Orchestral - my/maSCENA

Nagano’s New Recording of Beethoven’s Third a Triumph

By Paul E. Robinson on 24 March 2011 Classical, Concert Reviews, Orchestral

Beethoven: Gods, Heroes, and MenThe Creatures of Prometheus/Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”Orchestre symphonique de Montréal/Kent NaganoAnalekta AN2 9838 (73 min 51 s)****It is a sign of the times that the MSO has no major label willing to produce its CDs. Many fine orchestras are in the same situation and several of them – San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Toronto Symphony, etc. – have taken to producing their own recordings. Fortunately, the Canadian record company Analekta, with the help of the Department of Canadian Heritage, has been putting together several MSO projects. The latest venture, like the first…

Liszt’s 200th All Icing No Cake!

By Paul E. Robinson on 22 March 2011 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Piano

by Paul E. RobinsonNot even the greatest of composers has left the world a portfolio of only masterpieces – a case in point being Franz Liszt (1811- 1886), undoubtedly one of the most famous composers who ever lived.The Austin Symphony recently celebrated the Liszt bicentennial by programming the composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Totentanz for piano and orchestra; the former remains solidly in the standard repertoire, while the latter barely qualifies for even an occasional performance.Music director Peter Bay was hedging his bets in honouring Liszt. He gave us two Liszt works for piano and orchestra with Italian pianist…

Anne Akiko Meyers Gives Austin Prokofiev with Passion!

By Paul E. Robinson on 3 March 2011 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Orchestral, Violin

by Paul E. Robinson It was just over a year ago that Austin music lovers last heard Anne Akiko Meyers (photo: above) in an imaginative and brilliantly played recital at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas. Meyers had recently been appointed to the faculty at the school and – with a baby on the way – she and her husband had decided to move to Austin. What a coup for the school, its students and Austinites! We all looked forward to hearing Meyers on a regular basis; unfortunately, even the most carefully planned relationships don’t always…

Victoires de la Musique Classique in France

By La Scena Musicale Team on 16 February 2011 La Scena Spotlight, Orchestral

By Frank Cadenhead The prime-time live telecast Monday night, February 14, of the French show Victoires de la Musique Classique was already good news. This is the top awards show for classical music in France, comparable to America’s Grammy awards, and it focuses mainly on French artists. But in competition with other shows on the major channels, its traditionally weak ratings always cause talk of taping it and showing it on off hours. This year, from the convention center in the city of Nantes, it headlined the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and their engaging young American conductor, John…

Austin Symphony’s New World “Beyond the Score”

By Paul E. Robinson on 23 January 2011 Concert Reviews, Orchestral

By Paul E. Robinson It is always a difficult business to “educate” the classical music audience without talking down to them on the one hand or talking over their heads on the other, and while some subscribers welcome non-musical elements in a concert, others hate them.The Austin Symphony and conductor Peter Bay deserve full marks for making a valiant effort to both educate and entertain at their Long Center concert last week.In the first half of the concert, we were given some background on the piece courtesy of the Chicago Symphony’s (CSO) Beyond the Score series, a multi-media production incorporating…

Austin Symphony Celebrates Mexico!

By Paul E. Robinson on 23 November 2010 Orchestral, World Music

by Paul E. RobinsonLast weekend (November 19 and 20) the Austin Symphony under music director Peter Bay presented an all-Mexican programme. And there was a good reason for it. This year, Mexico is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its independence, and the 100th anniversary of its revolution. A big year for Mexico and President Calderon duly named it “Año de la Patria.”Surprisingly, given the inspiration for this concert, there was virtually nothing in the programme book to let the audience know what it was all about. All we got were the cryptic words “Mexico’s 200/100” on the main programme page.…

Jaap van Zweden Masterly in Shostakovich Eighth

By Paul E. Robinson on 8 November 2010 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Orchestral, Romantic

by Paul E. RobinsonClassical TravelsMeyerson Symphony CentreDallas, TexasOctober 22, 2010Mendelssohn: Violin ConcertoShostakovich: Symphony No. 8Nicola Benedetti, violinDallas Symphony Orchestra/Jaap van ZwedenJaap van Zweden took most of the summer off to nurse a sore shoulder. The recuperation seems to have been successful and he is back in town leading the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) with even more energy than before. Among his specialties are the symphonies of Bruckner and Mahler and Shostakovich is not far behind. Last season in Dallas he conducted a stunning performance of the Symphony No. 7 and this season he followed it up with an equally fine…

Eschenbach Era Begins in Washington

By Paul E. Robinson on 29 October 2010 Arts Industry, Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Orchestral

by Paul E. RobinsonCLASSICAL TRAVELSConcert Hall, the Kennedy CenterWashington, D.C.October 16, 2010Mozart: Symphony No. 34 in C major K. 338Mahler: Symphony No. 5National Symphony Orchestra/Christoph EschenbachWho can explain the chemistry, or lack thereof, between a conductor and an orchestra? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. At the moment, it is definitely working and working splendidly between Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony (NSO) in Washington, D.C; over the past four weeks they have been making music together and nearly everyone you talk to agrees that this partnership is something special. I went to hear for myself and was duly…

Sararste Returns to Toronto Symphony with Stunning Shostakovich

By Paul E. Robinson on 26 October 2010 Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Orchestral

By Paul E. RobinsonClassical TravelsRoy Thomson Hall, TorontoOctober, 2010Stravinsky: FireworksSibelius: Violin ConcertoShostakovich: Symphony No. 4Henning Kraggerud, violinToronto Symphony Orchestra/Jukka-Pekka SarasteThe Toronto Symphony (TSO) has the good fortune to enjoy good relations with several of its former music directors. While current music director Peter Oundjian is now well-established, conductor laureate Andrew Davis is a frequent and welcome guest conductor, and less often, maestro Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Saraste, who was music director of the TSO from 1994 to 2001, recently succeeded Semyon Bychkov as conductor of the WDR Radio Orchestra in Cologne.Solid Sibelius Follows Less than Stellar StravinskyOn this occasion, Saraste’s partnership with…

Cette semaine à Montréal / This Week in Montréal 18-24 oct

By La Scena Musicale Team on 15 October 2010 Chamber Music, Orchestral, This Week in Montreal

MCGILL CHAMBER ORCHESTRAOn October 18th, Montreal’s oldest chamber orchestra presents two great romantic double concertos, featuring Swiss violinist and Université de Montréal professor Laurence Kayaleh as well as Stéphane Lemelin, a Québécois pianist with an international career. Works presented are Mendelssohn’s Double Concerto and Chausson’s Concert. Salle Claude Champagne. 514-487-5190, www.ocm-mco.orgMAISON DE LA CULTURE CÔTE-DES-NEIGESLe concert commenté Pléiades présente un panorama du répertoire contemporain pour ensemble à percussions. Dans une mise en scène de Michel G. Barette, au moyen de quatre œuvres, dont trois écrites par des compositeurs québécois, Sixtrum se propose d’initier le public aux grandes familles d’instruments à…

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