What concert did you attend in 2018?
Posted by: kuma on 01 January 2018
Starting a new thread for the new year!~
So did anyone go to the New Year's Concert in Vienna?
Kevin-W posted:
Visually they are mesmerising too - Laura Lee has to be the coolest female bassist since Kim Gordon, with a nice line in costume changes and sashaying across the stage, while Mark Speer is a jaw-droppingly good guitar player. Superb light show too.
The coolest female bassist still to me is Janis Marie Johnson of A Taste of Honey from 40 years ago! 
Last night we went to see James at "The Gov" - a pub with a venue attached, in Adelaide.
A glorious two-hour singalong - songs from their first album, and their latest, and everything in between.
They even played "Sit Down", which I thought they had stopped doing. He has a really great voice I think.
Sunday Night: Culture Club, Manchester Arena
I have never really been a Boy George/Culture Club fan but have always admired his bravado, musicality and voice. However, I am now a convert!
An ex-pupil of mine has played with George for the last 5 years and treated me to some comps and back stage pass. I was very pleasantly surprised! What a musical evening: seasoned musicians playing a well-rehearsed set with plenty of opportunity for riffing on various themes. Great covers too e.g. of Bowie's Let's Dance, which was honestly as good as the original! Such a diverse range of musical types from Reggae, to Hip Hop, Rock, R&B, and Jazz. I had no idea what I'd been missing. Time to order the new album
Looking forward to my first time seeing Janine Jansen live tomorrow evening...
Janine Jansen & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mittwoch, 21.11.2018 | 20:00 Uhr | Meistersingerhalle, Großer Saal
Janine Jansen | Violine
Daniel Harding | Dirigent
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Hector Berlioz, »Chasse royale et orage« aus »Les Troyens«
(»Königliche Jagd und Gewitter« aus der Oper »Die Trojaner«)
Jean Sibelius, Violinkonzert d-Moll op. 47
***
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphonie Nr. 3 Es-Dur op. 55 „Eroica“
Bert Schurink posted:Looking forward to my first time seeing Janine Jansen live tomorrow evening...
Janine Jansen & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mittwoch, 21.11.2018 | 20:00 Uhr | Meistersingerhalle, Großer Saal
Daniel Harding | Dirigent
Swedish Radio Symphony OrchestraHector Berlioz, »Chasse royale et orage« aus »Les Troyens«
(»Königliche Jagd und Gewitter« aus der Oper »Die Trojaner«)Jean Sibelius, Violinkonzert d-Moll op. 47
***
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphonie Nr. 3 Es-Dur op. 55 „Eroica“
A good program.
Jansen hasn't come around to Chicago yet but Harding is now coming next year with Concertgebouw substituting for now #MeToo ousted Daniel Gatti.
Bert Schurink posted:Looking forward to my first time seeing Janine Jansen live tomorrow evening...
Janine Jansen & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mittwoch, 21.11.2018 | 20:00 Uhr | Meistersingerhalle, Großer Saal
Daniel Harding | Dirigent
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Hector Berlioz, »Chasse royale et orage« aus »Les Troyens«
(»Königliche Jagd und Gewitter« aus der Oper »Die Trojaner«)Jean Sibelius, Violinkonzert d-Moll op. 47
***
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphonie Nr. 3 Es-Dur op. 55 „Eroica“
Bad luck Janine was sick so we had a replacement Veronika Eberle, and she played Schumann’s Violin Concerto instead.
Her playing was great. And it’s clear she deserves this solo podium. With a lot of sensitivity she played the concert. In th second part the orchestra played a solid 3rd of Beethoven. It was refined playing, but I also missed a bit the bombast a great he beginning, but that was a minor detail on a furthermore perfect execution. The playing was a bit more sharp I guess as normal due to the fact that the Swedish radio was recording the concert.
A young lady to watch and hear - Concert competition winner Indira Grier, who gave a fabulous performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto last night at the RCM in London with Martin Andre conducting the RCM Philharmonic.
It was also the world premiere performance of Lara Poe's orchestral work, Taivaanranta. I really enjoyed this and hope it gets a recording made and released some time soon.
Richard Dane posted:A young lady to watch and hear - Concert competition winner Indira Grier, who gave a fabulous performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto last night at the RCM in London with Martin Andre conducting the RCM Philharmonic.
It was also the world premiere performance of Lara Poe's orchestral work, Taivaanranta. I really enjoyed this and hope it gets a recording made and released some time soon.
Thanks - always good to see new talents emerging.
