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277K views 1K replies 265 participants last post by  Eramire156 
#1 ·
We already got thread to write about our latest purchases and stuff that we are actually listening. How about topic to write about your latest classical concerts? I guess at least some of us attend them regular.

So, today I went to live performance of Duisburger Philharmoniker orchestra conducted by Jonathan Darlington. The solist was Michael Roll. Setlist was fantastic - Vaughan Williams Fantasia On Theme by TT, Haydn Symphony B-dur, Berlioz Carnaval Romain and finally Beethoven's 4th piano concerto. Great performance. I almost lost my hands giving them applause they deserved.
 
#138 ·
Sibelius 2nd! I love that symphony! Although, it is to be said that the first time I saw it was at the inaugural concert of The Arctic Philharmonic two years ago. It was their first concert and I think about 1500 people, if not more showed up, if not more. Not bad for a city with almost 50,000 inhabitants. I completely fell in love with the fourth movement.

But what is this about not hearing the trombones? If you don't hear trombones, they aren't playing loud enough.
 
#139 ·
Last night, went to this one:

New Music Network presents
atmospheres
Halcyon with austraLYSIS

Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Program:

David Adamcyk - Avant la larme (2006) for soprano, tenor saxophone, piano & electronics
Roger Dean & Hazel Smith - Toy Language 2 (2010) for mezzo-soprano, acousmatic material, and live processing
Kaija Saariaho - Nuits, adieux (1991) for four singers and live electronics
Kasia Glowicka - Luminescence (2009) for five voices & electronics
Trevor Wishart - Vox 2 (1982-84) for four amplified voices and electronics

Artists

Halcyon
Elizabeth Scott, conductor
Alison Morgan, soprano
Jenny Duck-Chong, mezzo soprano
Jo Burton, mezzo soprano
Andrei Laptev, tenor
Clive Birch, bass
James Nightingale, tenor saxophone
Zubin Kanga, piano

austraLYSIS
Roger Dean, Greg White, sound processing & diffusion

Some of this music was right from the cutting edge; Adamcyk and Glowicka are young composers who were found by the ensemble on the internet (the former Canadian, the latter Polish but living in the Netherlands). The pieces I enjoyed the most were the Saariaho & the Glowicka. In the former, each singer sung into two microphones, and their voices came in and out of focus which created these subtle and delicate tones (the exploration of colour being an important aspect of this style, which is called spectralism). The Glowicka had these bassy sounds from the electronic accompaniment, and the singers went high and low to accompany these sounds. It had overtones of techno, and you wouldn't be forgiven for thinking it would be more in place in a night club than a concert hall! I really enjoy these concerts (I have gone to quite a few in this series this year), because (as on this night) I am able to hear composers' music which I am not familiar with at all. Needless to say, I enjoyed this concert, it was worth going for the two composers I mentioned alone, but the others were interesting as well...
 
#140 ·
On Sunday, went to see this concert at Sydney Town Hall:

Handel's Messiah
presented by The Radio Community Chest


Combined Churches Choir
The Sydney Messiah Orchestra
Tim Chung, conductor
Peter Kneeshaw, organist & assistant conductor
Erika Simons, soprano
Anna Dowsley, contralto
Pascal Herington, tenor
Morgan Pearse, bass

I enjoyed this concert, was looking forward to seeing this work live for the first time ever this year. A friend was to come but he wasn't well. The choir was about 400 strong, and the orchestra was made up of 20 musicians, including a timpanist. There was organ in place of harpsichord. So in other words, this was a pretty large scale presentation of the work.

"For Unto Us A Child Is Born" was a thrill to hear. All of those dotted rhythms and counterpoint done beautifully. I was very moved by the work of all of the soloists involved, they are young singers at the start of their careers, and they did a great job.

I noticed that during the "Hallelujah" Chorus all of the audience stood, and the soloists also sung along with the chorus to this. Is this a tradition? The performance was very well received, there was a standing ovation at the end which went on for a long time. It seemed like the audience didn't want to leave. I really enjoyed it & I look forward to going again next year...
 
