Featuring:
- Mendelssohn Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage overture
- Schumann Cello Concerto
- Schumann Introduction and allegro appassionato
- Brahms Symphony No. 3
Li-Wei Qin - Cello
Amir Farid - Piano
Johannes Fritzsch - Conductor
Sorry, a very late review this time - I have been quite busy with my life in general lately. When I got my MSO brochure last year, this program is supposed to be a tribute to Schumann - titled Schumann panorama - , conducted by Oleg Caetani. We know what happened to Caetani, and subsequently replaced a Schumann overture and 4th symphony with the least well known Mendelssohn's concert overture, and Brahms' 3rd symphony.
I haven't listened to Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage before, apart from knowing that it's quoted in Elgar's Enigma Variations. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to discover this little gem of Mendelssohn's. Suspension notes dominates the slower 'Calm Sea' episode with occasional rumbles from the Cellos painting a perfect picture of an unknown condition of what you can find beyond the calmness of the sea. The faster 'Prosperous Voyage' section was brilliantly orchestrated with strong timpani presence towards the end. The very end of the piece must have caught everybody by surprise, with an elegant phrase reminding us again about the whole journey. The program notes is so right, it's very poetic! Good performance by the orchestra with the conductor dancing here and there.
I have never really warmed up to Schumann's Cello Concerto. The first movement is very hard to follow, even though I've listened to this piece for around 10 times in the last year or so. I'm glad to find out that I'm not the only one with this problem - Rohan de Korte, an MSO cellist voices the same opinion as well. I enjoy the beautiful second movement - in which Li-Wei showed off his gorgeous tone. While I cannot say I thoroughly enjoyed this performance of an awkward Cello Concerto, I can definitely say that I enjoyed the encore Li-Wei gave. Playing a gypsy music with Andrew Moon (MSO's double bass), they both showed flashes of virtuosity in a light-hearted humorous music.
In contrast to his Cello Concerto, Schumann's not-so-well-known Introdution and allegro appassionato is a piece that I enjoyed a lot, esp. the recording by Richter in DG. Written for a piano solo and an orchestra, it's sort of like a mini piano concerto, lacking a slow movement. Amir Farid gave a good performance of it, but both him and the orchestra was less successful in bringing the poetic side of the piece to the surface. Still, it's good to see a fine piece being performed (for the first time by MSO apparently).
I have mentioned several times that Brahms' 3rd symphony is my least favourite symphony of his. Listening to this performance, I need someone to smack in the head to remind me why I don't enjoy this symphony as much as the other 3. It's gorgeous, beautifully crafted and orchestrated, rich of melody contents in the inner movements, and so majestic in the outer movements. I was literally overwhelmed with a performance of Brahms 3 by MSO conducted by Thomas Zehetmair in the Recital Centre last year. I didn't expect that special performance to be repeated again, and I was glad expecting less this time. While the flashes of that brilliant performance was there in this performance, it never reaches the emotional high points this time around, especially in the last movement. Still, you can't help yourself but be amazed with Brahms' skills in orchestration when listening to his symphonies.
Showing posts with label mendelssohn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mendelssohn. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 4 June 2010 - Mozart Magic
Featuring:
- Mozart Cosi fan tutti: Overture
- Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
- Mendelssohn Capriccio brilliant for Piano and Orchestra
- Haydn Symphony No. 96 'Miracle'
Howard Shelley - Piano/Conductor
First Town Hall Proms this year. And Town Hall Proms = Organ recital by Calvin Bowman. That night he played Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29 Wir danken dir, Gott which turned out to be the arrangement of the famous Preludio from the 3rd Partita for solo violin. Next on the offering was Mendelssohn's Third Organ Sonata in A major, Op. 65. I enjoyed this 2 movements piece very much, the first movement sounded like a majestic Bach chorale, and the second movement more introspective in nature, and calming. Franck's rather lengthy and less interesting piece Chorale No. 3 in A minor closed the recital.
The title of this concert is your usual cheesy marketing programming, "Mozart Magic", and would infer that the night triumph would belong to Mozart's music. Sadly, it's Haydn's music who stole the show for the night.
Mozart's overture to Cosi fan Tutti started the concert, but the MSO was just getting warmed up for the night. While the woodwinds passages are beautifully rendered, the performance in general lacked energy, and the strings sounded muffled. It's a good performance, and yet there's nothing so memorable about it. After this short piece, the members of the orchestra stood up to have the seat arrangements fixed up. A piano is needed for the next piece and this which should have been clear from the program was apparently not so clear after all for a patron sitting behind me which uttered quite loudly, "what? that's it?". Anyway, Howard Shelley came back stage and with the piano positioned so that the audience faces the performer's back, explained the reason of this awkward position and also the glass cover that replaces the piano lid on the piano. To be succinct, the glass is so that he can see the woodwinds section, and help with the clarity and the acoustics of the hall. He also talked a little bit of Mozart's composition which was composed during the same period. He also played some excerpt of Mozart's 19th, 21st, 23rd, and 24th piano concertos.
After all that, he finally started the concerto. MSO was better here, but still lacking punch (for my taste). I always associate the d minor key signature to pieces with high tension. On top of my head, I can name Mozart's Requiem, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Brahms' 1st piano concerto, 2nd movement of Brahms' 2nd piano concerto, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mahler's 3rd Symphony, Sibelius' violin concerto, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Bach's Chaconne for solo violin, Schumann's 4th symphony, Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto, Dvorak's 4th and 7th symphonies. All of them are masterpieces which are famous for their high tension. My disappointment is that MSO did not play these high tension passages as tense as they could be played, the string attacks are not furious enough, I might say that they played the music just a bit fierce compared to how they would play a major key classical symphony, where I would have liked VERY FIERCE. Anyway, that's only my problem. The piano playing was fine, I enjoyed the beautiful 2nd movement a lot, although the contrasting episode was rather tame. Howard played Beethoven's cadenza for the 1st movement, as he did for the last movement. I like Howard's phrasings in general, and he did take some liberty in changing some notes in the 2nd movement to my fascination. The piano's clarity was much better this time, maybe because of the fact that it's a brand new concert grand piano just shipped from Hamburg (as told by Howard)?
Mendelssohn's piece was okay, but I couldn't say I enjoyed the performance very much. I enjoyed the arpeggios that started the piece, but from there it all went downhill. There were some passages in the piece that reminded me of one of Mendelssohn's own piano concertos, but I couldn't remember which one.
