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.
Showing posts with label mozart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mozart. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 June 2010
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.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 12 September 2009 - Unquiet Hearts
Featuring:
- Beethoven Coriolan Overture
- Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, K. 364
- Brahms Symphony No. 3
Thomas Zehetmair - Violin/Director
Ruth Killius - Viola
This is one of the concerts that I've looked forward to attending this season. How can I not when the program consists of one of Beethoven's finest overtures, my favourite Mozart's concerto, and a Brahms symphony (although the 3rd is my least favourite). Combination of these masterpieces proved enough to attract large crowds at the recital centre with the upper seats were fully packed.
The concert started with heavy chords from Beethoven's aggressive Coriolan overture. Portraying a general going into the battle and his death at last, I think it's just appropriate playing this piece aggressively and attack those accented notes, which is exactly what Zehetmair did. Conducting with big gestures, Zehetmair also made effective use of the dramatic silence between chords to intensify the performance. The trimmed down MSO (only 4 rows of first violin instead of usual 5 or 6) played well and set up the playing standard for the rest of the concert.
A lovely Ruth Killius accompanied Zehetmair in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. This piece has a special place in my heart because of the gorgeous melody in the first movement, the depth and pathos of the second, and the cheeriness of the third. Most importantly, it's the interplay between the two soloists that I treasure the most. Listening to them is like listening to the most intimate conversation between two best friends.
Zehetmair, now acting as both soloist and conductor, started the first movement slower than what I accustomed to but to a great effect as it brings more majestic touch to this movement. Both the soloists then emerged from out of nowhere (one of the best moment in this piece!) and not facing each other, played the solo part. In fact they stayed that way until the cadenza when finally both soloists faced each other. It's almost like watching a courting act from Zehetmair to Killius. I'll spare the details of each movement and just say that they played brilliantly although Killius' viola sound was harder to pick up as it occasionally was dominated by the rest of the strings from both soloists and orchestra. Long applause followed.
I love all 4 Brahms' symphonies. But, the 3rd is my least favourite for a reason that I can't explain myself. I feel personal affinity towards the 1st, can't resist the beauty and the lyrical of the 2nd (esp. the arousing finale), and what can I do but be in awe of Brahms' genius in his 4th. Or maybe the recordings that I have? I don't know, but I can certainly say that this concert changed my opinion of this symphony in a positive way.
Zehetmair gave this symphony a grandeur, majestic, full-on lush romantic treatment and boy did it make a difference. Phrases were executed to perfection while losing none of the overall picture of the symphony. Extreme dynamics contrast was another feature of this performance. Those big moments in both first and last movements were more effective and gained additional majesty during those loud passages. It's easy to say that this might be an overblown interpretation, but it's not. It's intelligent, well-controlled reading and all the details are brought up. The performance was also helped by marvelous solos by MSO's woodwind section, and the main theme of the 3rd movement is nailed perfectly by the horns. Let me just talk a bit of the contrabassoon, which only joins the fun in the last movement. Its first entry provided extra colour to the symphony and for me that is the decisive point. Also, for the first time ever, I really felt the `letting go` passages that starts right after the big majestic chords ended. It's so good, that I think it has a Mahler-like quality to it. Although the symphony ended quietly, it was followed by an arousing applause. This is one performance that I will always remember when I listen to this symphony in the future.
To sum up, this concert delivered its potential and I thoroughly enjoyed every piece programmed. I have no problem with the hall acoustic (I was sitting at one of the seats in the balcony). Unfortunately I can't go to the next MSO concert in the Recital Centre series on November due to a positive unforeseeable circumstances. I'll look forward to MSO next appearances in this hall next year.
- Beethoven Coriolan Overture
- Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, K. 364
- Brahms Symphony No. 3
Thomas Zehetmair - Violin/Director
Ruth Killius - Viola
This is one of the concerts that I've looked forward to attending this season. How can I not when the program consists of one of Beethoven's finest overtures, my favourite Mozart's concerto, and a Brahms symphony (although the 3rd is my least favourite). Combination of these masterpieces proved enough to attract large crowds at the recital centre with the upper seats were fully packed.
The concert started with heavy chords from Beethoven's aggressive Coriolan overture. Portraying a general going into the battle and his death at last, I think it's just appropriate playing this piece aggressively and attack those accented notes, which is exactly what Zehetmair did. Conducting with big gestures, Zehetmair also made effective use of the dramatic silence between chords to intensify the performance. The trimmed down MSO (only 4 rows of first violin instead of usual 5 or 6) played well and set up the playing standard for the rest of the concert.
A lovely Ruth Killius accompanied Zehetmair in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. This piece has a special place in my heart because of the gorgeous melody in the first movement, the depth and pathos of the second, and the cheeriness of the third. Most importantly, it's the interplay between the two soloists that I treasure the most. Listening to them is like listening to the most intimate conversation between two best friends.
Zehetmair, now acting as both soloist and conductor, started the first movement slower than what I accustomed to but to a great effect as it brings more majestic touch to this movement. Both the soloists then emerged from out of nowhere (one of the best moment in this piece!) and not facing each other, played the solo part. In fact they stayed that way until the cadenza when finally both soloists faced each other. It's almost like watching a courting act from Zehetmair to Killius. I'll spare the details of each movement and just say that they played brilliantly although Killius' viola sound was harder to pick up as it occasionally was dominated by the rest of the strings from both soloists and orchestra. Long applause followed.
I love all 4 Brahms' symphonies. But, the 3rd is my least favourite for a reason that I can't explain myself. I feel personal affinity towards the 1st, can't resist the beauty and the lyrical of the 2nd (esp. the arousing finale), and what can I do but be in awe of Brahms' genius in his 4th. Or maybe the recordings that I have? I don't know, but I can certainly say that this concert changed my opinion of this symphony in a positive way.
Zehetmair gave this symphony a grandeur, majestic, full-on lush romantic treatment and boy did it make a difference. Phrases were executed to perfection while losing none of the overall picture of the symphony. Extreme dynamics contrast was another feature of this performance. Those big moments in both first and last movements were more effective and gained additional majesty during those loud passages. It's easy to say that this might be an overblown interpretation, but it's not. It's intelligent, well-controlled reading and all the details are brought up. The performance was also helped by marvelous solos by MSO's woodwind section, and the main theme of the 3rd movement is nailed perfectly by the horns. Let me just talk a bit of the contrabassoon, which only joins the fun in the last movement. Its first entry provided extra colour to the symphony and for me that is the decisive point. Also, for the first time ever, I really felt the `letting go` passages that starts right after the big majestic chords ended. It's so good, that I think it has a Mahler-like quality to it. Although the symphony ended quietly, it was followed by an arousing applause. This is one performance that I will always remember when I listen to this symphony in the future.
