Concert Review: Andris Nelsons and Yannick Nezet-Sequin

Note: I forgot about writing about these, so these are just very brief comments.

pics from NYT.

April 16, 2015, Carnegie Hall
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons/Christian Tetzlaff
Shostakovich/Beethoven

I was very eager to hear Nelsons. My expectations were only partially fulfilled. Shostakovich's Pasacaglia from Act II of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was a crisp opener. The BSO sounded very much better than heard many years ago. I particularly loved the very refined woodwinds. The Symphony No. 10 was very well played and theatrical, but missed greatness as it did not show much angst. Beethoven's Violin Concerto was very well played by Tetzlaff, and ensemble was tight.

NYT review


May 14, 2015, Carnegie Hall
Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nezet-Sequin/Emanuel Ax
Muhly/Beethoven/Rachmaninov


Again, Nezet-Sequin left me just a little short of enthusiastic. Nico Muhly's Mixed Messages was an entertaining opener. Beethoven Piano Concert No. 3 was capably played by Ax and well partnered by the orchestra. I went to hear the Rachmaninov Symphony No. 3, one of my favorite works. It was a good performance but missed greatness (think recordings by Boult and Ashkenazy), lacking wistfulness and grandeur by turn.


NYT review

Concert Review: Dresden Staatskapelle-Thielemann

Concert Review: Dresden Staatskapelle-Thielemann

Feb 27, CCCH

Dresden Staatskapelle-Thielemann

Strauss-Bruckner

I don't usually attend the HK Arts Festival concerts: there are too many people there who go for the wrong reasons; these people never attend non-glamorous events, like HKPO concerts; these people are there to be seen, not there for the music. I am sure our besieged chief executive Leung knows nothing about Bruckner (he disappeared after the first half)! The events also attract name-brand lovers, who otherwise do not care about the music scene.

I made an exception this year, not for the big names of Dresden/Thielemann, but for the Bruckner Ninth, a sacred piece of music to me.

Almost two years ago, in NYC I heard the same team in an outstanding Bruckner's Eighth (reported briefly here), but this outing proved just a little less satisfactory. In a way it went the same way as Yannick Nezet-Sequin's performance with the Philadelphia I heard in NYC a year later (reported here), tightly argued in the first two movements but lacking in coherence and spiritual journey in the penultimate third movement, surely one of the most mysterious in the classical cannon.

As mentioned in a NYT link I provided previously, the orchestra's greatest strength is its totality. The brass and woodwinds don't really stand out, but they play all of one piece. The ensemble-ship is enticing. The strings are magnificent, playing with chamber-like co-ordination and precision in Strauss' Metamorphosen. In Bruckner's Ninth, the brass dominate. In the first movement, Thielemann holds them in reserve at first, but lets them loose a bit later to good effect. His dynamic gradations are unusually smooth and powerful, sometimes a little reminisecent of Celibidache and others, sometimes just a little too consciously grand. The scherzo is well characterized. But imho the third movement falls apart a bit. There is a glacial feeling, of orchestral energy winding down. The piercing dissonance and struggle that should be there are not well conveyed. The dissolution should be in the music, not in the orchestra. In a word, for this listener, a bit of spirituality is lacking. As is appropriate for this program, no encore was offered.

A sour note. After the Strauss, some idiot (an elderly person) clapped way before the ending, but what followed after the applause was far worse, indeed pandemonium. I was sitting right beneath the organ, and all of a sudden this tall, gaunt elderly person behind me started a cacophonous diatribe against the offender (in both Cantonese and English), demanding his removal for insulting the music. Right away he was echoed by another person further up front. It was the most confrontational I have even witnessed in a concert hall, anywhere. But that is only half the story.

