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.
Sunday, 18 May 2008
Sunday, 20 April 2008
What I'm currently discovering..
I have not been doing blogging other things than reviews since my short writings on Edvard Grieg's Lyric Pieces. This is just a general survey of which composers and what pieces of them I'm listening now.
Bach: Concertos for Oboe and Violin.
Beethoven: Choral Fantasy, Missa Solemnis, Diabelli Variations, Early Piano Sonatas.
Mozart: The symphonies (working my way backwards, I have listened to 41, 40, 39, and 38, they're all delicious), Horn Concertos 1-4, Horn Quintet K. 452, Gran Partita (Serenade for 13 winds).
Haydn: The symphonies (working my way backwards - have listened and LOVED all of 104, 103 and 102).
Saint Saens: Piano Concertos (have listened to 1,2 and 5 - loved all of them. Look forward to listening to 3 and 4), Cello Concerto #1, a number of tone poems.
Dvorak: Symphony No. 7 (wonderful piece of music, rivalling 8th and 9th symphonies) - again, working my way backwards.
Mahler: Orchestral Works (working my way FORWARDS, now listening to Das Lied von Der Erde) - only his 9th and 10th symphonies to tackle and I can officially call myself a Mahlerian.
Chopin: Ballades (loved all of them), Scherzos and Impromptus.
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy.
Schubert: Piano Sonatas (working my way backwards, I have only listened to D. 960 and what a piece. Endless beauties.), Impromptus and Moment Musicals.
Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto #2 and some piano works.
Schumann: The symphonies (working my way forwards, now on his 3rd - one more to go!).
Berg: Violin Concerto (I didn't get it in my first two listenings, I'll try again soon!)
Schumann: Introduction and Allegro Appassionato for piano and orchestra, Waldszenen, and piano works (basically Richter's Schumann album on DG).
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suites (working my way forwards, loved the first and looking forward to listen to the second).
Sibelius: Karelia Suites and other tone poems.
Brahms: Ein Deutches Requiem.
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1, and (relistening to) Symphonic Dances and The Bells.
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 4.
Debussy: Orchestral Works.
Lots of music to be discovered. Patience is required.
Bach: Concertos for Oboe and Violin.
Beethoven: Choral Fantasy, Missa Solemnis, Diabelli Variations, Early Piano Sonatas.
Mozart: The symphonies (working my way backwards, I have listened to 41, 40, 39, and 38, they're all delicious), Horn Concertos 1-4, Horn Quintet K. 452, Gran Partita (Serenade for 13 winds).
Haydn: The symphonies (working my way backwards - have listened and LOVED all of 104, 103 and 102).
Saint Saens: Piano Concertos (have listened to 1,2 and 5 - loved all of them. Look forward to listening to 3 and 4), Cello Concerto #1, a number of tone poems.
Dvorak: Symphony No. 7 (wonderful piece of music, rivalling 8th and 9th symphonies) - again, working my way backwards.
Mahler: Orchestral Works (working my way FORWARDS, now listening to Das Lied von Der Erde) - only his 9th and 10th symphonies to tackle and I can officially call myself a Mahlerian.
Chopin: Ballades (loved all of them), Scherzos and Impromptus.
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy.
Schubert: Piano Sonatas (working my way backwards, I have only listened to D. 960 and what a piece. Endless beauties.), Impromptus and Moment Musicals.
Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto #2 and some piano works.
Schumann: The symphonies (working my way forwards, now on his 3rd - one more to go!).
Berg: Violin Concerto (I didn't get it in my first two listenings, I'll try again soon!)
Schumann: Introduction and Allegro Appassionato for piano and orchestra, Waldszenen, and piano works (basically Richter's Schumann album on DG).
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suites (working my way forwards, loved the first and looking forward to listen to the second).
Sibelius: Karelia Suites and other tone poems.
Brahms: Ein Deutches Requiem.
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1, and (relistening to) Symphonic Dances and The Bells.
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 4.
Debussy: Orchestral Works.