To sum up, this concert delivered its potential and I thoroughly enjoyed every piece programmed. I have no problem with the hall acoustic (I was sitting at one of the seats in the balcony). Unfortunately I can't go to the next MSO concert in the Recital Centre series on November due to a positive unforeseeable circumstances. I'll look forward to MSO next appearances in this hall next year.
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 31 July 2009 - Pastorale
Featuring:
- Mozart The Magic Flute: Overture
- Sibelius Violin Concerto
- Beethoven Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'
Natsuko Yoshimoto - Violin
Nicholas Milton - Conductor
As usual, Town Hall series concert started with Calvin Bowman's organ recital. The offering for the night was Bach's unusually quiet (instead of the usual booming/grand sound of organ) four movements (if I counted correctly) Pastorella BWV 590. Sibelius' (arr. Fricker) Fruhlingslied was the highlight of the organ recital for me with its well-crafted soaring lyricism. Vierne's finale of the Symphony 1 was a strange piece with plenty of clashing chords which are not resolved until the very end of the piece.
Mozart's giddy overture to the Magic Flute opera started out the concert. Nicholas Milton conducted the orchestra with full of energy, with an almost - in my opinion - over-exaggerated gestures. The playfulness of this piece was well-served, and the fugal themes were crisply executed. A solid start to the concert.
The conductor then spend 5 minutes chatting about the relations between virtuoso and concerto before introducing a lovely Natsuko Yoshimoto in an equally elegant blue dress to play the Sibelius concerto. My point of reference to this concerto is Jascha Heifetz's famed performance with the CSO conducted by Walter Hendl. From the quiet tremolo in the strings, the opening violin solo soared with the beautiful cadenza-like theme. I noticed that Natsuko held her violin and bow quite high, perhaps due to her height. Not that it matters, she gave a fine opening moment. The first climax of the piece (right after the prolonged trills and strings pizzicato -- around 4:20 mark in my recording), however, failed to captivate me. Natsuko's violin sound is completely drowned by the orchestra. Nicholas picked up the tempo after that, and to be honest I'm quite worried if Natsuko can play the solo part at this speed. This concerto is known to be damn hard to play after all. The solo violin passages following after the orchestral tutti is full of double melody lines, double stop passages, and all sort of challenging stuffs to a violinist. Natsuko slowed down the tempo here, but still offered a formidable performance. Not to be disrespect to any other violinists, Heifetz' technique is simply unmatchable. His reading of the same passages is faster, fiercer, and his tone is gorgeous. Natsuko's double stop passages sounded a bit harsh to me who is used to Heifetz's recording. It's still fascinating to see how quick Natsuko's hands can move up and down the fingerboard and how she superbly controlled the multiple melody lines.
The lyrical second movement was very pleasant until we reached the technically challenging middle sections. Again, I'm not convinced with the climax. The polonaise of the third movement sounded Spanish too me. I never felt this way about this movement until this performance. I like Nicholas's fast tempo, but he has to accommodate Natsuko's tempo during those technically challenging passages in the middle which disrupts the music flow a little bit. Anyway, despite all my negative comments, the audience loved the performance and we had a long applause. I myself still very much enjoyed the performance, as MSO accompanied wonderfully.
Soon after the interval, Nicholas spent around 5 minutes trying to tie up his feeling visiting Melbourne with the Pastoral's program. After that, MSO gave a wonderful reading of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. The tempo flows effortlessly, and there's enough lyricism to please the audience. My favourite recording of this symphony is Bruno Walter's recording on Sony. I will forever be overwhelmed by that recording, but I suppose I sometimes would prefer to enjoy a slightly less overwhelming performance such as MSO's that night. After all, it's quite strange to be teary-eyed by the end of this symphony, feeling happy and uplifted are probably what you want to feel like. Anyway, I digress. For the performance, I noticed a lot of things: the timpanist only played in the Thunderstorm movement and also the little bit of the opening of the last movement. I'm not sure if this symphony is timpanists' favourite piece. The double bass sections perhaps got a little bit over-excited that night in the Thunderstorm movement, but it's all in good spirit as the double bass players smiled to each other after their little tricks. Credits also must be given to the winds section for their marvelous performance (esp. the Oboe solo).
People leaving early might be disappointed to miss tonight's encore: The overture to Marriage of Figaro. Slight complaint here: that same piece was already featured in the first Town Hall concert. Why don't MSO give me a different encore? Beggars can't be choosers, I guess.
The performance is a full-house. Well, strictly speaking not every seat is occupied, but 98-99% of them have someone on top. It's a welcome sight change than the poorly attended Hamer Hall concerts.
Next concert: ACO's Bartok and MSO's Beethoven Piano concerto #4 in forthcoming weeks.
- Mozart The Magic Flute: Overture
- Sibelius Violin Concerto
- Beethoven Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'
Natsuko Yoshimoto - Violin
Nicholas Milton - Conductor
As usual, Town Hall series concert started with Calvin Bowman's organ recital. The offering for the night was Bach's unusually quiet (instead of the usual booming/grand sound of organ) four movements (if I counted correctly) Pastorella BWV 590. Sibelius' (arr. Fricker) Fruhlingslied was the highlight of the organ recital for me with its well-crafted soaring lyricism. Vierne's finale of the Symphony 1 was a strange piece with plenty of clashing chords which are not resolved until the very end of the piece.
Mozart's giddy overture to the Magic Flute opera started out the concert. Nicholas Milton conducted the orchestra with full of energy, with an almost - in my opinion - over-exaggerated gestures. The playfulness of this piece was well-served, and the fugal themes were crisply executed. A solid start to the concert.
The conductor then spend 5 minutes chatting about the relations between virtuoso and concerto before introducing a lovely Natsuko Yoshimoto in an equally elegant blue dress to play the Sibelius concerto. My point of reference to this concerto is Jascha Heifetz's famed performance with the CSO conducted by Walter Hendl. From the quiet tremolo in the strings, the opening violin solo soared with the beautiful cadenza-like theme. I noticed that Natsuko held her violin and bow quite high, perhaps due to her height. Not that it matters, she gave a fine opening moment. The first climax of the piece (right after the prolonged trills and strings pizzicato -- around 4:20 mark in my recording), however, failed to captivate me. Natsuko's violin sound is completely drowned by the orchestra. Nicholas picked up the tempo after that, and to be honest I'm quite worried if Natsuko can play the solo part at this speed. This concerto is known to be damn hard to play after all. The solo violin passages following after the orchestral tutti is full of double melody lines, double stop passages, and all sort of challenging stuffs to a violinist. Natsuko slowed down the tempo here, but still offered a formidable performance. Not to be disrespect to any other violinists, Heifetz' technique is simply unmatchable. His reading of the same passages is faster, fiercer, and his tone is gorgeous. Natsuko's double stop passages sounded a bit harsh to me who is used to Heifetz's recording. It's still fascinating to see how quick Natsuko's hands can move up and down the fingerboard and how she superbly controlled the multiple melody lines.