We had Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle here in Emsworth last night. I’ve heard very little Pentangle, who from the beginning have been jazz influenced, and they were far more jazzy than I expected. They are wonderful musicians and played a really good set, fortified by chips from the local chippie. Jacqui has the most wonderful voice, and I had a really good chat with her afterwards, and it was amazing to hear some of her stories about John Martin, Bert Jansch and many others. We are hoping to get Ralph McTell next year, and it turns out that Jacqui is meeting up with him next week. It’s a small world. I recommended the new Unthanks albums to her, so I hope she likes them!
DENIS MATSUEV
PROGRAM
Beethoven Sonata in C Major, Op. 2, No. 3
Rachmaninov Variations on a Theme by Corelli
Chopin Ballade No. 4
Tchaikovsky Meditation, Op. 72, No. 5
Prokofiev Sonata No. 7
Liadov A Musical Snuffbox, Op. 32 [ENCORE]
Sibelius Etude in A Minor, Op. 76, No. 2 [ENCORE]
Scriabin Etude in D-sharp Minor, Op. 8, No. 12 [ENCORE]
Matsuev Jazz Improvisation [ENCORE]
Man. What a showman!
Schumann's Kinderszenen was substituted by Beethoven's Sonata No.3. it's interesting that this program ( excluding encores ) are what Horowitz used to play for his recital. And definitely he puts that old world showmanship Horowitz or Richter for that matter used to command. Out of the tunes my fave was Rachmaninov's variations and Prokofiev's Sonata No.7 , Scriabin's Etude and of course his signature jazz improv. ( this time, the tune starts off with Evans like beautiful chord progression! )
Beethoven's No.3 Sonata, for me, was too macho. Lacking a bit of wit and playfulness. ( my favourite reading of this tune is by Kempf's or Horowitz ) Rachmaninov's Variations had many twists and turns he made it a worthwhile listen and I wasn't bored at all and no audience coughs in between. ( Rachmaninov would have been very proud! )
What can I say bout Chopin's Ballad. There are just so many other excellent reading done there isn't much he could do and again, here I missed the sense of humour or that particular nonchalant feel of this tune. He's much more at home with Prokofeiv generating commanding energetic performance. Wish he could add a bit more subtle sinister bend like Richter's. Tho, I enjoyed it very much.
The Orchestra Hall was filled with Russian speaking Chicago patrons.
We saw Amy Rigby last night at the Emsworth Sports and Social Club; another Wemsfest event. She is an American singer songwriter, and was playing unaccompanied. A great set of songs, some humorous, some very serious. Her husband, Wreckless Eric, is touring Australia while Amy trundles around the U.K.
We saw Thom Yorke's "solo" tour last night. I knew nothing about it when I bought the tickets, and in recent days listening to his solo stuff figured out pretty quickly that he wasn't going to be up there playing Radiohead songs! We stayed for a little over an hour, which was enough to get the idea. After a while it pretty much all sounds the same . . .
This was the first show I've been to where the computer is the primary "instrument." Thom played some guitar and bass and keyboards, but it was essentially electronica. "Interesting" nevertheless! And obviously he's a legend with a tremendous following.
Ennio Morricone last night at the O2 . His final UK concert at the age of 90 before ‘retirement’ . It was absolutely wonderful, at times spine tingling ( Ecstasy of Gold), others just beautiful and moving ( Cinema Paradiso, Once upon a time in America, Casualties of War...) . He was joined by the Prague Philarmonic , Susanna Rigacci , Dulce Pontes and the Crouch End choir . Superb !
pete T15 posted:Ennio Morricone last night at the O2 . His final UK concert at the age of 90 before ‘retirement’ . It was absolutely wonderful, at times spine tingling ( Ecstasy of Gold), others just beautiful and moving ( Cinema Paradiso, Once upon a time in America, Casualties of War...) . He was joined by the Prague Philarmonic , Susanna Rigacci , Dulce Pontes and the Crouch End choir . Superb !
Once upon a time in America is one of my favourite film and indeed wonderful soundtrack. ( i have it on vinyl ) 
Love its haunting title theme.
Last Saturday was able to attend the penultimate day of the London Jazz Festival. Went to see the Madeleine Peyroux concert (part of her Anthem tour) at the Festival Hall. Before that though we came across a free concert from Trinity Laban Youth Orchestra. Sounded wonderful then I realised the conductor was the great Laura Jurd from Dinosaur. A real treat. Then came the Peyroux concert. The support band was Luca, a three piece. Very interesting. However, obviously the star was Madeleine. Very engaging with a great band behind her. Both my wife and I left with great smiles on our faces.