On the 2nd of April, again at the Dublin Castle in Camden, E&TVP, with Rachel "Ukebitch" Darcy supporting, and sounds from DJ Soggs.

Here's an example ("Fairy Tale") of the high-octane music they played that night:

Bob Dylan last Monday 8th at Liverpool. I last saw him in 1984. He's changed a bit.

Dylan in Liverpool.

How cool is that?

Last night at the City Winery:

Anat Cohen and Trio Brasilerio .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLBvw50QQ7M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV-HYwHKTjU

Last night I went to see Stravinsky's Firebird at Symphony Hall in Birmingham.

It was a bit of a mystery trip, as after a friend suggested going, I purposely didn't look up the event to see which orchestra it was, what other pieces would be played etc.  More of a surprise.

And it was a good surprise.  Turned out to be the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and the programme included a quite excellent piece by a Chinese composer featuring an instrument I'd never (knowingly) heard before, the Sheng.  And the cheap seats on the front row meant we got a good look at the thing.  The Stravinsky was great too, lovely drama.

Britten - Four Sea Interludes Op 33a

Zhao Lin - Duo for cello, sheng and orchestra

Ye Xiaogang - Guangdong Music Suite, Op. 51 (GSO commission, 2005)

Stravinsky - Firebird Suite (1919 revision)

Here's a video of the youth version of same orchestra performing the same Zhao piece.  The same sheng player too, I believe.

A beautiful piece Dave. Thanks for sharing.

The cello player is excellent also.

Glad you enjoyed it. He is good, isn't he?

Apparently the piece was written for Yo-Yo Ma, and I did look to see if there were any recordings of him playing it. But as it's quite recent (and probably still relatively obscure), this was the only recording I could find. Happily, it's a good one nonetheless.

Funny the tune was written for Ma, as I thought the cellist reminded me a bit of him.

Ma visits us quite often but so far he hasn't played the piece in Chicago yet. ( hope he will some day )

kuma posted:

Dylan in Liverpool.

How cool is that?

Great pic Kuma!

Imelda May at York Barbican on Tuesday. Bit of a leap in the dark as hardly know anything by her.

However, she is quite a performer and both Mrs PP and I enjoyed the show tremendously. Recommended!

steve

PS If you do go, be wary of the support act Jack L. Tedious in the extreme to my ears.

Amadeus Live.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra & The Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus.

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall - 20/05/2017.

Going with a friend tomorrow to see the move Amadaeus with all the music performed live from the movie by the RSNO & RSNOC.

Edward

My band's, on Wednesday - does that count? 

Played live on Wednesday evening, at AntyRadio. It's the largest rock- orientated radio station in Poland. A 2 hour show - a mixture of playing live, inteviews with the host and introducing a playlist chosen by my band for the show. A rather interesting way to spend an evening I must say....

22nd April - Bob Dylan at the Rockhal in Luxembourg. Bob was on great form, enjoying himself again as he seems to be doing these days. Despite the barn-like, crap venue, the sound was excellent. As you can see from this setlist, the concert was dominated by Great American Songbook standards and by the splendid Tempest album.

Edit this setlist | More Bob Dylan setlists

Friday May 19th, The Palladium.

Steve Hackett a super concert as usual from Steve.

First set from his solo works featuring his latest album The Night Siren.

Second set and encore from the Genesis archive, featuring Wind and Wuthering. Sound excellent, playing superb. All round a great time, last UK show of this tour.

Pink Floyd at the V and A earlier so a really fine musical day.

Interesting set list Kevin.

Jakub Hruša/CSO:
Smetana's Má vlast

In 125 year CSO history, Smetana's entire Ma Vlast have been only played 5 times since Frederick Stock premiered the piece in 1931. The last time it was played was Kubelik/CSO back in 1983.

I am not much a fan of *anthem* patriotic type of scores, but I was curious to hear a young Hrusa conducts the entire cycle. ( I was impressed with his orchestration on Bruch's Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti ) In 2010, he became the youngest to open the Prague Spring Festival at 28.

