Interesting things in the next year or so.
The Raff Gesellschaft website main page mentions a few right there (the 9th symphony, the cello concerto, etc.)
Erno Dohnanyi's first (mature) symphony (D minor, Op.9) is getting a (still rare) performance, in Seville, on April 27 (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/teatro-de-la-maestranza/brahms-schumann-dohnanyi/27-april-2017/20-30). (Is this the doing of anyone here? :) )
Labor's clarinet trio is joining Dohnanyi's late sextet in a concert in May in Munich (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/munchner-kunstlerhaus/k-und-k-von-osterreich-nach-ungarn/21-may-2017/17-00).
Franz Schmidt's 4th symphony (1933 but less "modern" than Mahler's 7th, so one hopes its suitability for this board needs no defense) is being performed on May 16 in Hagen, Germany (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/stadthalle-1058/9-sinfoniekonzert-entdeckungen/16-may-2017/20-00).
Robert Fuchs' 3rd string serenade gets a look-in in Graz @ a concert on May 22. (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/congress-graz-kammermusiksaal/3-soiree/22-may-2017/19-30) (Just to mention. :) )
Charles Stanford's 5th Irish Rhapsody will feature in this concert on 28 February (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/ulster-hall/jti-lunchtime-concert-irish-rhapsody/28-february-2017/13-05) (might be broadcast on Radio 3?) and his Song to the Soul will be performed in Leeds by the RLPO on March 25 (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/leeds-town-hall/royal-liverpool-philharmonic-orchestra-leeds-philharmonic-chorus/25-march-2017/19-30).
(Edit: I see already from this thread (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php?topic=6112.0) that Magnard's 4th symphony is scheduled to be performed in Freiburg. Good news :) Even better, that this will be part of a Naxos recording series- hopefully, of course, a competitive one; they seem to be hard works to get quite right, but I'm glad when people try and do convincing jobs. I wonder if large-scale music of his has been performed in the eastern US- maybe by the Jupiter players or Botstein's group... )
Speaking of Botstein and the American Symphony, his page only lists the two remaining concerts of the season, one a Czech concert with works by Novák (In the Tatras), Martinů (3rd symphony), Suk (Fantastic Scherzo), Schulhoff (5th symphony) (February 10); the concluding concert is Elgar's Apostles.)
Continuing from the preceding slightly over-edited post, though, the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players (http://www.jupitersymphony.com/Calendar.htm) in New Yak City* is in the middle, not the end, of their season, and as usual has a promising list of works, from Bruch's early trio (Dec.5), Dohnanyi's sextet (what, again with the C major sextet??? No, the _other_ one, the early one in B-flat), Dora Pejacevic's C major piano trio (January 10), Alessandro Longo's Piano Quintet in E major (March 27), Pfitzner's sextet in G minor of 1945 (April 17), Carl Graedener's string trio Op.48 and Walter Rabl's piano quartet (May 1) --- etc., etc.
*I was born there (in Queens, to be picky), I still have a hint of the accent, though I managed to sell off most of the yaks.
(As to Magnard mentioned in the last post I see his 4th symphony is also being performed- not just in Freiburg- but also in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) (at the Winspear Centre) January 28 2017.)
If Schmidt's Symphony 4 is relevant here, perhaps Langgaard's 1916/20 Symphony 4 ("Fall of the Leaf") would be as well. The Edmundton SO -- with perhaps the most adventurous programming I've seen in a while -- will be performing it under Alexander Prior May 12, 2017.
re Dohnanyi again by the way, his first violin concerto is getting performed a few times this coming year too (for 140th birthday maybe??) - see http://kristofbarati.com/concerts/ (http://kristofbarati.com/concerts/) e.g. (in Hungary on January 20, Liège on February 17.) Maier-Röntgen's concerto is getting another hearing in Helsingborg on April 2nd.