Finally, some remarkable playing from the orchestra. Howard brought some wits and energy to Haydn symphony which he didn't for the other programs that night. The highlights were a graceful minuet in the 3rd movement with the long oboe solo. The finale was played as marked, 'Vivace assai', the best moment of the night for me, really. And as always, a wise lesson for newcomers to Town Hall Proms: there's always encore after. You can kinda see it when David Thomas (principal clarinet) running back to the stage. I wondered what would happen if the audience didn't really like the performance and the planned encore would not go ahead simply because the applause is not long enough :). Anyway, Howard teased the audience if they would like some romantic music to end the night, and offered Sibelius' Valse Triste, but unfortunately, despite beautiful playing, no one seemed to take Howard's suggestion to waltz to this music in the concert hall.
Next concert: ACO playing 2 of my favourite symphonies: Schubert's Unfinished symphony, and Brahms' majestic 1st symphony.
- Mozart Cosi fan tutti: Overture
- Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
- Mendelssohn Capriccio brilliant for Piano and Orchestra
- Haydn Symphony No. 96 'Miracle'
Howard Shelley - Piano/Conductor
First Town Hall Proms this year. And Town Hall Proms = Organ recital by Calvin Bowman. That night he played Sinfonia from Cantata No. 29 Wir danken dir, Gott which turned out to be the arrangement of the famous Preludio from the 3rd Partita for solo violin. Next on the offering was Mendelssohn's Third Organ Sonata in A major, Op. 65. I enjoyed this 2 movements piece very much, the first movement sounded like a majestic Bach chorale, and the second movement more introspective in nature, and calming. Franck's rather lengthy and less interesting piece Chorale No. 3 in A minor closed the recital.
The title of this concert is your usual cheesy marketing programming, "Mozart Magic", and would infer that the night triumph would belong to Mozart's music. Sadly, it's Haydn's music who stole the show for the night.
Mozart's overture to Cosi fan Tutti started the concert, but the MSO was just getting warmed up for the night. While the woodwinds passages are beautifully rendered, the performance in general lacked energy, and the strings sounded muffled. It's a good performance, and yet there's nothing so memorable about it. After this short piece, the members of the orchestra stood up to have the seat arrangements fixed up. A piano is needed for the next piece and this which should have been clear from the program was apparently not so clear after all for a patron sitting behind me which uttered quite loudly, "what? that's it?". Anyway, Howard Shelley came back stage and with the piano positioned so that the audience faces the performer's back, explained the reason of this awkward position and also the glass cover that replaces the piano lid on the piano. To be succinct, the glass is so that he can see the woodwinds section, and help with the clarity and the acoustics of the hall. He also talked a little bit of Mozart's composition which was composed during the same period. He also played some excerpt of Mozart's 19th, 21st, 23rd, and 24th piano concertos.
After all that, he finally started the concerto. MSO was better here, but still lacking punch (for my taste). I always associate the d minor key signature to pieces with high tension. On top of my head, I can name Mozart's Requiem, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Brahms' 1st piano concerto, 2nd movement of Brahms' 2nd piano concerto, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mahler's 3rd Symphony, Sibelius' violin concerto, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Bach's Chaconne for solo violin, Schumann's 4th symphony, Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto, Dvorak's 4th and 7th symphonies. All of them are masterpieces which are famous for their high tension. My disappointment is that MSO did not play these high tension passages as tense as they could be played, the string attacks are not furious enough, I might say that they played the music just a bit fierce compared to how they would play a major key classical symphony, where I would have liked VERY FIERCE. Anyway, that's only my problem. The piano playing was fine, I enjoyed the beautiful 2nd movement a lot, although the contrasting episode was rather tame. Howard played Beethoven's cadenza for the 1st movement, as he did for the last movement. I like Howard's phrasings in general, and he did take some liberty in changing some notes in the 2nd movement to my fascination. The piano's clarity was much better this time, maybe because of the fact that it's a brand new concert grand piano just shipped from Hamburg (as told by Howard)?
Mendelssohn's piece was okay, but I couldn't say I enjoyed the performance very much. I enjoyed the arpeggios that started the piece, but from there it all went downhill. There were some passages in the piece that reminded me of one of Mendelssohn's own piano concertos, but I couldn't remember which one.
Finally, some remarkable playing from the orchestra. Howard brought some wits and energy to Haydn symphony which he didn't for the other programs that night. The highlights were a graceful minuet in the 3rd movement with the long oboe solo. The finale was played as marked, 'Vivace assai', the best moment of the night for me, really. And as always, a wise lesson for newcomers to Town Hall Proms: there's always encore after. You can kinda see it when David Thomas (principal clarinet) running back to the stage. I wondered what would happen if the audience didn't really like the performance and the planned encore would not go ahead simply because the applause is not long enough :). Anyway, Howard teased the audience if they would like some romantic music to end the night, and offered Sibelius' Valse Triste, but unfortunately, despite beautiful playing, no one seemed to take Howard's suggestion to waltz to this music in the concert hall.
Next concert: ACO playing 2 of my favourite symphonies: Schubert's Unfinished symphony, and Brahms' majestic 1st symphony.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Australian Chamber Orchestra concert 13 September 2009 - Marwood, Mozart & Mendelssohn
Featuring:
- Mozart Serenata notturna, K. 239
- John Kinsella Prelude and Toccata - Australian Premiere
- Mendelssohn Sinfonia No. 12 in G minor
- Carl Vine XX
- Schumann Cello concerto (arr. as Violin Concerto by Orlando Jopling) - Australian Premiere
- Osvaldo Golijov - Last Round (first movement)
In contrast to the MSO concert which I was very much looking forward to yesterday, this ACO concert is at the bottom of my excitement list out of ACO concerts this season. There are several reasons to this: (1) I don't know any of the music advertised apart from Schumann's Cello concerto - which is not my favourite cello concerto. (2) Compositions by young Mozart and Mendelssohn are usually, simply put, boring. (3) I have never heard about Kinsella. (4) Schumann Cello Concerto transcribed as Violin Concerto for some reason, doesn't appeal much to me. Despite all of these reasons, this concert proved that I was a fool to prejudge music before listening to them and I enjoyed this concert immensely. Add to that, ACO actually played 2 more programs (Carl Vine's and Golijov's pieces) than the advertised program in the season brochure. Good on them!