Lots of music to be discovered. Patience is required.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 19 April 2008 - Song of the Waves, Music of the Spheres
Featuring:
- Debussy Nocturnes
- Goossens Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
- Holst The Planets
Howard Shelley - Piano
Women of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Richard Hickox - Conductor
The story behind me attending this concert is no other than Holst's The Planets. I was practically did not care for Debussy's music at that time (2 months ago). MSO's last season concert of Debussy's Images left me sleepy. And who is Goossens? I have never heard of him. So, just for Holst's The Planets only, I got the cheapest ticket for the concert.
The way I looked at Debussy's (and Impressionist music in general) changed again after I listen to Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit and Ma Mere l'Oye. At that time, I only considered Debussy a one-hit wonder with his La Mer. I decided to change my attitude after several listening of the famous Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. And then I moved on to listen to his Nocturnes, which I did not realise was programmed in the concert until yesterday. I liked the piece in the first listening (a rarity for Debussy!), giving special credits to the second and last movement (Fetes and Sirenes). How surprised was I to find out yesterday that I can listen to it performed live by the orchestra.
Now on to the concert itself. It started with the Debussy's pieces. The performance was wonderful throughout and I noticed passages for cor anglais which I could not really identify in the recordings that I listened to. The first movement was very much sustained, but there were plenty of things happening in the piece if you listened to it closely. The second movement, describing a festival, was brilliantly played, and the last movement with the women's chorus hits it home for me. It was just brilliant. However, I felt that the piece did not get appreciated widely by the audience. Most of them looked like they are bored by the piece (which exactly what happened to me when I was in the last season Debussy's concert). Anyway, it doesn't really matter for me what the others thought of the piece. Music always affect people differently.
After some re-arrangement of the orchestra seating, we got an Australian premiere of Goossens' Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. It started out interesting, sounding very modern indeed (it was composed around 1944), then it became a tad less interesting, but it became a bit interesting again when we reached the second movement which I felt was a little jazzy. The slow movement, was the one that I gave up on - I really had no idea what's going on in that piece in that movement. The last movement - a very bouncy and rhythmically fast but short in period - served like a wake up call for me after those prolonged boring slow movement. It ended well, but I don't think I can agree to the author of the program notes that mentioned 'It's hard to understand why it's not a standard part of the 20th century piano concerto repertoire'. IMHO, this piece doesn't stand up to Rachmaninoff's 4th piano concerto, both of Ravel's piano concertos and Prokofiev's 3rd and 5th piano concertos. I might give it another listen - after I've found my way with music of Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Berg, Bartok - to see what I'm missing in the music.
After the interval, it is the main dish of the night and what I think everyone in the concert is going for - The Planets. Mars was exciting, if not too loud in the loudest passages. Venus was great also, with Wilma Smith and David Berlin playing their solo passages very well indeed. It was a heartfelt experience for me. Mercury was bouncy - also well played. Jupiter was full of jollity. I remembered the conductor using occasional rubato and accelerando in this piece and the result was marvelous. I think Saturn was the best of the night. The marvelous playing of the soothing melodies by the harps towards the end of the piece really moved me. Uranus was quite good. Neptune - with the women chorus not on stage! - rounded off a solid performance of the beloved suite by the orchestra. 3 or 4 curtain calls followed after a prolonged applause.
To sum up, a very interesting concert with 2 good performances in the beginning and the end of the concert and a not-so-good performance in the middle. The concert is neither at my all time worst or best concert list.
Next concert: Dvorak's 7th symphony, Mozart's piano concerto no. 21, Janacek's Sinfonietta in approximately one month
- Debussy Nocturnes
- Goossens Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
- Holst The Planets
Howard Shelley - Piano
Women of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus
Richard Hickox - Conductor
The story behind me attending this concert is no other than Holst's The Planets. I was practically did not care for Debussy's music at that time (2 months ago). MSO's last season concert of Debussy's Images left me sleepy. And who is Goossens? I have never heard of him. So, just for Holst's The Planets only, I got the cheapest ticket for the concert.
