What classical concert did you attend?

[chessman]

meza, welcome aboard!

[BlueChiaro]

Originally Posted by chessman

meza, welcome aboard!

+1 Glad to have you here!

Hmmm...I guess the cool avatar photo should have been a clue & I didn't connect the "husband" reference, but am I correct in saying, hello, Mrs. Bart?

[chessman]

meza, and thank you for subscribing right out of the gate.

[meza]

Originally Posted by BlueChiaro

+1 Glad to have you here!

Hmmm...I guess the cool avatar photo should have been a clue & I didn't connect the "husband" reference, but am I correct in saying, hello, Mrs. Bart?

Quite right ...

[meza]

Originally Posted by chessman

meza, and thank you for subscribing right out of the gate.

Thanks for the warm welcome - I've actually been following the threads for quite some time now. Yesterday's concert was just the final trigger to get me posting!

[JohnK]

I've held house concerts at my place several times, for a folk/blues based singer songwriter Les Sampou (Les Sampou - Home) and an acoustic guitar duo, Acousticity - not sure if they are still around (Acousticity). The sound, the energy, the emotion of a live performance when you are not more than 12 feet away from the performers, is something not easily forgotten.

Last night, I attended a similar function at a friend's home but for a program of piano and violin music, performed by Michal Schmidt, piano, Michal Schmidt - Cellist & Pianist and her son, Giora Schmidt Giora Schmidt | Violinist.

The program:
Franceso Geminiani, Violin Sonata in C Minor
Manuel de Falla, Suite Populaire Espagnole for Violin and Piano
Cesar Franck, Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major

Their playing was beyond reproach and hearing new (to me) music made it all the more rewarding. And a little story about the Franck: he composed the piece as a wedding gift for a Belgain violinist, Eugene Ysaye, and presented it on the morning of the wedding. Ysaye convinced one of guests, a pianist, to perform it with it him (after, maybe, one read through?)! This was a virtuosic piece, with many technical elements, as the Schmidts demonstrated. I cannot imagine getting though it the first time - especially on your wedding day!

I am becoming a big believer in more intimate venues and supporting talented, but lesser known, musicians.

[bart]

Originally Posted by JohnK

I've held house concerts at my place several times, for a folk/blues based singer songwriter Les Sampou (Les Sampou - Home) and an acoustic guitar duo, Acousticity - not sure if they are still around (Acousticity). The sound, the energy, the emotion of a live performance when you are not more than 12 feet away from the performers, is something not easily forgotten.

Last night, I attended a similar function at a friend's home but for a program of piano and violin music, performed by Michal Schmidt, piano, Michal Schmidt - Cellist & Pianist and her son, Giora Schmidt Giora Schmidt | Violinist.

The program:
Franceso Geminiani, Violin Sonata in C Minor
Manuel de Falla, Suite Populaire Espagnole for Violin and Piano
Cesar Franck, Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major

Their playing was beyond reproach and hearing new (to me) music made it all the more rewarding. And a little story about the Franck: he composed the piece as a wedding gift for a Belgain violinist, Eugene Ysaye, and presented it on the morning of the wedding. Ysaye convinced one of guests, a pianist, to perform it with it him (after, maybe, one read through?)! This was a virtuosic piece, with many technical elements, as the Schmidts demonstrated. I cannot imagine getting though it the first time - especially on your wedding day!

I am becoming a big believer in more intimate venues and supporting talented, but lesser known, musicians.

Thanks for the review!
Indeed, these intimate concerts are so rewarding.
I also attended some lately.
I looked up the artists on their site and will surely examine their recordings!

[bart]

CONCERTGEBOUW BRUGGE DEC 15, 2011
HUELGAS ENSEMBLE: REQUIEM - RICHAFORT



In 2011 the Huelgas Ensemble celebrate their 40th anniversary. This ensemble set the standard for polyphonic performance, from the Middle Ages until now. They champion a thorough study of how the music came into being and how it was used and also draw upon primary sources to determine historical performance practice. The spontaneous, dynamic clarity of their sound makes them stand out like a beacon in today’s musical landscape. And these qualities do not just radiate from the stage; they also ring out from the many excellent recordings the Huelgas Ensemble have made. The epicentre of this musical activity is undoubtedly founder Paul Van Nevel: rebel, epicurean, charismatic, poet by vocation, conductor by profession. Whatever the repertoire, Van Nevel and his ensemble seem to lay a gossamer film of crystal over the score: glittering, delicate, precious and, above all, poignantly beautiful. The Concertgebouw has invited Van Nevel and his ensemble to an opulent birthday party, featuring three diverse concert programmes and a fascinating lecture by Van Nevel himself.

The oeuvre of Jean Richafort is not generally included in the canon of classical music. The compositions of this Franco-Flemish Renaissance polyphonist nevertheless often served as models and basic material for many of his more illustrious contemporaries. That Richafort’s music is relatively unknown nowadays is entirely unjustified. That is also the opinion of Paul Van Nevel, who puts the spotlight not only on Richafort’s chansons and motets in this concert, but also on his beautiful Requiem. The Huelgas Ensemble’s characteristically warm, rich tone brings out the best in these compositions: the liturgical oeuvre gets a deeply contemplative spiritual undertone, while the secular works are so lively and catchy that it is a job to stop oneself from dancing!