The lyrical second movement was very pleasant until we reached the technically challenging middle sections. Again, I'm not convinced with the climax. The polonaise of the third movement sounded Spanish too me. I never felt this way about this movement until this performance. I like Nicholas's fast tempo, but he has to accommodate Natsuko's tempo during those technically challenging passages in the middle which disrupts the music flow a little bit. Anyway, despite all my negative comments, the audience loved the performance and we had a long applause. I myself still very much enjoyed the performance, as MSO accompanied wonderfully.
Soon after the interval, Nicholas spent around 5 minutes trying to tie up his feeling visiting Melbourne with the Pastoral's program. After that, MSO gave a wonderful reading of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. The tempo flows effortlessly, and there's enough lyricism to please the audience. My favourite recording of this symphony is Bruno Walter's recording on Sony. I will forever be overwhelmed by that recording, but I suppose I sometimes would prefer to enjoy a slightly less overwhelming performance such as MSO's that night. After all, it's quite strange to be teary-eyed by the end of this symphony, feeling happy and uplifted are probably what you want to feel like. Anyway, I digress. For the performance, I noticed a lot of things: the timpanist only played in the Thunderstorm movement and also the little bit of the opening of the last movement. I'm not sure if this symphony is timpanists' favourite piece. The double bass sections perhaps got a little bit over-excited that night in the Thunderstorm movement, but it's all in good spirit as the double bass players smiled to each other after their little tricks. Credits also must be given to the winds section for their marvelous performance (esp. the Oboe solo).
People leaving early might be disappointed to miss tonight's encore: The overture to Marriage of Figaro. Slight complaint here: that same piece was already featured in the first Town Hall concert. Why don't MSO give me a different encore? Beggars can't be choosers, I guess.
The performance is a full-house. Well, strictly speaking not every seat is occupied, but 98-99% of them have someone on top. It's a welcome sight change than the poorly attended Hamer Hall concerts.
Next concert: ACO's Bartok and MSO's Beethoven Piano concerto #4 in forthcoming weeks.
Saturday, 28 February 2009
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 27 February 2009 - Figaro, Franckly
Featuring:
- Mozart The Marriage of Figaro: Overture
- Villa-Lobos Concerto for guitar and small orchestra
- Franck Symphony in D minor
Edoardo Catemario - Guitar
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
New year, new season concert. Before this opening concert, MSO played 4 free concerts in Sidney Myer Music Bowl. They're all marvelous, the highlight for me is the playing of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto, Gershwin Piano Concerto, Schubert's 9th Symphony, Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez, and the most-remarkable concert of Beethoven's 9th symphony where almost all of the audience gave a standing ovation to.
One thing that is always to be grateful to when attending the Town Hall concert is the free organ recital by Calvin Bowman. It's more to be appreciated this season, because another free pre-concert program: the music talk is not going to exist this season. On the organ recital program, we have Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542. The Fantasia part is a little bit too fantasia to my taste and also I blame my late arrival to the concert hall to not be able to listen to the fantasia from the start. The fugue, however, is wonderful, as expected from the master of Fugue himself. The next program is Wesley's An old English Meldoy arranged by A.E. Floyd. It's a short piece, with folk music being the main tune of the piece. Quite enjoyable. The piece that made the best impression of the night is the 2 movements of Widor's Symphony No. 5. Dr. Bowman played the Adagio and Toccata from the symphony.
On to the concert. It was good, but not great concert. It doesn't help that the program is too short. Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro always entertains, but I was quite disappointed with the guitar concerto by Villa-Lobos. While it contains some interesting passages, the second movement doesn't work too well although the soloist's playing of the cadenza is great. The finale is hardly exciting, I was quite bored with it to be honest. However, the encore given by the soloist is amazing. Unfortunately, I did not catch what piece is that and who composed it when the soloist mentioned it.
Franck's symphony in D minor turns out to be the surprise of the night, it was actually quite interesting. The Leitmotif is present throughout the symphony and I was impressed by the creativity in the 2nd movement. The main theme of the finale is a little bit too pretty and popular-sounding, but when the full brass section blasted it towards the end, you cannot help but overwhelmed to the sound. Great performance from MSO. Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana is the encore by the orchestra for the night.
Next week's concert: Mahler's 2nd symphony. Enough said. Can't wait for it!
- Mozart The Marriage of Figaro: Overture
- Villa-Lobos Concerto for guitar and small orchestra
- Franck Symphony in D minor
Edoardo Catemario - Guitar
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
New year, new season concert. Before this opening concert, MSO played 4 free concerts in Sidney Myer Music Bowl. They're all marvelous, the highlight for me is the playing of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto, Gershwin Piano Concerto, Schubert's 9th Symphony, Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez, and the most-remarkable concert of Beethoven's 9th symphony where almost all of the audience gave a standing ovation to.
One thing that is always to be grateful to when attending the Town Hall concert is the free organ recital by Calvin Bowman. It's more to be appreciated this season, because another free pre-concert program: the music talk is not going to exist this season. On the organ recital program, we have Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542. The Fantasia part is a little bit too fantasia to my taste and also I blame my late arrival to the concert hall to not be able to listen to the fantasia from the start. The fugue, however, is wonderful, as expected from the master of Fugue himself. The next program is Wesley's An old English Meldoy arranged by A.E. Floyd. It's a short piece, with folk music being the main tune of the piece. Quite enjoyable. The piece that made the best impression of the night is the 2 movements of Widor's Symphony No. 5. Dr. Bowman played the Adagio and Toccata from the symphony.
On to the concert. It was good, but not great concert. It doesn't help that the program is too short. Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro always entertains, but I was quite disappointed with the guitar concerto by Villa-Lobos. While it contains some interesting passages, the second movement doesn't work too well although the soloist's playing of the cadenza is great. The finale is hardly exciting, I was quite bored with it to be honest. However, the encore given by the soloist is amazing. Unfortunately, I did not catch what piece is that and who composed it when the soloist mentioned it.