The way I looked at Debussy's (and Impressionist music in general) changed again after I listen to Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit and Ma Mere l'Oye. At that time, I only considered Debussy a one-hit wonder with his La Mer. I decided to change my attitude after several listening of the famous Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. And then I moved on to listen to his Nocturnes, which I did not realise was programmed in the concert until yesterday. I liked the piece in the first listening (a rarity for Debussy!), giving special credits to the second and last movement (Fetes and Sirenes). How surprised was I to find out yesterday that I can listen to it performed live by the orchestra.
Now on to the concert itself. It started with the Debussy's pieces. The performance was wonderful throughout and I noticed passages for cor anglais which I could not really identify in the recordings that I listened to. The first movement was very much sustained, but there were plenty of things happening in the piece if you listened to it closely. The second movement, describing a festival, was brilliantly played, and the last movement with the women's chorus hits it home for me. It was just brilliant. However, I felt that the piece did not get appreciated widely by the audience. Most of them looked like they are bored by the piece (which exactly what happened to me when I was in the last season Debussy's concert). Anyway, it doesn't really matter for me what the others thought of the piece. Music always affect people differently.
After some re-arrangement of the orchestra seating, we got an Australian premiere of Goossens' Phantasy Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. It started out interesting, sounding very modern indeed (it was composed around 1944), then it became a tad less interesting, but it became a bit interesting again when we reached the second movement which I felt was a little jazzy. The slow movement, was the one that I gave up on - I really had no idea what's going on in that piece in that movement. The last movement - a very bouncy and rhythmically fast but short in period - served like a wake up call for me after those prolonged boring slow movement. It ended well, but I don't think I can agree to the author of the program notes that mentioned 'It's hard to understand why it's not a standard part of the 20th century piano concerto repertoire'. IMHO, this piece doesn't stand up to Rachmaninoff's 4th piano concerto, both of Ravel's piano concertos and Prokofiev's 3rd and 5th piano concertos. I might give it another listen - after I've found my way with music of Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Berg, Bartok - to see what I'm missing in the music.
After the interval, it is the main dish of the night and what I think everyone in the concert is going for - The Planets. Mars was exciting, if not too loud in the loudest passages. Venus was great also, with Wilma Smith and David Berlin playing their solo passages very well indeed. It was a heartfelt experience for me. Mercury was bouncy - also well played. Jupiter was full of jollity. I remembered the conductor using occasional rubato and accelerando in this piece and the result was marvelous. I think Saturn was the best of the night. The marvelous playing of the soothing melodies by the harps towards the end of the piece really moved me. Uranus was quite good. Neptune - with the women chorus not on stage! - rounded off a solid performance of the beloved suite by the orchestra. 3 or 4 curtain calls followed after a prolonged applause.
To sum up, a very interesting concert with 2 good performances in the beginning and the end of the concert and a not-so-good performance in the middle. The concert is neither at my all time worst or best concert list.
Next concert: Dvorak's 7th symphony, Mozart's piano concerto no. 21, Janacek's Sinfonietta in approximately one month
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 5 April 2008 - Verdi's Requiem
Featuring:
- Verdi Messa di Requiem
Aivale Cole - Soprano
Lilli Paasikivi - Mezzo-soprano
Virgilio Marino - Tenor
Askar Abdrazakov - Bass
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus: Jonathan Grieves-Smith - Chorus Master
The Bach Choir London: David Hill - Musical Director
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
Verdi's Requiem, which general public know only from its famous Dies Irae, is a work worth more knowing than the short section of Dies Irae. From the opening cello melody till the last notes, it is full of memorable melodies and events. There is seriously no 'boring' parts in the whole requiem. When I first listened to it, it was the Kyrie that grabbed my attention. Dies Irae followed next and without stop, Tuba Mirum that requires 8 trumpets in total blows my socks off. Other movements that I loved in my premiere listening were Rex Tremendae, Recordare, Confutatis, Lacrimosa, Offertory, and Sanctus. Upon my second listening, I've picked up why Libera Me is legendary. I also grow to appreciate the beautiful Liber Scriptus, Quid Sum Miser, the Tenor solo Ingemisco and lovely duets in Agnus Dei. And after tonight's concert, Verdi's Requiem is definitely my favourite choral works dethroning Mozart's Requiem.
