the finale of Franck's symphony. Not of it matters so much as the music pleased me very much and MSO's playing was wonderful here, at least until the piece ended! There was a little accident in the end where after the piece reached its marvelous climax in the end, a percussionist accidentally dropped the cymbals, ruining the silence in the end. It was quite a hilarious moment, and some MSO musicians actually let out a big 'awwwwwwww' noise. The audience also laughed at it and gave a warm applause.
Matthew Barley gave a wonderful reading of the much beloved Elgar's cello concerto. His cello produced a very rich-sounding tone and his technique is impeccable. He displayed a very mature reading of the concerto and played wonderfully in the third movement.
The performance of Prokofiev's fifth symphony impressed me most. Here, Tortelier conducted without a score and produced wonderful interpretation of this symphony. After unsettling me successfully in the 'unstable' slow first movement, he danced through the relentless Scherzo rhythm in the second movement. The third movement grew from being somber to violent and eventually turned into a sort of funeral march with plenty of sarcastic trills in the winds and strings. The finale is a tour-de-force for the (large) symphony orchestra. The orchestra for this piece is very huge, requiring a large number of strings, woodwinds, massive percussion sections, and a piano (this also happened in Debussy's piece). It's a real treat to watch a large number of percussionists playing all sort of instruments, providing additional level of excitements into this relentless marching finale.
I'm very impressed with Tortelier's interpretations of all the pieces and looking forward to his next concert where he'll be conducting Rachmaninov' symphonic dances next week.
- Debussy Printemps, orchestrated by Henri Busser
- Elgar Cello Concerto
- Prokofiev Symphony No. 5
Matthew Barley - Cello
Yan Pascal Tortelier - Conductor
Despite my rant against the change in programming, I really enjoyed this performance. Debussy's colourful Printemps with the beautiful main theme first played by the flute in the beginning and transformed throughout the 2 movements of this piece is a delight. Although it wasn't Debussy who orchestrated this piece, it nevertheless retained a charming trademark Debussy orchestral writing. I was less impressed with the theme of the second movement: it was too popular sounding, not unlike the main theme of the finale of Franck's symphony. Not of it matters so much as the music pleased me very much and MSO's playing was wonderful here, at least until the piece ended! There was a little accident in the end where after the piece reached its marvelous climax in the end, a percussionist accidentally dropped the cymbals, ruining the silence in the end. It was quite a hilarious moment, and some MSO musicians actually let out a big 'awwwwwwww' noise. The audience also laughed at it and gave a warm applause.
Matthew Barley gave a wonderful reading of the much beloved Elgar's cello concerto. His cello produced a very rich-sounding tone and his technique is impeccable. He displayed a very mature reading of the concerto and played wonderfully in the third movement.
The performance of Prokofiev's fifth symphony impressed me most. Here, Tortelier conducted without a score and produced wonderful interpretation of this symphony. After unsettling me successfully in the 'unstable' slow first movement, he danced through the relentless Scherzo rhythm in the second movement. The third movement grew from being somber to violent and eventually turned into a sort of funeral march with plenty of sarcastic trills in the winds and strings. The finale is a tour-de-force for the (large) symphony orchestra. The orchestra for this piece is very huge, requiring a large number of strings, woodwinds, massive percussion sections, and a piano (this also happened in Debussy's piece). It's a real treat to watch a large number of percussionists playing all sort of instruments, providing additional level of excitements into this relentless marching finale.
I'm very impressed with Tortelier's interpretations of all the pieces and looking forward to his next concert where he'll be conducting Rachmaninov' symphonic dances next week.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 28 November 2008 - The Firebird
Featuring:
- Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 2
- Debussy La mer
- Stravinsky The Firebird - complete ballet music
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
Last concert of the season for me - and it was wonderful!
For that night Town Hall series, Calvin Bowman played Bach's Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist, BWV 671 and the organ rendition of the famous cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645, a rather short piece by John Stanley Suite in D, the fairy garden movement from Ravel's Ma mere L'oye and two pieces by Percy Whitlock Preambule and Exultemus.
The second Leonore overture is probably always been overshadowed by its more dramatic brother third overture and played much more infrequently. It's still one heck of a fine piece of music and MSO gave a wonderful reading of it. Caetani's elegant conducting was wonderful as usual. All sections of the orchestra were very fine but the performance was let down a little bit by a slightly inaccurate playing of the offstage brass. I was hugely disappointed by lukewarm applause by the audience - not even a curtain call for Caetani after such wonderful performance. Was it because this overture is not a piece that most audience is familiar with?
None of it matters since the next piece is - IMHO - Debussy's finest orchestral music La mer. It took me quite a while to like this piece when I first started listening to it. Until one day, I was lying on my bed while listening to it and the whole thing just clicked - the journey to midday from sunrise in the first movement, the playful waves in the second movement, and the stormy finale of the finale. In fact, the make or break of a La mer performance is whether the performance is able to make me feel and picture the waves come crashing down in the finale. That night's performance succeeded in making me feel that way but I have just slight reservations with the playing of the second movement. All in all, it was a very good performance. The icing on the cake is the sight of the orchestra in full force - I always love to see that.
