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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.
 
#40 ·
I'm attending my first symphony ever this Saturday. I just got the tickets today and I'm so excited I can hardly sit still!!!

OPENING NIGHT 2009-2010 Season

Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra presents "Ode to Joy"
Saturday, September 26, 2009 8:30 PM

Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, op. 56a
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, op. 125, D minor (Choral)

Christopher Wilkins, conductor
The Opera Chorus
The Orlando Chorale
University of Central Florida Chorus
Stella Zambalis, soprano
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
Yeghishe Manucharyan, tenor
Peter Van de Graaff, bass

At the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in Orlando, Florida
 
#41 ·
I'm attending my first symphony ever this Saturday. I just got the tickets today and I'm so excited I can hardly sit still!!!
First ever? Wow, you must be excited. I have to ask, though: are you new to classical music? In other words, if this is your first concert, I imagine you must be...

What a first concert to see! Beethoven's 9th will astound you, I'm sure. It will leave you begging for more. Concerts are addicting!
 
#43 ·
Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra presents "Ode to Joy"
Saturday, September 26, 2009 8:30 PM

Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn, op. 56a
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, op. 125, D minor (Choral)
I just back from seeing this concert and, no slight to Brahms, but Beethoven's 9th symphony was unbelievable. I admit to only having heard mere snippets so I had no idea or preconceived notions about what I was hear - WOW!. It was fabulous, mysterious yet familiar. Dare I say it; some parts reminded me of Mozart. The twists and turns were dazzling, even puzzling. Unfortunately, since the show was "sold out", my seat was in the second row and the stage was 3 feet high, so I couldn't always see who was playing, but I could hear everything just fine.

Just listening to this was exhilarating, yet exhausting. Imagine how the musicians felt. Towards the end, the bass players were whip-sawing back and forth. In addition to the 4 soloists, there were 230 voices from three choirs.

Sorry for rambling, but being that it was my first concert, I'm had to share. :)
 
#48 ·
Tonight I went to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in Orlando, Florida to see my second symphony ever.

"Russian Masters"

Rachmaninoff: Vocalise

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concert No. 2

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

Magnificent!

I was familiar with Rachmaninoff but not Shostakovich, what a treat!
 
#49 ·
Than it's great that you were acquainted with him via a concert.

Great music venue you went to. That's one of my favorite centres. Played some Bach and Tchaikovsky over there a few times...
 
#53 ·
Australian Chamber Orchestra, "Beethoven 4"
Dejan Lazic, piano/Richard Tognetti, director
(Sydney Opera House, Nov. 22)

Dean - Testament
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 4; Symphony No. 4

I really enjoyed this concert. The highlights for me were the new piece by Australian composer Brett Dean, and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. The Dean piece was about Beethoven's struggle with deafness, and the composer tried to put this across with bows (almost) noiselessly moving across strings and wind instruments being blown with barely a sound coming out.

It was interesting to hear the Beethoven pieces played by smaller forces, as I am familiar with the works from recordings made by full symphony orchestras. The Piano Concerto No. 4 was particularly well done, with the soloist Dejan Lazic playing quite delicately to match the smaller sound of the chamber orchestra. The only thing I didn't like were his own cadenzas, which sounded like Brahms, and wholly out of place in a Beethoven concerto. But the audience loved him, and he played an encore by Chopin. The Symphony No. 4 was also well done, I especially liked the brisk tempos of the final movement. All in all, this was a very enjoyable concert.
 
#58 ·
Went to The Queens Hall in Edinburgh to see Meadows Chamber Orchestra perform

Bach Brandenburg Concerto No3 inG
Stravinsky Concerto in D for string orchestra
Bach Violin Concerto in A minor
Bach Brandenburg Concerto No1 in F
Stravinsky Concertino for 12 instruments
Bach Violin Concerto in E

The latter two being my favourites of the night.
Alexander Janiczek was violin soloist and played the on loan 1716 `Baron Oppenheim' Stradivarius it really was a special evening.
 