#141 ·
Interesting. Sounds like a modern approach. But is' nice to have a Handel performed locally. (I couldn't attend). Hope you have recovered.

The audience standing thing is said to have originated when King George II stood up when he first heard the famous chorus performed because he was so impressed by it. Back then, when the king stood up, everybody else did to follow. That's the reason, although I'm not convinced if that story is completely authentic, and I would guess it has more to do with Victorian traditions than Baroque England.
 
#142 ·
Yes, I just read that story about King George II staning during the "Hallelujah" chorus in a book I just got on classical composers. I'll have to go back and look at it whether it discusses the authenticity issue you raise. This was one of three local performances of the Messiah that I knew of. It was within my price range, didn't clash with other concerts, and also was for charity which is nice. As I said, I plan to make this a yearly thing now, this work really has a good vibe especially around Christmas time (whether you're Christian or not - I saw people of different ethnic groups in the audience). Now I'm gearing up to going to the symphony concert in the domain on January 22 (as part of the Sydney Festival) if the weather is amenable. I'm not so fanatical about concerts so as to go in pouring rain! It will be a Shakespeare evening with Mendelssohns' Midsummer Night's Dream, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet and Walton's Henry V (narrated by actor John Bell).

- Cheers, Andre...
 
#143 ·
Went to this one yesterday:

Christ Church St Laurence (Sydney) Organ Recital Series
Christopher Cook (Melbourne organist)
Instrument: Hill & Son organ, 1892


Programme:

GF Handel (arr. WH Goss-Custard) - Overture to the Occasional Oratorio
F Liszt (arr. Edwin Lemaire) - Sposalizio (from Years of Pilgramage, Italian Book)
Percy Whitlock - Canzona & Scherzetto from Sonata (1936)
Jean Langlais - Prelude modal; Bells
E Elgar - Prelude & Angel's Farewell (from Dream of Gerontius)
Henri Mulet - Rosace (3 of Esquisses Byzantines)
Alexandre Pierre Francois Boely - Fantasie & Fugue in Bb

I have been wanting to hear French organ music live for some time, and this recital was great because that's my favourite part of the organ repertoire. The Handel was quite robust as usual, and a great opener. I didn't recognise the Liszt in the organ arrangement, it sounded totally different to the original piano version to my ears. I especially liked Langlais' second piece "Bells" - he got the sonorities right of the bell sounds and ringing the changes, imo. The Mulet was also a colourful and airy piece. The concluding Boely sounded much like Widor to my ears. I had not heard any of the music of the lesser names here, except for Langlais (got to get more of his stuff). This instrument is not the biggest organ, but the textures are quite subtle, the sounds very colourful. The recital went for exactly an hour, which was a very full programme, especially considering that it was free. I plan to go to more of these in the future (for people in Sydney - they're on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 2pm)...
 
#144 ·
Today:

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Josep Caballé-Domenech
Cello: Jan Vogler

Kodály: Dances of Galánta
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 107
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88

Enjoyable, even though guest conductor Caballé-Domenech was quite possibly the noisiest conductor I've ever seen. FFFFFFSHHSSSSSSS and THSSSSHHHHHH (extremely violent inhaling and exhaling) along with the occasional stomping around. I got the feeling that the orchestra was receiving a nice shower. :lol:

Vogler performed the concerto quite well, though I had difficulty hearing over the orchestra at times during the first movement. Not sure if that's a result of my seating or what.

The Kodály piece was very fun.
 
#146 ·
I'm sure there was a thread like this one exclusively for opera but I can't find it now. Anyway, I've been to dozens of classical concerts but I had my first experience of attending the opera last night when I saw Dvorak's Rusalka at the National Theatre in Prague. I've never been a huge fan of opera but was invited so went along with an open mind.

I have to say I enjoyed it very much. The singing style in opera has always been the factor that has put me off a bit, I find it overly dramatic, it doesn't sound too natural to my ears. But in a real performance I didn't even notice this at all. I was captivated by the story-line (it showed English surtitles), the imagery, and the melodies of course.

