What was your last concert you went to ?

Don't know if I should admit this but going to see The Scissor Sisters tomorrow evening at the Roundhouse, London, never been to this venue before, anyone been? any good?

Nothing wrong with the Scis Sisters Paul - great live act. The Roundhouse is one of the best venues in London. I think you'll have a great time.

K

Ian Hunter Shepherds Bush Empire 19th Oct.

Seen him a few times and this was maybe his best. Great backing band and nice selection of songs from throughout his career. Played some new stuff off his new album which sounded really good as well.

Thanks for the feedback on the Roundhouse guys, really looking forward to it, confession No 2, I've actually seen the Scissor Sistors live many many times, like you say Kevin, they are a great live act with loads of energy, normally I'm more of a rocker, Rammstein etc, but there is something about the SS's that I just love.

There we go, any gred has just vanished  

Yep, you certainly came out the closet there Paul, I wan a give you a hug  

Monday 22nd October 2012, Royal Festival Hall. 

Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin, an acoustic set of some of their favourite tracks, covering Donovan, Paul Simon,  Neil Finn  and Steve Earle to name a few, interspersed with versions of their own songs, sometimes the other  helped out with harmonies. A very successful format, which went down very well. 140 minutes(no break) of enjoyment .

Guido, MCC did This Shirt.

Howard,

Monday 22nd October 2012.

Stu.

Corrected Stu. That's the problem of being retired I never know what bloody day it is!

Sounds like a very good gig though.

Stu

That is my most favourite ever Chapin song ... I read a review that said it was an extraordinary composition and sought it out and remember being stunned by just how good it was. Chapin has written lots of great songs though. She is a true star. 

Off to the RAH in London tomorrow to see Don McLean in concert.  My first time hearing him play live.  Hope it's a good one..

Had a great time at the Roundhouse last night seeing the Scissor Sisters, what a fantastic venue, I'm amazed it isn't used more for live concerts, I've been to countless gigs in London but never there, very odd.

Fantastic show as usual from the Scissors, full of energy that you can't help but dance to, although it did have an air of a farewell show, they are playing their last gig in the UK tonight on this tour so it will be interesting to see what happens as apparently Polydor have not taken up their option on a new record deal, be a shame if it is all about to end as some of the best gigs I've been to have been SS gigs.

Right, time to restore the balance, time to get some Rammstein playing through the NDX 

Not been to a live show for a while,last one was Wilko Johnson earlier this year, and jolly good it was too.

Well, Don was showing the years last night.  Started out a bit shakey and out of tune but managed to get it all together after a half hour or so.  Things weren't helped by a very poor sound balance - somebody had decided to crank the mic up to 11 which also picked up the piano accompaniment and made it sound horribly distorted. Ended on American Pie, which got everybody up, singing along, and did Starry, Starry Night as an encore, so my friend was happy...

The revelation was his support act; Mairead Carlin.  What a fabulous voice!  I'll be checking out her album Songbook.

Just came back from Haitink/CSO Beethoven Missa Solemnis concert.

I was worried the frail maestro wasn't gonna make it to the end of the program. :x

What a powerful music hearing it live.

Dear Mike,

I would rarely describe a live concert in any case, but have done it where the result was transcendentally fine.

I would never describe the ho-hum moments!

They are not that rare! The noisy and impolite audience, the split horn notes that turn into a battle to play most of the notes, when the week before they all came perfectly, and will do so again. The missed cues, when the tension is in the air for all the wrong reasons. The edge of the seat listening hoping desperately for a carry on. Nothing is worse than a complete break down, and the better the players the more the wish that they recover.

These are not experiences to share in my view!

They are to chalk up and try to forget, though they are among the most indelible of all concert experiences.

In my playing days, I once played a concert on three out of five strings on the double bass. The only outward sign was the klang of two strings breaking in about thirty seconds, followed by wild returning during the music of the remaining three. I played all the notes, but where necessary transposed at the octave. I would be horrified if some member of the audience then went onto the internet and posted about my efforts that day. Really that is not a kind thing to do.

ATB from George

Dear Kuma,

I can only imagine how the aged Maestro dug deep into this music!

The Missa is also a piece that elicited one of those unforgettable moments for me in a live concert. 

This was in Hereford Cathedral with the Cathedral Choir and the Hereford Festival Choral Society [with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra - the oldest regular orchestra in the UK, and still world class] under Doctor Roy Massey [then the Cathedral Organist, and still thriving, retired, in his eighties today], which was given in memory of the late Bishop of Hereford, John E-, who died in post. A man who was unusually for a Bishop, well known and well loved in his community, be they Church goers or simply the average citizenry of a small but ancient County City.

The performance was received in silence - as requested - and the good five minutes of pin drop quiet after the end was only broken when Roy Massey turned from the performers, who immediately stood up and bowed. The soloists did not process from the stage, but waited for the audience to leave without any chattering.

