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 faure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faure. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 23 October 2009 - Serenity and Spectacle
Featuring:
- Faure Requiem
- Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 'Organ'
Antoinette Halloran Soprano
Samuel Dundas Baritone
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus - Jonathan Grieves-Smith Chorus Master
Richard Gill Conductor
Fresh from his massive all Bach works organ recital for Melbourne International Arts Festival, Calvin Bowman presented an all Bach program which I won't go to details. There are 4 pieces, BWV 680, 639, 645 (the transcription of 'Sleepers, Wake') and finally 768 which is a very long "theme and variations".
I am fond of Faure's Requiem. The serenity and peaceful nature of this piece will always be its advantages. I have probably discussed this, but I really like the 'Sanctus'; a very simple movement with simple melody with harp accompaniment; a perfect picture of what we think of as 'Heaven'. MSO and MSO chorus, under Richard Gill gave straightforward reading of it. The choir sang beautifully although I would prefer the sopranos to sing more angelic-like in the Sanctus and In Paradisum. The performance could've been more effective with better soloists though; Antoinette Halloran has a fine voice but her vibrato is probably a bit too much for the angelic 'Pie Jesu'; Samuel Dundas has a darker timbre voice than what I would've liked. I prefer a baritone with 'lighter' timbre to deliver the solo in the Offertoire and Libera Me. All of this just comes down to your personal preference.
I noticed the following things when I was following the score while listening to Faure's Requiem before the concert and confirming it in the concert: the violins are not frequently used. Viola players would absolutely love this piece as they have all the spotlights and become the main driving force of the melody most of the time (with Cello).
After the break, it's time for Saint-Saens' Organ symphony. Richard Gill's tempo was on the slow side in the first movement, and therefore I felt that the orchestra did not really jump on the momentum to push the piece forward. The second movement was different; and it was heartfelt performance. Actually, come to think about it, I always prefer the 2nd movement compared to the last big movement which starts with a big chord from the organ. Richard Gill finally pushed the tempo towards the end of the piece. Combined that with well-executed fast runs from the orchestra, a timpani being thumped out, fanfare from the brass, and a massive C chord from the organ, you'll definitely will have the audience on loud cheers.
The encore of the night is Ravel's Pavane for Dead Princess. I rue another Pavane for encore. Why can't they play like one of Saint-Saens rarely heard tone poem as the encore? Sigh.
- Faure Requiem
- Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 'Organ'
Antoinette Halloran Soprano
Samuel Dundas Baritone
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus - Jonathan Grieves-Smith Chorus Master
Richard Gill Conductor
Fresh from his massive all Bach works organ recital for Melbourne International Arts Festival, Calvin Bowman presented an all Bach program which I won't go to details. There are 4 pieces, BWV 680, 639, 645 (the transcription of 'Sleepers, Wake') and finally 768 which is a very long "theme and variations".
I am fond of Faure's Requiem. The serenity and peaceful nature of this piece will always be its advantages. I have probably discussed this, but I really like the 'Sanctus'; a very simple movement with simple melody with harp accompaniment; a perfect picture of what we think of as 'Heaven'. MSO and MSO chorus, under Richard Gill gave straightforward reading of it. The choir sang beautifully although I would prefer the sopranos to sing more angelic-like in the Sanctus and In Paradisum. The performance could've been more effective with better soloists though; Antoinette Halloran has a fine voice but her vibrato is probably a bit too much for the angelic 'Pie Jesu'; Samuel Dundas has a darker timbre voice than what I would've liked. I prefer a baritone with 'lighter' timbre to deliver the solo in the Offertoire and Libera Me. All of this just comes down to your personal preference.
I noticed the following things when I was following the score while listening to Faure's Requiem before the concert and confirming it in the concert: the violins are not frequently used. Viola players would absolutely love this piece as they have all the spotlights and become the main driving force of the melody most of the time (with Cello).