#60 ·
I was lucky enough to obtain tickets to see Itzhak Perlman perform tonight at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in Orlando, Florida. It had been sold out since early September and I was on the waiting list all that time.

Itzhak Perlman, violin
Christopher Wilkins, conductor

Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 4:00 pm

Carl Maria von Weber: Ruler of the Spirits, J.109, op. 26, E-flat major
Beethoven: Violin Concerto, op.61, D major
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 D. 944 in C major, The Great C major

It was an amazing experience!
 
#61 ·
My latest concert was the Silvester Gala at the Vienna Kursalon.
The Alt Wien orchestra performed the best of Strauss and some famous Mozart pieces. Of course it was not a performance you can compare to the New Year's concert of the philcharmonics in the Musikverein, but it was the 31. December, very festive, very good mood, great venue - typical Vienna. After the concert there was a gourmet dinner, and afterwards we watched the fireworks from the terrace of the palace.
 
#62 ·
I saw the Philharmonic on Thursday playing:

Haydn - Symphony no. 49
Adams The Wound Dresser (Sung wonderfully by Thomas Hampson)
Schubert Symphony no. 8 in B Minor, "Unfinished"
Berg- Three Pieces for Orchestra.

The most impressive, I thought, was the Berg. Gilbert really made that orchestra roar. A great piece, and under appreciated. Gilbert impresses me more and more as a conductor, I think if you give him a couple years he'll be a big name internationally. He just has to make some good recordings.
 
#64 ·
Last night I went to see Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinnati Symphony play Liszt's first piano concerto Bruckner's 8th symphony. I wasn't terribly impressed by the Liszt. I mean, it was very well-played and stuff, but it left me cold.

But the Bruckner was seriously something. It was easily one of the most moving concert experiences in my life so far. The first two movements were brisk and exciting, the last two not lasting overlong and yet still just as impactful as they need to be. It was a truly great concert. The brass, so crucial to Bruckner, were never blaring, yet always just as loud as needed, and always as awe-inspiring as needed in this composer.
 
#65 ·
Last night I went to see Paavo Jarvi and the Cincinnati Symphony play Liszt's first piano concerto Bruckner's 8th symphony. I wasn't terribly impressed by the Liszt. I mean, it was very well-played and stuff, but it left me cold.
Who was the pianist? I know only about 3 pianists (alive and not alive) who can pull off that piece so that I actually like it, and when they do I really like it.

The Bruckner must have been something though. Paavo Jarvi...Cincinnati...lucky you. :)
 
#68 ·
I just got back from a concert featuring Emma Johnson (Clarinet) and Pascal Rogé (Piano):

Weber Silvania Variations
Debussy Première Rhapsodie
Brahms Clarinet Sonata No. 1 (YAY!)

Bernstein Sonata
Stravinsky 3 Solo Pieces
Debussy La Cathédrale engloutie
Copland Nocturne
Milhaud Scaramouche

Plus Debussy and Benny Goodman for an encore!

The playing was fantastic and, unsurprisingly, I was in love with the Brahms before I entered the concert hall, but I thought that this was one of the best organised concert programmes I have ever had the pleasure to hear. The sheer breadth and variation involved was wonderful, and it highlighted the virtuosity of the performers equally. Plus, being a die-hard Romantic, there were a number of pieces I hadn't heard before - always a novel experience - and, even though I still have no desire to listen to Stravinsky, it made me want to explore Debussy more.
 
#72 ·
I just got back from a performance by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons.

Mussorgsky Night on a Bare Mountain
Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 (Baiba Skride)

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

And wow, what a performance! The CBSO is definitely one of the UK's finest orchestras, certainly after Sir Simon Rattle's heading of the ensemble (though I don't know much about its history before him). It was slightly difficult to get passed the cheese-factor of the first piece, but it worked really well. Particularly because my local 'concert hall' (the Sheldonian Theatre) is relatively small, right from the beginning the sound was almost too overwhelming. Very dramatic!