Franck's symphony in D minor turns out to be the surprise of the night, it was actually quite interesting. The Leitmotif is present throughout the symphony and I was impressed by the creativity in the 2nd movement. The main theme of the finale is a little bit too pretty and popular-sounding, but when the full brass section blasted it towards the end, you cannot help but overwhelmed to the sound. Great performance from MSO. Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana is the encore by the orchestra for the night.
Next week's concert: Mahler's 2nd symphony. Enough said. Can't wait for it!
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 17 October 2008 - Mozart's Requiem
Featuring:
- Mozart Symphony No. 41 'Jupiter'
- Mozart Requiem
Jacqueline Porter - Soprano
Sally-Anne Russell - Mezzo-soprano
James Egglestone - Tenor
Richard Alexander - Bass
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus: Jonathan Grieves-Smith - Chorus Master
Benjamin Northey - Conductor
As usual with Town Hall concert, there is an organ recital performed by Calvin Bowman. For this recital, he played Scarlatti Sonata in G; Mozart's subdued Adagio K. 356 showing that organ can be played in a tamely manner; Suites from Henry V by Walton (arr. Robert Gower/Henry Ley) which is rather nice with the outer marching movements sandwiching the more restraint middle movements. The third movement Touch her soft lips and part probably is my favourite moment in the recital. The final piece is a composition by Bowman himself Vexilla Regis which structurally similar to Walton's piece, with the theme in the first movement coming back in the last movement (if I remember correctly).
So, now on to the one of this year's most awaited concert. The hall is fully packed but not all the seats were occupied, contrary to the 'Sold Out' claim in MSO website. The concert started out with the energetic first movement of the Jupiter. Some nice playing in the brass as well, bringing out musical lines that I never really paid attention to before. I won't critique anything on this composition of Mozart - this symphony is just perfect and I always think that this is the crown achievement of all Mozart's symphonies. The second movement was full of nostalgia, although the movement could be carried out a little bit slower to bring out all the musical ideas there. The third movement was very fine, but I was anticipating for the finale the whole time in the performance. The finale of this symphony is my absolute favourite Mozart symphony movement. That five-voices fugue in the end of this movement is a very good representative of Mozart's composition power. The performance itself was very fine. The tempo was brisk, showcasing the virtuosity of the orchestra. I almost lost my self control and joined the conductor in conducting the orchestra I should say :). The audience only called for two curtain calls, which is somewhat disappointing after a very fine performance, but they might be saving their applause for the next giant, the Requiem, K. 626
A more than 100-members of MSO chorus joined the orchestra to perform the Requiem. An interesting note is that there is no clear separation in the seating of the four voices of the chorus. The seating was mixed with men seating flanked by two women. I wondered what was the reason for this. On the performance itself, the Introit was good and the soprano soared in 'Te Decet'. The chorus joined back soon after and set the tone for the next section - the 'Kyrie'. The 'Kyrie' was taken quite fast, but not too much. I preferred this approach very much compared to slower tempo that some conductors took. One small minor complaint about the chorus: the tenor voices seemed to be very weak compared to the other. I finally found out why when I looked through the program notes after the performance: the tenor has only half the number of the bass. Also, after 'Kyrie', I noticed that there is no organ accompaniment for this performance, which is a little bit disappointing. The 'Dies Irae' was scary as usual, all four of the soloists delivered magnificent performance in the 'Tuba Mirum' sequence. Credit also to the trombone soloist for fine accompaniment. 'Rex Tremendae' opened up with great cries from the chorus but soon subdued in the contrasting 'Salva Me'. The 'Recordare' again featured fine performances from all of the soloists. 'Confutatis' was furious, but lacking in tenor voices, it lost some power of the duet of tenor and bass voices in the opening of this movement. The female voices were angelic in the contrasting 'voca me cum benedictis'. 'Lacrimosa' was probably the pick of the night, although the conductor did not leave enough time for me to take a moment of reflection on it by starting 'Domine Jesu' a bit sooner. The rest of the movements were again very fine. And in the end, the Kyrie fugue but now set with different texts overwhelmed me. Loud applause followed.
To sum up, a very memorable night featuring plenty of fine performances. The conductor obviously has great talent and look forward to seeing him conduct MSO again.
- Mozart Symphony No. 41 'Jupiter'
- Mozart Requiem
Jacqueline Porter - Soprano
Sally-Anne Russell - Mezzo-soprano
James Egglestone - Tenor
Richard Alexander - Bass
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus: Jonathan Grieves-Smith - Chorus Master
Benjamin Northey - Conductor
As usual with Town Hall concert, there is an organ recital performed by Calvin Bowman. For this recital, he played Scarlatti Sonata in G; Mozart's subdued Adagio K. 356 showing that organ can be played in a tamely manner; Suites from Henry V by Walton (arr. Robert Gower/Henry Ley) which is rather nice with the outer marching movements sandwiching the more restraint middle movements. The third movement Touch her soft lips and part probably is my favourite moment in the recital. The final piece is a composition by Bowman himself Vexilla Regis which structurally similar to Walton's piece, with the theme in the first movement coming back in the last movement (if I remember correctly).
So, now on to the one of this year's most awaited concert. The hall is fully packed but not all the seats were occupied, contrary to the 'Sold Out' claim in MSO website. The concert started out with the energetic first movement of the Jupiter. Some nice playing in the brass as well, bringing out musical lines that I never really paid attention to before. I won't critique anything on this composition of Mozart - this symphony is just perfect and I always think that this is the crown achievement of all Mozart's symphonies. The second movement was full of nostalgia, although the movement could be carried out a little bit slower to bring out all the musical ideas there. The third movement was very fine, but I was anticipating for the finale the whole time in the performance. The finale of this symphony is my absolute favourite Mozart symphony movement. That five-voices fugue in the end of this movement is a very good representative of Mozart's composition power. The performance itself was very fine. The tempo was brisk, showcasing the virtuosity of the orchestra. I almost lost my self control and joined the conductor in conducting the orchestra I should say :). The audience only called for two curtain calls, which is somewhat disappointing after a very fine performance, but they might be saving their applause for the next giant, the Requiem, K. 626
A more than 100-members of MSO chorus joined the orchestra to perform the Requiem. An interesting note is that there is no clear separation in the seating of the four voices of the chorus. The seating was mixed with men seating flanked by two women. I wondered what was the reason for this. On the performance itself, the Introit was good and the soprano soared in 'Te Decet'. The chorus joined back soon after and set the tone for the next section - the 'Kyrie'. The 'Kyrie' was taken quite fast, but not too much. I preferred this approach very much compared to slower tempo that some conductors took. One small minor complaint about the chorus: the tenor voices seemed to be very weak compared to the other. I finally found out why when I looked through the program notes after the performance: the tenor has only half the number of the bass. Also, after 'Kyrie', I noticed that there is no organ accompaniment for this performance, which is a little bit disappointing. The 'Dies Irae' was scary as usual, all four of the soloists delivered magnificent performance in the 'Tuba Mirum' sequence. Credit also to the trombone soloist for fine accompaniment. 'Rex Tremendae' opened up with great cries from the chorus but soon subdued in the contrasting 'Salva Me'. The 'Recordare' again featured fine performances from all of the soloists. 'Confutatis' was furious, but lacking in tenor voices, it lost some power of the duet of tenor and bass voices in the opening of this movement. The female voices were angelic in the contrasting 'voca me cum benedictis'. 'Lacrimosa' was probably the pick of the night, although the conductor did not leave enough time for me to take a moment of reflection on it by starting 'Domine Jesu' a bit sooner. The rest of the movements were again very fine. And in the end, the Kyrie fugue but now set with different texts overwhelmed me. Loud applause followed.
