What classical concert did you attend?
 

Hi friends,

As promised, I'll inform you about the concerts I will visit this season.
It helps to see musicians live, to get an idea what their recordings can offer.
And of course, it is the purest form of our hobby: music!
Please share your own experiences in this new thread!

I'll go ahead with the first one:

La Petite Bande
Sigiswald Kuijken & Laureates of the Queen Elisabeth Competition

Location: Concertgebouw Bruges, June 18, 2011

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La Petite Bande: orchestra
Sigiswald Kuijken: conductor
Laureates of the Queen Elisabeth Competition Voice 2011:
Anaïk Morel: soprano (fourth prize)
Thomas Blondelle: tenor (second prize)
Sébastien Parotte: baritone (laureate)
Konstantin Shushakov: baritone (fifth prize)

Patrick Beaugiraud: oboe
Olivier Picon: horn

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
- Symphony nr. 47 in D

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
- Oboe concerto in C, K217k
- Horn concerto in D, K412

And a very joyful program with vocal music from Mozart and Gluck.

First came 'La Petite Bande', as always outstanding, with Haydn's Symphony nr. 47 in D. The 3rd part is very special: a minuet 'al roverso'. The "Minuetto al Roverso" is the reason this symphony is sometimes called "The Palindrome": the second part of the Minuet is the same as the first but backwards, and the Trio is also written in this way.

Then came the singers with beautiful pieces of Mozart.
Thomas Blondelle, tenor, was received in a very enthusiastic way. He was born in Bruges, and is the first Belgian in this competition to come so far. He has a very clear and beautiful voice, which is powerful in all the octaves.
He normally works in the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Anaïk Morel, a young French soprano enchanted me. Very beautiful voice, and always warmly smiling.
Konstantin Shushakov: what a power from such a small man! His Don Giovanni was impressing.
Sébastien Parotte: when he learns to pronounce his rolling 'r' (he is Frenchspeaking) he'll be a very good baritone.

Then 'La Petite Bande' again with the Oboe Concerto, and after the pause the Horn Concerto.
The natural horn is a very difficult instrument to play: by manipulating the right hand in the horn you get the notes: no valves included!
Interesting to see the virtuosity of Olivier Picon, handling this challenging instrument.

Then more vocal work, amongst which Morel singing Che faró senza Euridice from one of my favourite operas Orfeo ed Euridice from Christoph Willibald von Gluck. She did it better than the performance on my already marvellous blu-ray
It ended hilariously: 3 Don Giovannis trying to seduce Zerlina. But she ran off with... Sigiswald Kuijken! :yes:

As always happens with the laureates of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, these singers will surely find their way to the best opera houses.
It was a delicious evening!

Bart

Bart: Great thread idea! That sounded like a great show. I like that Moral ran off with Kuijken at the end. Very funny.

I'm about to put my subscription order in for our local 2011/2012 season. It'll be fun to report back here.

Thanks Karl!
Looking forward to your reports.
Often, these musicians make world tours.
It is good to have personal references from the members here, to pick the interesting ones.
My wife and I subscribed for 12 concerts.
Add some jazz concerts and maybe an opera or 2 and we'll have a richly filled season! :music:

Bart, great idea: a couple weeks ago, at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center we had Ann-Sophie Mutter on violin accompanied by Lambert Orkis playing:
Debussy Violin Sonata
Mendelssohn Violin Sonata in F major
Brahms Violin Sonata No. 3
Sarasate Carmen Fantasy

They played five(!) encores and it was a magnificent performance and close to her residence for the season.

Bach: Complete Cello Suites by Roel Dieltiens - Bruges Concertgebouw Aug 10, 2011

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Yesterday evening we went to savour the music that ended number 1 in the Top 100 of our national classical radio station.
Roel Dieltiens played.
He recorded the cello suites already some 20 years ago.
He did it again in 2010 ad won different awards.
I have to admit that I could completely go into the music.
He interprets Bach in a very personal way, without disowning the spirit of the composer.
Maybe it's also because this was live, but I could so clearly hear the different 'story lines', the different voices (they say this music often sounds as if there are more than one instrument).
It was subtle and yet had strength.
This was very pure Bach, played by a ripened cellist from whom you could clearly see he lives and loves this music. :thumbsup:

Bart - that sounds wonderful!