The highlight of the night for me has to be the Shostakovich. I have to admit that I've only listened to Shostakovich in short bursts and haven't really got into him yet. I own all of his concertos for various instruments, but through my various listens, I never really appreciated him. This performance changed that. Now, I don't know what a perfect-sounding Violin Concerto No. 1 would sound like because I'm not familiar enough with the piece, but I would imagine that this performance was pretty damn close. The brooding first movement set up a fantastic atmosphere - what I would call 'grotesque' (using its definition that does not mean 'ugly'). It was indescribable, and it was superbly carried through into that marvellous Scherzo. Skride was an amazing soloist and her playing - especially her long solo/cadenza in the third movement - showed me exactly what this music is supposed to mean and how it is supposed to be played. Brilliant!

Tchaikovsky's symphony is something no doubt most of us have heard - it wasn't quite as striking as it might have been because I've listened to it so much and I went to a concert featuring it not so long ago. However, given that I didn't much like the other performance I saw, and also because the Sheldonian has that intimate size and therefore sound-in-your-face acoustic, it was thrilling in its climaxes. If the CBSO is in town, definitely go!
 
#73 ·
Last weekend was somewhat amazing for me:

Friday evening the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Mariss Jansons performed Rachmaninov's 2nd Symphony and the Sibelius Violin Concerto, with Janine Jansen.

Then the following evening, the Orchestra of the Mariinski Theater was on tour with Gergiev and they performed Shostakovich's first Symphony, Tchaikovsky 5th and Mussorgsky Night on the Bare Mountain. Both were spectacular.


Looking forward to Prokofievs 2nd Piano concerto with Pletnev conducting the RCO in May...


(The second program seems remarkably similar to Polednice's post above)
 
#78 ·
Not exactly a classic concert but I just back from a pre Chinese New Year recital this afternoon. FYI, Chinese New Year is next week (!)

There were two girls who take turn demonstrated a solo pieces for DIZI and Xiao. Dizi is the transverse flute and xiao is the long flute. Also one male player who play an Erhu and Banhu. At the one they also play a duet for Erhu and Dizi . All pieces played in such a virtuosic and I really longing to see these Chinese instrument can attracted more western attention.
 
#79 ·
Today I had pleasure to listen to Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto and 3rd symphony live. Nikolai Dyadiura was conducting, and the concerto was performed by Stanisław Drzewiecki, quite young fellow.

The symphony was performed really good, I know it very well, mostly Haitink's performance. Theme from first movement surprised me with it's legato character (most conductors are playing it completely diffrent). Too bad there was bad balance between strings and brasses, it almost ruined the finales from both first and last movements.
 
#80 ·
Today I saw Australian pianist Kathryn Selby & her associates perform Schubert's Trout Quintet at the City Recital Hall in Sydney. It was great seeing this work done live, in an intimate setting. The musicians also talked about the work before the concert, and a singer also performed the original song upon which the work was based (accompanied by Selby). I didn't notice how active the double bassist was when only listening to the work on a recording, as well as how much repetition of melodies was in each movement, which reminded me of Bruckner a bit (& maybe also minimalism?). All up this was a very enjoyable lunchtime concert. To those in Sydney this series is monthly and only costs $10. A bargain...
 
#81 ·
Again, I went to another concert with Australian pianist Kathryn Selby with her "Trioz," with Nikki Vasilakis (violin) & Emma Jane Murphy (cello). I really liked the intimacy of the venue, a church in Sydney's northern suburbs (Turramurra). The program consited of Liszt's Orpheus (arr. Saint-Saens), Bloch's Three Nocturnes, Arensky's Piano Trio & Schubert's Piano Trio No. 1. Again, the playing was excellent (actually moved me quite alot) & the atmosphere very informal, even with cake in the interval made by Selby's family...
 
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