What was the last concert you went in 2016?

No doubt.

So was Liszt with a ton of groupies.

As well as Beethoven's killer improvisation skills made him a popular start in Vienna.

Runnicles/CSO:

Program
Britten: Sinfonia da requiem

Strauss: Death and Transfiguration

Elgar: Enigma Variations

Powerful and dynamic rendition by Donald Runnicles and CSO. It was an interesting contrast to how Haitink handled Strauss ( Alpine Symphony ) with the same orchestra. Runnicles' Strauss was vast and expnansive focused on huge dynamic swings and at times the strings became too strident probably due to the Orchestra Hall acoustics and the overall level seemed louder than Haitink set.

Exciting but where the ticking of clock could have used a bit more tension in pizzicato.

In 1904, Strauss himself conducted the Death and Transfiguration with the CSO in Auditorium Theatre ( before the current Orchestra Hall was built )

Fascinating that his wife Pauline sang his tunes, too.

This is the first time I listened to the Enigma Variations live. I wasn't aware that the organ was part of instrumentation and this, too, was tremendous in terms of scale and dynamics. Pacing was on a quick side ( I suppose similar to Elgar's himself conducting ) so I felt the Nimrod could have a bit more breathing space. He kept  a sentimentality to a minimum and stepped up on luxury. I missed a bouncy lively Dorabella.  But the last three movements ( B.G.N, Romanza *** & E.D.U ) were so so moving and awe-inspiring. ( certainly subterranean organ under helped )

CSO/Theodore Thomas gave the Variations ( then it was just called Variations Op. 36 ) US premier in 1902 but In 1907, Elgar himself visited Chicago and conducted the piece as part of *living composer* series.

Kuma,

I was very impressed when I heard Donald Runnicles in 2012 conduct exerts from Berlioz Romeo & Juliet followed by the complete second act of Tristan und Isolde with the wonderful Nina Stemme at the Usher Hall Edinburgh.

What I find interesting looking at these old programmes, is how long the concerts were in those days, I often feel a bit short changed at the symphony Hall Birmingham when there is often barely 1&1/2 hours of music programmed.

I saw the Black Sabbath show in Dunedin too and it was great. Played all of my faves, starting with Black Sabbath, Iron Man, Wall of Sleep and War Pigs. Ozzy was in fine form, Geezer and Tony were amazing. The only disappointment for me was the lack of distortion on Paranoid’s guitar solo.

The Long Ryders, last gig on their European Tour, both band and audience had a great time.

I kinda discounted them when they were current as being "too retro" - that was a mistake which I rectified tonight.

SJB

Morton posted:

I was very impressed when I heard Donald Runnicles in 2012 conduct exerts from Berlioz Romeo & Juliet followed by the complete second act of Tristan und Isolde with the wonderful Nina Stemme at the Usher Hall Edinburgh.

What I find interesting looking at these old programmes, is how long the concerts were in those days, I often feel a bit short changed at the symphony Hall Birmingham when there is often barely 1&1/2 hours of music programmed.

Morton,

I first got to know Runnicles at the Orchestra Hall 2 years ago when he was pinch hitting for Jaap Van Zweden who had a back problem and could not conduct. It was a Mahler's 5th and I very much enjoyed his direction. I have never heard of this conductor up till then.

I also noticed about the length of the concert. ( exception was the Falstaff which ran a lot longer than normal ) Back in the old days performance seemed to ran a lot longer but I figured it's a part of cost cutting measures. Plus I wonder about poeple's attention span these days as well as older patron's bladder won't hold for a longer session. :/

looking at the Elgar program, it's interesting to see that the intermission is only about 15 min. It's now about almost 30 minutes.

kuma posted:

Plus I wonder about poeple's attention span these days as well as older patron's bladder won't hold for a longer session. :/

 

As I am now the wrong side of sixty this could start to become a problem; in June we are going to see Das Rheingold, 2 hours 20 mins. & no interval!

But the Rhein maidens and their singing will captivate you and you won't think about it...  

Enjoy anyway, I'm envious

David

We are about to start a bit of a Wagner marathon actually; Meistersinger at Munich Opera in a couple of weeks, Opera North’s Ring cycle in Nottingham in early June (apart from Siegfried, which unfortunately clashes with a previously booked WNO Cav & Pag) followed by Tannhauser at Longborough and finishing at the end of June with Tristan at ENO London.

