Concerts: previews / reviews

[JSngry]

Yeah, there's been some turnover in the DSO as well, some of it just in the last year, and not without gossip that van Zweden was behind it, that he's really making a move to get his kind of players in there (and the corollary that he is looking to get rid of players who don't/won't/can't do it his way). Of course, this upsets players and other people who like things one way, but I tell you, going to the DSO is starting to turn into the potential for an adventure, and in years past, I stayed away because it was anything but. You can still get that if you want it, there's plenty of suburban orchestras happy to take up the slack (and some of the players), and I'm aware that there's a fine line between vision and simple ego-tripping. In the end, I think it's the results that will define the nature of the actions. This is where "justification" comes into play for me, do your choices justify their presence in the space around them (which of course, includes the audience), and hearing van Zwedin's Mahlers, Beethovens, and the one Bruckner, I have to say that for me, yes, justified in what has been done, and justified in waiting to see what will be done.

OTOH, what do I really know about any of this? But if the real goal of any music is to continue to speak truth rather than spew dogma, I think you gotta be open to going with some different flows as they come along and present themselves with justified outcomes.

[JSngry]

Tonight:

Jun Märkl conducts
Daniel Müller-Schott, cello

WAGNER Overture to The Flying Dutchman
STRAVINSKY Petrushka (1947 version)
Intermission
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto

Wow. What a wonderful evening of music. There's a certain something about Dvorak that I've still not been able to fully embrace emotionally, but there was so much logic and ongoing sensitivity to detail in the Cello Concerto that I couldn't help but go along for the ride. And Petrushka live, oh my god, dance music indeed. a stage full of orchestra and a pianist who is almost literally sitting in the wings, no place to put any dancers, but I swear, hearing and feeling it live like that has me now needing to see this thing danced live. Wagner, diminished chords out the ass, right? Confident, determined diminished chords out the ass. I don't think we'll ever hear scary Wagner again, because...you know...but safe Wagner played with vigor is an acceptable enough temporal solution for a live performance.

This was as much enjoyment of a non- van Zweden DSO gig as I've ever had. Admittedly, small sample size, but whereas last week was kind of a head-scratcher after it was all over, this one was a sheer delight. Great music well played and conducted, music worth leaving the house for! (although...forgot that it's NBA season now, and there was a Mavs game downtown that also began at 7:30 PM..traffic, duh!)

Coming up for Monday:

Dover Quartet
Monday, November 9, 2015, 7:30PM | at Caruth Auditorium

Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96
Berg: Quartet, Op. 3
Beethoven: Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1

More Dvorak, and the material of his that I've heard that has appealed to my the most directly are the string quartets, so... Couple that with some early Berg and a middle Beethoven quartet...anticipation is running high!

[StarThrower]

Going to hear this young quartet next Saturday.

http://calidorestringquartet.com/

Friends of Chamber Music – Syracuse, NY

 

Event Details:

• Start: November 14 2015 7:30 pm

 

Mozart: String Quartet K. 575

Webern: Langsamer Satz and Six Bagatelles

Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 132

 

[JSngry]

Dover Quartet
Monday, November 9, 2015, 7:30PM | at Caruth Auditorium

Dvořák: String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96
Berg: Quartet, Op. 3
Beethoven: Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1

Dover Quartet got all up in that shit, constantly lucid and constantly fluid, holy f-ing shit, or whatever the classical equivalent is.

I don't know what "great" really is, but as far as I know it, this was it. A young band seeing things very clearly right now, if they keep this up, look out.

Or maybe it was just a really good night. But here's their schedule if you wanna try your luck at finding out for yourself: http://www.doverquartet.com/schedule/

Tomorrow is Houston. If my life was even a little different, I'd get on the road first thing tomorrow to be there for it.

[JSngry]

Still feeling that I heard something quite special with the Dover Quartet last night.