To sum up, a very memorable night featuring plenty of fine performances. The conductor obviously has great talent and look forward to seeing him conduct MSO again.
Sunday, 29 June 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 29 June 2008 - Ravel's Bolero
Featuring:
- Berlioz Le Corsaire Overture
- Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20
- Schoenberg Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
- Ravel Bolero
Boris Berman - Piano
Mario Venzago - Conductor
Marketing technique is applied to the fullest to the title of this concert - crowd-pleasing Ravel's Bolero. As if the other programs in the concert is not as good as Bolero. It succeeded in enticing me to subscribe to this concert, so I guess MSO has nothing to complain about their marketing department. The concert hall (at least the Stall and the Circle) was quite packed at around 90-95% capacity full and I guess almost 95% of those people, including me, attended this concert mainly because of Bolero.
I subscribed to this concert because of Bolero is a pretty much an orchestral showcase, where there are plenty of solo lines for the principals of the instruments. Musically speaking, it's a - forgive me - pretty much boring piece. I'll elaborate that later.
The concert started with Berlioz's Le Corsaire overture, which I am already familiar with before the concert. It's actually quite a good piece, but it will never reach the status of Symphonie Fantastique. The orchestra played well for this piece and I also discovered some of the pieces that I never picked up in the recording that I had. A little note of the conductor, Mario Venzago: he used big gestures when conducting, and at one point, he danced in the podium. He is the first conductor that I've seen so far in my short concert attending career whose hands went full stretch up and from there, along with his body, sank as low as he possibly can. His gesture is precise and meaningful, however and I actually kind of enjoy how he conducted this piece. A warm applause followed after the end of the piece, which I think it's not enough considering how well the orchestra played the piece.
The second piece of the concert is one of the masterpiece of piano concerto repertoire, the Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466. Before the concert, I have not listened to this concerto in my life. I've listened to a snippet of the 2nd movement at the end of the movie Amadeus, but that's about it. 3 hours before the concert, I went to Youtube and found video of Friedrich Gulda playing this concerto and watched it. A fiery performance, and Gulda's technique is magnificent, I was completely absorbed by his performance. The piece was played more tamely by the MSO, and Berman's playing, while was excellent, did not completely satisfy me in the end. He wasn't as engaging as Gulda, I guess. The first movement lacked a little bit in drama and stormy mood department, but the second movement was delicious. The finale was good, but again, Berman's playing did not reach the level of Gulda's playing for me. The concerto ended well, and long applause followed. Most audience will be disappointed not to be offered an encore. And after this concert, I will definitely start looking for recordings of Mozart's piano concerto.
Now, to the most difficult music of the night, Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31. The conductor actually made a speech before playing this piece. He said that although the piece was written around 80 years ago, it is still very modern due to its complexity and the 12-tone system. He made anecdote of 12-tone system, saying that Schoenberg's idea of 12-tone system is that every note will be treated in the same manner, just like how everybody has the same rights in the society. However, he also noted that, as with the society, there are some individuals that have more power than the others, and that is also the case with 12-tone system where the notes, B (B flat), A, C, H (B natural) (representing the word BACH) is treated in a more special way. He did not expect the audience to hum or like the piece and he said he's very happy if the audience is attracted just a little to it, just like how people are attracted to Picasso's cubism paintings. Sure enough, the piece was difficult to play and listen. But amidst the lack of melody in the piece, there were lots of things going on in this piece. Lots of variations, chamber-music like variance and a whole lot more such as col legno playing, contrasting materials, extreme dynamics change, and how the motif in the beginning of the piece was heard again near the end of the piece. I actually kinda liked this music and never bored a single moment in this piece. I would be bored if I only listen to the recording, but the sight of how the piece is played by the orchestra really helped me ATTRACTED to the piece. Needless to say, majority of the audience did not like it, only lukewarm applause followed. I even overheard someone saying, "at least they end the concert with something good, the Bolero".
The Bolero itself that I was looking forward to is to me no comparison to Schoenberg's piece. I ended up bored by the same tune played by different instruments again and again. I even wondered if the strings players are actually bored playing pizzicato for most of the piece, only to join the fun in the end with their sweet sound. Don't take me wrong, the orchestra played very well, and the principals were very good. The snare drums player did a fantastic job in keeping the tempo and the dynamics of the notes are very well judged. But during this piece, I contrasted this piece with Schoenberg's and found how simple Ravel's craft is in this piece compared to Schoenberg's. Anyway, enough with the bashing of Bolero, it's still a crowd-pleasing piece, and I myself was and will always be overwhelmed with the full sound of the orchestra when the cymbals and bass-drums crashed down near the end. But I will think thrice to attend Bolero concert again if MSO program this piece next season or two. The audience shouted bravo in the end, and I was the only person that, as far as I can see, applaused not as enthusiast as the rest of the audience.
To sum up, a very good concert, 3 out 4 programs were played brilliantly, the Mozart's piano concerto just a little bit short from brilliant. Discover a new gem of Schoenberg and find myself not-liking-Bolero-so-much-anymore after listening to Schoenberg's piece. Next concert is: Saint-Saens' 2nd piano concerto in 2 (or 3?) weeks time.
