What was the last concert you went in 2015?
Posted by: kuma on 11 January 2015
My first concert for 2015 started with youthful pairing of Paul Lewis/Vasily Petrenko at the Orchestra Hall last night.
- Elgar In the South (Alassio)
- Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor)
- Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
Petrenko opened with Elgar's 'In the South' Overture and I was pleasantly surprised how lively and energetically it was played. Even the CSO musicians seemed more upbeat and animated than usual. I throughly enjoyed Petrenko's refreshing take on this tune.
Lewis has been a *regular* at the CSO for a few years. His Emperor Concerto is heroic, bold and confident as I expected him to be. The only draw back I felt was the orchestra was a bit soft and not as rhythmic feeling they were trailing a tad behind Lewis. A bit of a surprise really after such a lively Elgar piece.
Lewis did not offer his own cadenza in the Emperor but he played Schubert's Allegretto in C Minor as an encore. The trouble was he was still on the Beethoven mode. ( I love his Beethoven but not totally sold on his Schubert work )
Symphonic Dances was exciting Petrenko keeping the CSO on their toes. Perhaps it did not have the menacing weight of Berliner/Rattle set but the CSO Brass rose to the occasion adding an extra brilliance.
And it was cool that noone coughed after the final gong and kept the silence for a pretty good duration.
Andy Fairweather Low at Pocklington Arts Centre.
A couple of weeks ago I went to see Dylan Howe's Subterraneans at the Purcell Rooms on London's South Bank. They were brilliant.
Setlist:
Where Are We now?/Subterraneans/Weeping Wall/All Saints/Some Are/Neukoln - Night/Art Decade/Warsawa/Neukoln - Day/Moss Garden
Here's a review I did for a well-known magazine:
The chilly, terse and drummerless electronic instrumentals which made up the second sides of David Bowie’s ‘Berlin’ albums Low and Heroes might seem like not-terribly-fertile ground for a jazz musician, but nobody seems to have told Dylan Howe.
Drummer Howe made one of last year’s best jazz albums – Subterranean: New Designs on Bowie’s Berlin (Motorik Recordings) – from this difficult material, opening out the skeletal melodies to create something warmer, more filmic, more expansive. So there was a good deal of anticipation before this live presentation at the Purcell Room on London’s South Bank.
Working with a superb band – Dave Whitford on double bass; the outstanding, Tyneresque Ross Stanley on piano; Steve Lodder (synths); and, making his live debut with this ensemble, tenorist James Allsopp – Howe opened up the pieces still further, adding rhythmic power, tempi changes and the immediacy of live, improvised music to the recorded versions.
Presenting the Subterranean album in chronological order (with the addition of a touching rendition of Bowie’s 2013 ‘comeback’ single, ‘Where Are We Now?’ as the evening’s opener) to a backdrop of moody 1970s Berlin footage, the playing was immaculate and throbbed with a sensuality and pleasure in music-making which was at once both at odds with Bowie’s originals and entirely appropriate.
‘Art Decade’ was a cool modal waltz, ‘Subterraneans’ a meditation moving from gloom to liberation, ‘Moss Garden’ an ominous bubbling… and who’d have thought you could ever make Low’s famously austere ‘Warsawa’ swing? But swing this stuff did, and it’s telling that the first thing I did upon waking this morning was to put on Howe’s album, immediately followed by Bowie’s originals; the aim being not to compare, but to hear the dialogue between two musicians, the younger building upon the work done by the elder.
Jazz musicians reinterpreting rock (Radiohead especially) is something of a mini-industry at the moment, but Howe and co. have hit upon something genuinely different, and affecting, here. One looks forward to future interpretations of similarly challenging material – Can’s organic improvisations, perhaps, or the relentless motorik of Neu!; or maybe even Throbbing Gristle? In the meantime, if you get the chance to catch this band at a festival or in your town, make sure you do – they are phenomenal.
Andy Fairweather Low at Pocklington Arts Centre.
Did he play Gin House from his Amen Corner days?
Muti/CSO
Rudolph Buchbinder
- Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24
- Mozart Requiem
Familiar Mozart Requiem for the first time live!.
I don't rate highly on Muti's Mozart as he has a tendency to paint softer overly romantic bland landscape. He had some good moments particularly in quieter movements but *scary* Confutatis never gets scary enough missing some dramatic bits. I prefer more direct hitters like Gardiner or
Herreweghe or the last recording of Davis/LSO rather than rosy cozy Muti Mozart.
And then there is a cell phone going off in the middle of the tune. :/
What I am most impressed tho, was a young soprano named Rosa Feola from Italy.
Gidon Kremer and Daniil Trifonov duo at the Carnegie Hall:
- MOZART Fantasy for Solo Piano, K. 397
- WEINBERG Violin Sonata No. 5, Op. 53
- MOZART Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, K. 481
- WEINBERG Solo Violin Sonata No. 3, Op. 126
- SCHUBERT Fantasy in C Major, D. 934
I was curious to listen to Daniil Trifonov which I missed his both Carnegie and Orchestra Hall debut last year.
The program started with Trifonov just playing a small Mozart Fantasy piece. This was the most lively Mozart I have heard with such vigor and enthusiasm. It was a breath of fresh air.
Next up is Weinberg's Violin Sonata No. 5 ( easier to listen than his No. 3 ). Kremer's style is not a pyrotechnic wiz but the music is delivered with much honesty and integrity. Quietest passages breaks up at a whisper sound level and huge dynamic swings weren't there. But I was impressed with Trifonov as an accompanist as they were working well together. Altho, his overly exaggerated body movement and emoting got to be a bit monotonous in the middle.
Mozart's Violin Sonata was Sheer delight. Particularly the Adagio. Kremer's fiddlin' does not have a warm creamy oiled textures but what a beautiful dynamic expression! It was fragile and reflective as the best Schubert's tune.
After the intermission, it turned out that Weinberg's No.3 Violin Sonata was the Carnegie premier piece. He sure delivered a convincing performance with as a top notch virtuoso. This is a mixture of raw emotions and somewhat semi biographical tune for the composer. It is not an easy piece to get through yet there is a comfort I found in it.
They made sure that the finale was someething more upbeat. Shubert's Fantasy piece showcasing a spot on timing of two musicians.
The concert ended with 3 encores!
I enjoyed young Trifonov's playing and looking forward to his Rachmaninov piano concerto in Chicago!
Trifonov's Liszt Performance in munich was great!
Anathema acoustic show at Winchester Cathedral.
Muti/CSO
- Ligeti Lontano
- Beethoven Triple Concerto
- Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian)
By far the most interesting and moving was listening to Ligeti's Lontano live. There are just so much more vivid colours and textures coming through than I have ever heard out of the score. Large scale orchestra also adds to the eerie physical experience. ( it is more than the sound; you feel it from a gut level. )
Triple Concerto was done by CSO musicians for violin and cello and Jonathan Biss for piano. I did not think they were above the giants but youthful and cohesive playing made it fun to listen to. Very relaxed atmosphere and looked like they were having a ball.
Crowd pleasing Tchaikovsky's No.2 was surprisingly tight and rhythmic, Muti kept the forward momentum throughout without much embellishing heavy Russian schmaltz.