Concerts: previews / reviews

[JSngry]

Tonight's DSO program:

 

Quote

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

 

 

 

[David Ayers]

On 15 November 2015 at 5:54 AM, JSngry said:

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.

 

Sentiments I share, as you probably realise

Especially true of works for singer/chorus/orchestra. There are some works in that genre (Dvorak, Elgar) that I would never listen to in a recording and if they come on the radio I turn them off, but in concert they are wonderful.

Meanwhile, last night I was at a performance of Pelléas in a semi-staged version with Kozena/Gerhaher/Finley/LSO/Rattle, directed by Peter Sellars. Just fantastic. As with the LSO/Rattle Das Paradies und die Peri there will be a CD issue, but as with that, I was there, you know, and increasingly I don't want recordings to interfere with my memories...

[JSngry]

Three different manifestations of that dynamic (no pun intended) last night:

Long Yu conducts/Kirill Gerstein, piano

QIGANG CHEN The Five Elements (Wu Xi) - This was a beautiful piece, but tragically inappropriate for an audience who had no idea about respecting silence. Coughs, seat shuffling, throat clearing, you name it, it was there. When the audience noise masks the orchestra...perhaps a recording is better than a live gig, at least with this type of audience. I don't have this problem at chamber concerts. There was at best polite applause at the conclusion, but you could tell that the bulk of the audience, this was just some "opening act" that they were neither inclined or obligated to pay any attention to. Pity, because it is a wonderful work, and kudos to whoever decided to program it. More like it going forth, please, sneak all of it in you can!
 

MUSSORGSKY-RAVEL Pictures at an Exhibition - I've never really been drawn to this piece, maybe due to hearing it first through the EL&P take on it, but still...it's sorta "slight" thematically, I think, and goes on past the point of mattering, concept or not. But the Ravel orchestration holds many moments of individual delight, so there was that. What there also was was some of the most rigid, almost militaristic/borderline bombastic time and dynamics I've ever heard out of the DSO. Watching Yu's conducting had me formulating a scale that ran from uncomfortable to creepy to fuquitous. He hit every point on that scale at least once, no breathing, no flow, just a hammer of a metronome gathering momentum as the piece went along. But the orchestra was with him, and they did as told about as well as it could done. So..."5 stars" for execution...but I was very uncomfortable applauding when it was over.

Intermission - the general audience seemed to have loved it though, singing bits and pieces on the way out and in the lobby, some women even dancing in some weird ritualistic robotic dance-along thing. I don't know if Yu was aiming for a popular favorite or revenge for the cloddish response the the Chen piece, but whatever he was aiming for, he hit it. Peoples of the world, pray for our nation.

RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3 - After that, I had no small amount of trepidation about what was going to happen next. I'm not really a fan of Rachmaninoff the composer...respect the hell out of it, but the whole florid, ripey Romantic thing...a very little generally goes a very long way for me. Plus, so much of the harmonic vocabulary of this music has infiltrated jazz, and not in a positive way, usually. Ripey is ripey, period. And after the assault that had been Pictures At An Exhibition, I was filled with apprehension about how THIS one was going to be hammered home.

But - that did not happen. Gerstein had a very good flowing time, full of breathing, full of nuance, and totally absent of bombast. Yu conducted accordingly, and again, the orchestra played as requested. Yu looked like a different guy, perhaps not amazingly, but I was left wondering...if he can do this with Rachmaninoff, why does he want to hurt Mussorgsky so bad? I don't get it.

And soon enough, that was all lost as the "rightness" of the moment took hold and held. I'm still not a "fan" of this type of music, but it was played so well, presented so wonderfully, made its points so reasonably, that I found myself in the rare(for me) position of absolutely enjoying music that I pretty much don't like "on paper". I felt very good about applauding at the end of this one, especially for Gerstein, whose approach of firm gentility really worked for me. Like Goldilocks, neither underplayed no overplayed...just right.

We got an encore of Felix Blumenfeld,'s "Etude For Left Hand", which sounded like two hands but only used one. As a parlor trick, it's wonderful, as music, it's quite ripey, but, oh well, show bizness, right? It didn't hurt.

So...three pieces, three approaches, three differeing impressions, one orchestra, one concert. Otoh, I'd have loved to not have had any negative fellings at all. Otoh, hey, live music, real people, and further proof that no, it's not "all the same", this music, just as not all jazz sounds alike, not all classical music sounds alike, not all symphonic music sounds alike, not all piano concertos sound alike, not all pianists sound alike, not all pianists play the same piece the same way...so, you know, real music made in real time by real people in real places. No matter what else comes along in our evolutions Long may this live along with it!

