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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2018 22:38:05 GMT
Interesting article in the Telegraph last week about an orchestra from Italy that has no conductor, a very limited repertoire and does not record. Spira Mirabilis will perform Beethoven's 7th on 15th May at the Southbank Centre in London and as Beethoven is one of my favourite composers and I am fascinated by the orchestra's methods, I have bought two tickets. The confusing thing is the length of the performance which is scheduled for 150 minutes, when the symphony tales no longer that about 25... wonder what else they'll be doing? Like all arty farty organisations, the Southbank website is dire, with actual information hidden away if available at all. If it is 150 minutes it's either stay overnight in the Smoke, or the 23:00 train home arriving at 02:00 .
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Post by Alanović on Jan 8, 2018 11:03:54 GMT
Plenty of time to visit the bar/concessions stand there................£10 a beer and £5 for a bag of sweeties no doubt.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jan 9, 2018 11:37:28 GMT
The Seventh usually takes 35-40 minutes. A quick survey of my collection shows Kleiber and Gardiner at 39, Haitink 40 and Vänska 42. Karajan (boo, hiss!) manages it in 33 but only by leaving out repeats because he was far too grand and important to play what Beethoven actually wrote. Concert performances tend to run a bit longer with breaks between movements and probably some re-tuning halfway through.
There'll be other items on the programme: typically an overture or other single-movement opener, a concerto and an interval before the symphony. Looks like fun, though - if they can stay together; the Seventh is about rhythm and timing above everything, so that will matter.
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Post by Alanović on Jan 9, 2018 11:51:22 GMT
Still won't be as good as Shed Seven.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2018 18:29:03 GMT
The Seventh usually takes 35-40 minutes. A quick survey of my collection shows Kleiber and Gardiner at 39, Haitink 40 and Vänska 42. Karajan (boo, hiss!) manages it in 33 but only by leaving out repeats because he was far too grand and important to play what Beethoven actually wrote. Concert performances tend to run a bit longer with breaks between movements and probably some re-tuning halfway through. There'll be other items on the programme: typically an overture or other single-movement opener, a concerto and an interval before the symphony. Looks like fun, though - if they can stay together; the Seventh is about rhythm and timing above everything, so that will matter. Oh I know. I love the 7th, especially the opening of the third movement. I was surprised by the lack of any other programme details (expecting the usual overture, concerto etc etc before the main piece). I know what you mean about Karajan. Great conductor with sublime music, but his DG Beethoven Symphony cycle of the 1980s (first digitally recorded I recall), wasn't as good as his previous attempt which was analogue..
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jan 9, 2018 21:40:35 GMT
The Seventh is my favourite Beethoven symphony - tied with Leonore 3 for Favourite Orchestral Work and with the Op.127 Quartet for the overall Beethoven title. Gardiner's recording of the finale has been a test piece for every piece of hi-fi kit I've bought since the 1990s. The swirling, escalating semiquavers, pinging between the first and second violins (conductors who seat firsts and seconds together need not apply) while the basses are grinding their way down to the bottom E of the inverted A major chord that he then de-inverts over 70 frantic bars with lots more semiquavers to reach perhaps the most emphatic conclusion ever - I can't think of a more thrilling fusion of technical mastery and sheer visceral drama. Sorry, Shed Seven, but you can't touch this.
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Post by tyrednexited on Jan 9, 2018 21:55:01 GMT
Sorry, Shed Seven, but you can't touch this. ....I think you'll find that's MC Hammer, not Shed Seven........
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Post by tyrednexited on Jan 9, 2018 22:33:01 GMT
....btw, from the heading I thought the concert was going to last 8 days, not 150 minutes.....
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jan 9, 2018 22:40:24 GMT
You must be used to time passing slowly in that caravan of yours. 🐌⌛️
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2018 23:17:50 GMT
WDB do you have a favourite piece of orchestral music? I have to confess a delight in Sibelius, particularly his 2nd and 5th symphonies. He merges the power of Beethoven with the elegance of Mozart. If I was marooned on my desert island I would want Sibelius 2 recorded by Thomas Beecham; the recording I have contains a shout from Beecham which brings the performance out of the studio and into the room/beach...
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jan 10, 2018 8:49:22 GMT
WDB do you have a favourite piece of orchestral music? One favourite, probably not. But I do love the sound world and dark imagination of Sibelius; I'd nominate the Fifth and Seventh, the Violin Concerto, Tapiola, the Lemminkaïnen Legends... I could go on. Osmo Vänska is my go-to man here, but we also enjoyed Sakari Oramo many times in his Birmingham years. Also Nordic but different in character is Carl Nielsen. His Fourth is simply astonishing, written during the First World War, not shrinking from its violence and terror, but managing to emerge with some hope for life and humanity. The Decca engineers make Herbert Blomstedt's San Francisco orchestra sound amazing. Also in the 'violent but hopeful' category is Shostakovich 10, which depicts his life in the shadow of Stalin and his relief after the ogre's death. Simon Rattle played away with the Philharmonia in 1985 for this one. I need some Mahler on my 🌴 too. I love the fear-to-hope feel of the Fifth, and I'll never forget being pinned to my Barbican seat in 1989 the first time I heard the finale of the First. Bernstein's late European recordings are my favourites here, especially the Amsterdam First. Bruckner is difficult but rewarding when done by a conductor who keeps it moving and brings out the long arcs. Abbado was the master, especially in the Fifth and Ninth with the wonderful Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Abbado could do Haydn too, leaving me smiling at the charm and wit but keeping the music moving; no premature romanticism here. His No.101 is a gem. I'd want the Trumpet Concerto too, and Weber's Bassoon Concerto, which reminds me of my dad. And the Dvorak Cello Concerto, preferably played by Rostropovich - who brought it to the Anvil in Basingstoke in 1994 on a night when I couldn't go. Probably top of my musical regrets list, that one. That ought to do for now. No Brahms, no Tchaikovsky, although I could probably have fitted in some Mozart. And Wagner deserves a mention too, but seldom comes up in purely orchestral concert programmes. Does that give you the idea? 😃
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2018 11:59:04 GMT
It is so hard to choose which pieces to be marooned with; and then which recordings....
Mozart has to be there somewhere and I nominate the Requiem, only because I was a performance in a small church on the Ile de la Cite in Paris with my then girlfriend (now Espadrille) about 22 years ago and it took my breathe away.
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Post by Alanović on Jan 10, 2018 12:02:31 GMT
Nobody likes classical music. They just think they should like it.
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Post by tyrednexited on Jan 10, 2018 12:41:00 GMT
....I dip in and out of classical music, both popular and somewhat more obscure, but don't really make time nowadays to do much serious listening. (Though if we are travelling, we'll invariably check local listings for concerts, and dip in if anything looks of interest).
Most of my listening to music is in the car, and Classical just doesn't "cut-it" for me whilst driving.
If I were allowed only one piece of Classical music to be marooned with, I think it would have to be this (and preferably that performance).
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jan 10, 2018 13:12:48 GMT
Nobody likes classical music. They just think they should like it. Do you really think that, Vić, or are you just being contrary to get attention? 🤔
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