Huelgas Ensemble: vocal ensemble
Paul Van Nevel: conductor
Jean Richafort (ca.1480-ca.1550)
Laetamini in Domino
Suffi ciebat nobis paupertas
Salve Regina
Ne vous chaille mon cueur
Il n’est si douce vie
Requiem (in memoriam Josquin Desprez)

I really like polyphonic music.
I find it more complex than baroque, which came centuries later.
It is also music in its purest form.
Georg Philipp Telemann said: "Singen is das Fundament zur Music in allen Dingen".
The Huelgas Ensemble of Paul Van Nevel has now 40 years of experience.
He examined the genre profoundly, and we could enjoy the fruit of this effort.
He leads his singers in a subtle way to perfection. It's perfect yes, but in a friendly, cosy way. Van Nevel is a hedonist. He likes wine, a good cigar.
He even made this CD, with music and texts out of his own library (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi):


The music we heard yesterday is very meditative. 4 to 6 voices at the same time, all in harmony. Good vocal performance.
Richafort's Requiem is a masterpiece.
The 5 Motets were lovely.

Bart

[BlueChiaro]

Well, Bart, speaking of polyphony, last evening, we attended an Anonymous 4 performance in Philadelphia. This concert, Anthology 25, was a celebration of their twenty-five years together.

When four young women gathered to sing through some medieval chant and polyphony in the spring of 1986, it was something that countless small groups of musicians do every day in a search for artistic adventure and autonomy that their normal musical pursuits can’t provide. Once every now and then, the people themselves and the unity of their musical intent just click . . . there’s a chemistry . . . and a long term musical relationship is born.

In Anthology 25, we’ve created a special concert to celebrate 25 years together. It contains one piece from each of our recordings, as well as a work written for us by Richard Einhorn, the composer of Voices of Light, -- PLUS a brand new work by the celebrated New York composer David Lang.

Composer David Lang was in attendance to hear them perform his 2011 composition, the wood and the vine, written for them, and he was thrilled. Upon completion of his piece, he left his seat and went up to shake each member's hand...it was a special moment. The setting was Church of The Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square (seen, below, during a Mendelssohn Club of Phila. performance).



This is a magnificent venue with a nice acoustical airiness. Songs from Anonymous 4 simply floated out to our ears and did justice to their lovely voices. The audience was provided notes, with translations, for about 70% of the night's content, so it was fairly easy to follow along with the predominantly Latin compositions. As the night progressed, I spent time focusing on each voice to choose which characteristics most suited my taste. Overall, the fluidly soaring vocals of Ruth Cunningham (2nd from left) proved to be my favorite, although the absolute highlight, for me, was Marsha Genensky's (far right) solo in which her voice exhibited true instrument character. As crazy as this sounds...I envisioned her as a singing bagpipe. Now, I don't know if she'd consider that a compliment but it is intended to be. I'd never heard vocal tones or characteristics like that, before, and it simply mesmerized me.

The evening was a Christmas gift for my mom...I always enjoy exposing her to music that she'd otherwise not know. As suspected, it was a resounding success, and she already called me, this morning, to recap and thank us for last night's events. Anonymous 4...no longer unknown to her.

[JohnK]

Wow! Sounds like that was a great event!

Originally Posted by BlueChiaro

Well, Bart, speaking of polyphony, last evening, we attended an Anonymous 4 performance in Philadelphia. This concert, Anthology 25, was a celebration of their twenty-five years together.





Composer David Lang was in attendance to hear them perform his 2011 composition, the wood and the vine, written for them, and he was thrilled. Upon completion of his piece, he left his seat and went up to shake each member's hand...it was a special moment. The setting was Church of The Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square (seen, below, during a Mendelssohn Club of Phila. performance).



This is a magnificent venue with a nice acoustical airiness. Songs from Anonymous 4 simply floated out to our ears and did justice to their lovely voices. The audience was provided notes, with translations, for about 70% of the night's content, so it was fairly easy to follow along with the predominantly Latin compositions. As the night progressed, I spent time focusing on each voice to choose which characteristics most suited my taste. Overall, the fluidly soaring vocals of Ruth Cunningham (2nd from left) proved to be my favorite, although the absolute highlight, for me, was Marsha Genensky's (far right) solo in which her voice exhibited true instrument character. As crazy as this sounds...I envisioned her as a singing bagpipe. Now, I don't know if she'd consider that a compliment but it is intended to be. I'd never heard vocal tones or characteristics like that, before, and it simply mesmerized me.

The evening was a Christmas gift for my mom...I always enjoy exposing her to music that she'd otherwise not know. As suspected, it was a resounding success, and she already called me, this morning, to recap and thank us for last night's events. Anonymous 4...no longer unknown to her.