I didn't really appreciate reggae until I heard it live in the West Indies, perhaps it's the same with opera - you have to be there.
 
#147 ·
I'm looking forward Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy at Royal Albert Hall.

Also looking forward to Motoi Sakuraba and Nobuo Uematsu performing together.

And the VGO will be performing at the Boston Symphony Hall on April 1st 2011. In the 111 years of its history, this is the first time that video game music has been performed at the Symphony Hall.

 
#149 ·
Mozart's 255th. Celebration in Toronto

Last night I went to Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto to take part in Toronto's celebration of Mozart's 255th. Birthday. Although the temperature out-of-doors was -20 (with windchill) the concert and the atmosphere were warm and inviting. The program:

Bernard Labadie, conductor (What a conductor!!)
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto (The voice of an angel!)

Mozart: Symphony No. 21 in A major, K. 134

Mozart: "Venga pur Miacci e frema" from Mitridate, K. 87
Mozart: Ombra felice--io ti lascio, K. 255
Mozart: "Voi che sapete" from Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492

Mozart: Symphony No. 33 in B-flat major, K. 319

Mozart: "Parto inerme, e non pavento" from La Betulia liberata, K. 118
Mozart: "Son reo; l'error confesso" from Mitridate, K. 87
Mozart: "Deh per questo istante solo" from La clemenza di Tito, K. 621
 
#150 ·
Went to this one on Saturday night:

Symphony in the Domain (open air concert as part of the Sydney Festival)
An evening with Shakespeare

John Bell, compere/narrator
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Brett Weymark, conductor

Nicolai - The Merry Wives of Windsor, overture
Walton - Henry V, a Shakespeare Scenario, highlights
(interval)
Mendelssohn - A Midsummer Night's Dream, overture
Prokofiev - Three pieces from Romeo & Juliet
Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture - with cannons & fireworks!

A freind & I went to this concert under the stars. The weather was great & we took some wine & soft drink to have while we heard the beautiful music. We really enjoyed John Bell's narration of Henry V. He used his natural voice, and was quite understated and to the point without being dry. The St. Crispin's Day speech is such a rousing piece of rhetoric, one of the greatest political speeches of all time ("We few, we happy few, we band of brothers..."). It was also great to be able to chat and air-conduct during the pieces without breaking protocol - this was an open air concert after all. The audience was in their thousands, we were sitting at the back, but we got a glimpse of the large screens and the sound from the speakers was excellent. To end, the traditional "encore," Tchaikovsky's stirring 1812, complete with all the effects. A very enjoyable evening all round, and my first open air concert in nearly 20 years (my friend had never been to one of these ever)...[/
 
#151 ·
Today's concert was I went on violin played enjoyed.

It began with Mozart's Prague symphony. It was lovely to refresh memory of my early milestone in classical listening. Harnoncourt's CD was my early symphonic love but I didn't listen to it in... years.

Then the tough stuff. Lutosławski's partita for violin and orchestra. No big deal. After that - encore. But how weird! Violinist (Roman Lasocki) showed his violin like he would want to say "stop applause, I'll play encore" but instead of it he talked like five minutes about Silesia being strong center of contemporary music and stuff. Then he introduced and played solo violin piece by no-idea-who but I'm waiting for review to appear so I will know what it was because it was nice.

Intermission

And then Szymanowski's 1st violin concerto by young, 21 years old violinist. Aaaaaaaaaawesome. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome. No, really. My first time haring it live and she had such beautiful tone and dress and stuff. I think I will post this performance in Szymanowski's thread after they will upload it.
 