During the intermission, this self-righteous person behind me, and his younger female companion, circled the hall hunting for the offender. He finally got him cornered and in ferociously demanded the ushers remove him (they did not). He was still piping angry when the second half was about to commence. I heard them converse in Japanese and turned to say to them: "the other person is an idiot, but your anger is preventing you and us from enjoying the concert ..." Then he went on swearing, and I heard "fucking chink"! Imagine! Ten years ago, I'd have gotten into a fight with him, but with due respect to the performance soon to begin, I did not. I just said to them, "look, this "fucking chink" thing doesn't belong here!. Just enjoy the music!". The companion was obviously embarrassed and asked him to tone down the "nationalist" (her word) stuff.

Imagine, to ensure a good spiritual journey with Bruckner, one is willing to curse, persecute and blow hot and cold. Bruckner would not understand, but Hitler and the many Bruckner lovers in the Third Reich, would. This Japanese I encountered is the lowest of the low. That this person is obviously a educated long-time HK resident makes it more sad.

Concert Review: HKPO - Das Rheingold

Best surprise of the show was the wonderful singing of Korean bass Kwangchul Youn.

Concert Review: HKPO - Das Rheingold

January 22, 2015, CCCH
HKPO-Jaap and soloists
Wagner Das Rheingold

Note (24/01/16) Naxos has issued a recording of the concerts, to generally favorable reviews. Personally, I am surprised that Goerne's Wotan received much praise. I think multi-miking helped him seem bigger and more authoritative. In concert he was not. More on this in my review of 2016's Die Walkure.

First thing first, the biggest name disappoints. The Wotan of Matthias Goerne was an outright failure. He had never sung Wotan before, and obviously he was feeling out the role far away from Europe. The singing was generic, inadequately shaded, and simply did not have the depth and breath the role required. Even his physical presence seemed rather uncomfortable.

The biggest surprise came from the Giants. While Stephen Milling (Fafner) was indeed imposing in stature, in tandem Korean Kwanchul Youn (Fasolt) was almost comically dwarfed (this would never work on the opera stage). The former sang in a well-characterized manner, but it was the singing of the latter that was the biggest surprise - big, full-throated and resonant. Simply fantastic.

The central characters of Alberich (Peter Sidhom) and Loge (Kim Begley) were well sung and portrayed, the former especially so for good acting (whatever could be done on stage). Among the rest, David Cagelosi portrayed a suitably pathetic Mime. Oleksandr Pushniak (Donner) and Charles Reid (Froh) were competent.

Among the ladies, Michelle DeYoung (Fricka) and Deborah Humble (Erda) were very good. The Freia of Anna Samuil was a shrieking hysteric. Japanese Eri Nakamura was competent as Woglinde, but Aurhelia Varak (Wellgunde) and Hermine Haslebock (Flosshilde) were much less satisfactory.

Jaap van Zweden conducted in his customary, rather brute, style, so textures were generally clean, but atmosphere was lacking. As usual, the HKPO strings were tidy and dry, failing to portray anything like the Rhein. Woodwinds also paled next to the generally very good playing of the huge, much augmented brass section.

Concert Review: HKPO - Bezhod Abduraimov - Thomas Dausgaard

Concert Review: HKPO - Bezhod Abduraimov - Thomas Dausgaard

Jan 9, 2015, CCCH
HKPO - Bezhod Abduraimov - Thomas Dausgaard
Mendelssohn - Rachmaninov - Elgar


I came to know this latest wunderkind through the public library, which has his excellent first Decca CD release.


For an opener, lanky Dane conductor Thomas Dausgaard delivered a lean and mean Hebrides overture.


The Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3 was almost anti-romantic, but the tight partnership was enticing. Bezhod Abduraimov produced the most beautiful tone and did not just hammer it out, instead filling many passages with refreshing poetry. One of my friends who went the following night said he played just too beautifully, but I desist. The encore made me want to hear his recital. Come back soon!