Medtner's piano concerto no.2 will be performed live by Nikolai Demidenko (I know he's recorded it, I have the recording) with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk, @ the Sibelius Symphony Hall, Feb. 23. The preceding concert there-- the week before - has Vieuxtemps' first cello concerto played by Jonathan Roozeman (Osmo Vänskä conducting)). (Yes, there's a new cpo recording of the Vieuxtemps concertos, no, he's not the soloist.)
Hrm, just noticed this. Neeme Järvi will be conducting Stenhammar's first symphony (with Sibelius' 2nd conducted by Paavo Järvi?), Estonian National Symphony, June 7 2017 at the Estonia Concert Hall... admittedly even the Stenhammar is better known than it once was, of course, with several performances of his orchestral works each of the last few years I think, but still.
(Piers Lane will be performing "Moszkowski's Piano Concerto No.1" with the Queensland Symphony on October 14th but it's unclear whether this is the actual first concerto or the work that should now be called the 2nd concerto- as it always has been _anyway_, and now one knows why! It seems it may be the latter- not sure.)
The Concertgebouw has some interesting concerts.
BBC Phil is playing Gade's 1st symphony (John Storgards) tomorrow 2/19, which has probably been mentioned somewhere. (hrm, I see that other upcomings this month include Medtner 2; and Dohnanyi concerto 1 was yesterday...)
BBC Scottish SO is doing two works by Langgaard (symphony 4 and the UK premiere of the prelude to his opera Antikrist) on March 19th (Richard Farnes), and Korngold's symphony before that on March 16th (John Wilson).
Add to all that the Bard Music Festival in mid August; this year the star is Chopin. Always plenty of Unsungs in the concert programs, though I haven't seen details yet. Sure to be some Moniuszko, for instance. And their opera production this year will be Dvorak's "Dimitrij."
No obvious sign of any UCs in major Australian concerts for 2017, as far as I can tell. We are blest by high quality domestic and international performers, but the repertoire is fairly standard albeit often innovatively packaged.
Not entirely true. Philippe Gaubert's Greek Divertimento and his Nocturne & Allegro scherzando, Chaminade's flute concertino, and a work by the Dopplers are played @ http://www.australianflutefestival.com/recitals.html (http://www.australianflutefestival.com/recitals.html).
And see https://www.eventfinda.com.au/2017/a-taste-of-omega-the-voice/sydney (https://www.eventfinda.com.au/2017/a-taste-of-omega-the-voice/sydney) for a March performance in Sydney of Spohr's Op.103 songs. Even Spohr's still unsung...
I'm thrilled to death that after waiting all these years, one of my most beloved unsung works - Glazunov's 4th - will be performed live by the excellent Tucson Symphony Orchestra in October. Later, they're giving Tchaikovsky's 3rd - another favorite, and not all that often encountered either.
Ah, well spotted Eric. Yes, the odd chamber work will also pop up in the programmes for the festivals later in the year - not least our own wonderful Townsville Chamber Music Festival! If anyone wants a holiday in the Australian tropics, book now! ;D
No obvious sign of any UCs in major Australian concerts for 2017, as far as I can tell. We are blest by high quality domestic and international performers, but the repertoire is fairly standard albeit often innovatively packaged.
Time to move down to Melbourne, Semloh. In the next few months alone we have performances of these rare operas:
Respighi: Sleeping Beauty
Toch: The Princess and the Pea
Saint Saens: La Princesse Jaune
Szymanowski: King Roger
and chamber works by Emil Hartmann; Boughton; Rebecca Clarke et al.
Rare-opera wise, I forgot to mention that Glimmerglass Opera (Cooperstown, NY) will perform Donizetti's "The Siege of Calais" this summer -- in Italian, I believe.
Hi all,
Korngold is not exactly unsung anymore nowadays, but apart from the violin concerto (at least 1X per week somewhere on the planet) and the Tote Stadt, little can be heard live on stage.