[JSngry]

Going out on a limb with tonight's DSO offering:

BERLIOZ La Damnation de Faust
(Sung in French, with English surtitles)

Jacques Lacombe conducts
Ruxandra Donose, mezzo-soprano (Marguerite)
Charles Castronovo, tenor (Faust)
Laurent Naouri, bass-baritone (Mephistopheles)
Mark McCrory, bass (Brander)
Karen Wemhoener (Voix Celeste)
Dallas Symphony Chorus: Joshua Habermann, director
Children's Chorus of Greater Dallas: Cynthia Nott, director

 

[Larry Kart]

9 hours ago, JSngry said:

Going out on a limb with tonight's DSO offering:

BERLIOZ La Damnation de Faust
(Sung in French, with English surtitles)

Jacques Lacombe conducts
Ruxandra Donose, mezzo-soprano (Marguerite)
Charles Castronovo, tenor (Faust)
Laurent Naouri, bass-baritone (Mephistopheles)
Mark McCrory, bass (Brander)
Karen Wemhoener (Voix Celeste)
Dallas Symphony Chorus: Joshua Habermann, director
Children's Chorus of Greater Dallas: Cynthia Nott, director

 

Hope it's a good performance, but it's a GREAT piece, if somewhat weird and ungainly in spots. One way to think of it -- this came to me while listening to it some years back -- is that here Berlioz more or less invented the motion picture (using musical-dramatic means). One is transported via more or less cinematic dissolves/changes of scene from vast panoramas to closeups, dialogues, interior monologues, etc.

[JSngry]

whoa...

I was not prepared for this at all...nor for there being a service dog on the front row which I didn't see until standing for the ovation at the end...I was tear-streaming anyway (not something I admit as a matter of course, but I get this involuntary tearing-up thing when something of great power moves me, not "crying" or anything, just tears), and then there's this dog with a dignified smile jsut standing there awaiting its opportunity to serve. Such beauty.

And holy shit, what music, and, I guess, performance (having the lyrics visible at all times was an invaluable aid to focusing on the overall sound of what was happening without having to guesstimate what the narrative thrust really was). Definitely a damn good performance, though, and without any real reference point, all I can say is that...gut punch.

Also, and this is an important realization I'm coming to, hearing this sort of thing live is so much impactful to me than is hearing it on recording, just because of the "space" that the sound occupies. I was in not particularly good seats (third row, stage right, up close but sorta off to the side) but the singers...no amplification, and to hear a voice sounding like that just "in the air"...whoa.. Factor in choruses, rich, varied orchestration, dynamics out the ass, everything that is going on, and there's this huge series of sound events that is not coming out of speakers into a listening area, it's filling the space in a freakin' concert hall, right? It's an instrument itself, the hall is, and it's more truly hi-fi surroundasonic than anything you can put in your own house. Of course, recordings are more than essential these days, and as a result, so much music is created with that in mind in terms of performance timbres and dynamics, whole 'nother world, whole 'nother set of practices, whole 'nother everything, but still..the best reproduction in the world is not the same as being in a bigass hall hearing unamplified music like this played and sung by people who know how to work the space and air of a room the way it had to be done once upon a time. Just...an incredible sensation, for me, anyway.

Again, no point of reference for actually knowing this, but I gotta think this was an inspired performance, it sure as hell got me where I live, and I went in very hesitant about the whole vocal/chorus thing, Beethoven 9 and some live pre-war Wagner being, until this, the only things that don't get me all uh-oh-ish (and Brenda, after much deliberation, stayed home because she's even more trepidatious about that whole thing that I am). To that end, just like I don't call coaches "Coach", I'm loathe to call a conductor "Maestro", just because. But dammit, this Jacques Lacombe...the Maestro brung it good, surely.

This is just a reaction to the performance...as far as the music itself, that's a whole separate set of considerations, and again...whoa...even more so. Harmonic surprises out the ass, to put it mildly and just for starters. But that's a technical/inside-baseball consideration unless and until the performance compels otherwise, and when it does...whoa.

