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One of the highlights of my now-long-ago trip to Amsterdam was two concerts on the same day in the Concertgebouw, an unpretentious-looking but wonderfully resonant auditorium. (Another highlight was the exquisite rijstaffel meal I had between them.) But neither concert was by the famous home orchestra named for the hall.
Now at last I've heard the orchestra itself, but here in San Francisco. I was alert, I knew the music, I had a definite impression of the style, and the words I managed to squeeze out about that are here. Somewhere on the way home I lost the program, so I couldn't credit the English hornist who played a very fine version of the long pastoral solo in Berlioz's third movement. The fact that the quiet spots stood out more than the great climaxes says a lot about this performance. So does the slight hint of apparent randomness, probably carefully planned, in what got emphasized and how the music flowed.
Mariss Jansons, who I believe once had a heart attack onstage, is a very cautious and precise conductor, but one who still gives his musicians their head. Occasionally he ceases to conduct at all and just lets the music play, not just in solos. More often he'd switch his baton to his left hand to let his right hand shape the music more impressionistically. Once this caused a slightly sloppy tutti entrance, but overall ... very nice.
Now at last I've heard the orchestra itself, but here in San Francisco. I was alert, I knew the music, I had a definite impression of the style, and the words I managed to squeeze out about that are here. Somewhere on the way home I lost the program, so I couldn't credit the English hornist who played a very fine version of the long pastoral solo in Berlioz's third movement. The fact that the quiet spots stood out more than the great climaxes says a lot about this performance. So does the slight hint of apparent randomness, probably carefully planned, in what got emphasized and how the music flowed.
Mariss Jansons, who I believe once had a heart attack onstage, is a very cautious and precise conductor, but one who still gives his musicians their head. Occasionally he ceases to conduct at all and just lets the music play, not just in solos. More often he'd switch his baton to his left hand to let his right hand shape the music more impressionistically. Once this caused a slightly sloppy tutti entrance, but overall ... very nice.