The concert itself was brilliant. The sight of the number of double choirs are already very impressive and I will give them special 'bravo' again because they performed wonderfully. Dies Irae and Tuba Mirum gave me goosebumps and what magnificent Sanctus! The orchestra players played as if their lives are on the line. I could not really pick a highlight of good orchestral playing overall since the level of playing in that concert is really really high. The soloists themselves are wonderful although I would prefer the Tenor to sing a little bit louder. Sometimes his voice seemed to be overwhelmed by his other soloists and the chorus. However, his rendition of the Offertory was really brilliant. The bass really shone in Confutatis. The beautiful mezzo-soprano soared in Liber Scriptus and Lacrimosa and her Soprano counter parts did a wonderful job in Libera Me. Their duets in Recordare was just heart-melting.
The hall was more than 97% full, and from what I heard, the hall was sold out for the previous 2 days. The audience were well-behaved and applaused enthusiastically at the end of the concert. One of the best concerts that I've ever attended.
- Verdi Messa di Requiem
Aivale Cole - Soprano
Lilli Paasikivi - Mezzo-soprano
Virgilio Marino - Tenor
Askar Abdrazakov - Bass
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus: Jonathan Grieves-Smith - Chorus Master
The Bach Choir London: David Hill - Musical Director
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
Verdi's Requiem, which general public know only from its famous Dies Irae, is a work worth more knowing than the short section of Dies Irae. From the opening cello melody till the last notes, it is full of memorable melodies and events. There is seriously no 'boring' parts in the whole requiem. When I first listened to it, it was the Kyrie that grabbed my attention. Dies Irae followed next and without stop, Tuba Mirum that requires 8 trumpets in total blows my socks off. Other movements that I loved in my premiere listening were Rex Tremendae, Recordare, Confutatis, Lacrimosa, Offertory, and Sanctus. Upon my second listening, I've picked up why Libera Me is legendary. I also grow to appreciate the beautiful Liber Scriptus, Quid Sum Miser, the Tenor solo Ingemisco and lovely duets in Agnus Dei. And after tonight's concert, Verdi's Requiem is definitely my favourite choral works dethroning Mozart's Requiem.
The concert itself was brilliant. The sight of the number of double choirs are already very impressive and I will give them special 'bravo' again because they performed wonderfully. Dies Irae and Tuba Mirum gave me goosebumps and what magnificent Sanctus! The orchestra players played as if their lives are on the line. I could not really pick a highlight of good orchestral playing overall since the level of playing in that concert is really really high. The soloists themselves are wonderful although I would prefer the Tenor to sing a little bit louder. Sometimes his voice seemed to be overwhelmed by his other soloists and the chorus. However, his rendition of the Offertory was really brilliant. The bass really shone in Confutatis. The beautiful mezzo-soprano soared in Liber Scriptus and Lacrimosa and her Soprano counter parts did a wonderful job in Libera Me. Their duets in Recordare was just heart-melting.
The hall was more than 97% full, and from what I heard, the hall was sold out for the previous 2 days. The audience were well-behaved and applaused enthusiastically at the end of the concert. One of the best concerts that I've ever attended.
Monday, 10 March 2008
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 8 March 2008 - John Williams in Concert
Featuring:
- Olivier Messiaen Hymne
- Toru Takemitsu To the Edge of Dream
- Peter Sculthorpe Nourlangie
- Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D major
John Williams - Guitarist
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
The first 'official' concert of the season by MSO. This was one of the very first concert that I wanted to subscribe to. The reason was not the chance to see John Williams, but it was for the Mahler 1. I wanted to experience the blazing finale of Mahler's first symphony live. Not from the recordings. It also marked more than one year since I first discovered Mahler's music and his first symphony is the very first complete symphony that I listened to in full. The live Mahler was amazing, more about that later. Let's start from the first half of the concert.