Elgar's Enigma Variations has never been a personal favorite. On this occasion, it was played well. Nimrod lacked a little atmosphere. But Dausgaard played a trick by playing the original ending first (no wonder it sounded odd), and then he spoke to the audience and played the revised ending  (upon urging by the publisher). Well, the publisher was right! :-)

Concert Review: HKPO - Zimmerman - van Zweden

Dec 12, 2014, CCCH
HKPO - Zimmerman - van Zweden
Sibelius - Prokofiev

After his wonderful 2012 HKPO performance of Beethoven, Zimmerman returned for the Sibelius Violin Concerto (interview with Zimmerman on this piece). He played with his usual fastidiousness and "considered spontaneity", and the tone he obtained on his ex-Kreisler Strad was fabulous. Jaap's accompaniment was tidy. But the whole was dispiriting. Where were the passion and grand sweep of Sibelius? A friend who went the next day was even more dismissive, saying "it sounded like a rehearsal". The Bach encore, however, was immaculate!

Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony is one of my favorites, and I had high hopes for Jaap, whose showmanship should suit this sort of stuff. Again, the orchestra played accurately, but the result was bland. Tidiness of the violins robbed the stratospheric passages of dissonance and atmosphere. The finale, while cacophonous, lacked rhythmic swagger, and the coiled tension that should have been there was nowhere in evidence. Ah, I miss Celibidache, whose performance of this piece in HK was so incredibly lively!

Jaap has been disappointing. Aside from his stunning HK debut with the Shostakovich 8th, his Mahler 1st, 4th and now Prokofiev have all been sharply played but musically non-satisfying.

Concert Review: Ivo Pogorelich Recital

Concert Review: Ivo Pogorelich Recital

Dec 9, 2014, CCCH
Liszt, Schumann, Stravinsky, Brahms

In a way, it is not possible to review a Pogorelich concert. The pianist has his own rules and one is best to discard convention in listening.

The first half had a Fantasia theme, which was exploited in full by the pianist. Tempi were slow; gears changed abruptly; rhythms were idiosyncratic, and pauses could last an eternity. This can be said to suit the lurid world of the Liszt Dante Sonata. Pogorelich certainly made a meal of the bass ripples, while the treble was always beautiful in tone. But the same approach made the Schumann Fantasy in C thoroughly idiosyncratic, not so much Florestan and Eusebius as all-Pogorelich.

The more structural pieces of the second-half were (just) a little more  straightforward. Stravinsky's 3 Movements from Petrouchka was brilliant but the rhythms did not feel Russian. The Brahms Paganini Variations is not one of my favorite pieces; I have always felt it rather straight-laced. The free rein Pogorelich gave it actually made more involving listening, for me at least. No encore was offered, as is appropriate after such a heavy program.

One thing I thought: for all the tonal beauty and pianistic display, there was not much rhythmic subtlety, nor humor.

Here is a UK comment on his 2014 London concert of the same program.

Concert Review HKPO Sinaisky

Pic of Vasily Sinaisky in SCMP interview.

Concert Review: HKPO-Sinaisky

October 18, 2014, CCCH
HKPO-Vasily Sinaisky
Tchaikovsky-Mahler

Vasily Sinaisky stood in for injured Jaap. See the interesting SCMP interview.

Sinaisky conducted without a baton, and as usual with this breed, warm sound and relaxed music-making take priority over precision and drama.

I have always been lukewarm to Tchaikovsky's Suites, including the one on the program, No. 4, "Mozartiana", which received a warm reading. HKPO rarely succeeds in portraying the lighter and airy side of Tchaikovsky, and indeed the performance was somewhat earthbound. Best was the immaculate solo of concertmaster Wang Jing, which had breath and depth beside tonal beauty.

Mahler received a performance that is the antithesis of most approaches, including those of Jaap van Zweden and Edo de Waart. Eschewing tempo and dynamic exaggerations that mar many Mahler performances (such as Jaap's Mahler 1 and 4), Sinaisky's way with Symphony No. 5 was more straightforward, with generally fast tempi. The lack of lingering, and hence ruefulness and regret, gave the proceedings a much warmer hue and positive tone than usual. Largely bereft of angst, I'd think the reading will divide Mahlerians. I myself have mixed feelings.

The outer movements worked reasonably well with the fast tempi and even approach, but the sprawling scherzo could have used more characterization. The adagietto was very beautifully done, not sentimental at all, as it should be. In this performance, one noticed the warmth of strings. The woodwinds were less ideal. The brass played strongly even if the lead trumpet was shaky at first. I do not quite like the rather nervous bass drum playing of Luce (I prefer Woo).