[soulpope]

Earlier today:

Wiener Konzerthaus

ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla Dirigentin

Anika Vavic Klavier


Mieczysław Weinberg
Suite Nr. 4 aus dem Ballett «Der goldene Schlüssel» op. 55d (1964)

Alexander Skrjabin
Konzert für Klavier und Orchester fis-moll op. 20 (1896)

***
Jean Sibelius
Lemminkäis-sarja «Lemminkäinen Suite» op. 22 (1895/1897/1900/1939)

[JSngry]

Tonight's DSO program:

 

Quote

Donald Runnicles conducts

 

Alexander Kerr, violin

 

BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
WALTON Violin Concerto
Intermission
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
ELGAR In the South (Alassio)

 

 

I don't know any of these works or composers other than as vaguely as you can "know" anything. Elgar, Enigma Variations first names Benjamin, William, Ralph, and Edward...that's about it.

No idea what to expect out of tonight's gig. Looking forward to getting hit with something with no preformed expectations of anything. A very rare opportunity, that!

[Chuck Nessa]

In the South may surprise.

[HutchFan]

For what it's worth, I like Runnicles. I think he's a fine conductor.

He's the Principal Guest Conductor with the Atlanta SO, so there are regular opportunities to hear him conduct here in town.

[JSngry]

Tonight was one of those "glad to be alive and able to get out of the house" nights. It's one thing to not know what to expect, it's another to get knocked on your ass when what you hear is one punch to the gut after the other!

The DSO was on tonight, in a zone, a single organism totally in sync with itself. Runnicles was a fascinating conductor visually. The opening Britten piece begins with slow-moving violins, and the way he conducted it was to basically just stand there and conduct the phrases themselves, no time, no metronome, no impassioned sweeping, just a visual stillness. On passages where the notes were, like, whole notes or longer, it was kind of unnerving, because...timing is a bitch, you know, microseconds, plus attack, dynamics, baseball is a game of inches, music is a game of units so small I doubt the can be fully accurately measured, at least not when it's humans collectively physically executing. Asking all these people to breathe as one, to have a single heartbeat, to rise and fall as one in the tiniest ways possible, that takes a deep trust by everybody involved, especially a conductor, because, you know, again, baseball, no matter how much the players succeed or fail, when it's a fail, it's ultimately on the manager. So yeah, trust. This guy trusted his band to fully know what time it was, and the trust was mutual. Same thing with blend, dynamics, pulse, everything musical, the guy would make some visual noise from time to time, but all in all, not all that much. And the band was there, all together...pretty damn moving to hear it go on all night like that.

The only piece I had even half a reservation about was the Walton. I heard the math in the composition, the devices and such, more than I heard the music. Just a little bit more, though, and I'll chalk it up to being an incredibly demanding piece in terms of the need for a totally precise execution. On this one, it sounded like  everybody involved was way past the "still feeling it out phase", but not quite yet in the "comfortably lived in" stage. The execution, though, was perfect, quite perfect, and certainly none the worse for it!

Apart from that, though, jesus, what an evening. Do not know any of this music, and that's my loss. Britten, the sounds of the bows getting the notes out in that opening...hooks in, and no regrets for it. The Fantasia as performed this evening was one of the most soulful performances I've ever heard out of anybody, period. I had tears running, involuntary, not "crying", just...touched, deeply touched. And Runnicles held the silence after the last note for about 10 seconds before dropping his arm. 10 seconds is a loooong fucking time, ok, but it left time for the impact the at least begin to be processed. And it needed that time, at least for me, because,,,just because. Soulful, deeply, deeply soulful.

And then, ok, show biz, gotta love it, after Runnicles took the Fantasia applause once, then twice, he took to the wings while the seating was reconfigured for the final Elgar thing,, not more than 5 minutes down time and suddenly this guy comes running back on to the stage, leaps on to the podium, doesn't wait more than a second, and BAM there's the downbeat and BAM off we go. Visceral music, and, yes, Chuck, some surprises in there, to be sure.

Runnicles, by far and away the best Guest Conductor I've hear with the DSO this season, and I think the band was feeling him on all of it, because, and I say this with full consideration, they played their ass off tonight. I swear to god, it was like hearing Basie with Lockjaw or Sonny levitating, a zone is a zone is a zone, forget about what "kind" of music it is, when that zone hits, "kinds" of music don't matter. And this was a zone night, for sure for sure for sure.

