We left at the interval...

Bozar, Brussels, Sunday September 2 2018 Conductor: Alain Altinoglu. Piano: Katia and Marielle Labèque. Orchestre Symphonique de La Monnaie. Beethoven: Coriolan Overture , Op. 62 Bruch: Concerto for Two Pianos,  Op. 88a Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition . [Encore - Glass: Four Movements for Two Pianos, IV ] Bozar in Brussels The Sunday matinée subscription I have had for over 25 years in Brussels is a set menu: you pays your money and you gets no choice. And as La Monnaie usually offers interesting seasons and good productions with very decent teams of singers, that's fine. I was surprised, though, not to say a bit miffed, to find my first "opera" of the season would be an orchestral concert. It wasn't a programme that would have caught my eye in Paris, even if Cleveland or Dresden were coming to play it, let alone La Monnaie's pit band. But I supposed the house needed to save money after the presumably costly plastic-tent fiasco a coupl...

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Thursday June 23 2016 Conductor: Jonathan Nott. Jonas Kaufmann. Wiener Philharmoniker. Beethoven: Overture Coriolan Strauss: Tod und Verklärung Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde Not Jonas Kaufmann I really must learn to pay more attention, when I get my season’s tickets from the TCE, to where they’ve put me. It was only when I arrived there last night that I realised I was on the front row, which in my opinion shouldn’t be sold as top category at all as there’s no hope, with your nose up the violin section’s trouser legs, of hearing properly balanced sound. For the sake of completeness, I’ll write up my thoughts, but whether they resemble anyone else’s experience will be anyone’s guess. So I’ll be brief. The Coriolan overture, as played by the Wiener Phil., simply reminded me that these days I prefer to hear Beethoven played by smaller, “hipper” orchestras. It was at once massive and humdrum. It was about 30 minutes into the concer...

Trinity College, Cambridge, Saturday February 18 2012 Haydn String quartet in E flat Op 71 N°3 . Endellion String Quartet . Sophie Hannah The Shadow Tree; The Storming; Crowd Pleaser . Read by Sophie Hannah . Beethoven String quartet in C Op 59 N°3 . Endellion String Quartet. Mendelssohn Symphony N°3 in A minor, “Scottish”, Op 56 . Conductor: Harry Ogg, Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra . Sophie Hannah The Cancellation; Moderation; The Dalai Lama on Twitter . Read by Sophie Hannah. Rodgers Overtures to Flower Drum Song and South Pacific . Conductor: Chris Keen, Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra. [Note: this is not one of my usual write-ups; it will probably only be of interest to those who knew T.] An odd sort of programme. But this was not a public, commercial event but a private, “bespoke” one in memory of a very close friend for over 35 years, who died in December. The quirky programme, in which he had, at least in part, a hand, was therefore des...

Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, Monday June 26 2006 Concert version. Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung. Leonora: Karita Mattila. Florestan: Ben Heppner. Rocco: Matti Salminen. Don Pizarro: Juha Uusitalo. Marzellina: Henriette Bonde-Hansen. Jaquino: Pavol Breslik. Don Fernando: François Lis. Chorus and Orchestre Philharmonique of Radio France. One of the constant joys of concert-going is of course the chance to hear the ever-intelligent comments of neighbours during the evening. For Fidelio , in concert at the Châtelet, this week, the two old ladies behind me were on mid-season form: "Is it the National or the Philharmonique tonight?" "The National." (It was of course the Philharmonique.) And, as the chorus filed on to the stage: " Ce sont des amateurs, mais des amateurs éclairés " (“They’re amateurs, but enlightened amateurs”). The chorus of Radio France is one of the few full-time professional choruses in the country, and the Rolls-Royce of French choirs. So,...

Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, May 24 2005 Philharmonia Orchestra. Sir Andrew Davis, conductor. Soile Isokoski, soprano. Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela Strauss: Four Last Songs Beethoven: Eroica I’ve been wondering for days quite what to write about this concert, and why it was so hard to pin down. I’ve come to the conclusion that, despite various things it had going for it, in the end it was bland, and the blandness was probably down to the ever reasonable, ever measured, ever British Sir Andrew Davis, standing in for Dohnanyi, who is ill. Bland isn’t a kind word to use about Soile Isokoski. Her recording of the Four Last Songs is the best recent one I’ve heard, closest yet to Lisa della Casa’s, and a great deal more satisfactory than one famous American diva’s. She is a scrupulous singer, shaping and phrasing beautifully, and with a gorgeous upper medium which is what these songs most call for; but she is scrupulously unspectacular and un-diva-like. So although, of course, the Philharmo...

Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris: November 5 2004 Beethoven: piano concerto n°4 with Hélène Grimaud. Mahler: symphony n°5. Paavo Järvi, conductor. Algernon . Did you hear what I was playing, Lane? Lane . I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir. Algernon . I’m sorry for that, for your sake. I don’t play accurately - any one can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. The French musical world has a tendency to agree with Oscar Wilde’s Algernon. Actually playing all the notes right is seen as somehow cold, calculating, hard-hearted. This is something I’ve never become reconciled to in France, and explains why I usually only buy tickets for concerts with visiting orchestras. The Cincinnati SO might be described as an antidote to the French emphasis on “wonderful expression” at the expense of accuracy. Indeed, their playing on Friday evening was so forthright and “in your face” it was tempting to imagine that, just three day...