The behavior of everyone in a sell out concert was awe inspiring. 

The performance was not reviewed in the local press, but it was heart-rendingly fine. Totally dedicated. I spoke to a member of the Choir next day, and he thought it was the best the combined forces had ever sung in his memory.

A transcendental moment for sure. I never expect to hear such a concert again.

ATB from George

Originally Posted by George Fredrik:

The performance was received in silence - as requested - and the good five minutes of pin drop quiet after the end was only broken when Roy Massey turned from the performers, who immediately stood up and bowed. The soloists did not process from the stage, but waited for the audience to leave without any chattering.

The behavior of everyone in a sell out concert was awe inspiring.

The performance was not reviewed in the local press, but it was heart-rendingly fine. Totally dedicated. I spoke to a member of the Choir next day, and he thought it was the best the combined forces had ever sung in his memory.

A transcendental moment for sure. I never expect to hear such a concert again.

George,

How I wish we had that moment of silence at the end.

After the program was finished I saw Haitink placed his hands on the podium just absorbing the after glow from the last note.

Then a few folks in the audience hastily start clapping. It felt out of place as this rather open-ended finale *needs* that moment of silence to get the point. It's much more poignant and powerful that way.

So it was a bit of a spoiler at the end and in spite out of breath tenor ( female sopranos did just fine ), I was very moved.

Thanks for sharing your lovely story.

Dear Kuma,

There are some pieces of music, where an outward show of appreciation at the end is completely out of place, the Missa being one of them. At least the audience might have the patience to wait for the conductor to turn round before clapping!

I looked up the Liverpool Philharmonic's founding and it gave its first concert in 1840! That makes it two years older than the Vienna Philharmonic, and also the NYPSO!

I listened to Klemperer's immensely powerful, very lithe. very driven 1965 EMI recording earlier. The moments of repose, such as the Benedictus are also the more beautiful for being oasiese of peace among the torrent!

The ending is indeed open ended as you say. Surely this is intentional from Beethoven, whose faith varied between non-existent to fearful that it should exist! It is a human cry for faith as much as an affirmation of that faith, which Bach's and Haydn's works in the line have as a fundamental ingredient. 

Beethoven's work is also just about the most difficult to perform well. Klemperer described it as un-perform-able, and yet he chiseled away at it every two years or so for the last twenty years of his life, not infrequently producing profound self-doubts about the wisdom of trying, when he felt that he had not inspired the performers to a high achievement. That is an attitude that can only bring respect from the players and choristers! Furtwangler also regarded it as un-perform-able, and there is no evidence that he ever attempted to bring it to performance during his career at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Others have produced more refined and precise recordings, but none reach the spiritual height of Klemperer's studio recording for achieving that balance of emotional desperation and fervour at the same time. Yet the recording is typically bad of its time. Even by the mid-sixties the analogue tape was far short of what the microphones could catch, and the distortion of the choir at full tilt is an inescapable part of the recording. It does not ruin the effect, but would be uncomfortable for the seekers of near sonic perfection.

Unfortunately, for the engineers and producers, Klemperer could not be persuaded to moderate his dynamic demands on the recording mechanism, and he mischieviously asked after one session if they had managed to break any microphones that day!

Certainly the performers had - many of them -  broken a sweat trying to!

ATB from George

PS: At the time EMI release Klemperer's recording there was a simultaneous release from Karajan, so naturally some critics saw the chance to compare them, describing Karajan's as a gentle stroll on green grass covered foothills, and Klemperer's, as mountaineering expedition round the high Swiss Alps. One sanguine and the other Earth shatteringly great and undefinable in reality.

George, 

I knew you'd mention Klemperer's.

I will get one and give it a listen. 

No doubt it could be very good performance wise.

I have the one with Günter Wand/Gürzenich Symphony Orchestra. ('65 recording )

Massed chorus and vocals are extremely demanding both recording and playback. No way my system can reproduce anything remotely close to what I have heard live.

As for the comparison to Karajan's, I agree his direction always has that luxurious feel which certainly can be very beautiful, but I can't be too sympathetic towards someone who's suffering in mink.

Klemperer knows the life's hardship for sure.

Kuma! 

I hope you enjoy this. I love it! It was the first LP set of a big choral piece that I got back in the 1970s. I wore two sets of LPs out, before going CD.

The latest CD transfers are much less distorted than, for 65 minutes of music, the four sides of LPs managed. though the result is not always beautiful in any issue ...

It is more than just beautiful music though. It bares the soul to a test on the way.

No replay does this music justice, once one has heard it live ...

But it can still be deeply rewarding on a recording all the same.

Very best wishes from George

Saw Dead can Dance at the RAH on Friday. Absolutely loved it although, sitting in the circle they seemed very small on stage and there was a bit of distortion on Lisa's vocals where she really goes for it but that may have been caused by my elevated position in the auditorium. Was anybody else from the forum at this concert and if so, what was it like for you?