Dentyl Active Mouthwash

I am a bit of a geeky loser, so today I am going to share some exciting mouthwash (bio)chemistry I discovered 15 minutes ago that nobody is going to care about on Facebook/Instagram. I wonder if any of my fellow course-mates would read this.

The story goes: the mouthwash I normally use is not on half price offer, so I ventured out to a different brand and found this curious two-phase mixture on the shelf, which apparently only works if one activates it by vigorously mixing it before use each time, and this roughly 2:8 mixture separates out in about 2 minutes, which looks like some standard aqueous-lipid separation. According to the official website, and assuming the marketing team is actually scientifically eloquent, the mixing "create[s] a cationic reaction to attract bacteria and food particles" without presumably ripping apart your mouth linings. How does that work, do you reckon? There seems to be a lot of interesting chemistry going on at the same time but I am not sure if I have the complete picture. The active ingredients are listed in the comments. Let's see if I get more than 3 responses.

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EDIT (7th December 2016):
So, an update. The way I understand it is that there are three things going on here. CPC kills bacteria by disrupting their cell wall (hydrophobic effect); triclosan disrupts the cell wall repair mechanism by inhibiting the protein responsible for it (curiously, by also binding the product of the cofactor, NAD+); the oil layer is isopropyl myristate, which apparently gels the bacteria together (persumably by that "cationic reaction") so they get flushed out more easily. CPC (esp. in the presence of ethanol) is known to stain your teeth because, as I was told by my dentist, it leaves dehydrated bacteria debris on your teeth. Presumably isopropyl myristate helps to prevent the stains by forming those solid lumps you see in the sink.



This entry was originally published in my private Instagram account.

Péter Eötvös: The silence of sirens

1st October, 2016
Wigmore Hall, London, United Kingdom

PÉTER EÖTVÖS Korrespondenz
DEBUSSY String Quartet
PÉTER EÖTVÖS The silence of sirens

Piia Komsi (soprano)
Calder Quartet



One great thing about living in London is that sometimes you get a last minute call to see a world première that you didn't know was on. The post-Ligeti Hungarian composer-conductor Péter Eötvös is a bit of an elusive figure, whom I somehow briefly met in 2008. Nice guy, he even offered me a score. He is more appreciated by casual contemporary music fans than most serious composers I know. His music is absurdist, whimsical, even childish. Unlike his compatriot Kurtág, his music is very often a large stretch of wild extrapolation from a single conceptual idea, sometimes calling for technological sounds ("CAP-KO") or parodixical re-creation of flawed technology ("Atlantis"), or, frankly, it is just a very convoluted way of messing around with extended instrumental techniques ("Cosmos"). However, it is a bit like reading Beckett or Kafka, whose "The silence of sirens" inspired the new work tonight, it is up to the audience to contrast the absurd with reality and experience. "Sirens Cycle" is scored for soprano and string quartet. It is a shame that the real-life siren Barbara Hannigan had to withdraw, but Piia Komsi is no less wondrous. The work stretched the voice to its limits, switching from upward glissandi to falsetto to throaty declarations and much "internal" singing - "Sequenza III" has now a worthy successor. The part for Calder Quartet was punishing, requiring extensive mid-work re-tuning, and much intense intra-ensemble interactions that amounted to some impressive but perverse concocted fluidity. It was only in a live chamber setting like this that I fully appreciated Eötvös' fascination of extended techniques. The opening "Korrespondenz", a ridiculous in-your-face musical dramatisation of the letters between Mozart and his father, was dynamic and exciting, if a bit empty in content. It requires the violins and viola to play like cellos at one point. Sandwiched between the two Eötvös was Debussy's SQ. I thought the cellist was a bit hyperactive and tipped the balance over a bit, and the "Andantino" can be more relaxed but otherwise the performance was very pristine and clinical, completing a surprisingly enjoyable and thrilling evening.



