What classical concert did you attend?

[TheHills44060]

Saw the Cleveland Orchestra perform "Bugs Bunny at the Symphony" this summer.

The show was ok but we had great seats and vip passes so the free food and drinks was wonderful.

[Still-One]

Tonight Linda a I are going to hear the Detroit Symphony Orchestra perform.

"Joana Carneiro leads the DSO in Tchaikovsky's rousing Fifth Symphony and guitar sensation Xuefei Yang, the first guitar major to graduate from Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music, performs Rodrigo’s haunting Concierto de Aranjuez."

[AudioNut]

Originally Posted by Still-One

Tonight Linda a I are going to hear the Detroit Symphony Orchestra perform.

"Joana Carneiro leads the DSO in Tchaikovsky's rousing Fifth Symphony and guitar sensation Xuefei Yang, the first guitar major to graduate from Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music, performs Rodrigo’s haunting Concierto de Aranjuez."

Jim and Linda . . . Enjoy!

Love both pieces of music and I am totally envious!

[Still-One]

Julian
The program last evening was very, very good. This was the first time I have ever heard Golijov's "Sidereus" and even though it is only nine minutes long it is a very nice piece.
Xuefei Yang is a truly accomplished guitarist and complimented the Orchestra on the Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" . The second and third movements were especially entertaining. We were seated in the third row directly in front (less than 20') of Yang so we could see and hear her very clearly.
Although the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 is a bit disjointed for my tastes as a whole it is an excellent piece. As you know the finale is exciting and Ms. Carneiro pulled everything out of the orchestra for the rousing finish.

Jim

[meza]

D’OM LE VRAI SENS (True Sense of Man) by Kaija Saariaho (1952)
Belgian premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s clarinet concerto with soloist Kari Kriikku in the concert hall in Bruges (Concertgebouw Brugge)

November 4h, 2011
Brussels Philharmonic orchestra
conductor: Jonathan Schiffman;
soloist/performer on the clarinet: Kari Kriikku
choreografie Kari Kriikku: Peter Sellars

Kaija Saariaho made a short appearance on stage to jointly receive the applause with orchestra and Kari Kriikku.

D’OM LE VRAI SENS, (True Sense of Man)
clarinet concerto (2010)

• L’Ouïe (sense of hearing)
• La Vue (sense of sight)
• L’Odorat (sense of smell)
• Le Toucher (sense of touch)
• Le Goût (sense of taste)
• A mon seul Désir (te 6th sense)

Though the Finish composer Kaija Saariaho is one of the most renowned contemporary composers of classical music, I knew nothing of her work. And had my first contact with her music had been listening to a CD instead of attending a concert, I probably would have dismissed it as being “too modern for me”.

Now, however, I have purchased the CD straight after the concert; Moreover I am glad to be able to share the recording of this musical experience with my husband who had been unable to attend the concert.



Kaija Saariaho consulted soloist Kari Kriikku at the final stage of her composing ( reality check to ensure that the most complex details actually remain performable) and dedicated this concerto to him. We were very lucky to have him perform the clarinet solo’s in Brugge for this Belgian premiere.

I had read that her work is expressive combining timbre and colour with acoustic and electronics, scratching, breathing, stroking, and aiming at involving all the senses and can indeed confirm this applies all the more to this particular composition. The subject of the concert is well chosen – each movement is dedicated to one of the senses:

Source of inspiration for this work was a series of 6 medieval Flemish tapestries (the lady and the unicorn) and Saariaho structured her clarinet concerto in 6 movements, each of them bearing the name of one of the tapestries.
5 of the tapestries are depicting the 5 senses, the 6th tapestry, called “le vrai sens”, i.e. “the real sense” is often interpreted as “love or understanding”, in Saariaho’s work it is interpreted the 6th sense.

The concert hall remained dark, the stage dimly lit by small led’s clipped to the music stands. After a distinct silence extremely low and slow sounds could be heard transforming into music – the border between “sounds/noise/scratching…” and “music” is indistinct – until the soloist, Kari Kriikku, appears - from behind the audience. He truly dominates the concert with his performance: music, facial movements and body language.

Sound and colour of the music get an additional dimension by the choreography of the performance. The spotlight follows him where he goes using with different lighting effects, he becomes the mystical unicorn of the tapestry (with the clarinet as a horn).

Depending on the sense that is depicted, the soloist takes position in the concert hall. In the audience, behind the orchestra, Music is not solely appealing to the sense of hearing. May be this is the real sense of the music?

This is Saariaho’s latest work - so recent, that her own website does not mention it yet! www.saariaho.org

[bart]

I find this a very well written review by one of our junior members


Too bad I couldn't make it to the concert yesterday...

[bart]

Originally Posted by Still-One

Julian
The program last evening was very, very good. This was the first time I have ever heard Golijov's "Sidereus" and even though it is only nine minutes long it is a very nice piece.
Xuefei Yang is a truly accomplished guitarist and complimented the Orchestra on the Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" . The second and third movements were especially entertaining. We were seated in the third row directly in front (less than 20') of Yang so we could see and hear her very clearly.
Although the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 is a bit disjointed for my tastes as a whole it is an excellent piece. As you know the finale is exciting and Ms. Carneiro pulled everything out of the orchestra for the rousing finish.

Jim

Thanks for posting Jim!
I hadn't heard from Golijov before.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by bart

I hadn't heard from Golijov before.

Try these:

[bart]

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson

Try these:

Thanks Kal.
Looks interesting!

[BlueChiaro]

Bart, I just wanted to thank you for this thread. I don't have anything further to add at this point, but it's an enjoyable read!

Robert

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