- Berlioz Le Corsaire Overture
- Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20
- Schoenberg Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31
- Ravel Bolero
Boris Berman - Piano
Mario Venzago - Conductor
Marketing technique is applied to the fullest to the title of this concert - crowd-pleasing Ravel's Bolero. As if the other programs in the concert is not as good as Bolero. It succeeded in enticing me to subscribe to this concert, so I guess MSO has nothing to complain about their marketing department. The concert hall (at least the Stall and the Circle) was quite packed at around 90-95% capacity full and I guess almost 95% of those people, including me, attended this concert mainly because of Bolero.
I subscribed to this concert because of Bolero is a pretty much an orchestral showcase, where there are plenty of solo lines for the principals of the instruments. Musically speaking, it's a - forgive me - pretty much boring piece. I'll elaborate that later.
The concert started with Berlioz's Le Corsaire overture, which I am already familiar with before the concert. It's actually quite a good piece, but it will never reach the status of Symphonie Fantastique. The orchestra played well for this piece and I also discovered some of the pieces that I never picked up in the recording that I had. A little note of the conductor, Mario Venzago: he used big gestures when conducting, and at one point, he danced in the podium. He is the first conductor that I've seen so far in my short concert attending career whose hands went full stretch up and from there, along with his body, sank as low as he possibly can. His gesture is precise and meaningful, however and I actually kind of enjoy how he conducted this piece. A warm applause followed after the end of the piece, which I think it's not enough considering how well the orchestra played the piece.
The second piece of the concert is one of the masterpiece of piano concerto repertoire, the Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466. Before the concert, I have not listened to this concerto in my life. I've listened to a snippet of the 2nd movement at the end of the movie Amadeus, but that's about it. 3 hours before the concert, I went to Youtube and found video of Friedrich Gulda playing this concerto and watched it. A fiery performance, and Gulda's technique is magnificent, I was completely absorbed by his performance. The piece was played more tamely by the MSO, and Berman's playing, while was excellent, did not completely satisfy me in the end. He wasn't as engaging as Gulda, I guess. The first movement lacked a little bit in drama and stormy mood department, but the second movement was delicious. The finale was good, but again, Berman's playing did not reach the level of Gulda's playing for me. The concerto ended well, and long applause followed. Most audience will be disappointed not to be offered an encore. And after this concert, I will definitely start looking for recordings of Mozart's piano concerto.
Now, to the most difficult music of the night, Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra, Op. 31. The conductor actually made a speech before playing this piece. He said that although the piece was written around 80 years ago, it is still very modern due to its complexity and the 12-tone system. He made anecdote of 12-tone system, saying that Schoenberg's idea of 12-tone system is that every note will be treated in the same manner, just like how everybody has the same rights in the society. However, he also noted that, as with the society, there are some individuals that have more power than the others, and that is also the case with 12-tone system where the notes, B (B flat), A, C, H (B natural) (representing the word BACH) is treated in a more special way. He did not expect the audience to hum or like the piece and he said he's very happy if the audience is attracted just a little to it, just like how people are attracted to Picasso's cubism paintings. Sure enough, the piece was difficult to play and listen. But amidst the lack of melody in the piece, there were lots of things going on in this piece. Lots of variations, chamber-music like variance and a whole lot more such as col legno playing, contrasting materials, extreme dynamics change, and how the motif in the beginning of the piece was heard again near the end of the piece. I actually kinda liked this music and never bored a single moment in this piece. I would be bored if I only listen to the recording, but the sight of how the piece is played by the orchestra really helped me ATTRACTED to the piece. Needless to say, majority of the audience did not like it, only lukewarm applause followed. I even overheard someone saying, "at least they end the concert with something good, the Bolero".
The Bolero itself that I was looking forward to is to me no comparison to Schoenberg's piece. I ended up bored by the same tune played by different instruments again and again. I even wondered if the strings players are actually bored playing pizzicato for most of the piece, only to join the fun in the end with their sweet sound. Don't take me wrong, the orchestra played very well, and the principals were very good. The snare drums player did a fantastic job in keeping the tempo and the dynamics of the notes are very well judged. But during this piece, I contrasted this piece with Schoenberg's and found how simple Ravel's craft is in this piece compared to Schoenberg's. Anyway, enough with the bashing of Bolero, it's still a crowd-pleasing piece, and I myself was and will always be overwhelmed with the full sound of the orchestra when the cymbals and bass-drums crashed down near the end. But I will think thrice to attend Bolero concert again if MSO program this piece next season or two. The audience shouted bravo in the end, and I was the only person that, as far as I can see, applaused not as enthusiast as the rest of the audience.
To sum up, a very good concert, 3 out 4 programs were played brilliantly, the Mozart's piano concerto just a little bit short from brilliant. Discover a new gem of Schoenberg and find myself not-liking-Bolero-so-much-anymore after listening to Schoenberg's piece. Next concert is: Saint-Saens' 2nd piano concerto in 2 (or 3?) weeks time.
Monday, 9 June 2008
Mozart vs. Haydn Symphonies
I've been listening to Mozart's Symphonies from No. 35-41 and Haydn's Symphonies from No. 101-104 + 94. I admit Mozart's symphonies are prettier, have catchier tune, made me happy and just perfect. But, there's this sophisticated feeling that one gets when listening to Haydn. His symphonies do not have the immediate tune that running in your head after you listen to them (bar the last movement of the 104, I often hummed to it when I'm alone walking on the street), but you will feel that at the end of each of his symphony, Haydn's symphonies are really well constructed hence sophisticated. I don't know how to describe it, but one just have to listen to say Haydn's 102 and contrast it with Mozart's say, 35 or 38. People should really give Haydn more listening. He is undeservedly got low count listening in Last.fm considering he is called 'father of the symphony and string quartet'.
Overall the last symphonies of both composer are my favourite symphonies of them. How can you top the last movement of Jupiter or the bounciness of the finale of the London symphonies? I know I'll never get tired listening to them cause they always make me so happy :)
Overall the last symphonies of both composer are my favourite symphonies of them. How can you top the last movement of Jupiter or the bounciness of the finale of the London symphonies? I know I'll never get tired listening to them cause they always make me so happy :)
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.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 1 March 2008 - Nigel Kennedy plays Mozart and Beethoven
Featuring:
- Johann Sebastian Bach Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 - Prelude (in doubt)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218
- Bela Bartok Three pieces for duo violins
- Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D major
- Vittorio Monti Czardas
- Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze
Nigel Kennedy - Director and Soloist
What a night! From the beginning of the concert, I thought that the night was going to be something special and to be remembered for a long time. And I am not mistaken. This concert tops the magnificent Stephen Hough concert with MSO when he played Saint Saens' Piano Concerto No. 5 'Egyptian'. This is the best concert I've attended since I started going to classical music concerts at the beginning of last year.