All the more nice to see that some of his lesser-known works are going to be performed this year:
Sinfonietta
Dirigent: Lorenzo Viotti
Orchester: Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
26.&27. März 2017 | Hamburg (Deutschland), Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal — 20:00
Theme and Variations
Dirigent: Dirk Brossé; Geert Soenen
Orchester: Ghent Conservatory Orchestra
23. März 2017 | Gent (Belgien), MIRY Concertzaal
Straussiana
Dirigent: Dirk Brossé; Geert Soenen
Orchester: Ghent Conservatory Orchestra
23. März 2017 | Gent (Belgien), MIRY Concertzaal
The Sinfonische Serenade is going to be performed by the Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt and the Württembergische Kammerphilharmonie Heilbronn soon
Das Wunder der Heliane gets a concert performance in Freiburg (22&25 July) and a (apparently stage!) Performance in Berlin in March/April 2018 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin under the Baton of Marc Albrecht.
Der Ring des Polykrates is going to be staged in Heidelberg (April through July) and Dallas/TX.
Lots of Korngold!
PS: is anyone going to attend the Magnard 4th Symphony concert in Freiburg (coupled with Goldmark Sakuntala Ouverture)? I'll be there.
Re Magnard: Don't forget the splendid EMI recordings made in 1983-1990 by Michel Plasson! He also recorded Magnard's opera "Guercoeur" with a super cast. And there is a great recording of his complete chamber music on Timpany, with a bonus CD containing a very informative interview with the late Harry Halbreich.
Looking farther ahead, Rochester (New York) Philharmonic will feature Ethyl Smyth's Concerto for horn, violin and orchestra on its June 3, 2018 concerto.
Philip Nones' Florent Schmitt newsletter just posted these works by Schmitt to be performed:
- August 2017 - The Cleveland Orchestra - Le Palais hante
- October 2017 - BBC Symphony Orchestra - Symphony #2
- June 2018 - Orchestre de Paris - Antoine et Cleopatre
[/list]
Another Langgaard work this year too- symphony 2 (Vaarbrud, Break of Spring, with soprano solo) (1912-14, revised 1933), April 22nd @ Konzerthaus: Großer Saal, Vienna.
Also, already mentioned the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players' program of April 17th (I'll be in NYC soon but will leave before I can catch this), but forgot to mention that the Pfitzner is accompanied by works of Dotzauer and Brahms- the latter his trio in A major (still "Brahms?" for some, I know; I agree with Malcolm MacDonald that it most likely is by Brahms) and the former Dotzauer's string trio in E-flat Op.52 (published ca.1819? by Böhme of Hamburg.)
Also, http://www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk/programme.html (http://www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk/programme.html) this, including maybe the 2nd ever public performance of Montague Phillips' symphony in C minor (1911) if I understand right (it says "world premiere performance, but of course since the work was premiered in 1912 (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/May04/Phillips_France.htm), that may have to be taken with a grain of salt- maybe world premiere of the new edition, since the holograph, according to the same link, was lost...)
Does anyone have more information about what "concert overture" by Stanford that is that's being premiered?
Presumably it's the Concert Overture in A minor, composed in Juy 1870 and, according to Dibble's biography of Stanford "unperformed? and unpublished, autograph in private hands".
The Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players have posted (http://www.jupitersymphony.com/) a bare outline of next year's season (also, there's one concert left in this season, on May 15. They have a summer session too, iirc.) Just the names of the concerts and dates for now, but surely among them the March 13 2018 one, "Reicha's Reach", is intriguing?
The merged SWR Symphony Orchestra announced its 2017/18 season:
Vaughan Williams, Symphony no 1. 3/4 March 2018 (Liederhalle Stuttgart)
Likewise, the Bamberger Symphoniker announced its 2017/18 season:
8/9/11 Feb 2018: Vaughan Williams, Symphony no 6 (Manze)
27/28 Jan: Bantok's orchestration of: Johann Sebastian Bach »Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme« BWV 140
29 Sep/1 Oct 2017: Ernest Chausson »Poème de l'amour et de la mer« für Gesang und Orchester
20/21 Sep 2017: Suk, Asrael Symphony
All these works are not totally unsung, but 1) seldomly played in Germany, 2) probably the most unsung one can get from the most orchestras...
