What was the last concert you went in 2015?

Well.. she's no Oscar Peterson for sure...

Bit more like Winifred Atwell in that clip!

She is indeed visually more attractive....

The legs.. the legs..

She's by far the cutest pianist I have ever seen!!

Indeed Pollini's hairy thin ankles could distract

Pollini used to be so cute even with his early receding hairline!

...if we ignore her cuteness....what's left is that Yuja Wang is a great artist......, and that was the reason I was visiting her concert....... The cuteness was just a bonus.

The next concert in the series will be with Martha Argerich, already much looking forward to that..... And cuteness doesn't play any role anymore in that case.....

She was a super babe. all right.

I hope Yuja will be a super star like Martha became. 

...and I don't think she is wearing a vest either!  You have to say she is very fit.

ps We saw Martha Argerich at the South Bank a few years ago and she was outstanding.

Tomorrow evening at Stowe School ...........  

Plus it will be the first run out for the new car  ..........  

I missed her this year when she was in LA last month. Pity that she dones't come around to the Midwest too much. Certainly I would enjoy her playing.

Ab-so-lute-ly amazing

A real guitar genius,  it was not until tonite's concert that I realised that what I had been listening to at home was just one guitar & no dubbing or other recording tricks, I really am in awe, seeing him play absolutely solo & what sounds like him & another 2 or even 3 other players,  & one of those is a double bass - yes a double bass - truly amazing.  His string tuning variables are a guitarists delight.    Highly Recommended & then some.

Bruce Foxton "From The Jam" at The Factory Theatre, Marickville, Sydney, Australia.

absolutely brilliant!

took me back to 1976 (onwards) with most of their big hits and many great album tracks with a couple of Bruce's own songs included. 

They played a blistering set which I and my 2 friends who came with me thoroughly enjoyed, as did the rest of the crowd - particularly the ones in the mosh who probably ached like mad in the morning!

La Traviata last night at the ENO. Ms Zharoff's Violetta was astonishing. Wonderful. The production is stripped to say the least, one chair and curtains and there has been a bit of stripping to the score too so that it runs as a continuous 1hr 50mins. However I think that just made it more taut. Alfredo and Germont were also excellent.  Some may mock the fact that it was sung in English, which I agree can show up the absurdities of the libretto rather more clearly that the Italian, but I urge you to see it. And watch out for Ms Zharoff in the future. I idly googled her  to find out a bit more about her and she does a lot of music in different areas. A very bright cookie by the look of it.

My wife & I saw this at the Coliseum 2 years ago, & though not being totally convinced by trimming  & doing it in one act the music never fails, our Violetta was Corinne Winters.

I have not seen Elizabeth Zharoff but judging by a few clips on youtube I will be looking out for her in the future.

La Traviata was my very first opera back in about 1975, & is still a favourite; my second was Gotterdammerung a week later, so quite a contrast!

Last Monday (at Ronnie Scott's, Ravi Coltrne's New Quartet. Absolutely outstanding and a brilliant band. Had a chat with him afterwards and he is a lovely man.

Review here:

As a leader, Ravi Coltrane has many great qualities: authority; and something much rarer – unselfishness, modesty and grace. Time and time again at this stunning two-set show, he stepped away from the front of the stage to allow his superb band, The New Quartet, to shine. And what a band they were! Dezron Douglas on bass provided the underpinnings and facial expressions; drummer Jonathon Blake was as swingingly powerful as his enormous stage presence would suggest, yet proved himself capable of the gentlest of touches; and the brilliant pianist David Virelles powered everything along with his hard-edged and pulsing circular motifs, reminiscent of the great Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

 

The Quartet operated with real empathy, bouncing ideas off each other and switching direction in the way that only true jazz improv can. Much of the music – at once dense with sound and ideas, but full of space; oblique yet direct – had the questing turbulence of his late father’s best work, but there was release too, in the form of some lovely, ethereal ballad work. However, Ravi is very much his own man, with a unique musical vision, which pays homage to his parents’ work, but is never a prisoner of the titanic legacy of Alice and John.