Mozart's youth work, Serenata notturna, K. 239 opened up the concert. From the bouncy opening rhythms, quite similar to his 4th Violin Concerto I should point out, this piece delights the audience by its playful main theme which comes back several times in the first movement. Scored for strings and timpani, it's very captivating to listen to the timpani sound contrasted against the rest of the strings. Particularly striking is the timpani solo played on top of pizzicato strings. While the 2nd movement is charming with a lovely trio for string quartet accompanied by the rest of the orchestra, I'm sure the audience will remember the last movement the most. The main theme, which was stated a couple of times in this Rondo movement, is followed by several dramatic pauses, in which the leader of each section would improvise playing musical jokes on their own or play little duets, trios, or even quartets amongst them. My favourites are the double bass and the timpani improvisations. The good thing about these improvisations is that most audience understand that they're supposed to be jokes, and gave a few chuckles after each improvisation.
After the playful and light-hearted Mozart, we're treated with John Kinsella's Prelude and Toccata. A much more serious tone piece, I was really impressed with the Toccata section in which seemingly endless ostinato passages full of running semiquavers are played with extreme contrast of each other, sometimes pianissimo, other times fortissimo. This piece certainly requires a considerable virtuosity from every orchestra players and ACO nailed every fugal-like entry to perfection. The big question mark of unresolved chord that ended the piece is the only bar of music that I don't really like from this piece.
Probably the weakest performance of this concert is of Mendelssohn's String Symphony No. 12. I'm not really fond of the fugue in the first movement of the piece, but I enjoyed the 2nd movement immensely due to the creative writing of a solo viola and cello playing a counter melody against the main theme of the movement played by the rest of the strings. The final movement is fast paced, ending with breakneck speed in the coda and the work ended with the same 3 notes of the first movement of Mozart's 40th Symphony, which is written in the same key (a tribute from Mendelssohn?)
Carl Vine's XX (pronounced eiks-eiks) is a piece written for a solo violin and strings. Marwood stepped in as the solo violin, playing a short passage, echoed by the orchestra, another passage (more complex this time), another echo, and yet another passage (and even more complex) and echo. After that, the solo violin plays a rhapsody-like passage on top of the orchestra accompaniment before it joins back with the orchestra playing unison. Rhythmic is an accurate word to describe this piece and there's even a passage so similar to the opening of Stravinsky's march in the Rite of Spring (right after the introduction). You can watch an ABC short news about this piece here. The Stravinsky bit that I was referring to is played by the orchestra at 01:45 mark. As you can gather from the ABC feature, Carl Vine meant this piece to be a tongue-in-cheek piece, and the end of this piece is a rather unexpected musical joke.
The advertised heart of this concert is Schumann's Cello Concerto arranged as Violin Concerto and reduced set of instruments (no woodwinds or brass). Marwood played the solo part beautifully without going too overly sentimental. I loved the duets between the violin solo and the principal cello in the second movement, while at the same time feeling slightly awkward with woodwind melodies played by the strings. In the finale, Marwood's gorgeous playing and tone really enhanced the enjoyment of those highly lyrical passages. Murray Black wrote a very good review on this in The Australian.
Finally, the audience was served with the first movement of Golijov's Last Round. The marking of this Argentinian composer is an interesting one: Movido, urgente: Macho, cool and dangerous in the program notes. The whole work is based on this simple theme, which was varied with different rhythm, tempo, texture, and colour. As a musical portrayal of a wild tango, ACO attacked this music in a similar fashion with plenty of energy without losing their focus. A great performance to end the concert.
Summing up, I enjoyed this concert very much. ACO's wonderful programming really shone through here with audience being lead away from their comfort zone to try listening to some more challenging works. This would probably convince me enough to renew my subscription next year.
- Mozart Serenata notturna, K. 239
- John Kinsella Prelude and Toccata - Australian Premiere
- Mendelssohn Sinfonia No. 12 in G minor
- Carl Vine XX
- Schumann Cello concerto (arr. as Violin Concerto by Orlando Jopling) - Australian Premiere
- Osvaldo Golijov - Last Round (first movement)
In contrast to the MSO concert which I was very much looking forward to yesterday, this ACO concert is at the bottom of my excitement list out of ACO concerts this season. There are several reasons to this: (1) I don't know any of the music advertised apart from Schumann's Cello concerto - which is not my favourite cello concerto. (2) Compositions by young Mozart and Mendelssohn are usually, simply put, boring. (3) I have never heard about Kinsella. (4) Schumann Cello Concerto transcribed as Violin Concerto for some reason, doesn't appeal much to me. Despite all of these reasons, this concert proved that I was a fool to prejudge music before listening to them and I enjoyed this concert immensely. Add to that, ACO actually played 2 more programs (Carl Vine's and Golijov's pieces) than the advertised program in the season brochure. Good on them!
Mozart's youth work, Serenata notturna, K. 239 opened up the concert. From the bouncy opening rhythms, quite similar to his 4th Violin Concerto I should point out, this piece delights the audience by its playful main theme which comes back several times in the first movement. Scored for strings and timpani, it's very captivating to listen to the timpani sound contrasted against the rest of the strings. Particularly striking is the timpani solo played on top of pizzicato strings. While the 2nd movement is charming with a lovely trio for string quartet accompanied by the rest of the orchestra, I'm sure the audience will remember the last movement the most. The main theme, which was stated a couple of times in this Rondo movement, is followed by several dramatic pauses, in which the leader of each section would improvise playing musical jokes on their own or play little duets, trios, or even quartets amongst them. My favourites are the double bass and the timpani improvisations. The good thing about these improvisations is that most audience understand that they're supposed to be jokes, and gave a few chuckles after each improvisation.
After the playful and light-hearted Mozart, we're treated with John Kinsella's Prelude and Toccata. A much more serious tone piece, I was really impressed with the Toccata section in which seemingly endless ostinato passages full of running semiquavers are played with extreme contrast of each other, sometimes pianissimo, other times fortissimo. This piece certainly requires a considerable virtuosity from every orchestra players and ACO nailed every fugal-like entry to perfection. The big question mark of unresolved chord that ended the piece is the only bar of music that I don't really like from this piece.
Probably the weakest performance of this concert is of Mendelssohn's String Symphony No. 12. I'm not really fond of the fugue in the first movement of the piece, but I enjoyed the 2nd movement immensely due to the creative writing of a solo viola and cello playing a counter melody against the main theme of the movement played by the rest of the strings. The final movement is fast paced, ending with breakneck speed in the coda and the work ended with the same 3 notes of the first movement of Mozart's 40th Symphony, which is written in the same key (a tribute from Mendelssohn?)
