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Classical Concert chat...

Semyon Bychkov, BBCSO tonight Mahler 4. Just walked past Andrew Marr with his wife Jackie Ashley. Keep seeing Donald MacLeod from R3- he’s got an excuse because he’s presenting for R3 from the Queens Hall most mornings.

Two Mahler symphonies in a week- Dudamel, LAPO Mahler 2 and Bychkov, BBCSO Mahler 4. Who wins? Bychkov BBCSO by a mile. One of the finest Mahler performances of recent years and the BBCSO is simply the better orchestra. Magical.

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Ainārs Rubiķis’s score ready to go with Act 1 of Komische Oper’s Eugene Onegin. He dispensed with the seat and conducted on his feet with the problem that he was head and shoulders above the balustrade right in front of me. He’s also very energetic and I thought he was going to poke my eye out with the stick every time he flailed it behind his head. My fear was not unrealistic -the stick flew out of his hand later and hit one of the violinists.

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Asmik Grigorian ( in red) sang Tatyana- an incredibly natural actor with the voice to carry it off-


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Stage is set for Christine Schornsheim and Andreas Staier to perform Bach harpsichord concertos including a double concerto at the beautiful Saint Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh on period instruments from their collection.

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LSO ready to go with John Adams’ Harmonielehre with Rattle. Bowed percussion and the first time I’ve seen a spanner used to play a musical instrument.

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Earlier today, Andrew Davis in rehearsal for
Götterdämmerung-

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“Where’s my E flat?” he shouted at one of the valveless horn players which elicited the reply “sorry maestro”.
 
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A complete change from my normal classical concerts I went to see Scottish Opera's Tosca yesterday. The Festival Theatre was nearly full and Puccini's stage play was tortuous and of course very tragic. It was a surprisingly enjoyable afternoon. Gosh I will be liking Verdi next, fat chance...

I have a seat for Scottish Opera's Nixon in China in February, that is a safe bet.
 
A nice concert in the concert hall of Lyon. The organ is a Cavaillé-Coll, the largest in France.

Organ%20in%20Lyon.jpg
 
Yesterday's Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Joshua Bell in the packed Usher Hall was excellent. Drunken Brazil Vivaldi and some Bach. The highlight was the Mahler version of the Death of the Maiden Schubert quartet, for string orchestra. Used CD for £2.50 ordered on Amazon
 
I'm off to the City Halls in Glasgow tomorrow night to the see - and hear - the BBC SSO play the following:

Barber - Adagio for strings
Mahler - Kindertotenlieder
Shostakovich - 5th Symphony

Obviously, Shostakovich 5 is the main event here but the Barber and Mahler pieces are the icing on the cake on what promises be a fantastic night out :)
 
I'm just home from the above concert and in a nutshell, it was brilliant! While I would have preferred different lieder by Mahler, and there being a couple of moments when the orchestra wasn't all together, as it were - literally though, just a couple of moments - it was a great programme and was performed really well from start to finish - including Sanderling's discotheque-friendly conducting! And the finale to Shostakovich 5? Nailed it :)
 
I'm just home from the above concert and in a nutshell, it was brilliant! While I would have preferred different lieder by Mahler, and there being a couple of moments when the orchestra wasn't all together, as it were - literally though, just a couple of moments - it was a great programme and was performed really well from start to finish - including Sanderling's discotheque-friendly conducting! And the finale to Shostakovich 5? Nailed it :)

Which Sanderling was conducting? I saw their father Kurt conduct the Berlin Phil in Shostakovich 5 & Bruckner 3 at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow just after it opened, that must be nearly 30 years ago! Kurt Sanderling was a personal friend of Shostakovich. A few months later he was back with the LA Phil, Bruckner 4 then Shostakovich 8 (not on the same night). The Shostakovich 8 was immense, no recording I've ever tried of it has matched up to that performance.
 
Which Sanderling was conducting? I saw their father Kurt conduct the Berlin Phil in Shostakovich 5 & Bruckner 3 at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow just after it opened, that must be nearly 30 years ago! Kurt Sanderling was a personal friend of Shostakovich. A few months later he was back with the LA Phil, Bruckner 4 then Shostakovich 8 (not on the same night). The Shostakovich 8 was immense, no recording I've ever tried of it has matched up to that performance.

Michael Sanderling was conducting - I don't imagine Kurt could have boogied quite so hard on the podium at his current age lol. I never knew Kurt was friends with Dmitri; it's always great to hear about relationships between old conductors and composers as it adds a level of authority seeing as the composer would presumably have told the conductor how his piece ought to be played. In this case, presumably, Michael would have had knowledge of those preferences.

As an aside, the performance seemed brisk throughout except for the third movement, which seemed to be afforded all the time it needed. Obviously, the finale wasn't Bernstein-brisk - only Bernstein could pull off Bernstein-brisk - but it had a real driving momentum all the same.

