Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Vasily Petrenko, conductor; Kian Soltani, cello. January 30, 2022.

State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ.  Balcony (Seat C102, $43).

Program

Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes,' Op. 33a (1945) by Britten (1913-1976).

Cello Concerto No 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107 (1959) by Shostakovich (1906-1975).

Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (1943) by Rachmaninov (1873-1943).

Yesterday (1/31) a "Live from Carnegie Hall" notice popped up on the WQXR APP inviting listeners to tune into a performance by the RPO.  As their website lists 2/3 as their next concert, in the UK, I was evidently catching the tail end of RPO's USA tour.

While all three pieces on the program were written in the mid-1900s, they are all rather popular and "easy listening."

The one piece I had heard the least - once, per this blog - I actually remembered quite well.  It was the first time I heard Alisa Weilerstein, back in 2011.  The 4-note theme, barely singable as a tune, has stuck in my mind ever since.  Today's was a great performance, but not as impactful as what I remember of the one 11 years ago.  The cello was a bit weak when played against the full orchestra.  Per his website, he is about 30 years old, and plays on a Stradivarius.

In addition to the 4-note theme, the other noteworthy aspect of the piece is the third movement, labelled "Cadenza."  Indeed it was a cello-only movement, and sounded and looked very difficult.

The Program Notes (such as it is) discussed at some length the 4-note theme, and labeled it as D-E flat-C-B.  The actual score has the notes as G-F flat-C flat-B flat.  Tried as I did, I couldn't quite get the two to sound the same.  One of those days I will find an explanation.  (The Wikipedia article on the concerto says its continually distorted and re-shaped; my question is if the tune is already unrecognizable at the very beginning, is it still that tune?)

That the piece sounded "familiar" when I listened to it for the second time was simply amazing.  That speaks to either the genius of Shostakovich, or Weilerstein, or both.

Kian Soltani after performing the Shostakovich cello concerto.  Per his website, he plays on a Stradivarius, but the varnish on this cello is light compared to most Stradivarii I have seen.

Alas, the same cannot be said about the other two pieces on the program, both of which I had heard on multiple prior occasions.

I did wish I had read up a little on Peter Grimes.  I finally saw a taped version of the performance during the lockdown, and understood the story.  I also recall parts of the Program Notes I read on prior performances - about these church bells, for instance.  However, I had generally little idea of what was going on.

That it was useful to read up on a piece beforehand was reinforced with Rachmaninov.  The piece was written a few years before the composer's death, and was actually his last completed work.  People who know Rachmaninov's music well can probably recognize it as his work right away.  To me it doesn't evoke the same romanticism.  Of course I could read the composer into the music since I did read the Program.  It wasn't until Dies Irae was introduced that I could say "of course it is."  Perusal of prior blog entries before this had one conductor describe each of the dances as introducing a new character.  I wish I had known that beforehand.

The cellist played an encore, a piece from Shostakovich's film score for "The Gadfly."  It was arranged for the solo cello and the orchestra's cello section.  The orchestra also played an encore: a familiar piece whose title I cannot recall.  (The encore was listed as "Dance of the Tumblers" by Tchaikovsky for their 1/31 Carnegie Hall concert.)  The piece was fast and "rowdy," but showcased how precise the musicians were.

After performance of Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances.  This is a rather large orchestra, with over 50 string players, and another 30 of other instruments.  If the conductor was bothered by the low attendance, he didn't show it at all.

Despite my being pretty certain I have heard the RPO before, this evidently was my first encounter with them.  They have been around 75 years and does 200 (!) concerts a year.  Indeed they are hitting multiple cities in the UK after their Carnegie Hall performance.

We bought two tickets for the concert, Anne couldn't go because the grandkids were with us.  Finding parking off street was not difficult, even though the snowstorm on Saturday blocked off many parking spaces along Livingston Avenue.  Traffic was light.

The last time I was at the State Theatre was February, 2020.  In the meantime the place has undergone considerable renovation.  The price on the ticket is $35, but an additional $8 in fees.  My ticket was for the first three rows of the balcony, which was quite full.  Otherwise the balcony was empty, so several people moved to Rows D and E.  I sat in Row D.

Overall, this was an enjoyable concert.  And I joined in the enthusiastic (for New Jersey audiences) applause for a job well-done.

The State Theatre underwent considerable renovations during the Pandemic.  This is the lobby at the balcony level.

Ceiling of auditorium.