This entry was originally published in my private Instagram account.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 63 - Bach: Mass in B minor (Les Arts Florissants / Christie)

1st September 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

BACH Mass in B minor

Katherine Watson (soprano)
Tim Mead (counter-tenor)
Reinoud Van Mechelen (tenor)
André Morsch (baritone)
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie (conductor)



There would be no better piece to round off a season of uninspiring Proms than Bach's monumental "Mass in B minor", right? On the basis that I had never seen it live and I had never seen any period instrument performances live, I thought I would put the effort in to stand for two hours non-stop to see William Christie conducting Les Arts Florissants, an ensemble best known for their expertise in French Baroque operas. Error. A rather laboured and flat "Kyrie" did not start the journey well. I can happily ignore the occasional wrong notes, awkward entries and the performers being jarringly out-of-tune if there was sufficient musical merits, but the "Gloria" on the whole was a complete mess where one could not hear any structural details or Bach's polyphonic mastery. The choir had almost no shaping in the singing and the male voices were particularly under par - a Cambridge choir in exam term can easily be more satisfying. The counter-tenor, who sang with no vibrato, was particularly painful to hear. It was during the suddenly energetic drama in the E minor section of the "Credo" that I worked out what the problem was - this group is so specialised in frivolous dramatic work that they just translate their usual approach to Bach. They breezed through the work from there and it was not apparent that they had sufficient religious, or at least spiritual, conviction to appreciate the seriousness of a Mass setting, and it totally undermined the transcendental qualities of this masterpiece. If you listen to the ensemble part, they were actually very blatant with accentuating the external dance rhythms, which is what these HIP people normally do in instrumental baroque performances. It seemed to work in "Agnus Dei", but not anywhere else. A rather exhausting end to my Proms season.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 59 - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, Symphony No. 7 (Schiff / Gewandhausorchester / Blomstedt)

29th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

BEETHOVEN "Leonore" Overture No. 2
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7

András Schiff (piano)
Gewandhausorchester
Herbert Blomstedt (conductor)



PURE. HEAVENLY. BLISS. Conductor laureate and former Gewandhauskapellmeister, and the last conducting legend of his generation, Herbert Blomstedt brought the Gewandhausorchester from Leipzig for an all-Beethoven programme. The man might be 89 years old, but still conducts a Beethoven 7 full of vitality that is matched by his animated stage presence. It was the first time I have seen the Proms audience this respectful, patient, focused and disciplined towards the performance that the entire capacity was in near silence (and did not applaud between movements), such that all the fabulous pianissimo pierced through in clean air. It was a highly sophisticated performance, every parameter was expertly controlled and balanced, there were no excessive drama, the dotted rhythms were incisive, the Allegretto glowed, and the Finale danced and sang with grace. It was matched by an equally sophisticated but less crowd-pleasing performance of "Piano Concerto No. 5" (The "Emperor") by András Schiff. There was something wondrous about Schiff's playing, that he took his own pace in his own dimension that dragged the entire audience with him, particularly so in II. He played with almost no pedalling, making the Bösendorfer sounded like a period instrument, and miraculously created two timbres simultaneously with the two hands, setting crystalline filigrees against firm octaves. The tempo was not exciting, nothing was dramatic and it was certainly un-Romantic compared to 80% of modern performances, but I don't think many performances are as meticulous and thoughtful as this. Schiff then excited the audience with Schubert D. 899/2. The Prom started with "'Leonore' Overture No. 2" and ended with "'Egmont' Overture" as a generous encore. If the two warhorses above were any indications, what could have gone wrong with added drama?