All this plus a surprise appearance of a sweetass elderly service dog on the front row (if you don't own a Golden, that's ok, but if you don't love them, you're just wrong). You'll leave the house for something like this, you sure will.

 

 

[papsrus]

Sounds pretty damn extraordinary. 

The concert hall experience can be moving, particularly when sitting near the front. (I just snagged a 5th row, center, ticket to my local orchestra performing Eroica in a couple of weeks. And I have third or fourth row center seats for the Vienna Philharmonic in the spring!).

In my limited experience, I've found that if I am sitting close to the stage, the left side (when facing the stage) is better than right side because the cellos and basses face away from you when you sit on the right, and tend to get lost or overpowered by the violins -- in a typical setup anyway. Course as close to the center is best. General rule of thumb for me is the closer the seat is to the stage, the more toward the center it should be, and left is better than right. ... But I'd guess the quality of the concert hall, quality of the orchestra, etc., all factor in to that as well. You're in a concert hall that has a solid reputation and in front of a high-level orchestra. My local hall and band are a few notches below, although still perfectly fine.  

And I'm always in favor of including dogs in anything, as much as possible. 

 

[JSngry]

If you don't care too much about seeing the perfrmance in any real detail, the best seats in the Meyerson sound-wise are waaaaaay up at the top, what for a sports ticket would be called the "nosebleed seats". I sat up there once, for Beethoven 9, and during the third movement, there as a really magical moment where the sound came togeteher in this what I can only describe as an all enveloping cloud..."place" ceased to exist, including mine in the seat. It was literally like floating in music.

Can't say that I would sit there often, at least not until I have a better familiarity with the music. I still enjoy watching the conductor and the player's reactions, all that visual stuff that's a part of any live gig. But, yeah, that uppermost section, magic lives there too.

These are fun: What is the best seat in the house..and What is special about the Meyerson's sound: http://stories.kera.org/meyerson_features/interviews/

Elements of hype aside, nobody's telling any lies hear, not that I've found out about yet, anyway.

[Larry Kart]

16 hours ago, JSngry said:

whoa...

I was not prepared for this at all...nor for there being a service dog on the front row which I didn't see until standing for the ovation at the end...I was tear-streaming anyway (not something I admit as a matter of course, but I get this involuntary tearing-up thing when something of great power moves me, not "crying" or anything, just tears), and then there's this dog with a dignified smile jsut standing there awaiting its opportunity to serve. Such beauty.

And holy shit, what music, and, I guess, performance (having the lyrics visible at all times was an invaluable aid to focusing on the overall sound of what was happening without having to guesstimate what the narrative thrust really was). Definitely a damn good performance, though, and without any real reference point, all I can say is that...gut punch.

Also, and this is an important realization I'm coming to, hearing this sort of thing live is so much impactful to me than is hearing it on recording, just because of the "space" that the sound occupies. I was in not particularly good seats (third row, stage right, up close but sorta off to the side) but the singers...no amplification, and to hear a voice sounding like that just "in the air"...whoa.. Factor in choruses, rich, varied orchestration, dynamics out the ass, everything that is going on, and there's this huge series of sound events that is not coming out of speakers into a listening area, it's filling the space in a freakin' concert hall, right? It's an instrument itself, the hall is, and it's more truly hi-fi surroundasonic than anything you can put in your own house. Of course, recordings are more than essential these days, and as a result, so much music is created with that in mind in terms of performance timbres and dynamics, whole 'nother world, whole 'nother set of practices, whole 'nother everything, but still..the best reproduction in the world is not the same as being in a bigass hall hearing unamplified music like this played and sung by people who know how to work the space and air of a room the way it had to be done once upon a time. Just...an incredible sensation, for me, anyway.

Again, no point of reference for actually knowing this, but I gotta think this was an inspired performance, it sure as hell got me where I live, and I went in very hesitant about the whole vocal/chorus thing, Beethoven 9 and some live pre-war Wagner being, until this, the only things that don't get me all uh-oh-ish (and Brenda, after much deliberation, stayed home because she's even more trepidatious about that whole thing that I am). To that end, just like I don't call coaches "Coach", I'm loathe to call a conductor "Maestro", just because. But dammit, this Jacques Lacombe...the Maestro brung it good, surely.

