three concerts
Mar. 27th, 2011 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacConsidering the rest of my schedule right now, it was slightly insane to go to three concerts in three days, but that's the way it worked out.
New Century Chamber Orchestra: Last-minute call to review this. Their wish is their command is my output: here. Singer very operatic, if you like that sort of thing. Mendelssohn eccentric: the Octet was not made to be played this way. Bach even more eccentric: I really don't understand NSS's solo playing style, and never have. They're still a technically excellent ensemble, even though my two favorite players (the two Robins, cellist Bonnell [male] and violinist Mayforth [female]) have left.
San Francisco Symphony: First week of the annual Blomstedt return visit, and yes, I'm going next week too. Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4, one of the less boring of his violin concertos (I've been hearing a lot of them lately), sweet-toned by Arabella Steinbacher. And that grand old flag, the New World Symphony. Not a Blomstedt Special, thank goodness. (A Blomstedt Special starts out like gangbusters, and then all the energy leaks out by halfway through.) Very deliberate introduction, equally cool in the slow movement (not a touch of sorrow at the broken-up ending, just quiet beauty), and otherwise roaring with power, and volume, all the way to the last drop.
San Francisco Symphony Chamber Players: Dvorak terzetto, always nice to hear. Jean Francaix quartet for English horn and strings, OK, an unobjectionable and fun composer. Khachaturian trio for clarinet, violin, and piano, well, this sounds interesting, and it was, though only a pale premonition of the kind of thing he'd be writing after he got out of conservatory, where he penned this as a class exercise. Sibelius string quartet, could have been deeper, but they caught the lively parts.
Two ladies of senior years were behind me. Before the concert they were looking over the program, and one asked, "So what is an English horn, anyway?" The other didn't know. So I turned around and told them. Later, I heard one say that she didn't know much about Khachaturian, and the other said, with firm assurance, "His most famous work is the Polovtsian Dances." And I was good: I didn't say a thing, not a thing. You can answer questions, but if you try to correct the world's misapprehensions, you'll be there all day.
New Century Chamber Orchestra: Last-minute call to review this. Their wish is their command is my output: here. Singer very operatic, if you like that sort of thing. Mendelssohn eccentric: the Octet was not made to be played this way. Bach even more eccentric: I really don't understand NSS's solo playing style, and never have. They're still a technically excellent ensemble, even though my two favorite players (the two Robins, cellist Bonnell [male] and violinist Mayforth [female]) have left.
San Francisco Symphony: First week of the annual Blomstedt return visit, and yes, I'm going next week too. Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4, one of the less boring of his violin concertos (I've been hearing a lot of them lately), sweet-toned by Arabella Steinbacher. And that grand old flag, the New World Symphony. Not a Blomstedt Special, thank goodness. (A Blomstedt Special starts out like gangbusters, and then all the energy leaks out by halfway through.) Very deliberate introduction, equally cool in the slow movement (not a touch of sorrow at the broken-up ending, just quiet beauty), and otherwise roaring with power, and volume, all the way to the last drop.
San Francisco Symphony Chamber Players: Dvorak terzetto, always nice to hear. Jean Francaix quartet for English horn and strings, OK, an unobjectionable and fun composer. Khachaturian trio for clarinet, violin, and piano, well, this sounds interesting, and it was, though only a pale premonition of the kind of thing he'd be writing after he got out of conservatory, where he penned this as a class exercise. Sibelius string quartet, could have been deeper, but they caught the lively parts.
Two ladies of senior years were behind me. Before the concert they were looking over the program, and one asked, "So what is an English horn, anyway?" The other didn't know. So I turned around and told them. Later, I heard one say that she didn't know much about Khachaturian, and the other said, with firm assurance, "His most famous work is the Polovtsian Dances." And I was good: I didn't say a thing, not a thing. You can answer questions, but if you try to correct the world's misapprehensions, you'll be there all day.