Yes Karl, it was wonderful.
Still enjoying, having the CD.
Comes close, but only second to live...
Warm regards,
Bart

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BAMBERGER SYMPHONIKER
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PIERRE-LAURENT AIMARD & JONATHAN NOTT
BRUGES, CONCERTGEBOUW, SEPT 10, 2011

The new season opens festively with the return of the Bamberger Symphoniker and of Pierre-Laurent Aimard, whose stupendous piano recital last season left a lasting impression. Led by its principal conductor, Jonathan Nott, this superlative German orchestra is performing Bohemian composer Dvorak’s Symphony no. 7, a magnificently dark work, fully in keeping in keeping with the bold, compact style of Dvorak’s mentor Johannes Brahms.
Aimard is playing the solo part in Ravel’s Concerto pour la main gauche, an impressive work Ravel composed for Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm during World War I. Besides the colourful music of master orchestrator Ravel, the unique sound of Olivier Messiaen is also a must at the start of a season devoted to light and colour. In his magnificent Chronochromie, this French composer-ornithologist, who regarded music as ‘coloured time’, paints an abstract universe of birdsong, wild mountain landscapes and immutable, eternal time.
Bamberger Symphoniker: orchestra
Jonathan Nott: conductor
Pierre-Laurent Aimard: piano

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, in D major

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Chronochromie

Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904)
Symphony nr. 7 in d, opus 70

This was a concert with a big WOW-factor.
First of all: the size of the orchestra: over 100 musicians!
Second: the quality of the musicians ánd the conductor.
Third: the choice of the works, more about that later.
Fourth: a special bravo to Pierre-Laurent Aimard. The artistry of this pianist is really something.

We started with Messiaen. Very modern work. Complex vibrations and colors. And bird sounds throughout. At a certain moment 18 strings played 18 different birds during 4 minutes! In this work, the percussionists play a very important role, and provided together with the 8 double-basses an overwhelming experience.
Then the piano was installed and we got a jaw-dropping Ravel. Apart from being a beautiful piece of music, it is such a difficult work to play. Glad to have seen it live!
After the pause, time for Dvorák. 30% of the musicians had left the stage, and we got a marvelous performance of the orchestra. The 7th Symphony may be his best and certainly his most ambitious orchestral work. The atmosphere is dramatic, but lyrical at the same time. As always in Dvorak's work, you could sense the underlying melancholy.

A very impressive evening, and a discovery of some really nice music!

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Bruges Concertgebouw Sept. 29, 2011
LIBERA ME
PSALLENTES & PSALLENTES FEMINA
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"The Mass for the Dead is part of the Gregorian world’s ‘iron repertoire’. These chants of final farewell transcend Christian faith and touch at the very heart of every mourning process. In the Gregorian Requiem, universal feelings of helplessness, anger, grief, loss and pain are expressed. The production Libera me – whose title refers to the supplication ‘Deliver me from eternal death’ – brings together both the male and the female Psallentes ensembles for the first time. And both have a specific role to play within an intense whole. Classics from the mass for the dead are set aside for the men, while the women focus on antiphons, psalms and responsories from the Matins. Gradually, the one group takes over from the other, until finally, they are united in the grandly solemn Dies Irae."
The first part surprisingly started with all of the visitors still standing in the lounge. The beautiful and coherent voices came from somewhere above us.
Then we went into the concert hall, where we all took place around the singers, ón the podium itself (nice view on the beautiful hall!).
Lights went out and the chants began, to go on for over 90 minutes.
Good performance.
Gregorian music which took me back to my childhood. Sweet memories of the music, the best part of the weekly Mass...

News | Psallentes

Went to the local symphony for the following last night:

Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
John Adams Harmonielehre

Edo de Waart, conductor
Simon Trpčeski, piano

The program overview said: “'Simon Trpčeski looks set to dominate the piano world for a long time to come,' says the Times of London. See this brilliant artist in one of the most beloved concertos in the repertoire: Grieg’s ardent Piano Concerto. These concerts conclude with work Edo de Waart premiered, and went on to establish as an American classic – John Adams’ mesmerizing Harmonielehre."