Nigel Kennedy came at the stage a little bit late and guess what, he started by playing an encore. After some greetings and jokes with the audience, he started to play a Bach piece. It was wonderful to watch him with his not-so-conventional outfit, spiky hair, playing the Bach. I'm not sure on the piece, but after matching it against the collection of Sonata and Partita for Violin by Bach, I think it's the Prelude from the third Partita. This is because I remembered there are some passages in the piece that reminds me of Vivaldi's summer and that Prelude has it.
After that, again, a few jokes, Nigel started to play Mozart's 4th violin concerto. The tempo is on fast side - faster than the tempo that Anne Sophie Mutter employed with her newest recordings of the piece. I am very familiar with Mutter's version and listened to it before the concert. Nigel conducted the orchestra (actually, he played the first violin orchestra part also) and his approach is not conventional but yet very interesting. He stressed some of the lighter notes which are usually left lingered in Mutter's recording. The biggest surprise for me in the first movement of the concerto is the Cadenza itself. Kennedy played his own cadenza and it was wonderful. You can listen to some of his cadenza in his website. I especially loved the pastoral, sonorous - almost religious - feelings when the violin in its highest range playing alongside harpsichord and woodwinds which played the very first notes of the violin concerto. I like the cadenza very much.
Digressing a bit, Nigel plans to launch the CD of the same program that he played the other night. He has recorded both the Mozart and Beethoven violin concertos and you can take a sneak listen to his recordings from here. In that website, you can also view to his video interview. In there, you can actually listen to the snippet of Nigel's cadenza of the first movement of Mozart's 4th violin concerto from 03:08 to 04:23 (listen to magnificent blend of woodwinds, harpsichord and the solo violin!)
After some applause at the end of the first movement, we moved on to the second movement. Here again Nigel played sweetly and surprised me again with his cadenza towards the end of the second movement. Again, the mood seems to be the same with the first movement cadenza. However, this time, instead of accompanied by woodwinds and harpsichord, the solo violin is accompanied by a double bass pizzicato and very soft strings. You can listen to the cadenza by previewing this track from here.
Moving to the finale, I couldn't remember the exact cadenza from this movement since the Rondo theme kept coming back to me. But this movement was also gorgeous.
After the Mozart's concerto, he asked MSO's concertmaster - Wilma Smith - to play a duet of Bartok's little violin pieces with him. They played three pieces and all of the pieces are pretty short, virtuostic, and I found it pretty humorous at times. Intermission followed after this piece.
Beethoven's mighty violin concerto was next. Prepared for anything after the Mozart's violin concerto, I am not really surprised when the timpanist opened up the piece with slightly faster tempo (refer to 06:52 in the video in the above site). The tempo is on fast side and what impressed me the most is the cadenza. I'm not sure if it was written by Nigel himself, or it was really Fritz Kreisler's cadenza (as listed in Nigel's website). But what I can tell you is at one point during the cadenza, I thought there are 2 violins playing at the same time. At this point, I diverted my eyes of Nigel to see whether there were any string players of the orchestra playing at the same time. And as you know it, there weren't any players playing their strings. The way Nigel played the cadenza really impressed me, most of the time he played 2 different themes of the violin concerto at the same time.
The second movement was also very interesting. Nigel played the movement a tad SLOWER than the Larghetto marking as indicated by Beethoven. To some the movement might seem to be dragging, but I enjoy the slow almost introspective feeling that I got. The finale attached the second movement was on FIRE. The rondo theme is of course still very nice, the gentleman that sat next to me - to my annoyance - tapped his feet to the rhythm. The cadenza it self was the one that really set this movement on FIRE. After the cadenza, my heart was pumping so fast that I almost could not sit still anymore. When the woodwinds announced the finale of the whole work by the rondo theme, all the music just sounded so beautiful and I at that point wished the music never ended. The hall erupted to huge applause right after the very last note was played. You can see the similar but not the same scene that I saw in the concert starting at around 09:06 to 10:18 (and yes, Nigel wore that same almost ridiculous outfit in our concert as well).
After some little chat, encores followed. Czardas by Monti was arranged by Nigel and he played it with the orchestra. I must admit that the arrangement was not really faithful to the original score as sometimes I heard Beethoven's tune in his violin concerto in Czardas! The arrangement also at one point instructed one violinist to play her violin in the same way that you played guitar (I forgot the musical term for it). In that same passage, the harpsichord joined the fun and play a little trio with Nigel and the violinist that played her violin in guitar way.
The last encore piece was Nigel's arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze. I'm not familiar at all with Jimi Hendrix music, so I can't comment how truthful it is to the original music, but I also enjoyed it. In the middle of the piece, Nigel went offstage and played the music in the middle of audience. And when he got back to the stage, after playing a while, the whole orchestra stood and kept playing music until they all disappeared to the backstage. Huge applause followed and the whole musicians returned back to the stage and took their bows.
To sum up, the best and longest concert I've been to (the concert was about 02:45 hours with the interval included). Very happy to have attended the concert and will go to next Nigel's concert.
Next concert: John Williams in action + Mahler's 1st symphony in 3 1/2 hours time.
- Johann Sebastian Bach Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006 - Prelude (in doubt)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218
- Bela Bartok Three pieces for duo violins
- Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Concerto in D major
- Vittorio Monti Czardas
- Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze
Nigel Kennedy - Director and Soloist
What a night! From the beginning of the concert, I thought that the night was going to be something special and to be remembered for a long time. And I am not mistaken. This concert tops the magnificent Stephen Hough concert with MSO when he played Saint Saens' Piano Concerto No. 5 'Egyptian'. This is the best concert I've attended since I started going to classical music concerts at the beginning of last year.
Nigel Kennedy came at the stage a little bit late and guess what, he started by playing an encore. After some greetings and jokes with the audience, he started to play a Bach piece. It was wonderful to watch him with his not-so-conventional outfit, spiky hair, playing the Bach. I'm not sure on the piece, but after matching it against the collection of Sonata and Partita for Violin by Bach, I think it's the Prelude from the third Partita. This is because I remembered there are some passages in the piece that reminds me of Vivaldi's summer and that Prelude has it.
After that, again, a few jokes, Nigel started to play Mozart's 4th violin concerto. The tempo is on fast side - faster than the tempo that Anne Sophie Mutter employed with her newest recordings of the piece. I am very familiar with Mutter's version and listened to it before the concert. Nigel conducted the orchestra (actually, he played the first violin orchestra part also) and his approach is not conventional but yet very interesting. He stressed some of the lighter notes which are usually left lingered in Mutter's recording. The biggest surprise for me in the first movement of the concerto is the Cadenza itself. Kennedy played his own cadenza and it was wonderful. You can listen to some of his cadenza in his website. I especially loved the pastoral, sonorous - almost religious - feelings when the violin in its highest range playing alongside harpsichord and woodwinds which played the very first notes of the violin concerto. I like the cadenza very much.