#154 ·
Last week I saw Lang Lang in Portland. It was great! he played Bach partitas, a Schubert Sonata and, the reason why I cam, Chopins 12 etudes (op 25). it was outstanding!! i loved his interpretations especially for the chopin etudes, except the last one which I thought he took too fast, but i'm biased seeing how my favorite recording of it is by maurizio pollini. he did three encores, a short rachmaninov song, some other one i didn't recognize (i think it might be one a chinese one) and chopins 5th etude from op 10. great concert!! up next is Turandot! the third opera of my season package :)
 
#155 ·
Just saw an AMAZING show featuring cellist David Eggert and percussionist Lev Loftus perform the following:

Bartok - Mikrokosmos III Dance in 3/4
J.S. Bach Suite No. 5 for Solo Cello in C minor Bwv 1011 (arr. for Marimba by Lev Loftus)
Xenakis- Kottos for Cello Solo

-Intermission-

Xenakis-Rebonds I for Solo Percussion
J.S. Bach - Suite no.6 for Solo Cello in D Bwv 1012
D. Deutsch- Perpetuum for Cello and Percussion
Bartok-Mikrokosmos III Two-Part Study

Wow, great stuff, and amazing performances. (the Xenakis stuff was...just wow :lol:)
 
#156 ·
Just went to an incredible concert last weekend. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra played Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto (Featuring Yuja Wang as pianist) and Bruckner's 6th Symphony. Both were conducted by Juanjo Mena). It was my first listening of the Bruckner, and even though it was quite long, i thoroughly enjoyed its "grandiose" style. Yuja Wang did an absolutely phenomenal job with the Rachmaninoff, playing quite expressively. To those who say Yuja Wang is just a machine manufactured for perfect piano playing without emotion (similar to the pubic's opinions about many chinese pianists), you are quite wrong.
 
#157 ·
Went to this one on the weekend:
Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney
Organ recital by Elke Voelker
1892 Hill & Son Organ

Handel - Fireworks Music (trans. E. Power Biggs)
J. S. Bach - Air on the G string (trans. S. Karg-Elert); Fantasia & Fugue in G minor, BWV 1068
Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 3 (trans. E. Voelker)
Mendelssohn - Prelude & Fugue in C minor, Op.37/1
Grieg - Anitra's Dance from Peer Gynt Suite (trans. E.H. Lemare)
Karg-Elert - Chorale-Improvisation "Nun danket alle Gott" Op. 65 No. 59
Vierne - (ii) Aria from Symphonie VI pour orgue Op. 59
Alain - Litanies

I enjoyed this recital by Elke Voelker, a leading German organist. I liked all of the items, especially the final two French ones. It was really interesting to hear transcriptions of well-known orchestral works...
 
#159 ·
Last Night:

Mahlers 3rd symphony by the Berliner with Simon Rattle. The real highlight for me was a song by Hugo Wolf which I had never heard of before - Elfenlied!
 
#161 ·
I just got home from a performance of Mahler 1 by my university orchestra. Yes, I was in it, and yes, I reveled deeply the viola moment in the fourth movement. Absolutely one of the most exciting performances I've been in in a long time!
 
#163 ·
Went to this one on Sunday afternoon here in Sydney's northern suburbs:

Trioz "Vitebsk" tour

Kathryn Selby, piano
Natsuko Yoshimoto, violin (as guest)
Emma Jane Murphy, cello

Program:

Joseph Suk - Elegie for piano, violin & cello,Op. 23 (1902)
Aaron Copland - Vitebsk, study on a Jewish Theme,for piano trio
Claude Debussy - Piano Trio, L.3
Ludwig v. Beethoven - Piano Trio in B flat major, Op.97 "Archduke"

& this one at Sydney Conservatorium on Monday evening:

"Australian Portrait"

Michael Duke saxophone
David Howie piano

Program
Boyd - Ganba for baritone saxophone and piano *
Smetanin - If Stars Are Lit for alto saxophone and piano *
Hindson - Repetepetition for soprano saxophone and piano *
Zadro - X Suite for alto saxophone and piano #

* World premiere
# Australian premiere and 101 Compositions for 100 Years commission

I liked both of these recitals. A friend came along to the first one, and we both enjoyed it.