Carl Vine's XX (pronounced eiks-eiks) is a piece written for a solo violin and strings. Marwood stepped in as the solo violin, playing a short passage, echoed by the orchestra, another passage (more complex this time), another echo, and yet another passage (and even more complex) and echo. After that, the solo violin plays a rhapsody-like passage on top of the orchestra accompaniment before it joins back with the orchestra playing unison. Rhythmic is an accurate word to describe this piece and there's even a passage so similar to the opening of Stravinsky's march in the Rite of Spring (right after the introduction). You can watch an ABC short news about this piece here. The Stravinsky bit that I was referring to is played by the orchestra at 01:45 mark. As you can gather from the ABC feature, Carl Vine meant this piece to be a tongue-in-cheek piece, and the end of this piece is a rather unexpected musical joke.
The advertised heart of this concert is Schumann's Cello Concerto arranged as Violin Concerto and reduced set of instruments (no woodwinds or brass). Marwood played the solo part beautifully without going too overly sentimental. I loved the duets between the violin solo and the principal cello in the second movement, while at the same time feeling slightly awkward with woodwind melodies played by the strings. In the finale, Marwood's gorgeous playing and tone really enhanced the enjoyment of those highly lyrical passages. Murray Black wrote a very good review on this in The Australian.
Finally, the audience was served with the first movement of Golijov's Last Round. The marking of this Argentinian composer is an interesting one: Movido, urgente: Macho, cool and dangerous in the program notes. The whole work is based on this simple theme, which was varied with different rhythm, tempo, texture, and colour. As a musical portrayal of a wild tango, ACO attacked this music in a similar fashion with plenty of energy without losing their focus. A great performance to end the concert.
Summing up, I enjoyed this concert very much. ACO's wonderful programming really shone through here with audience being lead away from their comfort zone to try listening to some more challenging works. This would probably convince me enough to renew my subscription next year.
Friday, 26 June 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 26 June 2009 - The Dance of Life
Featuring:
- Mendelssohn Ruy Blas: Overture
- Mendelssohn Concerto for Two Pianos in E major
- Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
Silver-Garburg - Piano Duo
Yan Pascal Tortelier - Conductor
Before attending this concert, I had a few drinks and let's just say that it is something to be avoided in future concerts. As a consequence of that, I couldn't concentrate properly on the first half of the concert. It's so unfortunate as Mendelssohn is one of my favourite composer. That being said, based on my half-concentration, I don't think Ruy Blas overture is as interesting as the other famous overtures by Mendelssohn. It has its moments, but not as memorable as the other overtures. I was looking forward to the performance of the concerto for two pianos, but it ended up being an okay performance with muddy sound from the orchestra. The third movement was the the movement that I enjoyed the most. Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg then gave a wonderful encore which snapped me out from doziness: a four-hand piano performance of Stravinksy's Russian Dance from Petrouchka. Click here if you feel like watching a performance of it. They took the piece faster, played better, and better in-sync to each other than the pair in the video.
Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances is not one of my favourite works out of his symphonic outputs. I thought it was not too memorable, doesn't have the 'it' tune. But, I gladly changed my mind after today's performance. Tortelier's has wonderful insight to this piece and I noticed what's missing in the recording that I have. Those missing pieces made a big difference in enjoyment of listening to this piece. I was intrigued by Tortelier's treatment of the first theme of the funny marking 'Non-allegro' movement. Instead of driving the marching rhythm it fast, he took it quite slow, and therefore revealing something that has been missing in my recording of the piece: the Dies Irae motif. Wonderful attacks from MSO winds helped too! The brass that opens the second movement is quite unusual.I don't think I would ever associate a Waltz movement with brass instruments. But they too soon gave away to waltzing rhythm in string pizzicatos. Finally, Tortelier let loose and drive the orchestra to its capability, unleashing a rousing finale. Fine playing from the orchestra enhanced the excitement. But, what I commend the most from the performance is Tortelier's ability to make me appreciate every moment in the piece which I normally found boring.
Despite my concentration lapse in the first half, the concert made me leaving the concert hall in upbeat mood. Tortelier is a wonderful conductor, and I'm impressed with him conducting Symphonic Dances without both the score and the baton. I would love to see him back conducting MSO in the future.
Finally, MSO (or the Arts Centre) did something stupid with the program notes. Instead of leaving those program notes outside in the foyer area, they kept them on a special stand. This is all fine, but the moronic part is they kept the stand behind the hall's doors! Therefore, people can't get a copy of the programs to read before the doors are opened which usually happened 15 minutes before the performance.
Next concert: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Should be great.
- Mendelssohn Ruy Blas: Overture
- Mendelssohn Concerto for Two Pianos in E major
- Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
Silver-Garburg - Piano Duo
Yan Pascal Tortelier - Conductor
Before attending this concert, I had a few drinks and let's just say that it is something to be avoided in future concerts. As a consequence of that, I couldn't concentrate properly on the first half of the concert. It's so unfortunate as Mendelssohn is one of my favourite composer. That being said, based on my half-concentration, I don't think Ruy Blas overture is as interesting as the other famous overtures by Mendelssohn. It has its moments, but not as memorable as the other overtures. I was looking forward to the performance of the concerto for two pianos, but it ended up being an okay performance with muddy sound from the orchestra. The third movement was the the movement that I enjoyed the most. Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg then gave a wonderful encore which snapped me out from doziness: a four-hand piano performance of Stravinksy's Russian Dance from Petrouchka. Click here if you feel like watching a performance of it. They took the piece faster, played better, and better in-sync to each other than the pair in the video.
Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances is not one of my favourite works out of his symphonic outputs. I thought it was not too memorable, doesn't have the 'it' tune. But, I gladly changed my mind after today's performance. Tortelier's has wonderful insight to this piece and I noticed what's missing in the recording that I have. Those missing pieces made a big difference in enjoyment of listening to this piece. I was intrigued by Tortelier's treatment of the first theme of the funny marking 'Non-allegro' movement. Instead of driving the marching rhythm it fast, he took it quite slow, and therefore revealing something that has been missing in my recording of the piece: the Dies Irae motif. Wonderful attacks from MSO winds helped too! The brass that opens the second movement is quite unusual.I don't think I would ever associate a Waltz movement with brass instruments. But they too soon gave away to waltzing rhythm in string pizzicatos. Finally, Tortelier let loose and drive the orchestra to its capability, unleashing a rousing finale. Fine playing from the orchestra enhanced the excitement. But, what I commend the most from the performance is Tortelier's ability to make me appreciate every moment in the piece which I normally found boring.