The last piece of the night was Stravinsky's Firebird. When I first listened to it, I wasn't really impressed with the very long quiet opening, and the music sounded quite boring at times. I still have that kind of feeling when listening to it live in the performance, but this time, the marvelous ending won me over. The ending is uplifting as it can possibly be and the audience seemed to be very pleased with it. Huge applause followed and we were given an encore of another Stravinsky's piece Fireworks, a short piece showcasing orchestral virtuosity.
In summary, a very good night out and a memorable concert to end this season's concert-going experience for me.
- Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 2
- Debussy La mer
- Stravinsky The Firebird - complete ballet music
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
Last concert of the season for me - and it was wonderful!
For that night Town Hall series, Calvin Bowman played Bach's Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist, BWV 671 and the organ rendition of the famous cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645, a rather short piece by John Stanley Suite in D, the fairy garden movement from Ravel's Ma mere L'oye and two pieces by Percy Whitlock Preambule and Exultemus.
The second Leonore overture is probably always been overshadowed by its more dramatic brother third overture and played much more infrequently. It's still one heck of a fine piece of music and MSO gave a wonderful reading of it. Caetani's elegant conducting was wonderful as usual. All sections of the orchestra were very fine but the performance was let down a little bit by a slightly inaccurate playing of the offstage brass. I was hugely disappointed by lukewarm applause by the audience - not even a curtain call for Caetani after such wonderful performance. Was it because this overture is not a piece that most audience is familiar with?
None of it matters since the next piece is - IMHO - Debussy's finest orchestral music La mer. It took me quite a while to like this piece when I first started listening to it. Until one day, I was lying on my bed while listening to it and the whole thing just clicked - the journey to midday from sunrise in the first movement, the playful waves in the second movement, and the stormy finale of the finale. In fact, the make or break of a La mer performance is whether the performance is able to make me feel and picture the waves come crashing down in the finale. That night's performance succeeded in making me feel that way but I have just slight reservations with the playing of the second movement. All in all, it was a very good performance. The icing on the cake is the sight of the orchestra in full force - I always love to see that.
The last piece of the night was Stravinsky's Firebird. When I first listened to it, I wasn't really impressed with the very long quiet opening, and the music sounded quite boring at times. I still have that kind of feeling when listening to it live in the performance, but this time, the marvelous ending won me over. The ending is uplifting as it can possibly be and the audience seemed to be very pleased with it. Huge applause followed and we were given an encore of another Stravinsky's piece Fireworks, a short piece showcasing orchestral virtuosity.
In summary, a very good night out and a memorable concert to end this season's concert-going experience for me.
Sunday, 20 April 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 19 April 2008 - Song of the Waves, Music of the Spheres
Featuring:
- Debussy Nocturnes
- Goossens Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
- Holst The Planets
Howard Shelley - Piano
Women of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Richard Hickox - Conductor
The story behind me attending this concert is no other than Holst's The Planets. I was practically did not care for Debussy's music at that time (2 months ago). MSO's last season concert of Debussy's Images left me sleepy. And who is Goossens? I have never heard of him. So, just for Holst's The Planets only, I got the cheapest ticket for the concert.
The way I looked at Debussy's (and Impressionist music in general) changed again after I listen to Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit and Ma Mere l'Oye. At that time, I only considered Debussy a one-hit wonder with his La Mer. I decided to change my attitude after several listening of the famous Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. And then I moved on to listen to his Nocturnes, which I did not realise was programmed in the concert until yesterday. I liked the piece in the first listening (a rarity for Debussy!), giving special credits to the second and last movement (Fetes and Sirenes). How surprised was I to find out yesterday that I can listen to it performed live by the orchestra.
Now on to the concert itself. It started with the Debussy's pieces. The performance was wonderful throughout and I noticed passages for cor anglais which I could not really identify in the recordings that I listened to. The first movement was very much sustained, but there were plenty of things happening in the piece if you listened to it closely. The second movement, describing a festival, was brilliantly played, and the last movement with the women's chorus hits it home for me. It was just brilliant. However, I felt that the piece did not get appreciated widely by the audience. Most of them looked like they are bored by the piece (which exactly what happened to me when I was in the last season Debussy's concert). Anyway, it doesn't really matter for me what the others thought of the piece. Music always affect people differently.