After the break, it's time for Saint-Saens' Organ symphony. Richard Gill's tempo was on the slow side in the first movement, and therefore I felt that the orchestra did not really jump on the momentum to push the piece forward. The second movement was different; and it was heartfelt performance. Actually, come to think about it, I always prefer the 2nd movement compared to the last big movement which starts with a big chord from the organ. Richard Gill finally pushed the tempo towards the end of the piece. Combined that with well-executed fast runs from the orchestra, a timpani being thumped out, fanfare from the brass, and a massive C chord from the organ, you'll definitely will have the audience on loud cheers.
The encore of the night is Ravel's Pavane for Dead Princess. I rue another Pavane for encore. Why can't they play like one of Saint-Saens rarely heard tone poem as the encore? Sigh.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Proper blog post..
I haven't been posting new music that I have discovered for a long long time. Partly because of my busy schedule, and partly because I don't feel the urge to write about them.
I joined a choir a while ago, and it changed my way of listening to choral music. After I learned to sing Mozart's requiem, now I can fully enjoy the part where I don't really like before, e.g. Domine Jesu and Hostias. Other movements became more attractive and interesting, e.g. Kyrie, Rex Tremendae, Confutatis and I found more pleasure listening to them compare to my previous experiences before joining the choir.
In the past few months or so, I've been listening to Faure's Requiem. What a great piece this is. Sure, it doesn't have the Dies Irae sequence, but the music simplicity (compare to say Verdi's or Brahms' Requiem) is simply heavenly. Most people would no doubt associate the Pie Jesu and In Paradisum when they heard about Faure's requiem. They're both fantastic movements, but the movement that I love the most is Sanctus. I can always imagine heavenly images when I heard harp arpeggios in the beginning of Sanctus. Also, being a tenor myself, I always enjoy the Tenor entry after the horn passages in the middle ('Hosanna in excelsis'). Other movements have their own charm, such as the baritone solo in Libera Me and the little 'Dies Irae' episode which sounded a bit underwhelming. As a whole, I still very much love this requiem.
The new choral music that I listened to recently is Haydn's Nelson Mass. Whoa, what a piece! I fell in love with the dramatic Kyrie the first time I listened to it. Gloria is an upbeat movement in the beginning, with memorable bass solo in the middle, and back to the same melody as the opening melody. I'm less keen on Credo, but still enjoy the 'descendit descaelis'. I guess I would be less keen on Credo in every mass if I always compare how composers set the 'Et vitam venturi' text with Beethoven's setting of the text as a massive fugue in his Missa Solemnis. Sanctus starts off solemnly before the 'Pleni Sunt Caeli' section changes the mood completely. The Benedictus is wonderful to sing at, especially during the most dramatic (IMO) in the whole piece where the trumpets and drums play fortissimo passages against the choir singing the word 'Benedictus qui venit in nomine domini' just before the 'Hosanna in excelsis' section in the end. Agnus Dei rounded up the whole work with upbeat 'dona nobis pacem'.
In piano concerto world, I'm still discovering Prokofiev's piano concertos. After the fantastic third piano concerto, I'm quite surprised with the different mood in his second piano concerto. The cadenza in the first movement is quite obvious fiendishly difficult to play, and of course the tricky running scales of the piano in the Scherzo. Heavy brass opens up the third movement and will catch a lot of people off guard. But what impressed me the most is the last movement. There's this passage around the 6 minutes mark in my recording where the piano enters after a fermata from the orchestra. The piano played a very eerie, satirical melody of the main theme. I always feel unsettled here. I don't know what to feel with the finale where it feels like the piano is arguing with the orchestra and finally had enough and ended it (and also the piece) with a big chord with the timpani in the end. A true masterpiece which made plenty of impacts to the listener!
I have also been exploring Chopin's Nocturnes - opp. 9 and 15 - . I very much prefer op. 9 nocturnes to op. 15 due to their more memorable melody and elegance. Op. 9 No. 2 and No. 3 are my favourites among these six nocturnes (3 each from both sets). For me, Ballade No. 3 is rediscovered when I listened to Cortot playing it in the EMI set. Whoa, what difference he brought to the piece! Just a couple of seconds in the beginning and I know that his playing is going to change how I think about this piece. His playing of other ballades is wonderful as well, do yourself a favour and get the recording of Cortot playing the ballades! They're so different (yet feel so right) than the other ballades that I've listened so far (Rubinstein, Zimmerman, and Richter).