Despite my concentration lapse in the first half, the concert made me leaving the concert hall in upbeat mood. Tortelier is a wonderful conductor, and I'm impressed with him conducting Symphonic Dances without both the score and the baton. I would love to see him back conducting MSO in the future.
Finally, MSO (or the Arts Centre) did something stupid with the program notes. Instead of leaving those program notes outside in the foyer area, they kept them on a special stand. This is all fine, but the moronic part is they kept the stand behind the hall's doors! Therefore, people can't get a copy of the programs to read before the doors are opened which usually happened 15 minutes before the performance.
Next concert: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Should be great.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 15 May 2009 - Dream
Featuring:
- Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture
- Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
- Tchaikovsky Selections from The Nutcracker and Swan Lake
Alexey Yemtsov - Piano
Andrew Grams - Conductor
Tonight was a very very memorable night. Despite the corniness of the concert title, the relatively light music, and my low expectation of Tchaikovsky's ballet music treated seriously - one man changed all of that: the conductor Andrew Grams. I will talk more about it later.
Let's start with our usual organ recital by Calvin Bowman. I arrived 5 seconds late, and I can see the ushers closing the door. One of them then accompanied me to enter from the rear entry. I then sat at the last row, just a little bit inside in the row. More people then came, some of them sat in front of me. All perfectly fine until a couple asked me to give them some space so that they can walk past me while I immersed myself in Bach's music. Annoyed a little bit, since they could have walked till the end of the row without disturbing me. I almost snapped when an usher tapped my shoulder asking me to move a little bit inwards the row. He was the one who asked me to sit at the back row in the first place! The latecomers shouldn't be prioritised, especially when they are already late for 15 minutes. The usher should have suggested something cleverer like asking them to go the long way to get a seat without disturbing anybody. Wasn't happy with him, I did not move inwards, I gave some space for an elderly couple to move past, and then after the first Bach piece, I moved 6 or 7 rows in front where nobody is sitting. Then the rest of the recital is wonderful.
The first Bach piece was 'Piece d'orgue' Fantasia in G major, BWV 572. A very interesting piece with a two-note motif present towards the piece. The second piece was an arrangement of Bach's Organ Concerto in G major, BWV 592 by Ernst (not sure who he is). Lively two outer movements with a dark slow movement in between (IIRC). Next piece is Bridge's Lento - lovely music, not unsuitable as a gorgeous film music. Gigout's 'Adoramos in Aeternum' closed the recital beautifully. Fantastic performance from Calvin Bowman tonight. One slight complaint about MSO: they ran out of organ recital programs. I couldn't get one copy of it, but there were only around 50 people attending the organ recital. Eventually, I got a copy courtesy of a nice lady sitting beside me.
At a short glance, tonight's program consists of 'pretty' music. Nothing 'deep' like a Beethoven or Brahms or Mahler symphony. All are quite popular, especially Tchaikovsky's ballet music. This usually spells disaster in terms of performance: the orchestra can just play sloppily and the audience can still enjoy the music. But that didn't happen tonight. Mendelssohn's overture was played beautifully. The rapid strings notes came out as clear as crystal while never losing the excitement. MSO's woodwinds section chirps throughout. Brass and horns let their presence felt while not overpowering the strings. MSO just played so differently tonight, it was wonderful. The deliberate tempo slowing just before the recapitulation of the rapid strings works like charm. The finale is as fantastic as it could have been and the overture set the tone for the night: the audience is in for wonderful time.
Alexey Yemtsov came on the stage playing Rachmaninov's famous rhapsody. Instead of the usual muffled tone from the grand piano, he produced brilliant clear tone. Accompanied by the in-form orchestra, he blasted through the rhapsody, playing brilliantly throughout. The Dies Irae variation is heavy, cadenza like variations played lightning fast. Poetic is his approach during the slow variations leading up to the gorgeous 18th variation. He dashed through the finale as it was nothing, excitement is never far from his performance. As an icing on the cake, he gave an encore which unfortunately I'm not very familiar with. My best guess: impressionist (Debussy or Ravel piece?) or late romantic music.
I honestly didn't expect much from the performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet music, even after a great first half of the concert. My expectations were turned upside down after a few bars of the Nutcracker music. Tchaikovsky's music, being too popular, has always been treated lightly by a lot of performers and audience. Andrew Grams showed us how the Nutcracker can sound like if you treat Tchaikovsky's music as a masterpiece. The Nutcracker excerpt starts with the Entry of Clara and the Prince in the second act, followed by Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, Russian dances and Dance of the Reed Pipes. Percussion section shines here and have I already mentioned that the woodwinds played faultlessly tonight? The mother ginger music and the charming, ever popular Waltz of the flowers end this fabulous performance.
The crown achievement of the night is the performance of excerpts from Swan Lake. The all too familiar Swan Lake theme got an invigorating treatment. Climaxes are as loud as they can be, emphasising dramatic elements of Swan Lake story. The Waltz is so fantastic that when it ended, some people just can't help but applaud to it. Wilma Smith and David Berlin gave wonderful solos in Pas d'action of Odette and the Prince. The concert ended in a super overwhelming Finale of Swan Lake and the audience raptured in the end! Some of them even gave standing ovations. If I were to sum up that performance in one word it will be 'electrifying'. What a memorable night. This can easily be one of my favourite MSO concerts, equaling the great concerts of Mahler 1, 2 and Verdi's Requiem.
This night was made even memorable for some non-musical reasons. There are two small interruptions in the middle of this concert. The first one was a person almost collapsed while walking up the stairs in the middle of slow variations of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody. The second was in the middle of the Nutcracker excerpts where a number of ushers tried to help this old lady.
Conclusion: I will be having eargasm everytime in MSO concerts if MSO keeps playing at this level. I heard mutters of fellow audience after the performance and they all agreed with me that they just heard something rather special that night. 'Never heard of Swan Lake being done so dramatically', 'Love the conductor's conducting style', 'I thought that he's gonna take off' are just some example comments that I overheard. I'd love to see the conductor back in Melbourne: tackling a well-known symphony. Last but not least, tonight's concert is almost a full-house, extreme contrast with last Town Hall concert. MSO playing in this level is really wonderful, keep up the good work guys! Thanks for a truly memorable night.