Plenty of bladder stretching opportunities there 

Morton,

That is very nice!

Still no Tristan at Lyric Opera yet!

Well you had what looks like a good one back in 2009;

http://www.operawarhorses.com/...go-february-24-2009/

I’m not sure how much Opera David Hockney, did but I do remember seeing the famous sets he did for Glyndebourne’s Rake Progress back in the 1980’s when they came on tour to Birmingham.

11th May 2016, Hawth Theatre Crawley.

Eric Bibb and North Country Far, plus  Yana Bibb in support.

Yana , Eric's daughter has a great voice, but she appeared with a bloke sounding like he was playing an out of tune piano, so I left.

Eric and his trio,  upright bass and guitarist, with a male and female backing singers were great really tuneful excellent sound and the evening just passed by beautifully.  

So went yesterday to a local Nurnberg jazz stage. Which had an exciting program of two bands in one evening. Very intimate I guess somewhere around 40 people in the audience, tiny venue....., but great and very close....

The first band played pieces of Thelonious Monk and Ornette Colemann. The second band was completely into fushion, and was more or less creating an explosion in the club. A small reminder that one should try this type of concert more often.

Morton posted:

Well you had what looks like a good one back in 2009;

http://www.operawarhorses.com/...go-february-24-2009/

Yeah I see that. ( I was into disco back then. )

Went to see King King in the small hall at the Sage, Gateshead last night. Very good blues - rock band - excellent live show and it was refreshing to see a front man who was so clearly happy to be performing.

A great night out!

I like that small hall at the Sage, it's a good intimate venue where you can get pretty close to the performer no matter where you are seated. 

I've seen a few good acts there, but Martin Stephenson & the Dainties are probably a stand out.

The main hall is good too. I saw BB King there a few times and he said it had some of the best acoustics he'd heard in a hall.

A great venue all round.

Carmina Burana - Orff - Grand Théâtre de Genève (location: Opéra des Nations);

Blown away from the 1st second and the next 60 minutes...

http://www.geneveopera.ch/production_311

Visual (Ballet) and Audio performance !!!

Wow. That looks fantastic!

Go Gopher Tuna Go!

kuma posted:

Wow. That looks fantastic!

Go Gopher Tuna Go!

Excellent

Gov't Mule at the O2 in Bristol last Friday night.  Superb band - possibly in my top 5 best gigs ever.  If you like blues-rock in a Cream / Zep vein, do keep an eye out for the next time they are in the UK.  Warren Haynes is just a fabulous guitar player, and the rest of the band were outstanding as well.

David

May 18th Hawth Theatre. Crawley.

Teddy Thompson and Kelly Jones and the Snowflakes. Another talented member of the Thompson family, good gig a mix from their solo albums and the new offering.

Yet another Thompson, Zak Hobbs, Richard's grandson, in the backing band, who also backed the support act  Sunny Ozell who also is also Sir Patrick Stewart's other half.

Highly entertaining evening all told.

Does watching Jools Holland being filmed count if so the first of the current series.

Dutoit Conducts The Firebird

Program
Stravinsky Fireworks

Stravinsky Symphony in C

Stravinsky The Firebird

It's been a while since I have attended Dutoit/CSO performance and I recall I enjoyed his bouncy animated direction which seems to breath fun and life into the music. Whilst the tempo for the Firebird is still not as brisk and corners are not as angular as composer's but the impact and dynamic scale on the live orchestra created one impressive cohesive vista. Much more in tune and rhythmic than Gergiev/Mariinsky Orchestra performance I have attended a few years ago. Certainly less heavy handed and felt more lyrical. Dutoit was keeping CSO musicians, particularly the string sections, on their toes.

Dutoit made a CSO debut in 1982 with the Firebird and Stravinsky has made the debut conducting CSO with 7 times starting from 1925 and in 1940 gave a world premier of Symphony C ( commissioned by the CSO for its 50th Anniversary ). I would have loved to attend one of his concert!

David

How was the sound quality for the Gov't Mule gig?  I left after four songs when they played the O2 Kentish Town as it was too loud and very distorted.  The venue blamed the GM engineers, so I wondered it it were a normal characteristic of GM gigs.  Great pity as they are a wonderful band and the PA at the Forum as it used to be called can be superb.