28th October, 2015
Royal Festival Hall, London, United Kingdom
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1
THOMAS LARCHER Violin Concerto
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring
Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Markus Stenz (conductor)
I am only here at the RFH again to meet a friend but for what was worth, it was a pretty good LPO concert. The highlight tonight was undoubtedly Thomas Larcher's "Violin Concerto", a two-movement work that demands intense virtuosity from the soloist and an economic but oddly scored orchestra (the instrumentation includes six African finger pianos and a frying pan, for example). The soloist was Patricia Kopatchinskaja, one of the most fascinating violinists in the business today. The concerto, on first listen, is a rather convincing, tasteful and successful case of blending traditional tonal relationships (e.g. passacaglia in circles of fifths and extensive uses of traditional scales) with more aggressive avant garde effects. It was very lucky for the concerto to be graced by an illuminating personality that was Kopatchinskaja, who appeared to have totally absorbed the music and presented it as an organic entity. This is a soloist who would dance around the stage in rhythm bare feet whilst nailing those glissandi like folk players, and this was the sort of simple joy or primitive fun that is almost always absent from performances of "complex" contemporary classical music, and was exactly why the performance was highly enjoyable. The opening Beethoven 1 was OK. It was nice and clean with very transparent textures and fantastic ensembleness but conductor Markus Stenz added little to shape or dramatise the music which made the first two movements "excruciating" to listen to (my friend's words). The "Rite of Spring" was pretty impressive though. It did not have much sensationalising drama, but it had all the ugly raw disgusting energy that is required which made moments such as "Dance of the Earth" rather overwhelming. Most audience came out of the concert hall still banging to the rhythms. Surely that was a pretty good sign.
This entry was originally published in my private Instagram account.
29 October, 2015
23 October, 2015
Unsuk Chin: Clarinet Concerto
22nd October, 2015
Royal Festival Hall, London, United Kingdom
STRAVINSKY Fireworks
UNSUK CHIN Clarinet Concerto
WAGNER Tristan und Isolde - Prelude and Liebestod
LIGETI Atmosphères
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2
Kari Kriikku (clarinet)
Alwyn Mellor (soprano)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Nicholas Collon (conductor)
This is the sort of programme that messes up one's mind. To be honest, I only went because of Unsuk Chin's "Clarinet Concerto", the latest addition to her favourite genre of composition. She made it explicitly clear in the notes that it is neither traditional nor avant garde. It was 25 min of the soloist battling against a monstrous orchestra. This is a composition where every parameter in music was taken to the very extreme to form a fascinating survey of harmonics and timbre, and extended instrumental techniques were often called upon from both the soloist and the orchestra. It was less in-your-face as her other concertos, but, as far as I can tell, much more nuanced and polystylistic (in a tasteful way). The ephemeral sound mass in the second movement sets up nicely the ethereal "Atmosphères" by her teacher, Ligeti. However, I often find "clever" mammoth programmes like this more conceptually exciting than there is substance, and sadly it was true in the second half. The Wagner felt quite thin, the Ligeti way too dynamic and episodic and the Ravel was exciting with little depth or breathing. The playing was exceptional throughout starting from the shameless Stravinsky showpiece to the wild dances of the Ravel, and the winds in particular well deserve a couple of pints tonight, plus the Unsuk Chin must have been terribly difficult to put together. It is just that expectation is high when this sort of programme is presented and Nicholas Collon needs to age (it will happen). The Unsuk Chin was well worth it though.
This entry was originally published in my private Instagram account.
Royal Festival Hall, London, United Kingdom
STRAVINSKY Fireworks
UNSUK CHIN Clarinet Concerto
WAGNER Tristan und Isolde - Prelude and Liebestod
LIGETI Atmosphères
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2
Kari Kriikku (clarinet)
Alwyn Mellor (soprano)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Nicholas Collon (conductor)
This is the sort of programme that messes up one's mind. To be honest, I only went because of Unsuk Chin's "Clarinet Concerto", the latest addition to her favourite genre of composition. She made it explicitly clear in the notes that it is neither traditional nor avant garde. It was 25 min of the soloist battling against a monstrous orchestra. This is a composition where every parameter in music was taken to the very extreme to form a fascinating survey of harmonics and timbre, and extended instrumental techniques were often called upon from both the soloist and the orchestra. It was less in-your-face as her other concertos, but, as far as I can tell, much more nuanced and polystylistic (in a tasteful way). The ephemeral sound mass in the second movement sets up nicely the ethereal "Atmosphères" by her teacher, Ligeti. However, I often find "clever" mammoth programmes like this more conceptually exciting than there is substance, and sadly it was true in the second half. The Wagner felt quite thin, the Ligeti way too dynamic and episodic and the Ravel was exciting with little depth or breathing. The playing was exceptional throughout starting from the shameless Stravinsky showpiece to the wild dances of the Ravel, and the winds in particular well deserve a couple of pints tonight, plus the Unsuk Chin must have been terribly difficult to put together. It is just that expectation is high when this sort of programme is presented and Nicholas Collon needs to age (it will happen). The Unsuk Chin was well worth it though.
This entry was originally published in my private Instagram account.
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