My next concert: ACO playing Schoenberg's Transfigured Night.
- Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture
- Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
- Tchaikovsky Selections from The Nutcracker and Swan Lake
Alexey Yemtsov - Piano
Andrew Grams - Conductor
Tonight was a very very memorable night. Despite the corniness of the concert title, the relatively light music, and my low expectation of Tchaikovsky's ballet music treated seriously - one man changed all of that: the conductor Andrew Grams. I will talk more about it later.
Let's start with our usual organ recital by Calvin Bowman. I arrived 5 seconds late, and I can see the ushers closing the door. One of them then accompanied me to enter from the rear entry. I then sat at the last row, just a little bit inside in the row. More people then came, some of them sat in front of me. All perfectly fine until a couple asked me to give them some space so that they can walk past me while I immersed myself in Bach's music. Annoyed a little bit, since they could have walked till the end of the row without disturbing me. I almost snapped when an usher tapped my shoulder asking me to move a little bit inwards the row. He was the one who asked me to sit at the back row in the first place! The latecomers shouldn't be prioritised, especially when they are already late for 15 minutes. The usher should have suggested something cleverer like asking them to go the long way to get a seat without disturbing anybody. Wasn't happy with him, I did not move inwards, I gave some space for an elderly couple to move past, and then after the first Bach piece, I moved 6 or 7 rows in front where nobody is sitting. Then the rest of the recital is wonderful.
The first Bach piece was 'Piece d'orgue' Fantasia in G major, BWV 572. A very interesting piece with a two-note motif present towards the piece. The second piece was an arrangement of Bach's Organ Concerto in G major, BWV 592 by Ernst (not sure who he is). Lively two outer movements with a dark slow movement in between (IIRC). Next piece is Bridge's Lento - lovely music, not unsuitable as a gorgeous film music. Gigout's 'Adoramos in Aeternum' closed the recital beautifully. Fantastic performance from Calvin Bowman tonight. One slight complaint about MSO: they ran out of organ recital programs. I couldn't get one copy of it, but there were only around 50 people attending the organ recital. Eventually, I got a copy courtesy of a nice lady sitting beside me.
At a short glance, tonight's program consists of 'pretty' music. Nothing 'deep' like a Beethoven or Brahms or Mahler symphony. All are quite popular, especially Tchaikovsky's ballet music. This usually spells disaster in terms of performance: the orchestra can just play sloppily and the audience can still enjoy the music. But that didn't happen tonight. Mendelssohn's overture was played beautifully. The rapid strings notes came out as clear as crystal while never losing the excitement. MSO's woodwinds section chirps throughout. Brass and horns let their presence felt while not overpowering the strings. MSO just played so differently tonight, it was wonderful. The deliberate tempo slowing just before the recapitulation of the rapid strings works like charm. The finale is as fantastic as it could have been and the overture set the tone for the night: the audience is in for wonderful time.
Alexey Yemtsov came on the stage playing Rachmaninov's famous rhapsody. Instead of the usual muffled tone from the grand piano, he produced brilliant clear tone. Accompanied by the in-form orchestra, he blasted through the rhapsody, playing brilliantly throughout. The Dies Irae variation is heavy, cadenza like variations played lightning fast. Poetic is his approach during the slow variations leading up to the gorgeous 18th variation. He dashed through the finale as it was nothing, excitement is never far from his performance. As an icing on the cake, he gave an encore which unfortunately I'm not very familiar with. My best guess: impressionist (Debussy or Ravel piece?) or late romantic music.
I honestly didn't expect much from the performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet music, even after a great first half of the concert. My expectations were turned upside down after a few bars of the Nutcracker music. Tchaikovsky's music, being too popular, has always been treated lightly by a lot of performers and audience. Andrew Grams showed us how the Nutcracker can sound like if you treat Tchaikovsky's music as a masterpiece. The Nutcracker excerpt starts with the Entry of Clara and the Prince in the second act, followed by Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, Russian dances and Dance of the Reed Pipes. Percussion section shines here and have I already mentioned that the woodwinds played faultlessly tonight? The mother ginger music and the charming, ever popular Waltz of the flowers end this fabulous performance.
The crown achievement of the night is the performance of excerpts from Swan Lake. The all too familiar Swan Lake theme got an invigorating treatment. Climaxes are as loud as they can be, emphasising dramatic elements of Swan Lake story. The Waltz is so fantastic that when it ended, some people just can't help but applaud to it. Wilma Smith and David Berlin gave wonderful solos in Pas d'action of Odette and the Prince. The concert ended in a super overwhelming Finale of Swan Lake and the audience raptured in the end! Some of them even gave standing ovations. If I were to sum up that performance in one word it will be 'electrifying'. What a memorable night. This can easily be one of my favourite MSO concerts, equaling the great concerts of Mahler 1, 2 and Verdi's Requiem.
This night was made even memorable for some non-musical reasons. There are two small interruptions in the middle of this concert. The first one was a person almost collapsed while walking up the stairs in the middle of slow variations of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody. The second was in the middle of the Nutcracker excerpts where a number of ushers tried to help this old lady.
Conclusion: I will be having eargasm everytime in MSO concerts if MSO keeps playing at this level. I heard mutters of fellow audience after the performance and they all agreed with me that they just heard something rather special that night. 'Never heard of Swan Lake being done so dramatically', 'Love the conductor's conducting style', 'I thought that he's gonna take off' are just some example comments that I overheard. I'd love to see the conductor back in Melbourne: tackling a well-known symphony. Last but not least, tonight's concert is almost a full-house, extreme contrast with last Town Hall concert. MSO playing in this level is really wonderful, keep up the good work guys! Thanks for a truly memorable night.
My next concert: ACO playing Schoenberg's Transfigured Night.
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 18 April 2009 - The Emperor
Featuring:
- Mendelssohn Overture: The Fair Melusina
- Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 'Emperor'
- Stravinsky Concerto for chamber orchestra 'Dumbarton Oaks'
- Beethoven Symphony No. 8
Barry Douglas - Piano
Douglas Boyd - Conductor
Let's start with one good thing: I kept my promise and arrived (too) early for the concert. I had plenty of time to read through the program notes and seeing how much audience flocked in to the hall. With the program that MSO is offering for this concert, you would have expected to see a good number of audience, right? Beethoven's Emperor Concerto is a favourite classics - voted number 1 in ABC 100 classics concerto. Beethoven's 8th symphony - although not as famous as the odd-numbered symphony can attract some crowds too. Mendelssohn's and Stravinsky's pieces, as fine as they are, are probably just there to support the two Beethoven pieces. However, contrary to my expectation, the audience number is just disappointingly low. The balcony seats are virtually empty, and only 75-80% seats of the stalls are occupied. The circle seats fared much better, 90% of them are seated. So, why the low number of audience? Maybe people are just too sick with the 'Emperor'? Maybe because it's Saturday afternoon? Maybe because of Melbourne Comedy Festival? I have no idea.