Digressing a bit, Nigel plans to launch the CD of the same program that he played the other night. He has recorded both the Mozart and Beethoven violin concertos and you can take a sneak listen to his recordings from here. In that website, you can also view to his video interview. In there, you can actually listen to the snippet of Nigel's cadenza of the first movement of Mozart's 4th violin concerto from 03:08 to 04:23 (listen to magnificent blend of woodwinds, harpsichord and the solo violin!)
After some applause at the end of the first movement, we moved on to the second movement. Here again Nigel played sweetly and surprised me again with his cadenza towards the end of the second movement. Again, the mood seems to be the same with the first movement cadenza. However, this time, instead of accompanied by woodwinds and harpsichord, the solo violin is accompanied by a double bass pizzicato and very soft strings. You can listen to the cadenza by previewing this track from here.
Moving to the finale, I couldn't remember the exact cadenza from this movement since the Rondo theme kept coming back to me. But this movement was also gorgeous.
After the Mozart's concerto, he asked MSO's concertmaster - Wilma Smith - to play a duet of Bartok's little violin pieces with him. They played three pieces and all of the pieces are pretty short, virtuostic, and I found it pretty humorous at times. Intermission followed after this piece.
Beethoven's mighty violin concerto was next. Prepared for anything after the Mozart's violin concerto, I am not really surprised when the timpanist opened up the piece with slightly faster tempo (refer to 06:52 in the video in the above site). The tempo is on fast side and what impressed me the most is the cadenza. I'm not sure if it was written by Nigel himself, or it was really Fritz Kreisler's cadenza (as listed in Nigel's website). But what I can tell you is at one point during the cadenza, I thought there are 2 violins playing at the same time. At this point, I diverted my eyes of Nigel to see whether there were any string players of the orchestra playing at the same time. And as you know it, there weren't any players playing their strings. The way Nigel played the cadenza really impressed me, most of the time he played 2 different themes of the violin concerto at the same time.
The second movement was also very interesting. Nigel played the movement a tad SLOWER than the Larghetto marking as indicated by Beethoven. To some the movement might seem to be dragging, but I enjoy the slow almost introspective feeling that I got. The finale attached the second movement was on FIRE. The rondo theme is of course still very nice, the gentleman that sat next to me - to my annoyance - tapped his feet to the rhythm. The cadenza it self was the one that really set this movement on FIRE. After the cadenza, my heart was pumping so fast that I almost could not sit still anymore. When the woodwinds announced the finale of the whole work by the rondo theme, all the music just sounded so beautiful and I at that point wished the music never ended. The hall erupted to huge applause right after the very last note was played. You can see the similar but not the same scene that I saw in the concert starting at around 09:06 to 10:18 (and yes, Nigel wore that same almost ridiculous outfit in our concert as well).
After some little chat, encores followed. Czardas by Monti was arranged by Nigel and he played it with the orchestra. I must admit that the arrangement was not really faithful to the original score as sometimes I heard Beethoven's tune in his violin concerto in Czardas! The arrangement also at one point instructed one violinist to play her violin in the same way that you played guitar (I forgot the musical term for it). In that same passage, the harpsichord joined the fun and play a little trio with Nigel and the violinist that played her violin in guitar way.
The last encore piece was Nigel's arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze. I'm not familiar at all with Jimi Hendrix music, so I can't comment how truthful it is to the original music, but I also enjoyed it. In the middle of the piece, Nigel went offstage and played the music in the middle of audience. And when he got back to the stage, after playing a while, the whole orchestra stood and kept playing music until they all disappeared to the backstage. Huge applause followed and the whole musicians returned back to the stage and took their bows.
To sum up, the best and longest concert I've been to (the concert was about 02:45 hours with the interval included). Very happy to have attended the concert and will go to next Nigel's concert.
Next concert: John Williams in action + Mahler's 1st symphony in 3 1/2 hours time.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Mozart == sweet
It happened again!
Everytime I listened to one of Mozart's concertos 'sweet' is the first word that comes out of my brain to describe every single of them. His clarinet concerto, oboe concerto, and 5 violin concertos have always did it for me and today I was listening to his Flute and Harp concerto (K. 299). It was my second listening of this piece. I liked it very much when I listened to the recording by Emmanuel Pahud (flute) and Marie-Pierre Langlamet (harp) with Abbado conducting BPO and it was no different when listening to it in period instruments sound. Unfortunately, I didnot know the name of the soloists, but the recording is by Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra conducted by Ton Koopman.
The whole concerto is full of joy - very Mozartian - with the lyrical opening of second movement instantly hits the mark for me. Just listen to the simple theme played by the orchestra and then the same theme is repeated by both of the soloists - ah, sweetness :). The first and last movement are equally enjoyable although I can't remember how the main theme sounds like again. I will listen to it sometime again soon.
By the way, I still have tons of Mozart pieces that I want to listen to. 2 weeks ago, I bought a CD of all his horn concertos that I haven't touched yet. I still have to listen to both of his flute concertos and bassoon concertos. And last but not least, his 27 piano concertos are still in my unknown territory. I should get them soon.
Everytime I listened to one of Mozart's concertos 'sweet' is the first word that comes out of my brain to describe every single of them. His clarinet concerto, oboe concerto, and 5 violin concertos have always did it for me and today I was listening to his Flute and Harp concerto (K. 299). It was my second listening of this piece. I liked it very much when I listened to the recording by Emmanuel Pahud (flute) and Marie-Pierre Langlamet (harp) with Abbado conducting BPO and it was no different when listening to it in period instruments sound. Unfortunately, I didnot know the name of the soloists, but the recording is by Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra conducted by Ton Koopman.
The whole concerto is full of joy - very Mozartian - with the lyrical opening of second movement instantly hits the mark for me. Just listen to the simple theme played by the orchestra and then the same theme is repeated by both of the soloists - ah, sweetness :). The first and last movement are equally enjoyable although I can't remember how the main theme sounds like again. I will listen to it sometime again soon.
By the way, I still have tons of Mozart pieces that I want to listen to. 2 weeks ago, I bought a CD of all his horn concertos that I haven't touched yet. I still have to listen to both of his flute concertos and bassoon concertos. And last but not least, his 27 piano concertos are still in my unknown territory. I should get them soon.
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