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 55 - Abrahamsen: let me tell you; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 (Hannigan / CBSO / Gražinytė-Tyla)

27th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

MOZART "The Magic Flute" Overture
HANS ABRAHAMSEN let me tell you
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4

Barbara Hannigan (soprano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (conductor)



What has taken the British so long to bring Hans Abrahamsen's Grawemeyer Award-winning song cycle "let me tell you" to this country? For the majority of the performance, I found myself unable to give an objective assessment as I normally do because I voluntarily lost myself in the beauty of the product. The music is direct, emotional and pristinely scored, with moments calling for expertly judged incorporation of microtones. The work is immersive, mesmerising and breathtaking. Barbara Hannigan's voice is naturally seductive, incredibly versatile and stunningly captivating. It was worth the wait and standing through the heat. Echoing last night, we started with another 1791 Mozart work that was the Overture to "The Magic Flute". The main work was Tchaikovsky 4. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was on excellent form, but I had issues with their incoming Music Director, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Exciting performer, but shallow. The energy of the Mozart was excellent, but that was all it had. It lacked depth, drama and melodic sense, and the sound was patchy. The Tchaikovsky was quite tedious, especially II. There is only so much contrived emotions and over-articulation one can take before the music becomes too deliberately mannered and manicured. The crystalline sound of the pizzicato in III was amazing, but perhaps inappropriately light for all the Slavic sentiments. Not entirely sure why they put on this programme. I am sure she would be much better suited for more contemporary repertoire.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 54 - Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, Requiem (Collegium Vocale Gent / Budapest Festival Orchestra / Fischer)

26th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

MOZART Aria "Per questa bella mano"
MOZART Clarinet Concerto
MOZART Requiem (Süssmayr completion)

Ákos Ács (clarinet)
Lucy Crowe (soprano)
Barbara Kozelj (mezzo-soprano)
Jeremy Ovenden (tenor)
Hanno Müller‐Brachmann (bass-baritone)
Collegium Vocale Gent
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Iván Fischer (conductor)



It has just occured to me that, prior to yesterday's preparation, with the exception of excerpts in a production of Pushkin's "Mozart and Salieri", I had not properly heard Mozart's "Requiem" (Süssmayr completion) since 1997. 19 years down the line, having been exposed to Mozart's genius more broadly and deeply, and having inevitably witnessed deaths, all sorts of artistic and philosophical questions rise above the sheer drama of this mythical work. Of course, one can legitimately question the point of performing this work which contains about 90% of content that have nothing to do with Mozart himself, but there are still much to consider beyond the fables. It is a minor-key work, which indicates either a dramatic or personal nature, and the only completed section, the "Introitus", sounds overly accusatory even for a 35-year-old envisaging early death (and the final judgement). It makes one wonder what Mozart's vision would have been had he completed the full setting. The later sections sound much thinner and underwhelming compared to the opening, so Iván Fischer had the Collegium Vocale Gent and Budapest Festival Orchestra paring down the drama to make it a more homogeneous entity. Overall, the performance was very compact, concise and clinical. This Prom would have been earth-shattering in a Cambridge chapel, but doing it in the RAH means that the refinement of the 20 singers integrated at the heart of the 40-strong orchestra were outperformed by the soloists who went full throttle to reach the corners of the hall. This all-1791 Mozart Prom started with an aria "Per questa bella mano", which featured a very difficult double bass part. The last minute substitution of a bass-baritone in place of a bass led to a timbre imbalance, otherwise it was a nice gem. It was followed by Mozart's last completed instrumental work, the "Clarinet Concerto", which was excellently handled by Ákos Ács. The slow movement was a wonder, and Mozart is perhaps the only person who can make anyone enjoy listening to scales and arpeggios. The orchestra could have contributed more to the conversational aspects of the music, but it was a very elegant performance overall.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 51 & 52 - São Paulo SO and São Paulo Jazz SO (Alsop)

24th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

Prom 51

MARLOS NOBRE Kabbalah
GRIEG Piano Concerto
VILLA-LOBOS Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4 - prelude
RACHMANINOV Symphonic Dances

Gabriela Montero (piano)
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop (conductor)


Prom 52
A concert of Brazilian popular music

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
São Paulo Jazz Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop (conductor)