Audience response was tremendous.

The Hong Kong International Photo Festival

Yesterday afternoon I visited Andrew，who has just returned from a photo show at Taikoo Plaza:

http://www.hkipf.org.hk/fest/2014/exhibitions-raghu-rai.php

I browsed the catalog and the photos of Raghu Rai are simply amazing. Apparently, he was assistant to Henri Cartier-Bresson and a Magnum photographer.

I was struck immediately by the semblance of his photos to the paintings of Breugel, one of which is attached below.

Of course, the experience was enhanced by Yoichi Single Malt poured over a chunky piece of ice.

Brief Concert Reviews: Mariss Jansons, Vladimir Jurowski and Ivan Fischer

Brief Concert Reviews: Jansons, Jurowski and Fischer

Belatedly, three wonderful concerts in brief, the most recent first.


pic from NYT

June 2, Avery Fisher Hall
Budapest Festival Orchestra - Ivan Fischer - Daniel Muller-Schott
All Dvorak

The Budapest Festival Orchestra travels a lot. I only just heard them in HK, and then this concert, one of a pair, in NYC. I am not complaining.

Daniel Muller-Schott played sensitively, though his tone was a little small for me. Nonetheless the account of the Dvorak Cello Concerto was still quite good under Ivan Fischer's careful leadership. But in the New World Symphony the orchestra came into their true selves. What a blazing finale! The beautiful woodwind playing and brazenly perfect brass playing also helped deliver the jewel-like Legend No. 10 and Slavonic Dance, Op 72, No. 6.

You must read the NYT Review for description of the wonderful encores.

pic from NYT

May 23, Avery Fisher Hall
NYPO - Vladimir Jurowski - Nicola Benedetti
Szymanowski - Prokofiev

Credit must be due to Nicola Benedetti, who replaced Janine Jensen at the last minute and gave a perfect performance. Together with the expert conducting of Vladimir Jurowski, the performance of the Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1 caught all the mercurial moods and exotic color of this great piece (a favorite of mine). The performance was even better than the one she recorded for DG. Her tone was ravishing, if just a little smaller than the regal Jensen.

One often gets to hear Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet but not his Cinderella, and this performance of extended excerpts prove that should never have been the case. Jurowski coaxed incisive playing out of the NYPO, and the brilliant writing and graphic portrait made the characters virtually leap out of the pages. Fantastic!
 
NYT Review


pic from NYT

May 17, Carnegie Hall
Bavarian Radio Symphony - Mariss Jansons - Michiko Uchida
Beethoven - Shostakovich

Finally I caught up with them! A couple of years ago I bought tickets for a Sunday concert but forgot it was in the afternoon. Just like last time, it was a string of three concerts, and I heard the middle one.

Given the soloist Michiko Uchida, the performance of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 is not the yin-yang exchange it can sometimes be. Rather, her classicism and refinement was refreshing. The partnership was tight.

Mariss Jansons in Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 is a known entity. The brilliant Bavarian Radio Symphony (which gets better and better) played perfectly. In fact, the immaculate performance reminded me of Haitink's Concertgebouw reading. Emotionally, I am not sure what more can be wrenched out of this evergreen.

NY Times review

Haitink Mahler 3

pic from NYT.
 
Concert Review: New York Philharmonic - Haitink


May 16, Avery Fisher Hall
New York Philharmonic - Bernard Haitink - Bernada Fink
Women of the New York Choral Artists - Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Mahler Symphony No. 3

This was part of the international celebration of Bernard Haitink's 85th birthday and his 60th year as conductor. This led me to contemplate how time flies! When I first heard Haitnk and the Concertgebouw in the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique in Carnegie Hall around 30 years ago I knew nothing about him, but the incredibly natural flow of the performance gripped me and made me an instant fan of his. Since then I had avidly followed him on records, though I think, like quite a few other conductors, he is definitely better heard live. Then some years later there was a performance for the ages of Mahler's Ninth with the BPO, again in Carnegie Hall, which ranked with Karajan's performance of the same work in the same hall as two of my most cherished Mahler experiences.