 

Playing a mixture of originals – some from his most recent Blue Note album Spirit Fiction (2012) – and astutely chosen covers, the Quartet had the Ronnie’s sell-out crowd in the palm of their hands, each solo or ensemble exploration meeting with rapt applause. Especially outstanding were the covers by Monk (an intensely hard-edged ‘Skippy" and Ornette (a playful ‘Bird Food"; and, for the last number, Charlie Parker’s ‘Segment’ Coltrane switched to sopranino sax, an unusual instrument he has completely mastered, if the beautiful tone with which he expressed himself is anything to go by.

 

The New Quartet will be playing in Leeds and Southampton later this week – try to see them, they’re worth a journey. Let’s hope they return to these shores soon.

 

Murray Perahia: Orchestra Hall

• Bach French Suite No. 6
• Haydn Sonata in A-flat Major
• Beethoven Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 81a (Les adieux)
• Franck Prelude, Chorale and Fugue
• Chopin Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor, Op. 20
• Chopin Nocturne in F Major, Op. 15, No. 1 [ENCORE]
• Schumann Traumes Wirren in F Major from Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 [ENCORE]

I finally got to catch Perahia recital.

There were numerous technical errors made throughout the recital, I was surprised to hear that he picked some demanding pieces such as Franck's Preludes, Chorale and Fugue and Chopin's Scherzo. 

I enjoyed his usual sensitive and smart playing especially in softer passages.

I could not get on with his Bach French Suite but Haydn Sonata was sparkling. Beethoven's No.26 Sonata is one of my favourite but Perahia's style is too *nice* and not enough turbulence. Yet contrasting Franck's Prelude was majestic and his piano projected large wave of sound that filled the hall just like a pipe organ!

He closed the recital with playful Schumann's Traumes Wirren*. Interesting choice of program but not too strange given that it was also Perahia's mentor/teacher Horowitz' favourite encore piece. 

*Haim, if you are reading this I was wrong about the last encore piece! 

I don't have the expertise of Kuma who attends so many concerts. My only references are Paul Lewis and Marc-Andre Hamelin whom I saw perform lately at the same hall.

In comparison to the two, Murray Perahia's playing sounded strained and inconsistent. Even during his best piece, the Haydn piano sonata, there were a couple of misplaced pauses and chords. I don't know if we caught him on an 'off' night or perhaps he was just trying to interpret the music in a new way. One thing for sure, the articulation, the clarity and flow of playing that we know from his recordings were missing on Sunday.

Kuma mentioned the demanding pieces. Personally, I always wish to see a performer who selects his/her program according to what he/she likes and plays best. That way everyone, the musicians as well as the audience enjoy the music better. 

I have to commend Kuma's courage who dared to use her camera despite of all the security gorillas patrolling the balcony.

Best gig I have seen for a quite a while.  These lasses can certainly play.

My kind of live music.

Went to see Cara Dillon at Birmingham Town Hall last night.

Great show.

Her band are excellent, and her voice is just amazing.

The experience will be in quite some contrast to the Bad Religion gig in August I just got tickets for!

Gary Clark Jr. Saturday evening Bedford@CPiT, Great show such an impressive guitarist good music. We will be going to see him again.

Paul Simon and Sting in (the Point, O2, E3.... Whateeever) in Dublin last night. As usual, the sound was s****e, and I asked myself, as often before, why do I pay out good money for this mediocre offering? Of course, I keep hoping it will be better this time, and I never want to miss the chance of hearing (or not) Paul. If they put out a CD of what I heard last night, nobody would buy it, but maybe a future 'Paul Simon and Sting in Dublin' from HDTracks or Qobuz will give us the experience we didn't get last night, and at a much more reasonable cost. Tickets were €100+. Will none of the critics take our side in this?

Sound quality is very often a problem with seeing things live. One would expect that in most venues at least the sound could be decent. Jazz and classical are in general better.

Bert, the frustrating thing is that simply turning down the volume would improve the experience dramatically, but there is a tendency to equate volume with quality.