I've yet to hear Shostakovich 8, must check it out as it sounds like it's essential listening
 
TBH the 8th can be quite grim & hard work, really needs a stupendous performance to bring it off. 10th or 6th maybe next steps from the 5th.
 
Oh, I just remembered, the audience was in great form as well as the orchestra: there wasn't a lot of coughing going on, and the silence that lingered at the end of Barber's Adagio was quite adequate - I would have cried inside if the ebbing away into the ether-final notes were trampled upon by abrupt applause! Conversely, the applause came thick and fast when Shostakovich 5 came to an end, but that seemed quite appropriate seeing as the orchestra brought it home with so much energy. All in all, well played the audience :)
 
A couple weeks back, I got to hear Dasol Kim play the last three Beethoven sonatas in this Beethoven year, front row and center as usual. Kim's playing was meticulously well prepared and not particularly spontaneous, taking on a sterile sound at times, but the trade off was perfectly judged dynamics and basically flawless tempo choices throughout. While there were a few fudges, overall the recital was extremely high grade. There were some notable aspects. For instance, while Kim obviously pedaled throughout, he was often quite discreet. He never relied on stomping on the sustain during fortissimo playing, instead relying on his arms entirely. (He never really leaned into his playing like Abduraimov does, though he was not as superhumanly poised as Moog when cranking up the volume.) Op 110 was the comparative highlight, extremely well done, in a museum quality version, complete with a crystal clear fugue and inverted fugue and a massive buildup to the inverted fugue. Op 111 was fast and strong in the opener, and more efficient than transcendent in the second movement, though some of his left hand playing, especially surrounding the "little stars" music, was unique and novel in my listening experience. If DG or some other label were to release a live cycle of the 32, I would buy with no little alacrity.
 
Queens Hall Edinburgh last night.... Pavel Kolesnikov, former BBC New Generation artist at the Piano - Liszt, Beethoven, Scriabin, Schubert.
Liszt: ‘Wilde Jagd’ from Études d’exécution transcendante; ‘La Cloche Sonne’ S238; ‘Vision’ from Études d’exécution transcendante; ‘Wiegenlied’ S198
Beethoven: Sonata Op 31/2 ‘The Tempest’
Scriabin - various mercifully short pieces
Schubert: Sonata in C minor D958

Night of the living dead..... I am about 20-25 years younger than the average age of the other audience members. The lack of young people coming to classical concerts is a concern.

Anyway.... up pops Pavel and without giving any time to let the audience settle he launched into the Liszt, which I can't give much comment on as I don't really know much Liszt apart from his Sonata, but I quite enjoyed this. He stopped for a bow after s238, then played the "wiegenlied" as an intro to the Beethoven sonata which proceeded without a break. The Beethoven was good in the first movement, apart from making too much of the pauses, but he deconstructed the slow movement at a very slow one-note-at-a-time pace so it lost momentum (and interest). Recovered for the finale but by that time the damage was done.

After the interval, I had to grit my teeth for the Scriabin (which was not on the advertised programme), but it was a thankfully short selection of pieces. I don't get Scriabin at all.

Again there was no pause, the Schubert was launched into straight from the final Scriabin piece.... and I mean Launched! This performance of D.958 had all the momentum and propulsion that was missing from the Tempest. Can't say why, but the finale still felt too long.

Anyway, I'm glad I went. But somebody has to find a way to attract youngsters into this music.
 
When I saw Shostakovich 5 in Glasgow last month the only kid I could see what my mate's 9-year-old son - my mate wanted to introduce his son to a live show as he enjoys a whole range of music including film scores and piano works. But there was a good number of young people - say 18-30ish - as well as the usual middle-aged and older audience. It might well be that last night's programme wasn't appealing enough, I don't know. But Shostakovich 5 drew a decent amount of youngish people to make me think not all is doomed.

That said, I'm going to see Das Lied von der Erde at the Royal Concert Hall next Saturday and I'll be sure to notice the younger audience members - although I don't imagine that it will be quite as popular with the young generation as Shostakovich 5.
 
Queen's Hall audiences are normally older than the Usher Hall's, generally preferring Mozart and Bach which are often sold out. Perhaps the new hall will attract more youngsters, apparently they are showing more interest in classical music streaming than expected.

I would have gone myself for the Scriabin and Beethoven, but am saving up for the Nixon in China event this week at the Festival Theatre, weather permitting. I suspect that the audience will be much younger.
 
I travelled from soggy Shrewsbury today to hear the BBC Scottish SO under Donald Runnicles play Bruckner 8, and very good it was, too. I sat in the posh seats (only £28!) in row C of the gallery (just behind Mrs Runnicles), and found the sound a little remote. I think that I'll revert to row C or D of the stalls for my next visit to the City Halls.

There was a performance of Correspondences by Dutilleux in the first half which I dare say was equally good, but the music left me cold.

One odd thing: Runnicles, who is left-handed, uses a baton in his left hand - the only well-known conductor to do so, apparently. It was a bit disconcerting, but the orchestra didn't seem bothered...
 


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