Best wishes, ewk
Re: Magnard in Freiburg / Germany
The Freiburg Philharmonisches Orchester will continue its Magnard cycle the next season 17/18 with Magnard's 3rd symphony on 2018-03-20
and several smaller pieces (Hymne a Venus, Chant funebre) under the direction of Fabrice Bollon (intended to be recorded for Naxos).
In addition they will perform Moeran's g minor symphony on 2018-04-10 (to be conducted by Simon Gaudenz)
and Y.Stankovich's 2nd Symphony on 2018-05-15 (conducted by Oksana Lyniv).
>The merged SWR Symphony Orchestra announced its 2017/18 season...
That really is an adventurous programme, and great to see VW getting a good airing. :)
QuoteMedtner's piano concerto no.2 will be performed live by Nikolai Demidenko (I know he's recorded it, I have the recording) with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk, @ the Sibelius Symphony Hall, Feb. 23. The preceding concert there-- the week before - has Vieuxtemps' first cello concerto played by Jonathan Roozeman (Osmo Vänskä conducting)). (Yes, there's a new cpo recording of the Vieuxtemps concertos, no, he's not the soloist.)
I was there @ Feb 23. As an overture, they played a short orchestral fanfare by Einojuhani Rautavaara reconstructed from a recording, score being lost. Mesmerizing playing by Demidenko! Hall was barely 1/2 full, so got to stay in the front row with a tremendous view of the performance.
But that, alas, is the thing. With a hall half full, there is no incentive to be adventurous with programming again. Very sad. I bet the concert was wonderful.
This year's Langgaard Festival (in Ribe, 31 August - 3 September) is given the theme "Gade and Langgaard", and has some interesting material:
- Gade's Elverskud in a new arrangement
- Langgaard's Violin Concerto
- Gade's Violin Concerto
- Langgaard's Third Symphony
More information here (http://langgaardfestival.dk/#schedule).
One of Dvorak's less often heard operas (that is, not Rusalka) - Dimitrij - is receiving 4 performances or so during the Bard Festival @ Annandale on Hudson , starting July 28th- seemed worth noting...
If OTOH you're in Jerusalem on September 6th (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/ymca-mary-nathaniel-hall/janacek-brahms-enescu/06-september-2017/19-30) I see a neat concert of Brahms, Janacek and Enescu (his early and stunning (coruscating...) octet) announced.
(A later Enescu work, his 2nd piano quartet, joins a piano quartet by Fauré and Debussy's violin sonata in what looks like a good program in Stockholm a few days later (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/stockholm-concert-hall-konserthuset-grunewaldsalen/pianorama-grand-finale/10-september-2017/16-00). And then Oedipe is being given in London on September 23rd. That used to not be given so often, I think...)
Anyone mention Raff's sinfonietta July 15th @ Nottingham? Probably, just checking.
Also, Rozycki's piano quintet in C minor in this (https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/good-shepherd-faith-presbyterian-church/jupiter-symphony-chamber-players-poles-apart/22-january-2018/14-00) program given by the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players on January 22 2018 in NY City.
I hope my fellow administrators will forgive an aside in response to half-empty concert halls, and as a sign of the times: I watch the UK quiz programme "Pointless" and I am always interested to hear what contestants will know when classical music questions come up. Last week they were asked to provide first names of seven or so famous composers - including Beethoven, Gershwin, Britten, and Elgar. To my amazement, some contestants knew none of the answers, and the only answer one fellow could muster was that Gershwin was called William. Interestingly, the best-known first name obtained from a randomly selected group of 100 people was that of Britten! Questions about the minute details of the personal life and music of 'boy bands', on the other hand, present no problems.