I didn't think the first two mvt. (Vyšehrad & The Maldau ) were not completely together and the two flute intro sounded too loose for instance and that the wedding scene should have been bolder more folksy. It was perhaps too sophisticated for these earthy tunes.  But in my mind, Fricsay set and Toscanini's Maldau are so ingrained, I am slightly prejudiced here to judge.

But as the music progressed the band was getting much tighter and cohesive. Particularly the last two Tabor & Blanik was extraordinary. Hrusa's energetic podium style rubbed off both the musicians and the audience. Also he was conducting without a score for the entire duration! ( no intermission ) Impressive! for a conductor making a major debut.

Audience certainly loved it. It must have been the longest applaud. I hope CSO will invite him back in the future. I would like to hear more from this young conductor.

Waiting for Imelda May to come on stage at Birmingham Symphony Hall.   

Imelda delivered a scorching hot but ever so emotional set at Birmingham last night but now it seems all rather surreal.

I'll be going along to see Imelda May in Glasgow tomorrow night.

It's a concert I have been very much looking forward to, but the thought of going to the concert now does seem very surreal, and I can't help feeling guilty about going.

Went to see Rigoletto in Amsterdam, last Sunday. Superb playing and singing in a production that had more to do with Shutter Island than with Verdi / Piave or Victor Hugo. But while it may not have been reflecting the composer's intention, it was undeniably gripping and intense. Highly recommended were the remaining performances not fully sold out.

cheers,

EJ

Hmack posted:

I'll be going along to see Imelda May in Glasgow tomorrow night.

It's a concert I have been very much looking forward to, but the thought of going to the concert now does seem very surreal, and I can't help feeling guilty about going.

Don't feel guilt. Imelda has posted on Facebook and has declared that in effect we carry on.  You will really rock out - she's a compulsive performer.  

Regards,

Lindsay

Keith James playing the songs of Nick Drake and John Martyn at Hanger Farm Arts Centre, Totton.

Mostly material from Pink Moon, Five Leaves Left and Solid Air with a bit of Lorca and William Blake for good measure. It was intense and introspective. But that's enough about me. My two companions hated it, which is never comfortable.

Marc Ford and the Neptune Blues Club - Garage Deluxe, Munich

Sitting at work in a 12+ hour meeting yesterday and lost a bit of focus.....so checked to see what, if anything, was going on locally. Marc Ford and the Neptune Blues Club, about 1km away, tickets on the door. Headed straight over when the day finally finished, band already playing when I got there. The location holds a few hundred but I guess there were less than 100 in for the night. 

Quite simply the best guitarist I have ever seen live and it was like seeing him in the backroom of the local pub. A privilege to be there and see him play, especially in such a small venue. Rest of the band (keyboard/ harmonica, bass, drums) also right up there. A great, great night of live music and just a shame that there weren't more in the crowd. Went home with a few beers and jack and coke coursing through my veins and pretended that all was well with the world.

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Hmack posted:

I'll be going along to see Imelda May in Glasgow tomorrow night.

It's a concert I have been very much looking forward to, but the thought of going to the concert now does seem very surreal, and I can't help feeling guilty about going.

Don't feel guilt. Imelda has posted on Facebook and has declared that in effect we carry on.  You will really rock out - she's a compulsive performer.  

Regards,

Lindsay

Lindsay,

You were right. Imelda and her band gave a fantastic and very emotional performance in Glasgow last night. She really is one of the most engaging performers out there at the moment.

I'd also like to give a mention to the support artist for the night - Jack Lukeman. A fantastic voice, quite a character, and he really warmed the audience up prior to the appearance of Imelda herself.

An emotional night for a number of reasons. Imelda mentioned that she had been performing in Manchester just a couple of nights before the Ariana Grande concert and travelled up to Edinburgh with a number of young fans who had been at the Ariana gig. She also told us that she was in Paris on the night of the Bataclan attack, and that although she wasn't present at the gig herself, she lost a friend and member of her team who was killed in the incident.

Great concert and an emotional night all round.

Highly recommended to anyone within reach of the remaining gigs on her tour.

Beth Hart at Wuppertal, three days ago. What a great voice and perfomance! Christoph