This is just a reaction to the performance...as far as the music itself, that's a whole separate set of considerations, and again...whoa...even more so. Harmonic surprises out the ass, to put it mildly and just for starters. But that's a technical/inside-baseball consideration unless and until the performance compels otherwise, and when it does...whoa.

All this plus a surprise appearance of a sweetass elderly service dog on the front row (if you don't own a Golden, that's ok, but if you don't love them, you're just wrong). You'll leave the house for something like this, you sure will.

 

 

 

Quote

 

If you want a top-notch recording, I'd suggest this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Berlioz-Damnation-Faust-Hector/dp/B00000I9WV/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1447626334&sr=1-2&keywords=monteux+faust

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuAQAJhT6Sk

This one is also excellent but has some annoying cuts:

http://www.amazon.com/Damnation-Faust-Harold-En-Italie/dp/B00006L76O/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1447626458&sr=1-1&keywords=markevitch+faust

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCHs2xxtxWU

[JSngry]

My experiences with Monteux have usually been outstanding, and I don't yet have a recording of this piece, so...Bingo! And thank you.

[JSngry]

This Friday, sounds like a sure-fire crowd -pleaser for kids of all ages: https://www.mydso.com/season-tickets/subscriptions/15-16-ti-classical-series/productions/holsttheplanets.aspx

Quote

Ethereal, joyous, intense - Holst's lush astrological exploration of the planets runs the gamut of human experience. Plus, Karen Gomyo performs the exhilarating Glass Violin Concerto.

Simone Young conducts
Karen Gomyo, violin
Women of the Dallas Symphony Chorus: Joshua Habermann, director

PFITZNER Palestrina, Prelude to Act 1 (DSO Premiere)
GLASS Violin Concerto No. 1 (DSO Premiere)
Intermission
HOLST The Planets

My son and his wife want to hear Planets, so we're taking them along, got a break on the extra tickets because we're subscribers, I'm telling you, the advantages...

Apart from that, family night at the symphony, who saw that one coming...

[JSngry]

I was seriously considering going back this evening, but no cheap seats were available, and I got called for a gig. But,,,yeah, I would have gone back.

Bitching first - I remain wholly unconvinced about Phillip Glass. I get what is happening and I get why he thinks it needs to happen, but...I am wholly unconvinced that I have that same need and/or desire, nor that I have a need or desire to confront that past what I already have. so.

The Palestrina prelude was freakin' gorgeous. I do not know this piece at all, but would like to (and yes, I know it's an opera), and perhaps, need to.

And, of course, Planets. If ever a piece was ready-made for "you gotta hear it live", it's this one. The organ, with those brass pipes big enough to hold a small corporation, do indeed move air, as does the brass section when coming on strong. Air moves, and you can, not quite but almost, literally, feel it moving.

Young's choice of tempos felt almost like they were playing a pops concert, but the key word there is almost. Everything still breathed and the questions in the music were still left as questions instead of being rendered as solutionary declarations. But the questions were also asked knowingly. This was definitely a post-Star wars pop culturally aware Planets, but... I did not mind that. Maybe I should have, but never having heard the piece live before, I did not. I was willing to be played, if that's in fact what was going on. I've seen far uglier games attempted with much less meaningful music.

To that end, perhaps, Simone Young was/is a very post-pop conductor, if that's the right way to put it. Her beat was very obvious to see, follow, and feel, and her phrasing, though fluid, left little doubt as to where the landing point was going to be. She's also not above doing pony kicks and Pete-Townsend-esque windmills, which had me LOLing in a few spots, literally (don't worry, they were quiet enough and the music was loud enough for them not to be heard). So, yeah, a little showmanship going on, but again, the music did not get sacrificed (except for the aforementioned feeling of the pop-cultural awareness that, really, s unavoidable and not really at  all an inherently bad thing in and of itself, imo), And besides, my god, it's not like conductors have not willingly played to audiences in their visuals before.