So we have a post-Olympic heatwave in the UK, what do you do? Why don't we bring Brazil across. Proms darling Marin Alsop brings her São Paulo SO and Jazz SO over for two Proms back-to-back. What would happen when extravagant South American passion meets the chilled optimism of a Nordic piano concerto? The merits of the first Prom was best appreciated by looking at the second Prom, which was 1.5 h of high-octane big band jazz - the only slow number was the Jobim bossa nova. This was what Leonard Bernstein would call "total embrace" in music, and must be experienced live. You got to see nearly 100 musicians on stage giving their hearts and soul, singing and dancing, to the music of their homeland which were predominantly sumptuous mixtures of intoxicating rhythms, big colourful tunes and lush harmonies - there must be an infectious groove somewhere. In spirit, this was what they brought to the first Prom, which was by no means a top-class performance by conventional standards - in fact, the brass was particularly average throughout, and Alsop missed the orchestral entrance by a quaver in III of the Grieg "Piano Concerto" twice, messing up an entire section. It was a quirky and temperamental rendition by the Venezuelan Gabriela Montero (pictured), who would switch from some uncalled for elegant ballroom-dancing-like lilts in I to a torrential onslaught in III. There was something very laid-back about it, on top of a subtle underlying groove. It was exactly the same case in the Rachmaninov "Symphonic Dances", which I don't think anyone else took the waltz so literally as they did. It had a nice swing to it, if in a lethargic way. The bombastic minimalism of Marlos Nobre's "Kabbalah" was unnecessary, but it got blood pumping for the next 4.5 h. The highlight for me was the exquisite Prelude from Villa-Lobos' fourth "Bachianas Brasileiras", and you'd wonder why they didn't perform his symphonies instead, which they have recorded so brilliantly for Naxos. I still have reservations towards Alsop as a conductor, but the passion and dedication the performers demonstrated were radiant, and you just have to love them.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 48 - Pintscher: Reflections on Narcissus; Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Weilerstein / BBC SSO / Pintscher)

21st August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

MATTHIAS PINTSCHER Reflections on Narcissus
MENDELSSOHN A Midsummer Night's Dream

Alisa Weilerstein (cello)
Katherine Broderick (soprano)
Clara Mouriz (mezzo-soprano)

Mark Benton (Bottom)
Alex Hassell (Oberon/Theseus)
Simon Manyonda (Puck)
Sinead Matthews (Hermia/Fairy/Mistress Quince)
Sam Swann (Lysander/Snout/Philostrate)
Michelle Terry (Titania/Hippolyta)
Bijan Sheibani (stage director)

Finchley Childrens Music Group
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Matthias Pintscher (conductor)



It was love at first sight - this is the unifying theme tonight. For all its epic Shakespearean drama of people falling in love with the wrong people, it is actually incredibly difficult to have the chance to hear Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in its entirety, complete with play excerpts and acting in the way Mendelssohn intended. The performance actually went on to intrude the audience, with Puck roaming in the middle of the arena (thankfully it was nowhere near full tonight) and Nick Bottom taking a selfie with the audience. As expected, current Ensemble Intercontemporain Music Director Matthias Pintscher conducted the BBC Scottish SO in his usual cool, precise, transparent style that is sometimes dry and metronomic. I could do with a more dramatic Overture, but Mendelssohn's music is so self-sufficient that can make any audience tap their feet. This is music that reminded me why I fell in love with music at age 10. The Nocturne is what makes you believe in love and what comes after is what you always hear at the culmination of love. The Finchley Childrens Music Group was very well-rehearsed, and they seemed very happy to contribute, which brought smiles on everyone's faces and were awarded the biggest applause tonight, surpassing the winds which were outstanding in the Scherzo. The actors were a bit uneven, but I could not tell if the slightly urban accents were deliberate or not. Simple joy was preceded by something not so simple, Pintscher's own cello concerto "Reflections on Narcissus" performed by the wondrous Alisa Weilerstein. I am not good enough to work out what it has to do with reflections, but it has all the lovable Boulezian aesthetics - sensuous harmonies, expansiveness generated by static beauty, ecstatic virtuosity, nuanced timbres arrangements and motifs and figures that travel in blocks across the orchestra. It was thrilling, breathtaking and astonishingly beautiful at the same time, and was wonderfully performed too. I think I have fallen in love with this piece on first hearing. It was all very dreamy.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 34 - Dutilleux: Timbres, espace, mouvement; Gruber: Busking; Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 (Hardenberger / BBC SO / Oramo)