Finally, I'll round up by just mentioning the 5th symphony of Dvorak. A very much underrated work with plenty of beautiful melodies. I loved it when Dvorak brought back the main theme of the first movement in the very end of the piece where it was played by one of the brass (trumpet?). That moment always made me very happy. The 2nd and 3rd movements are good fun as well. You might recall Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto in the opening 4 notes of the 2nd movement of this symphony (I noticed this courtesy of Wikipedia).
Until next time when I have listened to more interesting music and have the mood to write more about them.
I joined a choir a while ago, and it changed my way of listening to choral music. After I learned to sing Mozart's requiem, now I can fully enjoy the part where I don't really like before, e.g. Domine Jesu and Hostias. Other movements became more attractive and interesting, e.g. Kyrie, Rex Tremendae, Confutatis and I found more pleasure listening to them compare to my previous experiences before joining the choir.
In the past few months or so, I've been listening to Faure's Requiem. What a great piece this is. Sure, it doesn't have the Dies Irae sequence, but the music simplicity (compare to say Verdi's or Brahms' Requiem) is simply heavenly. Most people would no doubt associate the Pie Jesu and In Paradisum when they heard about Faure's requiem. They're both fantastic movements, but the movement that I love the most is Sanctus. I can always imagine heavenly images when I heard harp arpeggios in the beginning of Sanctus. Also, being a tenor myself, I always enjoy the Tenor entry after the horn passages in the middle ('Hosanna in excelsis'). Other movements have their own charm, such as the baritone solo in Libera Me and the little 'Dies Irae' episode which sounded a bit underwhelming. As a whole, I still very much love this requiem.
The new choral music that I listened to recently is Haydn's Nelson Mass. Whoa, what a piece! I fell in love with the dramatic Kyrie the first time I listened to it. Gloria is an upbeat movement in the beginning, with memorable bass solo in the middle, and back to the same melody as the opening melody. I'm less keen on Credo, but still enjoy the 'descendit descaelis'. I guess I would be less keen on Credo in every mass if I always compare how composers set the 'Et vitam venturi' text with Beethoven's setting of the text as a massive fugue in his Missa Solemnis. Sanctus starts off solemnly before the 'Pleni Sunt Caeli' section changes the mood completely. The Benedictus is wonderful to sing at, especially during the most dramatic (IMO) in the whole piece where the trumpets and drums play fortissimo passages against the choir singing the word 'Benedictus qui venit in nomine domini' just before the 'Hosanna in excelsis' section in the end. Agnus Dei rounded up the whole work with upbeat 'dona nobis pacem'.
In piano concerto world, I'm still discovering Prokofiev's piano concertos. After the fantastic third piano concerto, I'm quite surprised with the different mood in his second piano concerto. The cadenza in the first movement is quite obvious fiendishly difficult to play, and of course the tricky running scales of the piano in the Scherzo. Heavy brass opens up the third movement and will catch a lot of people off guard. But what impressed me the most is the last movement. There's this passage around the 6 minutes mark in my recording where the piano enters after a fermata from the orchestra. The piano played a very eerie, satirical melody of the main theme. I always feel unsettled here. I don't know what to feel with the finale where it feels like the piano is arguing with the orchestra and finally had enough and ended it (and also the piece) with a big chord with the timpani in the end. A true masterpiece which made plenty of impacts to the listener!
I have also been exploring Chopin's Nocturnes - opp. 9 and 15 - . I very much prefer op. 9 nocturnes to op. 15 due to their more memorable melody and elegance. Op. 9 No. 2 and No. 3 are my favourites among these six nocturnes (3 each from both sets). For me, Ballade No. 3 is rediscovered when I listened to Cortot playing it in the EMI set. Whoa, what difference he brought to the piece! Just a couple of seconds in the beginning and I know that his playing is going to change how I think about this piece. His playing of other ballades is wonderful as well, do yourself a favour and get the recording of Cortot playing the ballades! They're so different (yet feel so right) than the other ballades that I've listened so far (Rubinstein, Zimmerman, and Richter).