All I can say is that the performance of Mahler's Third was a ear-opener, a true revelation. The first movement was a little slow, but it picked up in momentum. It is too bad the brass sound has always been a little white from my seat in the second tier (I prefer one flight up). The next two movements were startling in the alternation of light and darkness, and the NYPO, to my surprise, played with chamber-like refinement and intimacy that was breath-taking. The orchestral playing was so absorbing that I was not as receptive to mezzo Bernada Fink as some others. She sang well, but I found both the top and bottom of her range not as well delineated as I'd like. And I also think both choruses were competent but not exceptional. The orchestral contribution never let up and the last movement, surely one of Mahler's finest, was eloquent.

As usual, Haitink conducted with minimal fuss, and focused on the score in front of him, but the fluid line and tonal colors he got were simply awesome. No podium antics, no turn-on-a-dime effects, but the music speaks for itself (the last something used by lesser conductors as an excuse, but it is a completely different matter here). In fact, I have never heard so many details in any recording, and it re-opened my eyes. 

p.s. The week before， Haitink had led the NYPO in Beethoven's Eroica and the Berg Violin Concerto with Leonida Kavakos. The concert got mixed reviews.But the Mahler Third fared better with the NY Times review.

Concert Review: Philadelphia Orchestra - Sequin - Batiashvili

Concert Review: Philadelphia Orchestra - Sequin - Batiashvili

May 2, 2014, Carnegie Hall
Philadelphia Orchestra - Yannick Nezet-Sequin - Lisa Batiashvili
Barber-Bartok-Bruckner

The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of my favorites, an orchestra that consistently delivers in Carnegie Hall. Yannick Nezet-Sequin is their hot new director, someone I have heard previously only on records, so I looked forward to this concert! My feelings differ in a few ways from that of the NY Times review.

The Barber Adagio was played in a straightforward manner, which I like, yet I felt the gradation of dynamics was not the most subtle and the music lacked the last degree of flow.

Lisa Batiashvili often performs in NYC, and her popularity is well deserved. Here is someone who plays with the same strength and intelligence in concert as on records. The Bartok Violin Concerto had flair, and the orchestral contribution was wonderful too. Most importantly, her Guarnieri is golden in sound, richer than on records (which I follow closely)! The top has that smoothness allied to power, never prone to the sort of etchiness as a Strad could in the wrong hands.

I most looked forward to the Bruckner 9, and here my feelings were mixed. Nezet-Sequin's grasp was impressive for one so young, although he is occasionally prone to overdrive. But what sound he got out of the helden trombone player! It must rank among one of the most thrilling in my concert experience! The first movement moved well and erected a grand edifice. The scherzo was brilliant. Alas, the all-important third movement to me smoothed out the dissonance and failed to covey the dissolution that I deem essential to the music. Still, a very good performance. 

Concert Review: HKPO-Ashkenazy-Gabetta

Concert Review: HKPO-Ashkenazy-Gabetta

April 4, 2012, CCCH
HKPO-Ashkenazy-Sol Gabetta
Elgar-Mussorsky

I have long followed Ashkenazy and Sol Gabetta on record (many available from the library).  So I was eagerly awaiting the concert.

Vladimir Ashkenazy conducted in a matter-of-fact style that was almost mechanical, but the result he got was outstanding. The orchestra was under total control in the splendid account of Elgar's In the South, long one of my favorites. Control, yes, but what passion we got too!

Elgar's Cello Concerto received a marvellously individual account from Sol Gabetta. Her playing had an almost improvisatory feeling, which suited her just fine as the particular cello she played on is ravishing in tone and she was a superb colorist too. In comparison, the orchestral contribution was poassoibly a little too controlled. Two superb encores drove the audience crazy.

I did not stay for the second half. I was told Ashkenazy's version of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition has its own strong points heard live. I know the record, which did not do too much to me.