The level of knowledge about classical music is generally appalling. It gets no better on "Eggheads", with bright university students claiming never to have heard of Prokofiev or Brahms! No wonder classical concerts are so poorly attended. Classical music just isn't part of most people's lives. :(
Grrrr.....
The situation is little if any better here- consider answers and questions and expectations (classical music, popular music, and outside of music) on the well-known American show Jeopardy.
I see a few other works I hope it's ok if I mention-
At the Jupiter Symphony Concerts @ NYC: Tyberg's piano trio in F on October 30th, Dancla's quartet no.8 and Dubois' piano quartet on November 27, works by Krommer and Goldmark on December 4, Jongen's rhapsody for piano and winds and Saint-Saëns' (better-known) piano quartet on December 18, Rozycki's quintet (as mentioned) on January 22, Dohnányi's early piano quartet (1891) on February 5, works by Lauber & Martucci on February 19 (and others, as in other cases), music by Zumsteeg, Franz Lachner, and two different Schuberts on March 5, Glière's 3rd string sextet, Grechaninov's clarinet sonata, Arensky's piano quintet (and Shostakovich's Op.8 first trio) on March 19, a string quartet by Eduard Franck on March 26, and - etc.
On September 22, in Suntory Hall @ Tokyo, a chamber concert with works by Mel Bonis & Arnold Bax.
On October 7, @ Schubertiade Hohenems, Markus-Sittikus-Saal, Hohenems, Reger's clarinet quintet.
On November 14, in Tokyo, Reger's Böcklin-Poems performed by the Tokyo Symphony (Hubert Soudant conducting.)
I was able to attend two of the opera performances mentioned here: Dvorak's "Dimitrij" at Bard College and Donizetti's "Siege of Calais" at Glimmerglass Opera, both in NY state. The performers, conductors and overall productions made an excellent case for each work. Interestingly, both dealt with specific historical subjects, yet both were set in more-or-less modern dress. Though overall I prefer Dvorak's score, the updating worked considerably better for Donizetti, perhaps because his story is more direct, heartfelt and, in a way, more universal. Since the stories were about large political / social issues, the chorus played a significant role in each opera, and were superb on both counts.
Reviews of both were largely positive, and, almost predictably, included the sentiment "Why don't we hear this work more often?" Answer: because it takes a good deal of dedication and courage to mount unfamiliar works such as these, especially in a country where support for the arts is anything but a priority...
If anyone is in the Cincinnati area in October there's a rare chance to hear Raff's Cello Concerto No.1: Cole Tutino will be the soloist in a performance of the concerto at a concert at 7:30pm on Friday 6 October 2017 at the Hall Auditorium, Oxford, Ohio (about 35 miles NW of Cincinnati). The Miami Orchestra (of Miami University in Oxford, not from Miami, Florida!) will also play Beethoven's Symphony No.7.
I see also a performance of Raff's Sinfonietta programmed for December 9 2017 by the University of Maryland School of Music Wind Orchestra (see their blog (http://www.umwindorchestra.com/single-post/2017/08/25/2017-2018-UMWO-Repertoire).) (The Oakland Symphony -did- perform Juon's episodes concertantes (Oct. 2016) and Raff's third symphony (Nov. 2016) late -last- year. Hrm. Neat. :) Didn't see that... not at all near me, but still. Ah well. That's off-topic and might deserve a thread-type of its own maybe- kudos? Dunno. Ah well.)
Thanks for that, Eric.
I don't know how unsung Glazunov is, but I rarely get to hear him in concert. This weekend the Tucson Symphony played the daylights out of the Fourth Symphony - my favorite of his 8. I've never heard it in concert, only the Fifth. The orchestra played it beautifully. It was magical to hear it live. The finale was thrilling - that great ending where the tune passes from the low brass then on up to the trumpets was hair-raising. The audience leapt to its feet immediately.