10th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

DUTILLEUX Timbres, espace, mouvement
HK GRUBER Busking
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5

Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet)
Mats Bergström (banjo)
Claudia Buder (accordion)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)



What an extraordinary programme. Dutilleux's "Timbres, espace, mouvement" is a sonic interpretation of Van Gogh's famous painting "The Starry Night". It is not only remarkable for its colourful harmonies and sparkling depictions of shiny stars, but also for these hallucinatory long solos representing the swirling effect of the painting. This performance by the BBC SO under Sakari Oramo was intoxicatingly beautiful, if the overall sound was slightly on the light side. The ethereal 12-cello interlude was sublime. It was followed by the London premiere of HK Gruber's second concerto, "Busking", for the Swedish trumpet legend Håkan Hardenberger. It might just be me, but HK Gruber's music is completely unclassifiable. Taken at surface level, this is an utterly insane concerto which starts with the main theme being played by the trumpet mouth piece, and the soloist is required to battle through the score using three different trumpets against a solo accordion, a solo banjo and the orchestra. It goes from fast and furious exchanges of themes, to the mischievous reevaluation, to the contemplative. It uses a plethora of mutes and seeing the soloist in action was itself very entertaining. The first half was a bit like completing 50 minutes of mental HIIT routines, so we were cooled down with a dose of Beethoven 5 in the second half. As performance goes, it was actually a bit lacklustre. There was no Viennese grace whatsoever, the scherzo was controversially slow, and the finale could do with more punch, but this immortal music never fails to bring smiles on people's faces, and that, I'd argue, is way more important.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 33 - Dutilleux: Tout un monde lointain; Elgar: Symphony No. 1 (Moser / BBC Philharmonic / Mena)

9th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

MARK SIMPSON Israfel
DUTILLEUX Tout un monde lointain ...
ELGAR Symphony No. 1

Johannes Moser (cello)
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena (conductor)



If you have seen any Dutilleux score, you will know how meticulous he is with the articulation of every single note. The same motif can sound in 20 different ways within a same movement, and that is definitely true in his "Piano Sonata". That is one of his many ways to paint the rich colours in his music. Tonight, Johannes Moser played his seminal all-but-in-name cello concerto "Tout un monde lointain ..." What Moser produced was a very clear and concise realisation of the instructions, but it sounded like a very shallow interpretation of this masterpiece - perhaps I am way too biased towards the legendary Rostropovich recording. In particular, the slow movements of "Regards" and "Miroirs" did not sing and I got the feeling he was too obsessed with achieving the fantastic palettes of sound without doing much with them. The scherzo "Houles" was quite thrilling though. The second half was a rather unorthodox performance of Elgar 1 by the BBC Philharmonic under Juanjo Mena. It was a sunny no-nonsense performance with refreshing transparency and virtually no sensationalising rubatos. The British critics would certainly find it "un-Elgarian", but it was not invalid. This is optimistic absolute music to the highest order. The only major criticism I have is that the harps in the finale, which marked a major turning point in the whole work, was way too subdued, otherwise the whole performance was very enjoyable. The opening neo-Romantic "Israfel" by Mark Simpson was forgettable. The orchestra gave a charming tribute to the late Peter Maxwell Davies before the Elgar. I also bumped into my old piano teacher, the great Warren Mailley-Smith, who has just completed an epic 13-recital series on all the solo piano works by Chopin. I suspect the next time I see him at the RAH, he will be on stage.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 26 - Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2; De Leeuw: Der nächtliche Wanderer (Serkin / BBC SO / Knussen)