The concert started with a piece by French composer, Olivier Messiaen - whose "Quartet for The End of Time" will I attend later this year. The piece is titled 'Hymne'. The piece is certainly more modern, not your average full of melody Romantic music, and there are some interesting passages in the music. However, at times, I could not catch up with the sudden change of mood and themes. This is a kind of piece that I believe need repeated listening to be appreciated better.
The second piece of the program is the one that I'm having trouble with. Takemitsu's work - noted as complex in harmony by John Williams himself and also the writer of the program notes - is a little too complex for me to enjoy. I have no other impression from this piece and for the whole time when the orchestra played the piece, I only paid attention to how John Williams played the guitar. I discovered some techniques on how to play a guitar (note that I have no idea on how to play guitar). His technique is amazing and every note is crystal clear.
The third piece pleased me the most out of the first half of the concert. Nourlangie is a depiction of Sculthorpe's feelings about Australia Kakadu National Park. It is an amazing piece of work and I loved it. The piece began slowly but yet it created a sense of being in a wide space and the solo guitar suddenly played a very nice melody - I guess it must be the folk song of Torres Strait islander. And then you heard some birds sound from the strings. A very nice effect and again it created the illusion that you are really outdoors. Then after a while, the percussion player joined the fun and played duet with Williams. The music got faster and faster just as what you expected from a movement marked "Poco Estatico". After that, the melody that we first heard from the solo guitar is now taken up by the violins and what fine melody it is!
When the piece ended, both Caetani and Williams gestured to someone in the audience, and guess who, Peter Sculthorpe in the audience. Knowing that the composer is there, the applause got louder and the composer himself looked very touched with the reception that he got.
Now for the Mahler himself, it was really really good. I thought Kubelik's recording of it is really good already, but this concert just reminded me that the best music is indeed live music. All of the sound produced by the orchestra is just superb with the woodwinds not over-powered by the brass. I am just amazed how beautiful the delicate woodwinds passages that I have not noticed before in the recording. The tempo itself is just right to my enjoyment and Caetani - conducting without the score - emphasised the contrast of the dynamics perfectly. Mahler's melody in the first movement is so infectious that I almost sang the lyric from "Ging heut morgen ubers Feld". The second movement was also well done, I enjoyed the Trio of this movement very much. The double bass solo that opened the funeral march of the third movement was also marvelous. Furthermore, because of this concert, I can further my enjoyment listening to this movement by paying more attention to the timpani strikes and the funeral march theme played by the woodwinds. The finale itself started out very loud - the loudest that music has been played in my concert experience - and played amazingly by the orchestra throughout. I especially treasured the lyric passages between the stormy opening of this movement and the second coda of the movement (when the trombone first announced the triumphant march of the very end of the symphony). The very end of the symphony was just unbelievable. What a feast of sound! When you listen to the triumphant march, you can almost believe that you overcome every problems that you will face. The audience roared right after the very last note was played. A very memorable experience that I will treasure for long time to come.
Next concert will be in 3 weeks time: the mighty Verdi's requiem. I need to start getting a recording of it now.
- Olivier Messiaen Hymne
- Toru Takemitsu To the Edge of Dream
- Peter Sculthorpe Nourlangie
- Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D major
John Williams - Guitarist
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
The first 'official' concert of the season by MSO. This was one of the very first concert that I wanted to subscribe to. The reason was not the chance to see John Williams, but it was for the Mahler 1. I wanted to experience the blazing finale of Mahler's first symphony live. Not from the recordings. It also marked more than one year since I first discovered Mahler's music and his first symphony is the very first complete symphony that I listened to in full. The live Mahler was amazing, more about that later. Let's start from the first half of the concert.
The concert started with a piece by French composer, Olivier Messiaen - whose "Quartet for The End of Time" will I attend later this year. The piece is titled 'Hymne'. The piece is certainly more modern, not your average full of melody Romantic music, and there are some interesting passages in the music. However, at times, I could not catch up with the sudden change of mood and themes. This is a kind of piece that I believe need repeated listening to be appreciated better.