So yeah, I was ready to go back tonight, and to maybe even to get there at intermission, because, Phillip Glass...i can let that alone, pretty sure about that, yeah.

 

[JSngry]

Just back from:

Who knew The Nutcracker could sound so good? With a full orchestra and nothing to distract from the sheer beauty of Tchaikovsky's iconic music, it will be like hearing it for the first time.

Andrew Grams conducts
Children's Chorus of Collin County: Janie Oliver, Artistic Director

TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker (Complete)
(Orchestra only)

There will be one 20 minute intermission

Concert length 1 hour 45 minutes

I guess I "needed" to go to this and I guess I "enjoyed" it. There was nothing wrong, but geez, if there's still surprises or anything past a nice poppy energy, I don't know what it might be. And the while the online ticketing/seating chart showed a virtual sellout, the actual seats in the hall showed anything but.

What i did actively like, though, was the presence of a screen above the stage that gave the key plot developments in nifty little succinctions that were LOL surreal, like. "Clara threw a shoe at the mouse king and killed it". WHOA, right?

Which go me to thinking - has anybody ever attempted a psychedelically animated version of The Nutcracker? Seems to me that might work.

Otherwise, this was our last subscription concert for 2015. December is for all kinds of "holiday" concerts that will no doubt include neither the deceased Bing Crosby nor the incarcerated Phil Spector, so...some other time perhaps.

We resume our regular schedule in 2016 with:

Respected, even feared by many pianists, Rachmaninoff's personal favorite promises an incomparable evening of blazing technique and powerful emotions; including the much-loved Pictures at an Exhibition.

Long Yu conducts
Kirill Gerstein, piano

QIGANG CHEN The Five Elements (Wu Xi) (DSO Premiere)
MUSSORGSKY-RAVEL Pictures at an Exhibition
Intermission
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3

Wow, blazing technique AND powerful emotions...sure I hope I can handle that!

 

 

[MomsMobley]

ever hear of this band, so much excellent underknown Prokofiev of course

 

 

[papsrus]

Jerry Bilik -- Symphony in M-L (world premiere)

Sibelius -- Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47

Beethoven -- Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)

Perry So conducts the Sarasota Orchestra with Leila Josefowicz, violin

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

 

First concert of the season for me. Fourth row, center.

The Bilik piece was a tribute to violinist Tibor Serly, described as Bela Bartok's most famous student (?). Serly was hit by a truck and killed in London on his way to receive some sort of honor from Hungary. Bilik studied with Serly at some point, then went on to ply his craft composing for stage productions, marching bands, TV shows and the like, as well as some modern 'classical' compositions. So this piece was meaningful to him and he revised it specifically for this performance. 

The three-movement symphony was written using some sort of variation of the 12-tone method developed by Serly. Alternating between jaunty and haunting in the first movement, veering toward Romantic in the second with some very nice strings, then thumping like menacing elephants in the last, the piece was certainly exuberant, engaging and exciting, with a kind of cinematic feel to it. I was left with the sense, however, that in the end the music was in service of the form, rather than the other way around. 

It was the first time I'd heard the Sibelius concerto. Sibelius, who failed in his own aspirations as a violinist, apparently composed this thing to be as technically difficult as possible, throwing in every hairpin turn he could come up with. Not really my thing, but Josefowizc let fly with some predictably impressive pyrotechnics. Didn't stop the 90-plus year old lady sitting next to me from nodding off on my shoulder. She was going in and out every 15 seconds or so. Couldn't decide if it was sweet, annoying or maybe I should signal for a doctor?

The Beethoven was good, not great; satisfying not inspiring. They reconfigured things with the cellos and contrabass situated on the left rather than the right, violas and violins on either side, and they must have summoned every string player in town to the stage for this performance. Five rows of strings on the left, four on the right. Nothing but strings as far as the eye could see. So, they did create that rich, fill-up-every-nook-and-cranny string sound that can elevate this piece.