After some re-arrangement of the orchestra seating, we got an Australian premiere of Goossens' Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. It started out interesting, sounding very modern indeed (it was composed around 1944), then it became a tad less interesting, but it became a bit interesting again when we reached the second movement which I felt was a little jazzy. The slow movement, was the one that I gave up on - I really had no idea what's going on in that piece in that movement. The last movement - a very bouncy and rhythmically fast but short in period - served like a wake up call for me after those prolonged boring slow movement. It ended well, but I don't think I can agree to the author of the program notes that mentioned 'It's hard to understand why it's not a standard part of the 20th century piano concerto repertoire'. IMHO, this piece doesn't stand up to Rachmaninoff's 4th piano concerto, both of Ravel's piano concertos and Prokofiev's 3rd and 5th piano concertos. I might give it another listen - after I've found my way with music of Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Berg, Bartok - to see what I'm missing in the music.
After the interval, it is the main dish of the night and what I think everyone in the concert is going for - The Planets. Mars was exciting, if not too loud in the loudest passages. Venus was great also, with Wilma Smith and David Berlin playing their solo passages very well indeed. It was a heartfelt experience for me. Mercury was bouncy - also well played. Jupiter was full of jollity. I remembered the conductor using occasional rubato and accelerando in this piece and the result was marvelous. I think Saturn was the best of the night. The marvelous playing of the soothing melodies by the harps towards the end of the piece really moved me. Uranus was quite good. Neptune - with the women chorus not on stage! - rounded off a solid performance of the beloved suite by the orchestra. 3 or 4 curtain calls followed after a prolonged applause.
To sum up, a very interesting concert with 2 good performances in the beginning and the end of the concert and a not-so-good performance in the middle. The concert is neither at my all time worst or best concert list.
Next concert: Dvorak's 7th symphony, Mozart's piano concerto no. 21, Janacek's Sinfonietta in approximately one month
- Debussy Nocturnes
- Goossens Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
- Holst The Planets
Howard Shelley - Piano
Women of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Richard Hickox - Conductor
The story behind me attending this concert is no other than Holst's The Planets. I was practically did not care for Debussy's music at that time (2 months ago). MSO's last season concert of Debussy's Images left me sleepy. And who is Goossens? I have never heard of him. So, just for Holst's The Planets only, I got the cheapest ticket for the concert.
The way I looked at Debussy's (and Impressionist music in general) changed again after I listen to Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit and Ma Mere l'Oye. At that time, I only considered Debussy a one-hit wonder with his La Mer. I decided to change my attitude after several listening of the famous Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. And then I moved on to listen to his Nocturnes, which I did not realise was programmed in the concert until yesterday. I liked the piece in the first listening (a rarity for Debussy!), giving special credits to the second and last movement (Fetes and Sirenes). How surprised was I to find out yesterday that I can listen to it performed live by the orchestra.
Now on to the concert itself. It started with the Debussy's pieces. The performance was wonderful throughout and I noticed passages for cor anglais which I could not really identify in the recordings that I listened to. The first movement was very much sustained, but there were plenty of things happening in the piece if you listened to it closely. The second movement, describing a festival, was brilliantly played, and the last movement with the women's chorus hits it home for me. It was just brilliant. However, I felt that the piece did not get appreciated widely by the audience. Most of them looked like they are bored by the piece (which exactly what happened to me when I was in the last season Debussy's concert). Anyway, it doesn't really matter for me what the others thought of the piece. Music always affect people differently.
After some re-arrangement of the orchestra seating, we got an Australian premiere of Goossens' Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. It started out interesting, sounding very modern indeed (it was composed around 1944), then it became a tad less interesting, but it became a bit interesting again when we reached the second movement which I felt was a little jazzy. The slow movement, was the one that I gave up on - I really had no idea what's going on in that piece in that movement. The last movement - a very bouncy and rhythmically fast but short in period - served like a wake up call for me after those prolonged boring slow movement. It ended well, but I don't think I can agree to the author of the program notes that mentioned 'It's hard to understand why it's not a standard part of the 20th century piano concerto repertoire'. IMHO, this piece doesn't stand up to Rachmaninoff's 4th piano concerto, both of Ravel's piano concertos and Prokofiev's 3rd and 5th piano concertos. I might give it another listen - after I've found my way with music of Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Berg, Bartok - to see what I'm missing in the music.
After the interval, it is the main dish of the night and what I think everyone in the concert is going for - The Planets. Mars was exciting, if not too loud in the loudest passages. Venus was great also, with Wilma Smith and David Berlin playing their solo passages very well indeed. It was a heartfelt experience for me. Mercury was bouncy - also well played. Jupiter was full of jollity. I remembered the conductor using occasional rubato and accelerando in this piece and the result was marvelous. I think Saturn was the best of the night. The marvelous playing of the soothing melodies by the harps towards the end of the piece really moved me. Uranus was quite good. Neptune - with the women chorus not on stage! - rounded off a solid performance of the beloved suite by the orchestra. 3 or 4 curtain calls followed after a prolonged applause.
To sum up, a very interesting concert with 2 good performances in the beginning and the end of the concert and a not-so-good performance in the middle. The concert is neither at my all time worst or best concert list.
Next concert: Dvorak's 7th symphony, Mozart's piano concerto no. 21, Janacek's Sinfonietta in approximately one month
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