4th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2
REINBERT DE LEEUW Der nächtliche Wanderer

Peter Serkin (piano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Oliver Knussen (conductor)



"This is the worst performance I have ever seen in my life!" declared a Prom regular next to me, whose life, judging by appearance, must have been reasonably long. Indeed, one can probably fit the number of audience walking out of tonight's Prom to a Poisson distribution. Brahms' "Second Piano Concerto" is one of a kind. It is monumental and underneath its apparent understated homogenity it consists of continuous torrents of flourishing passion. It is intellectually stimulating as well as emotionally involved so it attracts more contemporary music specialists than most other Romantic concertos. Well, tonight's challengers were old partners Peter Serkin and Oliver Knussen, and one would not expect a particularly classical take from them. This is a performance completely devoid of vitality, and there was no sense of structure. The textures were all transparent and clear, but Knussen's accentuation of every single beat with minimal phrasing put Daft Punk's four-on-the-floor to shame, and Serkin's choice of tempo must have made his father very proud. I don't think I have ever heard any performance where the entire quorum comes to a complete halt between sections within the same movement. Perhaps it was all a nod to the title of the single work of the second half, "Der nächtliche Wanderer" (The Night Wanderer), by the Dutch Reinbert de Leeuw, who is better known as a pianist-conductor. It is an epic hour-long symphonic poem. Put simply, it is a colourful mood painting which amounts to an eventful psychedelic sonic journey. Cascading single pitches form chords that depict the static which contrast with sharp figures that represent the dynamic, with electronic contributions projected from the ceiling of RAH. It was beautifully conceived and nicely realised by the BBCSO, but clearly something only for the keen contemporary music lovers.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 11 - Tippett: A Child of Our Time (BBC NOW / Wigglesworth)

23rd July 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

WAGNER Die Walkure - final scene
TIPPETT A Child of Our Time

Tamara Wilson (soprano)
Susan Bickley (mezzo-soprano)
Peter Hoare (tenor)
James Creswell (bass)
BBC National Chorus of Wales
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Mark Wigglesworth (conductor)



I first encountered Tippett's "A Child of Our Time" around the time when we had to do pre-WWII Germany history for GCSE at school. For me, at the age of 15, learning about the suffering of the Jews and the atrocity of the worst side of humanity were nothing more than academic work and storytelling because they were too distant and irrelevant. So Tippett's oratorio that is inspired by the event of "Kristallnacht" - the German retaliation on the Jews after a German diplomat was murdered by a teenage refugee abroad - hit me as a work that is merely crowd-pleasing with some cheap incorporation of Deep South American Spirituals, and the idea of "universal love" is too clichéd. The last two weeks alone, we witnessed a failed coup in Turkey, the subsequent governmental purge of educators, and numerous terrorist attacks. In preparation of tonight's Prom in this context, and that I have appreciated other Tippett works since then, I have come to look at "A Child of Our Time" with a different light. Humanity has not changed since 1940s, but neither has love - it should not have. Light and darkness form completeness and through hope and optimism we can contain evil - that is the concluding passage of his own libretto. It is clichéd because we say it too often, but does that make it less true? This is Tippett at his most accessible and lyrical, perhaps deliberately so. The BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales under Mark Wigglesworth gave a solid performance, providing great buoyancy for Tippett's cascading syncopations and the choir was very well rehearsed - the Spirituals were very groovy and the accusation scenes were very punchy. The soloists were a bit uneven and the tenor was not very audible. However, the overall performance was very moving. I don't know my Wagner so I won't comment on the "Die Walküre" first half.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 7 - Stravinsky: "Pulcinella" Suite; Poulenc: Stabat mater (BBC SO / Minkowski)