Finally, I'll round up by just mentioning the 5th symphony of Dvorak. A very much underrated work with plenty of beautiful melodies. I loved it when Dvorak brought back the main theme of the first movement in the very end of the piece where it was played by one of the brass (trumpet?). That moment always made me very happy. The 2nd and 3rd movements are good fun as well. You might recall Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto in the opening 4 notes of the 2nd movement of this symphony (I noticed this courtesy of Wikipedia).
Until next time when I have listened to more interesting music and have the mood to write more about them.
Friday, 28 September 2007
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 28 September 2007 - Organ Spectacular
Featuring:
- Howard Hanson Elegy in Memory of Serge Koussevitzky
- Richard Mills Soundscapes for Percussion and Orchestra
- Camille Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 'Organ'
Richard Mills - Conductor
Claire Edwardes - Percussion
Calvin Bowman - Organ
To be honest, I went to this concert because of the Organ Symphony. Got my ticket on the day of the performances and there's really not much seats left to choose from although I really wanted to get a seat in the balcony. In the end, I sat at the second last row of the hall - Melbourne Town Hall -. As a result, I couldn't see the whole orchestra clearly, but that's to be expected from the cheapest ticket.
There was an organ recital before the concert, featuring works by Bach, Liszt and Graeme Koehne - a living Australian composer apparently -. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E flat has typical Bach's melody with some of passages resembled much of the first movement of his second Brandenburg Concerto - I think -. Liszt's Consolation in D flat impressed me the most out of the whole piece performed. This strikes me because I think Liszt is a not-so-good composer. Koehne' Gothic Toccata starts out slow and soft only to develop into an abrupt and very - VERY - loud piece. An old lady sitting beside me even covered her ears during the very end of the piece. She said, "It reminds me of factory sound or rail train". It looks like she had some bad memories on that topic and she was trying to stop the organ sound reaching her ears - a futile effort. Despite that, I kinda like the piece and I think it will be very fitting for a war or battle scene in the movie. By the way, the organist is Calvin Bowman, he also played the organ part in Saint-Saens symphony later.
And now the main program, the concert starts with Howard Hanson's elegy. A piece written in memory of his friend and great conductor - Serge Koussevitzky, the piece was good. It has this simple melody that I unfortunately have forgotten (Sorry Hanson!), that keeps reappearing in the elegy representing the deceased great conductor. The audience's reception was not very enthusiastic - the conductor did not appear the second time after he went backstage as the applause died down shortly after it started.
Now the second program - a work composed by the conductor. The lovely soloist, Claire Edwardes took the stage and literally blazed through the piece written as a concerto for percussion. She played at least 7 or 8 different instruments in total, some of them I didn't even recognise. The concert is full of virtuosity showmanship, fast passages in xylophone and tambourine and in one movement, she played the drums faster than a professional rock or band drummer - no kidding. The concerto also featured plenty of musical sound that represents the sounds of 'bull-frogs and crickets at night in Brisbane gardens'. A wonderful piece and audience seemed to be thrilled by the soloist's performance. Long applause followed.
Last program, the highlight of the night - Organ Symphony. The first movement was slightly slower than the recordings that I'm familiar with but was very well-played. The second movement is the best moment of the concert for me, I shivered throughout the whole movement. Again, it was a tad slower than the recordings that I know but that's what makes the difference - I enjoyed every single note of that movement. Also, I noticed the sweet organ part in that movement which I never know its existence in the recordings. The rest of the symphony is played brilliantly by the orchestra. My slight complaint was the timpani strikes at the end of the symphony wasn't as loud as I wanted it to be. The organ completely overpowered the poor timpani and as a result the timpani wasn't exactly highlighted during that time - which I very much like to be the case. The audience then erupted after the end of the symphony and after quite a long applause, we were given an encore - the famous Faure's Pavane.