What's really exciting is that their new and tremendously talented and energetic conductor, Jose Luis Gomez, gave a pre-concert talk where he said that when he discovered Glazunov he felt a deep bond with the music and couldn't explain why this music wasn't as well known as the works by the Mighty Five or Tchaikovsky. He said he fully intends to play more Glazunov, especially more of the symphonies. He summed up saying that orchestras and conductors have an obligation to keep this beautiful music from dying from lack of exposure and sure, he'll do his share of the standard repertoire and some newer music, but there's a lot of great music waiting to be rediscovered by orchestras. It's a tantalizing future.
i just recently discovered this great website, and I hope that my first post is a bit of (hopefully) useful information.
Here in Milan the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra (better known here for their recording of Sgambati's 2nd symphony) will play the IMHO absolutely gorgeous Kalinnikov 1st.
Full info:
fri Mar 23 & sun Mar 25, 2018
Auditorium Di Milano, Milan , Italy
Kalinnikov symphony n.1
Tchaikovsky violin concerto
Stefan Milenkovich, violin
Giuseppe Grazioli, conductor
..still rummaging through the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra 17/18 season, I found out that they teamed up with Palazzetto Bru Zane for 2 concerts in June 2018 (8 &10).
If the main item is hardly unsung ( Saint-Saens's 3rd, why not some Dubois or Felicien David symphony?) the concerto is "very" unsung (the piece, if not the composer): they will resurrect the rediscovered Gounod's concerto for piano-pédalier and orchestra from 1889.
More information about the performance of Gounod's Piano-pedalier Concerto here (http://www.laverdi.org/en/events/2017%20-%202018/saint-saens-e-gounod). Roberto Prosseda is a particular champion of this work; I saw him perform it in Palermo's Teatro Massimo years ago, with the same orchestra IIRC. Perhaps not the deepest piece of music, but it's great fun and one rarely gets the opportunity to watch this instrument in action.
Nowhere near as unsung as the Gounod Concerto, but just a reminder that on Friday, Oct. 27 (TODAY! - A.Howe) the BBC Symphony Orchestra, under Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, will be performing Schmitt's Symphony 2 at the Barbican Centre -- something that doesn't show up live every day. I'm presuming it will be broadcast at some point, too, since it's BBC.
another one from the Giuseppe Verdi SO, Milan
an unfairly unsung piece from an IMHO oversung composer.
In march 2018 (15-16-18) the Respighi Sinfonia Drammatica will get a very rare outing conducted by John Neschling (who of course has also recorded it).
Now, I usually can't stand Respighi's overindulgent turgidness, and while the Drammatica is not free of it, I think it has a sincerity and urgency of inspiration that sets it apart. I always saw it in the tradition of those pieces roughly 1910-1914 that are sort of a Belle Epoque "farewell-requiem" before WW1 ends it all.
I suspect that me liking it is also due to the fact that I was exposed to it through the marvellous Downes recording.. what a really great conductor he was.
In fact it's the only Respighi cd I keep in my collection, but by all accounts Neschling's is very good too.
Tangentially a little: Respighi's best-known works are probably often-played, but he has many, many many rarely or even almost never-played works. Have a look at his worklist on IMSLP or Wikipedia sometime. Several string quartets besides the Doric; several violin sonatas; a fair number of orchestral works, operas, cantatas... (thanks to Hadrianus for recording La Primavera e.g.!) In this way a bit like some other otherwise "sung" composers we have, yes, occasionally discussed here when their much-less-sung works come up (Schumann's late choral works, just for instance , have merited at least one thread here, and I think we've talked about undersung Dvořák works too. Haydn operas are too early for our remit :) )
I won a pair of free tickets to a nifty program at Carnegie Hall this Friday: TON (The Orchestra Now)...which I take to be the Bard Conservatory Orchestra...playing music of B Herrmann and Korngold. The 'big' work is the Korngold Symphony. Botstein conducts. Best, David
Lucky devil!