I like Trioz's recitals because they always include some things off the beaten track, as well as standard repertoire. We were familiar with the Debussy & Beethoven, but not the Suk or Copland. The Suk was a great opener, a quite dark and melancholic piece, dominated by the solo violin a bit. Debussy's only piano trio is from his younger years, but still has suggestions of those unique harmonies which would come later. It was first recorded only in 1984, and as the program notes show, it has a relaxed salon feel. Even the final movement marked appassionato doesn't take itself too seriously. The most surprising piece in the program was the Copland trio fragment. It had loud dissonant sections flanking some more lyrical melodic parts. Copland was influenced by Bloch in his use of Jewish sounding themes. This piece was written in 1929 and it used microtones and the two string players playing out of tune (deliberately) a bit like Ives before & Cage & Xenakis after. The ten minute piece really had a visceral impact on me. After the interval, we were treated to a superlative performance of the Beethoven "Archduke" trio, the king of piano trios. The playing was so good, it was of recording quality. I plan to go to more of Trioz's series this year, they are one of my favourite ensembles.

The saxophone-piano duos program at Sydney Conservatorium the following Monday evening was also excellent. All these pieces were very different from eachother (eg. using different kinds of saxes), but in common with the Copland above, the Smetanin & Zadro employed microtones. My favourite works on the program were the Boyd & Zadro, which were also the longest works. Boyd's work was based on her impressions of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia, which is basically a desert. The work engaged with the history of that place, employing Aboriginal harmonies, sounds of the wind, and also briefly the clickety clack and whistle of the railway that goes through there. Sometimes the piano sounded like a brass instrument and the sax sounded like a piano. I liked the darkness of this piece, which mirrored how the Aboriginal people were driven out from the area by the building of the railway. They didn't know what it was, some of them thought it was some huge mythical beast. The piano part of Zadro's suite had a bit of the complexity of Carter, but the work sounded quite tonal despite some dissonances. The 8 movements were each miniature tone poems of different places or states of mind. I particularly liked "cauldron" which brought to mind the witche's dance in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Some interesting effects were used, such as blowing with the saxophone into the bowels of the grand piano to produce a creepy vibe and the saxophonist tapping the side of his instrument to make a percussive effect. I think that this work would benefit from the piano part becoming orchestrated. Even though I'm mainly a chamber fan it would be a lot of fun to hear this work as a saxophone concerto. The Smetanin and Hindson were short etudes. The Smetanin was a bit uncomfortable to hear, much dissonance and high pitched sounds from the sax. It was based on the spectral analysis of a recording made by the Russian poet Mayakovsky, about whom Smetanin has also written an opera. The Hindson was typical of his style - light, airy and full of vigorous dance rhythms. The music of Ross Edwards was an influence here, according to Hindson's notes. It was great to hear the music of living Australian composers of this calibre & three of them were present to acknowledge the applause. Before I went to the recital, I thought it would sound a bit like jazz because of the use of the solo saxes, but on the whole, it was very much classical...
 
#164 ·
Two days ago, on Saturday, I went on Ivo Pogorelić's recital, in Zagreb, Vatroslav Lisinski concert hall.
After eight years Pogorelić had a recital in his homeland, with the following program:

F.Chopin: Piano sonata op. 35, b-flat minor

F.Liszt: Mephisto waltz no. 1

F.Chopin: Nocturne c-minor op. 48 no. 1

F.Liszt: Piano sonata b-minor S. 178


This is first time I watched him live.I'm not sure whether I like his interpretation of this works, but I must say he is a true genius!
He can play whatever he wants, his abilities are wonderful, but he is, for me, a bit too free in his interpretation.I liked Chopin's sonata, it was very good, especially the last movement, he play it perfectly (a very short, yet exciting movement).
As for Mephisto waltz, I didn't like it, because Pogorelić (that's the correct spelling!) played it too rough and hard for my style.I had a feeling he is a very sad man, due to the mere program he played, very depressing pieces, without any joy.I suppose it has something to do with his sorrow for his deceased wife.

I am still very young, so I can't say a lot, but I am sure very glad to have seen such a great pianist live.It is a great experience for me, hopefully, a future pianist. :)

I am sorry if I made any grammar mistakes, my English is good, but not perfect!
 
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