That Dover Quartet gig last year, that was a zone night. Tonight was a zone night. Runnicles and the DSO, they gave it up, all the way, fully, openly, and without "thought". It got good to 'em, and they went with it all the way, all in. This is what you want, not just out of music, but out of life. Trust rewarded, totally freed up. If it's true that there's no such thing as bad sex (which of course, isn't true), then it's equally true that not all good sex is great sex, and it's also true that not all great sex is great love. You gotta be ready for great love when it happens, but you can't make it happen. Great love is a gift of the moment (however long that moment may be, seconds or years) with which all concerned are blessed.

Tonight was great love.

[David Ayers]

By coincidence I just had an evening of English music myself. 

 

Butterworth A Shropshire Lad  
Anna Clyne The Seamstress (UK Premiere)   
Elgar Symphony No 2  in E flat major

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo conductor
Jennifer Koh violin    

So a new work in there, which is always a pleasure, but I was finding the Butterworth and Elgar a little loud and maybe even coarse. I was sitting in the second row which is great for hearing and seeing the soloist but does make the orchestra burningly loud. Which orchestras are, I suppose, and the Elgar is maybe more rumbunctious than I remembered it. Compared to Rattle and LSO last week? Not on the same artistic level. But live music-making for the price of a CD? At that level of seriousness? I take that every time, these days. 

 

 

 

[papsrus]

Tuesday night:

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Haydn -- Symphony No. 1 in D Major

Mozart -- Piano Concerto No. 20; Khatia Buniatishvili, piano

Arensky -- Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky

Rachmaninoff -- Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos (arranged for orchestra)

 

 

 

 

[papsrus]

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

Haydn -- Symphony No. 1 in D Major; Mozart -- Piano Concerto No. 20; Khatia Buniatishvili, piano; Arensky -- Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky; Rachmaninoff -- Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos (arranged for orchestra)

 

Great concert, excellent orchestra.

Each of the four pieces required a different size and configuration for the orchestra. The concert taken as a whole was a little bit like a trip through time, beginning with Haydn and Mozart, then moving to Arensky (a student of Rimsky-Korsakov) and ending with Rachmaninoff.

The Haydn symphony may not have actually been his first, the notes explained, because of the somewhat sketchy nature of the chronology of his early works. The symphony, more developed than a No.1 typically might be, was filled with wonderful counterpoint, a second movement for strings only that was just beautiful, and lovely soloing here and there along the way. A great piece beautifully performed.

Khatia Buniatishvili was all in for the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20, accompanied by a somewhat smaller gathering of the orchestra. Best way to describe her is a very sensual player. She was feeling it. I wondered beforehand how the whole thing would fit together with piano, and orchestra, and no conductor, but it all worked in this sort of organic natural way, with nods and smiles among the musicians, and Khatia doing her thing at the piano. They had a flow going on.

The second part of the concert was fully uncharted territory, but the highlight of the evening for me was the Arensky piece, written as a tribute to Tchaikovsky just after he had passed away. The seven variations and coda are based on Tchaikovsky's song "Legend" No. 5 from "Sixteen Children's Songs." A bit of a complicated lineage there (and there's actually a string quartet arrangement along the way as well), but ... in the end, just a beautiful piece by a guy I'd sure never heard of (not that I would). I'm going to investigate Arensky further. 

The final Rachmaninoff was, as the title says, a piece for two pianos arranged for orchestra. Probably the least interesting for me -- all broad, sweeping bowing and grand gestures. I couldn't help hearing it as program music, as if it was a sound track to a Fantasia type of thing. Lovely enough, and beautifully played, just a bit of a step down from the other pieces that preceded it. 

The powers that be have outfitted the Van Geezer with a new band shell, and I believe it makes a noticeable difference. I sat fourth row, just off center to the left for the first part of the concert, about level with the stage. Excellent. For the second half of the concert I moved to an area where there were some seats open a few rows further back and further off to the side (I wanted more leg room), so I was a little higher up above stage level. Things sounded great from there, too.

An excellent evening of music, for sure.

