Gilbert acknowledging Hampson at the end of the Walt Whitman Songs by Kurt Weill. Hampson sang from amidst the orchestra.
Program
Adagio for Strings Op. 11 (1936) by Samuel Barber (1910-1981).
Songs My Mother Taught Me (1895) by Charles Ives (1874-1954).
Tom Sails Away (1917).Memories: a. Very Pleasant; b. Rather Sad (1897).The Housatonic at Stockbridge (1921).The Things Our Fathers Loved (1917).(Arranged for Orchestra by Toshio Hosokawa)
Four Walt Whitman Songs (1942-1947) by Kurt Weill (1900-1950).
O Captain! My CaptainBeat! Beat! Drums!Dirge For Two VeteransCome Up From the Fields, Father.
Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth) fur gemischten Chor a cappella Op. 13 (1907) by Arnold Schonberg (1874-1951).
Symphony No. 4 (1910-1925) by Ives.
The Elbphiharmonie website has an English page. The programs handed out the concert were in German only, but the lyrics in the Ives and Weill songs were in English, which helped.
Listed Artists
Prague Philharmonic Choir
Ulrike Payer - piano; Dalit Warshaw - theremin; Lukas Vasilek - choir rehearsal; Gregor Mayrhofer - Co-conductor.
A major reason we chose Hamburg as a stopover is to see if Elbphilharmonie lives up to its fame or notoreity. Fame is because of the claim that the sound is amazing, with every seat engineered to "perfection" (my words, I also heard every seat would have a great sound); notoriety because the project went way over budget, from the original estimate of 80M to 240M Euros to a final cost of between 800 to 900M Euros (depending on the source). And I am not sure if that's the entire project or just the concert halls portion of it.
Let's first dispense with the sound aspect. Of course all concert halls sound "real" as we hear real players performing, but I must say it also felt intimate and immediate (two adjectives that come to mind, but don't exactly describe how I heard the orchestra). And without the "sterility" I sometimes use to describe the sound at Carnegie Hall. Even though we were about 3 floors up from the stage, we still felt very close to it; that may also explain the sound.
The last time Barber's Adagio for Strings left a strong impression on me was in a Japanese production of MacBeth. As in the other piece in that play, Faure's Requiem, the music brought on incredible sadness, probably enhanced by the events happening on stage. Tonight's performance still set the dark (again my vocabulary fails me) tone for the evening. I was surprised that a full orchestra (the string sections, anyway) was used for the performance, and it felt just right.
Any hope that we would find redemption was quenched by the two groups of songs. The lyrics are in English, and printed in the program (otherwise in German), that helped drive the sadness home. The Whitman songs were sung in the order 2-1-4-2, so the last one sung before the intermission was the Dirge for a father and a son. The other songs all spoke of death. They were written during the civil war.
Thomas Hampson is usually very dependable. He was standing among the musicians while he sang, and I had some trouble with picking out his voice. Anne said she could hear him well. Since I also have problem picking out the violas, perhaps I am losing that range in my hearing. For the passages I heard well, he was good at bring out the emotion.
After Barber's Adagio for Strings.
After the Songs by Ives. Hampson can barely be seen in this photo.
Peace on Earth was intended as an uplifting composition, it is also Schoenberg's last tonal piece (tonal is relative, of course). After its composition, Schoenberg concluded that it was an illusion. One might give up, but the Program Notes stresses the importance of repeating these words.
The piece is sung without accompaniment (although the first performance did use an orchestra). The Prague Philharmonic Choir consisted of about 60 members, evenly divided between men and women. The were seated in the section behind the concert stage, I wonder if that was always the intention, or an oversight on the part of the designer.
One could argue Ives' Fourth Symphony contains no emotional message. It was an exercise in composition, very complex composition at that. The Prelude does include the chorus, and contains the words "Trav'ler, yes; it brings the day, Promised day of Israel. Dost thou see its beauteous ray?" Interesting words, but I don't see how the words set the tone for the rest of the composition.
A huge orchestra was used. I can only point out some observations I made during the concert.
The most noticeable aspect was the use of a "co-conductor." On many occasions he would conduct together with Gilbert, but in a different rhythm. For example, Gilbert might do 4-beats while Mayrhofer would do 3. I assume the individual sections knew whom they should follow. (I do wonder if a conductor can keep 3/4 and 4/4 time simultaneously.) The other would be use of some musicians in the balconies. There were two pianos, one was center-stage, and the pianist got her name in the program. The theremin is not an instrument one sees often, it's quite eerie that sound is produced by hand gestures rather than physical manipulation of the instrument.
The second movement "Comedy: Allegretto" lived up to its name. The audience applauded when that movement ended. Generally Gilbert seemed to frown on such interruptions.
The four movements are (1) Prelude: Maestoso; (2) Comedy: Allegretto; (3) Fugue: Andante moderato con moto; and (4) Finale: Very slowly - Largo maestoso.
"Peace on Earth" was Schoenberg's last tonal piece. The choir sang without accompaniment. Here Gilbert greeting the Rehearsal conductor after the performance. One can also see the huge orchestra (at least the instruments and seats) to be used for Ives's Symphony No. 4.
I think the people standing in front at the conclusion of Ives's Symphony are (from left) Theremin player, Principal Piano (2 pianos were used, second piano may have two players), Co-Conductor, Choir Rehearsal Director. It's quite a large ensemble, and complicated music.
It was an overall enjoyable concert, regardless of the acoustics. Or the acoustics helped, who knows. One thing I do feel is that Gilbert has found his new home very comfortable. His contract with the Orchestra has been extended through 2029.
The Main Concert Hall occupies the center of the new building. On the left is the Westin Hotel, and on the right are residential apartments.
Taken with wide angle from where we sat. The projection on the roof is a reminder that tonight's concert is the (second) opening concert of the Hamburg International Music Festival.
The concert hall occupies the 11th to the 16th floors (my guess). It is 60 steps from the foyer on the 8th floor to the first level of the auditorium. Or one can take a lift to the 13th floor (that's where our seats were).
These "cells" all look different. I do wonder the science and art of the design.
I got to the 15th floor for this shot of the auditorium. The design isn't symmetric.
One of the few openings (balconies) in the entire building.
We are staying in the Westin, also located in the same building, so one could say it was easy to get to the concert hall.
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