The execution was workmanlike, I'd say. And given the immense number of the stings used, no wonder. For the most part, fine enough, it's just that the orchestra seemed more focused on staying together than really taking the music and making it soar, particularly in the first movement, which I love. The second movement came off much better, while the third seemed a little paint-by-numbers again. And then the fourth was somewhere in between. A few very minor horn flubs along the way had me wince slightly as well. 

Sitting so close, I may have missed some things going on with the woodwinds. During the obligatory standing O, while the conductor asked different sections of the orchestra to stand for recognition, there were big cheers for a couple of players in the woodwinds. Whatever was going on there, I missed it.

All in all, a nice concert. Nothing outstanding, just good enough to make it worthwhile. 

 

 

 

[JSngry]

I'd think I'd have gone just to hear a symphony composed by a guy named "Jerry". That's not exactly an everyday opportunity!

Leila Josefowicz is a new name to me (then again, most of them are, to be honest). She appears to be young-ish (38...only in classical music...) and no doubt has a lot of miles left in front of her, probably more than the ones she has behind her. She's a travellin' woman, she is: http://www.leilajosefowicz.com/full-schedule/  Wonder if she's been to, or will be to, Dallas...If I were taking cues from anybody, it would be her rather than your seat neighbor...and yes, always be ready to call a doctor!

I'll go listen to anybody play Beethoven even halfway well...is your orchestra on the young side, and/or is So the in-house conductor? I always wonder with pieces like this how much time is possible for true refining and how much of it is just pros knowing the repertoire and playing the gig, with the conductor just focusing in on key spots in whatever rehearsal time they all get. I really don't know how that works, a combination of both I suppose, but in what balance...not a clue.

[papsrus]

30 minutes ago, JSngry said:

I'd think I'd have gone just to hear a symphony composed by a guy named "Jerry". That's not exactly an everyday opportunity!

Leila Josefowicz is a new name to me (then again, most of them are, to be honest). She appears to be young-ish (38...only in classical music...) and no doubt has a lot of miles left in front of her, probably more than the ones she has behind her. She's a travellin' woman, she is: http://www.leilajosefowicz.com/full-schedule/  Wonder if she's been to, or will be to, Dallas...If I were taking cues from anybody, it would be her rather than your seat neighbor...and yes, always be ready to call a doctor!

I'll go listen to anybody play Beethoven even halfway well...is your orchestra on the young side, and/or is So the in-house conductor? I always wonder with pieces like this how much time is possible for true refining and how much of it is just pros knowing the repertoire and playing the gig, with the conductor just focusing in on key spots in whatever rehearsal time they all get. I really don't know how that works, a combination of both I suppose, but in what balance...not a clue.

Perry So is a guest conductor invited specifically for this program, performed Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He is a Dudamel Fellow and, just scanning the notes, seems to get around -- everywhere from Cleveland to LA to Hong Kong and Shanghai. Young, energetic and all smiles, he looked to be having the time of his life.

The music director and regular conductor here is Anu Tali, a young Estonian of some ambition. She also leads the Estonian-Finnish Orchestra, which she founded with her twin sister. 

And yes, the Sarasota Orchestra is fairly young, but not kids -- I'd guess median age is around late 30s, early 40s. It's a very capable outfit, but perhaps better led by Tali. I will say that since Tali got here a few years ago, she has invited guest conductors to appear regularly and I would suppose that is to everyone's benefit. A particular guest conductor may be more invested or expert in a given piece of music. The orchestra can't help but develop a sort of nimbleness by working with a variety of leaders. Etc. ...

The house was packed, as it normally is, for this Sunday matinee. The music was satisfying, even great in parts. Thrilling, though, might be a stretch. I suppose part of my overall tepid reaction to the concert is due partly to the fact that I heard the Cleveland Orchestra perform Eroica last winter in Miami. That was special. Precise, forward-leaning, elevated, great. And Eroica was the piece I was primarily interested in listening to this afternoon. The other two pieces were frosting on the cake. 