@hiperdanny
Respighi's "overindulging turgidness":
Before going to write such a general verdict, one should listen to all of Respighi's music, please - including his chamber music and songs. And, symphonically, just start with his works from his earlier period (some of which I have recorded...). From his later years, just listen to "Toccata", "Concerto a cinque", "Metamorfoseon" or "Concerto gregoriano": are those turgid??
@hadrianus
yes I know many if not most of those less played pieces, I even love some of them,for example the Gregoriano ..I concede that it would have been wiser for me to add "of his most famous pieces" and an "IMHO" , but I stand to the general meaning of what I wrote.....Respighi's most played and known pieces , like the Roman Trilogy "are" to my ears over-indulgent and turgid.
I remember that once I read a review (on Fanfare, maybe) stating that the problem with Respighi is that he "didn't know when to stop"..I never forgot it because it's exactly how I feel: there is always another more thundering climax, always another layer of instrumentation to add..
Those works are indeed different, but they are not the pieces that shaped Respighi's image and gave him stature.
Anyway it was never meant as a "verdict", just my personal feelings
PS I have the good chance to express my gratitude for your sterling work.
thanks, hyperdanny :-)
Even in FANFARE one can read some posh (and arrogant) nonsense... Do you take this particular statement on Respighi's tone poems as a musicologist's reference?
So what about Richard Strauss?
Respighi knew exactly when to stop and how to balance his tone poems, if you analyse them closely. They were conceived like mini-symphonies. Just examine where exactly "thundering climaxes" in his Roman Trilogy occur and how they are constructed.
And what exactly is meant by "there is always ... another layer of instrumentation"? Tone poems are interesting just because of various episodes with different instrumentations. Already Liszt knew about this.
Thanks, Hadrianus, your points are well stated, and who else but a conductor of your stature would know more about the music you play (besides the composer)? I understand and respect personal opinions, so, to state my own, apparently I hear "beauty" most places others hear "turgid". I think it is to my advantage to be an emotional listener rather than an analytical or educated one, and the experience of listening to Respighi is one of my favorite feelings.
Thanks very much, jimsemadeni :-)
I am such a highly emotional guy that I wonder for not having already died - or gone crazy - for so many great pieces of music I heard, studied and conducted.
Incidentally, a new interview with me has just been published on MusicWeb. I agreed that it had to be expurgated, since it contained a lot of private details of less interest... The occasion is, that I am recording (and going crazy) since 30 years now...
thanks hadrianus for your reply., it's a pleasure and an honor to interact with the person behind some beloved cd's in my collection....to the point: clearly it all comes down to personal taste..you appear to love Respighi's music much more than me, (just logical, with all those cd's you recorded) and I cannot possibly have anything to object against that.
But (even if I am not a respected musician, but just a humble music-lover) I stand by my point of view and yes you are right...I can't stand Strauss ! :)
In any case, I absolutely intend to go to the Sinfonia Drammatica concert, after writing my post about the concert I listened after years to the Downes cd, and I like it more than I remembered..I might be becoming prone to overindulgence with age...
I sometimes have similar issues- with Strauss anyway- but not with his oboe concerto, Metamorphosen, or quite a few other works. Ah well.
Still, maybe this could usefully branch into another thread- this is more an announcements thread, and will probably close in about 51-odd days.
Couple of still 2017 additions:
Dec. 21&22 2017 in Munich, a concert with Stenhammar's 2nd symphony conducted by Herbert Blomstedt.
An intriguing program on the 31st in Hamburg with Ives, Alain, Bach and Mozart that's not quite in this forum's remit, but, well...maybe the Ives and Alain New Year's Evening out with the Bach and the Mozart. (As though one didn't see that weak pun coming from half a world away...)