 

Edited January 27, 2016 by papsrus

[JSngry]

Wasn't sure if we were going to be available for tonight's DSO offering, but it looks like we are, and this is what we got/are getting/will be getting:

 

Quote

Jaap van Zweden conducts

Katia and Marielle Labèque, pianos

Erin Hannigan, oboe

MOZART Overture to The Magic Flute
POULENC Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra
Intermission
JEREMY GILL Serenada Concertante for Oboe and Orchestra (World Premiere)
MOZART Symphony No. 39

I'm on record as having a short-to-zero tolerance for Mozart in general, but hey, right time, right place, right band, it could work. It is my problem, after all, not Mozart's.

Everything else looks like at least potential fun, and Jaap Is Back, let the taffy pulling begin, come early, stay late!

[JSngry]

...so I'm out of town for a week and a half, go to the concert, and only afterwards learn that Jaap van Zweden is taking over the New York Philharmonic in Fall 2018...gonna need to catch the rest of this ride over the next 2.5 years, and hope against hope that a worthy replacement is found with no primary consideration of how "difficult" they might be to work with. Dude hurts players' feelings sometimes? Oh well, listen to the band and tell me that I should care about that as long as no felonies are committed in the hurting of said feelings. If they can get as good or better results without being an asshole, do that then.But otherwise, after years of the DSO being a "nice" orchestra, and after now getting to be a real one...turning back the clock would really, really suck.

Now, as far as tonight...Poulenc, maybe. Labèque sisters, no. Oh hell no. Was not feeling that at all.

And Mozart Magic Flute Overture...heard it, but didn't really feel it. But noticed it being far less "prissy" than how I've usually heard Mozart played over the years (if not the recent years, because, after while, I gave up).

So, first half...not a night I really felt like I should have left the house for. Second half was a different story.

The finisher, the Mozart symphony, I just decided to fuck it and watch van Zweden. Our seats allow for a pretty good view of his face, so unless he turned to his right, you can watch him as he goes in pretty good detail. Fascinating, and no matter how much some people talk about "micromanagement", again, results, results, results. This one I felt, perhaps the first time I've ever really felt this much Mozart this fully, and it was all about the timbre and the flow. The timbre, rich, not too bright, full emphasis on inner parts for a big fat sound, and flow, dynamics and tempo perfectly in sync, phrasing just gorgeous. It helps that this is a type of Mozart that is a little more harmonically "surprising" than so  much of his work (that I know, anyway)...is it right to say that Late Mozart & Early Beethoven kinda tag-team one into the other?

But it also helps to have a conductor who's playing the orchestra like an instrument. This guy's whole body was giving shape to the music (and some of those shapes related to the inner rhythms in a way that I found most illuminating), and if there's an element of theatricality/ego/whatever to having your body be in perfect sync to what your orchestra is playing, it's also true that if the orchestra is executing that deeply in sync with the conductor's body, and it's working this well, then the shit is probably going the way it's supposed to, and ain't that a good thing to be in the room with!

But, best for last. The world premiere of what sounded to me to be a pretty substantive new work by Jeremy Gill played with feeling and precision and think about this - how often in "classical music" in all but the most intensive environments do you get to experience music being performed that has no traditional practices and/or recorded references behind it? Everybody - soloist, players, conductor, audience, even the composer (if they are present, and in this case, he was), is - has to be, really, about as "in the moment" as anybody can be in order to make it real, make it yours, justify it's being there, bring it right. And this was definitely brought right. We get that in jazz sometimes (but not nearly as often as we'd perhaps like to think), but in Dallas? At the DSO? And how are things in your town?

The work itself alternated between what I perceived (probably inaccurately) to be melodies derived from some kind of synthetic whole-tone extrapolations (if that makes any sense, and it probably doesn't..all I mean to say is that things kept shifting harmonically in ways that would start off one way, then shift to another in an unexpected place and then go off again the same way until shifting again, on and on, definitely some tritone-derived cellular action going on..but too much math for R&B  here...I very much like the fact that I could sense the math without at all hearing it as math, music stimulating the interest in the math rather than the other way around) and little 3-4 note wide-interval leap-y things. To say that I heard similarities to Interstellar Space is just to indicate my perceived/received general similarity, not to note any obvious or direct "influence". But it does go to the point that all of "that" continues to be in the air across "genres", continues to reveal itself as a very real and sustainable logic, so if for whatever reason you're looking for it to "go away"...hope you got more time than you do life, that's all I can say.

The orchestration was brilliant, every sound, every texture (including percussion) serving to further the ideas generated out of the themes. No device-y effects writing here, thank god! Also, the interaction between soloist and orchestra was sublime, lines staring with one and being handed back and forth to/with the other effortlessly, and at times, almost stealthily.