Summing up, a very fun and memorable night. Not happy with the seating - I should've gotten a balcony seat to have a better view of the orchestra. The programs were well-played and very enjoyable. Live orchestral music is still worth going. And this concert was almost full-house (99% of the seats are occupied) - the 'crowdiest' concert I've been to.
Next concert: Schumann's piano concerto - next week!
- Howard Hanson Elegy in Memory of Serge Koussevitzky
- Richard Mills Soundscapes for Percussion and Orchestra
- Camille Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 'Organ'
Richard Mills - Conductor
Claire Edwardes - Percussion
Calvin Bowman - Organ
To be honest, I went to this concert because of the Organ Symphony. Got my ticket on the day of the performances and there's really not much seats left to choose from although I really wanted to get a seat in the balcony. In the end, I sat at the second last row of the hall - Melbourne Town Hall -. As a result, I couldn't see the whole orchestra clearly, but that's to be expected from the cheapest ticket.
There was an organ recital before the concert, featuring works by Bach, Liszt and Graeme Koehne - a living Australian composer apparently -. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E flat has typical Bach's melody with some of passages resembled much of the first movement of his second Brandenburg Concerto - I think -. Liszt's Consolation in D flat impressed me the most out of the whole piece performed. This strikes me because I think Liszt is a not-so-good composer. Koehne' Gothic Toccata starts out slow and soft only to develop into an abrupt and very - VERY - loud piece. An old lady sitting beside me even covered her ears during the very end of the piece. She said, "It reminds me of factory sound or rail train". It looks like she had some bad memories on that topic and she was trying to stop the organ sound reaching her ears - a futile effort. Despite that, I kinda like the piece and I think it will be very fitting for a war or battle scene in the movie. By the way, the organist is Calvin Bowman, he also played the organ part in Saint-Saens symphony later.
And now the main program, the concert starts with Howard Hanson's elegy. A piece written in memory of his friend and great conductor - Serge Koussevitzky, the piece was good. It has this simple melody that I unfortunately have forgotten (Sorry Hanson!), that keeps reappearing in the elegy representing the deceased great conductor. The audience's reception was not very enthusiastic - the conductor did not appear the second time after he went backstage as the applause died down shortly after it started.
Now the second program - a work composed by the conductor. The lovely soloist, Claire Edwardes took the stage and literally blazed through the piece written as a concerto for percussion. She played at least 7 or 8 different instruments in total, some of them I didn't even recognise. The concert is full of virtuosity showmanship, fast passages in xylophone and tambourine and in one movement, she played the drums faster than a professional rock or band drummer - no kidding. The concerto also featured plenty of musical sound that represents the sounds of 'bull-frogs and crickets at night in Brisbane gardens'. A wonderful piece and audience seemed to be thrilled by the soloist's performance. Long applause followed.
Last program, the highlight of the night - Organ Symphony. The first movement was slightly slower than the recordings that I'm familiar with but was very well-played. The second movement is the best moment of the concert for me, I shivered throughout the whole movement. Again, it was a tad slower than the recordings that I know but that's what makes the difference - I enjoyed every single note of that movement. Also, I noticed the sweet organ part in that movement which I never know its existence in the recordings. The rest of the symphony is played brilliantly by the orchestra. My slight complaint was the timpani strikes at the end of the symphony wasn't as loud as I wanted it to be. The organ completely overpowered the poor timpani and as a result the timpani wasn't exactly highlighted during that time - which I very much like to be the case. The audience then erupted after the end of the symphony and after quite a long applause, we were given an encore - the famous Faure's Pavane.
Summing up, a very fun and memorable night. Not happy with the seating - I should've gotten a balcony seat to have a better view of the orchestra. The programs were well-played and very enjoyable. Live orchestral music is still worth going. And this concert was almost full-house (99% of the seats are occupied) - the 'crowdiest' concert I've been to.
Next concert: Schumann's piano concerto - next week!
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