20th July 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

FAURE Shylock
STRAVINSKY "Pulcinella" Suite
POULENC Stabat mater

Julie Fuchs (soprano)
Julien Behr (tenor)
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Marc Minkowski (conductor)



This is a Prom of many wonders. The BBC SO enlisted the French baroque opera specialist Marc Minkowski for tonight's concert. If one has heard his recordings, particularly his groundbreaking if academically controversial compilation of Rameau's orchestral works, one has to be in awe with the fresh air he breathes into these stereotypically light and frivolous works. He adds much gravitas, shades and hues to the works by much carefully nuanced and balanced ensemble playing, often accentuating the elegant dance rhythms by putting a lot of focus on the lower register instruments. The end result is that you get a very full-bodied, sumptuous sound in a very transparent texture, which is often very energetic and invigorating too. This is exactly what you get in the first half of the programme. I don't think I have ever enjoyed any Fauré as much as tonight's "Shylock", where every opaque inner writing comes alive so vividly that you feel like you are living in a painting, with gorgeous melodies soaring above his hallmark arpeggios. Then we sharp turned to the most electrifying rendition of Stravinsky's "'Pulcinella' Suite" I have ever heard in my concert-going experience. The ripieno section in this de facto concerto grosso is just as breathtaking as the concertino, and the winds and brass were wild from beginning to end. After the interval, oddly enough, we had one of the most serious works by the two-faced composer Poulenc. Orchestral involvement is pretty minimal in this practically a capella "Stabat mater". Poulenc's homophonic writing could sound feeble and ineffective in his instrumental works (e.g. the "Piano Concerto"), but this heavy emphasis of chordal suspension and subtle harmonic shifts, and the constant battle between the concordant and discordant, generate this inexplicable mystery and charm in his choral works. It is by no means a masterwork in terms of innovation, but it hits the deepest corner of your emotional and spiritual existence. It is safe to say this is the single most beautiful concert I have been to in recent memory, both of the music, and the various human approaches to the central themes of mercy and forgiveness in the three works.

BBC Proms 2016: Prom 1 - Elgar: Cello Concerto; Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (Gabetta / BBC SO / Oramo)

15th July 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

TCHAIKOVSKY Overture "Romeo and Juliet"
ELGAR Cello Concerto
PROKOFIEV Alexander Nevsky

Sol Gabetta (cello)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)



Here we go again. We actually mixed up the starting time and missed the France national anthem tribute and the Tchaikovsky "'Romeo and Juliet' Overture". Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta then took the stage and performed Elgar's evergreen "Cello Concerto". If you paid serious attention, the execution was incredibly elegant and refined, and the orchestral part was no less graceful. However, it was the classic RAH acoustic problem again, where nuances just disappeared into the ether without doing justice to the music nor the performance, and the end result sounded like the performance lacked emotional depth. Compared to, say, Alisa Weilerstein, it was perhaps a less weighty take on this Concerto, but it had some fabulous refreshing lyricism to it. It was quite enjoyable, if very frustrating. The Pēteris Vasks encore was astonishing. It called for much extended techniques on the cello and the eerie Latvian sound world pierced through the atmosphere seamlessly, and Gabetta even sang along as she played. The second half was 40 minutes of film-music-turned-cantata "Alexander Nevsky" by Prokofiev. It is not performed very often for very good reasons: musical material minimal, there is almost no substantial development, the music is completely linear, relentless and tedious. For what was worth, the performance was quite good, with some fantastic playing from the BBC SO under Sakari Oramo. Sadly, it is not a piece that can be saved by outstanding performance, but we must give credits to the respective and respectable parties.