To the concert: The Fair Melusina was executed sprightly with nice attack during the fast section of the piece. The opening movement and the end which are calmer were marked with excellent woodwinds playing from the orchestra. Good solid performance. Next piece is the 'meat' of the concert: the Emperor concerto. It started out promisingly, three nice chords with piano intersecting between them. Excellent opening. The pianist continued his fine playing, with the conductor provided excellent accompaniment. Then I realised something, the pianist, wonderful as he was, was not majestic enough in his playing. The big tunes in the first movement sounds a little bit underwhelmed, but it got better during the end of the movement. Personally, I got quite tired/bored with the big tune of the Emperor concerto after a while. The whole first movement is too long - "too many notes" - if I may say. Unlike most people who voted 'Emperor' as their favourite concerto, my favourite piano concerto of Beethoven is the subdued 4th piano concerto. Anyway, the cadenza was played much better, a fitting end to the end of first movement. The second movement is the highlight of the performance for me, now that was a gorgeous singing melody from the pianist. It almost hypnotised me, it was just dead gorgeous. The spell was broken during the transition to the Rondo, which was perfectly fine apart from a couple weird tempo choices in the middle. In the end, a satisfying performance, well worth listening especially the second movement. 3 curtain calls for the pianist, but no encores :(.
After the interval, Stravinsky's bouncy Dumbarton Oaks concerto bounced back my interest. Its cute, bouncy rhythm made me grinned - not unlike Prokofiev's. It started off imitating Bach's 3rd Brandenburg concerto jumping rhythm, but them it ventures out to do something else. The second movement was highlighted by some fine flute lines. The third movement was a quick one, ending with a glimmer of brilliance. Nice fine music. I have to thank my own ventures to Prokofiev music that have given my brain some 'training' to listen to this irresistible weird rhythmic music.
A straight, no non-sense playing of Beethoven's 8th symphony closed the concert. And yes, I never failed to grin throughout the performance. I loved every single bit of Beethoven's 8th symphony. It's compact, full of musical jokes and brilliant orchestration. I liked how the conductor emphasis the marching brass rhythm in the last movement. The horns are to be praised for their fine playing in the trio of the third movement. But the surprise was me finding out that the audience actually liked the performance as much as I do. Good surprise, because I have assumptions that people only like Beethoven's 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th symphonies. Oh yeah, I sure hope the other people did not notice my facial expression during the performance of this symphony. If I have a mirror, I'm sure I looked like a lunatic with never ending grins.
Next concert: Rachmaninov's ever popular Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini - next month.
- Mendelssohn Overture: The Fair Melusina
- Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 'Emperor'
- Stravinsky Concerto for chamber orchestra 'Dumbarton Oaks'
- Beethoven Symphony No. 8
Barry Douglas - Piano
Douglas Boyd - Conductor
Let's start with one good thing: I kept my promise and arrived (too) early for the concert. I had plenty of time to read through the program notes and seeing how much audience flocked in to the hall. With the program that MSO is offering for this concert, you would have expected to see a good number of audience, right? Beethoven's Emperor Concerto is a favourite classics - voted number 1 in ABC 100 classics concerto. Beethoven's 8th symphony - although not as famous as the odd-numbered symphony can attract some crowds too. Mendelssohn's and Stravinsky's pieces, as fine as they are, are probably just there to support the two Beethoven pieces. However, contrary to my expectation, the audience number is just disappointingly low. The balcony seats are virtually empty, and only 75-80% seats of the stalls are occupied. The circle seats fared much better, 90% of them are seated. So, why the low number of audience? Maybe people are just too sick with the 'Emperor'? Maybe because it's Saturday afternoon? Maybe because of Melbourne Comedy Festival? I have no idea.
To the concert: The Fair Melusina was executed sprightly with nice attack during the fast section of the piece. The opening movement and the end which are calmer were marked with excellent woodwinds playing from the orchestra. Good solid performance. Next piece is the 'meat' of the concert: the Emperor concerto. It started out promisingly, three nice chords with piano intersecting between them. Excellent opening. The pianist continued his fine playing, with the conductor provided excellent accompaniment. Then I realised something, the pianist, wonderful as he was, was not majestic enough in his playing. The big tunes in the first movement sounds a little bit underwhelmed, but it got better during the end of the movement. Personally, I got quite tired/bored with the big tune of the Emperor concerto after a while. The whole first movement is too long - "too many notes" - if I may say. Unlike most people who voted 'Emperor' as their favourite concerto, my favourite piano concerto of Beethoven is the subdued 4th piano concerto. Anyway, the cadenza was played much better, a fitting end to the end of first movement. The second movement is the highlight of the performance for me, now that was a gorgeous singing melody from the pianist. It almost hypnotised me, it was just dead gorgeous. The spell was broken during the transition to the Rondo, which was perfectly fine apart from a couple weird tempo choices in the middle. In the end, a satisfying performance, well worth listening especially the second movement. 3 curtain calls for the pianist, but no encores :(.
After the interval, Stravinsky's bouncy Dumbarton Oaks concerto bounced back my interest. Its cute, bouncy rhythm made me grinned - not unlike Prokofiev's. It started off imitating Bach's 3rd Brandenburg concerto jumping rhythm, but them it ventures out to do something else. The second movement was highlighted by some fine flute lines. The third movement was a quick one, ending with a glimmer of brilliance. Nice fine music. I have to thank my own ventures to Prokofiev music that have given my brain some 'training' to listen to this irresistible weird rhythmic music.
A straight, no non-sense playing of Beethoven's 8th symphony closed the concert. And yes, I never failed to grin throughout the performance. I loved every single bit of Beethoven's 8th symphony. It's compact, full of musical jokes and brilliant orchestration. I liked how the conductor emphasis the marching brass rhythm in the last movement. The horns are to be praised for their fine playing in the trio of the third movement. But the surprise was me finding out that the audience actually liked the performance as much as I do. Good surprise, because I have assumptions that people only like Beethoven's 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th symphonies. Oh yeah, I sure hope the other people did not notice my facial expression during the performance of this symphony. If I have a mirror, I'm sure I looked like a lunatic with never ending grins.