The second piece of the program is the one that I'm having trouble with. Takemitsu's work - noted as complex in harmony by John Williams himself and also the writer of the program notes - is a little too complex for me to enjoy. I have no other impression from this piece and for the whole time when the orchestra played the piece, I only paid attention to how John Williams played the guitar. I discovered some techniques on how to play a guitar (note that I have no idea on how to play guitar). His technique is amazing and every note is crystal clear.
The third piece pleased me the most out of the first half of the concert. Nourlangie is a depiction of Sculthorpe's feelings about Australia Kakadu National Park. It is an amazing piece of work and I loved it. The piece began slowly but yet it created a sense of being in a wide space and the solo guitar suddenly played a very nice melody - I guess it must be the folk song of Torres Strait islander. And then you heard some birds sound from the strings. A very nice effect and again it created the illusion that you are really outdoors. Then after a while, the percussion player joined the fun and played duet with Williams. The music got faster and faster just as what you expected from a movement marked "Poco Estatico". After that, the melody that we first heard from the solo guitar is now taken up by the violins and what fine melody it is!
When the piece ended, both Caetani and Williams gestured to someone in the audience, and guess who, Peter Sculthorpe in the audience. Knowing that the composer is there, the applause got louder and the composer himself looked very touched with the reception that he got.
Now for the Mahler himself, it was really really good. I thought Kubelik's recording of it is really good already, but this concert just reminded me that the best music is indeed live music. All of the sound produced by the orchestra is just superb with the woodwinds not over-powered by the brass. I am just amazed how beautiful the delicate woodwinds passages that I have not noticed before in the recording. The tempo itself is just right to my enjoyment and Caetani - conducting without the score - emphasised the contrast of the dynamics perfectly. Mahler's melody in the first movement is so infectious that I almost sang the lyric from "Ging heut morgen ubers Feld". The second movement was also well done, I enjoyed the Trio of this movement very much. The double bass solo that opened the funeral march of the third movement was also marvelous. Furthermore, because of this concert, I can further my enjoyment listening to this movement by paying more attention to the timpani strikes and the funeral march theme played by the woodwinds. The finale itself started out very loud - the loudest that music has been played in my concert experience - and played amazingly by the orchestra throughout. I especially treasured the lyric passages between the stormy opening of this movement and the second coda of the movement (when the trombone first announced the triumphant march of the very end of the symphony). The very end of the symphony was just unbelievable. What a feast of sound! When you listen to the triumphant march, you can almost believe that you overcome every problems that you will face. The audience roared right after the very last note was played. A very memorable experience that I will treasure for long time to come.
Next concert will be in 3 weeks time: the mighty Verdi's requiem. I need to start getting a recording of it now.
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.
Saturday, 8 December 2007
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert 8 December 2007 - Echoes of Intimate Emotions
Featuring:
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 'Winter Daydreams'
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 'Pathetique'
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
No review will be written since...I missed the concert :'(. Being a smartass, I did not check the time of the performance and assumed the concert will be in the evening at 8 PM. So, at 4 PM, when the thoughts of listening to Tchaikovsky live overwhelmed me already, I finally opened up the envelope containing the ticket to the concert. To my horror, the concert time listed there is 2:00 PM. Yeah, my face turned green at the same time. The concert has just finished and I missed my last concert before I fly back to my home country on next Monday.
Sigh. Stupid me. Hopefully, this will teach me a good lesson to check the ticket the day before the concert.
!$!#!@#!$!#$@#%
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 'Winter Daydreams'
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 'Pathetique'
Oleg Caetani - Conductor
No review will be written since...I missed the concert :'(. Being a smartass, I did not check the time of the performance and assumed the concert will be in the evening at 8 PM. So, at 4 PM, when the thoughts of listening to Tchaikovsky live overwhelmed me already, I finally opened up the envelope containing the ticket to the concert. To my horror, the concert time listed there is 2:00 PM. Yeah, my face turned green at the same time. The concert has just finished and I missed my last concert before I fly back to my home country on next Monday.
Sigh. Stupid me. Hopefully, this will teach me a good lesson to check the ticket the day before the concert.
!$!#!@#!$!#$@#%
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