And about that soloist...not really being familiar with Jeremy gill and, especially, Erin Hannigan, I cringed when I read in the composer's notes that this piece was intended to reflect her warmth and passion for the whole rescue animal thing, and her commentary about how exciting it was that she was able to commission(!) a piece that would surely become a permanent fixture in the oboe repertoire and would outlast all our times here on Earth, I'm like, well, ok, cool, is it going to be any good, or is it going to end up being played on a 22nd Century PETA commercial?

All I can say is that there was meat. Meat in the kitchen, meat on the plate, meat on the stage, meat...maybe not in the audience, there were fewer people who stood up at the conclusion than had coughed during the performance (and you know, fuck a motherfucker who can't restrain or at least muffle a cough, my patience with that has as of tonight ran out, get some discipline, bitches, you don't fart in church and you don't cough during a cadenza. Just deal with it, ok?), but definitely meat in the hall (portions of the 3+ minute cadenza were obviously designed for the player to play a note and wait for it to come back to them from the hall, and no, I don't think I'm imaging that at all, it was pretty obviously going on, and you can do that in the Meyerson if you should think to).

Whatever "yuck" I was feeling during the intermission was fully eradicated by this piece, and maybe it was just me, but after the bullshit (ok, "bullshit") that the Labèque sisters perpetrated about one vision of "classical" music, such a genuinely real experience might well have gotten my head, hear, and ears in the mood to receive that delicious Mozart interpretation.

So, good night to leave the house after all. You never know.

[papsrus]

On January 31, 2016 at 0:57 AM, JSngry said:

...so I'm out of town for a week and a half, go to the concert, and only afterwards learn that Jaap van Zweden is taking over the New York Philharmonic in Fall 2018...

(...)

And about that soloist...not really being familiar with Jeremy gill and, especially, Erin Hannigan, I cringed when I read in the composer's notes that this piece was intended to reflect her warmth and passion for the whole rescue animal thing. ...

(...)

... there were fewer people who stood up at the conclusion than had coughed during the performance (and you know, fuck a motherfucker who can't restrain or at least muffle a cough, my patience with that has as of tonight ran out, get some discipline, bitches, you don't fart in church and you don't cough during a cadenza. Just deal with it, ok?), ...

I hadn't heard van Zweden was going to the NYPO. That speaks volumes for his talents, no doubt. Loss for you, but lots of musical chairs going on these days with conductors, so hopefully you'll land someone who is "in play" who will inspire everyone. The whole process of finding a new musical director can be fascinating and at the very least, you'll get some guest conductors in who are basically there to audition, so wanting to make an impression. 

I'm going to have to check out Hannigan. Sounds like my kind of gal.

In the FWIW / YMMV department, my own somewhat limited experience has taught be that if I sit somewhere between fourth row and about 7th or 8th row (close, but not so close that the music goes over my head), and as close to center as I can get, audience noise is pretty much a non-factor. I used to think sitting way up in the back was the best because everyone was facing away from me, but that turns out not to be the case. Fourth to seventh or eighth row center and I hear pretty much nothing but the orchestra. (I know as a subscriber you're probably locked into your seats this season, but in any event, if you get the opportunity in a one-off concert to sit pretty much front and center, give it a try.) ... But in the end it's kind of hit or miss. Sometimes audiences behave, sometimes they belch and fart. 

 

 

[JSngry]

Yep, Jaap is going to the NY Phil: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/arts/music/jaap-van-zweden-philharmonics-maestro-to-be-sharpens-his-baton.html?_r=0

I sincerely hope the orchestra continues to move ahead, as this is really getting to be really fun.

Coughing...just had enough of it. It's controllable, at least to some extent. If it were a spontaneous emotional response to the music, like, you know, some people holler, I cough, then hey, cool, more of that. But it's not. It's almost always an impulse that somebody doesn't think it's important enough to attempt to control, like it's more important that they be allowed to cough all UHHKKKKkkkkk wide open, not even an attempt to muffle, than it is for them to respect the situation. If it were a John cage piece, one thing. But it never has been, and it probably never will be, not this thing. So, as they say, act like you belong here. Clap between movements if you absolutely must, that's a sincere thing of affection (I guess...), just don't cough like you're trying to expel your lungs into your lap. Nobody sincerely coughs as a sign of affection, not that I know of anyway.