 

 

[JSngry]

Late 30s/Early 40s, yeah, that's still young-ish for an orchestra musician, The DSO's principal bassoonist retired this year after 50 years on the gig, and there's more than a few players in there who played with the band pre-Meyerson, which opened in 1989, so...

Hearing the same band with different conductors has been fun for me this year, although honestly, I'm getting antsy for van Sweden to return. The absence of his, as that reviewer put it, "micromanagement"...I'm starting to miss it. How much of that is mostly repertoire-driven, hell if I know, still working on that level of understanding with this music.

[Mark Stryker]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

I'd think I'd have gone just to hear a symphony composed by a guy named "Jerry". That's not exactly an everyday opportunity!

Leila Josefowicz is a new name to me (then again, most of them are, to be honest). She appears to be young-ish (38...only in classical music...) and no doubt has a lot of miles left in front of her, probably more than the ones she has behind her. She's a travellin' woman, she is: http://www.leilajosefowicz.com/full-schedule/  Wonder if she's been to, or will be to, Dallas...If I were taking cues from anybody, it would be her rather than your seat neighbor...and yes, always be ready to call a doctor!

I'll go listen to anybody play Beethoven even halfway well...is your orchestra on the young side, and/or is So the in-house conductor? I always wonder with pieces like this how much time is possible for true refining and how much of it is just pros knowing the repertoire and playing the gig, with the conductor just focusing in on key spots in whatever rehearsal time they all get. I really don't know how that works, a combination of both I suppose, but in what balance...not a clue.

Leila Josefowicz is terrific. She grew up as a prodigy -- Curtis as a young teen, big recording contract and big career at 17 or so. But what has been so rewarding is that as she got older she got very interested in contemporary music and rather than just make a ton of bread playing Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Brahms, she started exploring 20th C. rep like Messiaen and then the music of her own time -- Adams, Ades, Knussen, Salonen, etc. She was married for a while to conductor Kristjian Jarvi (Neeme's son and the brother of Paavo), and Kritjian's career has been largely defined by new music. I think that had a big impact on her. The marriage didn't survive, but her interesting in contemporary music has. I've heard her a bunch for free in my job, but I'd gladly pay to hear her play pretty much anything.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Mark Stryker

[Larry Kart]

Tibor Serly completed (or "completed") Bartok's unfinished at his death Viola Concerto.

[JSngry]

40 minutes ago, Mark Stryker said:

The marriage didn't survive, but her interesting in contemporary music has.

Couldn't put that genie back in the bottle, eh? Good for her (I think?)!

Seriously, she sounds like somebody I need to check out. any "significant" recordings to be recommended here?

[Mark Stryker]

On December 6, 2015 at 10:51:32 PM, JSngry said:

Couldn't put that genie back in the bottle, eh? Good for her (I think?)!

Seriously, she sounds like somebody I need to check out. any "significant" recordings to be recommended here?

This recital mixes old and new so gives a good idea who she is http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0007X6T3C/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1449578797&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=leila+josefowicz&dpPl=1&dpID=61cf5DN0BrL&ref=plSrch 

If you like the Salonen in the recital you can go to his concerto 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008W5TDP8/ref=pd_aw_sim_15_of_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=51%2BxbCB%2BZHL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_SL500_SR100%2C99_&refRID=0JHRZ6ASZV1P4DZ9QXF5

I haven't heard the Shostakovich concerto disc but I once heard her play the shit out of it live. The Oliver Knussen is another -- might look for these via spotify to sample. The Tchaikovsky/Sibelius was her debut recording   as I recall. I haven't heard it in 20 years so can't vouch; I also heard her give the best performance I've heard of John Adams' Violin  Concerto but she hasn't recorded it. 

[JSngry]

Thanks, Mark, I've ordered a few of those. Gotta love buying used classical on Amazon, hard NOT to explore at those prices.