Classical Masters of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan

14th July, 2016
Wigmore Hall, London, United Kingdom

Sirojiddin Juraev (dutar, tanbur, sato)
Alim Qasimov Ensemble
Alim Qasimov (vocals, daf)
Fargana Qasimova (vocals, daf)
Rafael Asgarov (balaban)
Rauf Islamov (kamancha)
Zaki Valiyev (tar)
Javidan Nabiyev (naghara)



Last night before the Proms: To set up the mood for a season of rather uninspiring programmes of the Proms, I was invited (read: forcibly dragged) to a concert of Uzbek and Azerbaijani classical music at the Wigmore Hall. I am not going to pretend I understand anything so I won't "review" it. However, it is interesting to note that coming from a Western classical perspective and with a reasonable amount of exposure to traditional Eastern cultures, going into the Central Asian sonic world of microtones and overtones is a rather unique experience. Sure, one would not enjoy this music in the same way as, say, a Shostakovich symphony, but these music are organic, raw and spontaneous. These cultures pass on their tradition and musical practices orally and they have nurtured some highly personal musicality that you would also find in, say, jazz. There are fascinating moments of polyphony where you simultaneously get a colourful melody, a dynamic rhythmic drive (the "bass line") and a percussive sound from a single plucked instrument which is essentially a long piece of wood with two silk strings (the dutar), all the more impressive with some dazzling virtuosity (that is comparable to, say, the Ysaye sonatas on the violin). I do not understand a single word of singing in the Azerbaijani language, but one can get a sense of the wide range of emotions and timbres from the vocal deliveries, ranging from the meditative, the festive to the downright ridiculous. Appreciating these "exotic" cultures does require one to remove expectations, avoid conforming to existing tastes and lots of patience, but it is a great reminder that no musical expression is necessarily more valid than others. It was standing ovation throughout, surely it hit the right chord amongst the informed minds.

Stravinsky: Les Noces (Philharmonia / Salonen)

26th May, 2016
Royal Festival Hall, London, United Kingdom

STRAVINSKY Renard
STRAVINSKY Mavra
STRAVINSKY Les Noces

Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano)
Tamara Stefanovich (piano)
Nenad Lečić (piano)
Lorenzo Soulès (piano)

Irina Brown (director)
Louis Price (designer)
Quinny Sacks (choreographer)
Kevin Treacy (lighting designer)

Soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre
Philharmonia Voices
Philharmonia Orchestra
Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)



What do Shostakovich, Poulenc, Auric, Barber, Copland, Lukas Foss and Roger Sessions have in common? It turns out, these composers all performed in regional premieres of Stravinsky's strikingly original and explosive choral-cum-ballet work "Les Noces". It is a work that sets four vocal soloists against a choir, four pianos and a fantastic collection of percussion and what you get is 20 minutes of non-stop fireworks. The instrumentation is more economical than "The Rite of Spring" (ahem), but no less sonically barbaric, and you can tell where Bartók got the octave toccatas from in his equally barbaric "First Piano Concerto". It also makes Orff's vocal writing against two pianos in "Court d'amour" of "Carmina burana" sounds like blatant plagiarism. Then there are the non-retrogradable rhythmic cells you find in Messiaen... Anyway. If you grow up listening to the high octane seminal recording with Argerich, Zimerman and Bernstein, tonight's performance with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Tamara Stefanovich, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and the Philharmonia feels too refined to be mindlessly fun, but the inner workings are much more apparent here and the soloists are top-notched powerful. These 20 minutes alone were worth the effort to sit through the two obscure short operas in the first half, which are not performed often for very good reasons. The pre-"Firebird" "Renard" never really develops, but it was fun to hear the fantastically silly sound of the cimbalom penetrating throughout, and you don't get to see opera singers getting swung around and dragged along on the floor on stage every day. The neo-classical "Mavra" is musically stale and there is only so much invariable rhythms you can take in 20 minutes. The Philharmonia was amazing as always, though I anticipated the performance to be more deafening.



This entry was originally published in my private Instagram account.