[David Ayers]

It's the boiled sweets that get me.

[JSngry]

38 minutes ago, David Ayers said:

It's the boiled sweets that get me.

Not getting that...please translate to American?

[David Ayers]

Hard candy. Noisily unwrapped. 

Edited February 3, 2016 by David Ayers

[JSngry]

What do y'all use for wrappers?

[David Ayers]

Cellophane. So noisy. I cant tell you what kind of cellophane but it cracks loudly with every move. Its percussive so it is very audible. 

Edited February 4, 2016 by David Ayers

[JSngry]

Wow, that sucks...my wife takes single packed Life Saver mints that are packed in a very soft cellophane that makes hardly a sound. Of course, she's inclined to only get them out either in very loud portions or between pieces, unless a big ol' HHHHWWWWAAAAACCCCKKKKKKKK is coming on, but her being a lady and all, she takes care of that beforehand, and has proven to be a great inspiration to me in that regard.

[JSngry]

Coming up Saturday

Quote

Karina Canellakis conducts
David Fray piano

MOZART - Piano Concerto No. 24

SHOSTAKOVICH - Symphony No. 7 (Leningrad)

Special Concert Notice: 
Due to a family medical emergency in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden is unable to conduct this weekend’s performances. Dallas Symphony Assistant Conductor Karina Canellakis will conduct in Maestro van Zweden’s place. The program and soloist remain unchanged.

[JSngry]

Maybe looping Meet The Residents all day, including the drive to the Meyerson, was not the best way to get "in the mood" for Mozart, but...maybe it wouldn't matter. I just don't feel it. Everybody played wonderfully though, it was a joy listening to the execution, but the piece itself...sorry, I'm not your guy.

Shostakovich, however...normally I watch the players, but learning that Canellakis got the call just 20 minutes(!!!!!) before Thursday's opening night (my email "alert" was sent yesterday at 2:30 PM), I said ok, I'm watching her for this one, big, massive. weighty piece, somebody else has conducted all the rehearsals, what is this gonna be all about?

What it was all about was bringing it. I kept looking to see if she ever let it get away from her, where she was following the band instead of the other way around, and whenever it felt like it was going to start heading that way, up went the focus, up went the intensity with the face and the hands, and no, she had this. She had this. now i want to look at the score for this thing, her time was so sure, yet so flowing, and the phrases seemed to sing out of her conducting, but the lengths of those phrases seem to certainly be asymmetrical and the cross-rhythms quite involved...magnificent structure to the composition, and exquisitely interpreted by all. I had seen her conduct once before, at a suburban "community" concert,w here the rep was predictable and the living was easy. But this was definitely not that. This had some sparks flying, some musical joltage. The audience reaction, mine included, was immediate and more than a little intense. The orchestra was beaming, as well they should have been.

It's a good band playing really well. Not only that, but the organization seems to be doing the same. This continues to be fun.

Hello!

YO! Made that work, for sure!

 

[David Ayers]

Thanksfor the report - interesting topic. 

[papsrus]

A couple of reviews (Morning News, Observer, TheaterJones) echo your enthusiasm for Canellakis.

From TheaterJones:

 

"What she deserves is unqualified praise. But make no mistake; her performance, under very difficult circumstances, was not some stroke of luck. It was the earned reward for a lot of hard work."

 

Her condensed bio reveals someone who has already cast a pretty wide net at what I assume is a fairly young age, conducting seemingly anywhere given the opportunity, in places as far-flung as Toledo, San Diego, Carnegie, Tanglewood and Lucerne. Rattle has apparently taken her under his wing to some degree, and she seems to have a particular affinity for conducting chamber orchestras/works, which you'd think would have served her well in the Mozart. (I know, it's you, not him.) If that wasn't enough, she's an accomplished violinist, having performed with Berlin and Chicago, among others.

But you already know all that, I'd guess. ... Point being, she's all in. And clearly, having a thorough understanding of the Shostakovich No. 7, it's historical significance and how to navigate the piece, as well as an understanding of how Van Zweden rehearsed it, gave her all the tools she needed to step in with what seems to have been a performance well-deserving of universal praise.

As David says, an interesting topic: what makes a great conductor/performance? Preparation, for one. Enthusiasm. Rapport with the orchestra. Deep immersion in the music with an understanding of where it comes from, how the interpretation has been rehearsed. It's amazing how many things have to go perfectly right for a performance to elevate. Sometimes the stars align.