Next concert: Rachmaninov's ever popular Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini - next month.
Sunday, 18 May 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 16 May 2008 - Bohemian Rhapsody
Featuring:
- Antonin Dvorak - Symphony No. 7
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 'Elvira Madigan'
- Leos Janacek - Sinfonietta
Alexander Briger - Conductor
Amir Farid - Piano
Calvin Bowman - Organ
2 weeks before this concert, I started listening to Dvorak's 7th symphony. A great work, which is underplayed nowadays because of the immense popularity of his 9th symphony. The starting dance like rhythm of the Scherzo was the highlight of the symphony for me. I haven't listened to any of Mozart's piano concertos in full yet and tonight was my very first time listening to his 21st piano concerto. Janacek's Sinfonietta is a work that I don't even know exist. So, there were 2 programs that I am completely unfamiliar with before the concert.
As usual with MSO's Town Hall Series concert, there is an organ recital by Calvin Bowman. The programs included: Bach's Fantasia on Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott, BWV 651 which was a little piece with a number of fugal elements in it; Bach's O mensch bewein dein Sunde gross, BWV 622 a prayer like - very serene - piece, and it made me feel very humble when listening to it; Mendelssohn's Allegro in B flat, a short lively piece with no immediate memorable melody, but very enjoyable nonetheless; and finally two pieces from Messiaen's L'Ascension - Alleluias sereins d'une ame qui desire le ciel which was a little too drag out music although it was very interesting at the beginning and Transports de joe d'une ame devant la glore du Christ qui est la sienne which was a more fast-paced and definitely more interesting than the Alleluias.
Now to the main concert: The Dvorak's was good, just a little bit short of great. The conductor conducting without a score, took a very fast paced at the beginning of the symphony. Because of that, clarity of some passages are sacrificed for an extra excitement of the music. The climax of the first movement fell a bit short for me. There was a two to three minutes pause between first and second movement, because apparently more than 50 people were late to the concert! The concert as was told by MSO e-news was sold out. The second movement itself was better executed, so as the third movement's dance-like main theme. The trio was a bit disappointing, I don't know what's wrong with it, but I felt a bit lost when the trio was executed. The return of the main theme was a very good welcome. The finale was brilliant with clear delicate melody from the woodwinds.
Mozart's 21st piano concerto often nicknamed 'Elvira Madigan' because of the prominent use of the music in the movie with that title. It was famous for the lyrical aria-like second movement which was brilliant in the concert. The soloist, Amir Farid gave a very good performance throughout and the orchestra gave a very good accompaniment to a crowd-pleasing music. A very enjoyable piano concert, and I think it's about time I listen to Mozart's piano concertos.
Janacek's Sinfonietta is a quite short but very interesting work featuring 12 trumpets! The opening movement whose theme will be restated in the finale is scored for brass only. The second, third and fourth movement were all very enjoyable. The finale in which the main theme was restated and all the 12 trumpets played at the same time is an uplifting piece of music that will surely leave a good impression for the audience. The audience seemed to have enjoyed the piece very much, which is very good for a rarely played music.
Summing up, a good night out! And the seat that I was assigned to for the remaining Town Hall concerts were wonderful. Am very happy that I subscribed to the Town Hall series.
- Antonin Dvorak - Symphony No. 7
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 'Elvira Madigan'
- Leos Janacek - Sinfonietta
Alexander Briger - Conductor
Amir Farid - Piano
Calvin Bowman - Organ
2 weeks before this concert, I started listening to Dvorak's 7th symphony. A great work, which is underplayed nowadays because of the immense popularity of his 9th symphony. The starting dance like rhythm of the Scherzo was the highlight of the symphony for me. I haven't listened to any of Mozart's piano concertos in full yet and tonight was my very first time listening to his 21st piano concerto. Janacek's Sinfonietta is a work that I don't even know exist. So, there were 2 programs that I am completely unfamiliar with before the concert.
As usual with MSO's Town Hall Series concert, there is an organ recital by Calvin Bowman. The programs included: Bach's Fantasia on Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott, BWV 651 which was a little piece with a number of fugal elements in it; Bach's O mensch bewein dein Sunde gross, BWV 622 a prayer like - very serene - piece, and it made me feel very humble when listening to it; Mendelssohn's Allegro in B flat, a short lively piece with no immediate memorable melody, but very enjoyable nonetheless; and finally two pieces from Messiaen's L'Ascension - Alleluias sereins d'une ame qui desire le ciel which was a little too drag out music although it was very interesting at the beginning and Transports de joe d'une ame devant la glore du Christ qui est la sienne which was a more fast-paced and definitely more interesting than the Alleluias.
Now to the main concert: The Dvorak's was good, just a little bit short of great. The conductor conducting without a score, took a very fast paced at the beginning of the symphony. Because of that, clarity of some passages are sacrificed for an extra excitement of the music. The climax of the first movement fell a bit short for me. There was a two to three minutes pause between first and second movement, because apparently more than 50 people were late to the concert! The concert as was told by MSO e-news was sold out. The second movement itself was better executed, so as the third movement's dance-like main theme. The trio was a bit disappointing, I don't know what's wrong with it, but I felt a bit lost when the trio was executed. The return of the main theme was a very good welcome. The finale was brilliant with clear delicate melody from the woodwinds.
Mozart's 21st piano concerto often nicknamed 'Elvira Madigan' because of the prominent use of the music in the movie with that title. It was famous for the lyrical aria-like second movement which was brilliant in the concert. The soloist, Amir Farid gave a very good performance throughout and the orchestra gave a very good accompaniment to a crowd-pleasing music. A very enjoyable piano concert, and I think it's about time I listen to Mozart's piano concertos.
Janacek's Sinfonietta is a quite short but very interesting work featuring 12 trumpets! The opening movement whose theme will be restated in the finale is scored for brass only. The second, third and fourth movement were all very enjoyable. The finale in which the main theme was restated and all the 12 trumpets played at the same time is an uplifting piece of music that will surely leave a good impression for the audience. The audience seemed to have enjoyed the piece very much, which is very good for a rarely played music.
Summing up, a good night out! And the seat that I was assigned to for the remaining Town Hall concerts were wonderful. Am very happy that I subscribed to the Town Hall series.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)