Taken 2 minutes before 3 pm.  Empty section of balcony.  A few more people moved to this area just before the concert started.

New Jersey Symphony. Xian Zhang, conductor; Daniil Trifonov, piano. November 5, 2021.

NJPAC, Prudential Hall, Newark, NJ.  (Grand Tier, Seat B104, $81).

Program
Stardust by Jessie Montgomery.
"The Moldau," "Sarka," and "Blanik" from Ma Vlast by Smetana.
Piano Concerto No. 2 by Beethoven.

Two in-person concerts in two days, quite an accomplishment.  The program was going to be repeated in Count Basie, quite a bit closer to our house, and nearby free-parking, but our grandchildren were planning to stay with us over the weekend.  We opted instead for NJPAC.  Only worrisome thing was traffic, which turned out to be okay.  And the $20 parking charge.

This was taken about 8 minutes before 8 pm.  The main auditorium was quite empty.

This is at the end of the first half of the program.  More people seemed to be seated.

Trifonov and Zhang, both masked, at the end of the Beethoven Concerto.

Trifonov was going to be playing a Brahms Piano Concerto (No. 1, if I recall).  He hurt his elbow, so went instead for Beethoven's second.

Beethoven's second piano concerto actually was the first one he composed, and to my ears it sounds like a fierier Mozart concerto.  Nonetheless, it is still quite physically demanding, so I hope it didn't aggravate Trifonov's hurt elbow.

For encore he played a Bach piece: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.  A surprise.  After we got home, Anne looked up YouTube and found a recording of him playing the piece.  He evidently is on a quest to explore the many dimensions of Bach.

We had heard an enjoyable performance of the Moldau by NJSO a while back, and for tonight two more selections from Ma Vlast were added, extending the performance to about 36 minutes (per Program Notes).  There is good reason why the Moldau is the most popular of the lot.

The evening started with a very short piece by Jessie Montgomery.  Her music was recently featured in a Princeton Symphony concert also.  I also listened recently to a Podcast with her as the guest.  So she has a lot of visibility nowadays.  I am typing this two weeks after the concert, and have no recollection - beyond my mental note that it was quite "listenable" - of the piece.

I find to my surprise that I am not as harsh in my review as I could be, probably because I somewhat relish being able to enjoy a concert in a large hall - albeit less than half full.  On the other hand, I am not rushing to find more events to attend.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Rossen Milanov, conductor; Shai Wosner, piano. November 4, 2021.

Matthews Theatre, McCarter Theatre Centre, Princeton, NJ.  (Balcony A, CC109, $83)

 

Program

The Dream Deferred by Williams.

Piano Concerto No. 15 in B-flat Major by Mozart.

Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, D 417 by Schubert.

The most significant aspect of tonight’s event is that it’s our first in-person concert since we last saw an opera on March 9, 2020.  I attended it with mixed feelings.  After a lockdown – at different levels, some of which self-imposed – of over 18 months, I was surprised that my urge to attend live concerts (and travel, for that matter) has greatly subsided.  Looking over events and deciding on the ones to attend, the actual act of buying a ticket or a series, the logistics of getting to the venue are things I did with great enthusiasm; now I wonder if these chores are worth the effort.  This time the plus side was we got to have dinner with our friends Vivien and David, who alerted us to their attendance.  The somewhat snobbish in me also questioned if a PSO concert is worth the money it charges for their events – I can get a good seat at NJPAC or David Geffen Hall.  One has to dip one’s toe into the water …

The Princeton Symphony is a small ensemble; tonight there were fewer than 40 players, and I venture to guess they don’t have four horns in their regular roster.  In the relative confines of the Matthews Theatre, it sounds fine, with a few notable exceptions.

Evan Williams (b. 1988) is now composer-in-residence at the Detroit Symphony.  Loosely quoting the Program Notes, the piece was commissioned by “the activist orchestra” The Dream Unfinished for their 2017 season “Raise Your Hand.”  Milanov talked about how the piece describes “the school-to-prison” pipeline as an example of a dream deferred, and how the music devolves from hope to despair.  So those words set my expectation.  The music is not complicated, although (per David) the string players sometimes would bow in different directions.  I was trying to listen for this “hope to despair” procession and frankly didn’t hear it; there was little hope at the beginning.

Since my teen years I was told the basics of listening to Mozart are the dotted notes, the crispness, and lightness.  Other than the occasional splashes of inspiration, tonight’s performance missed on all three attributes.  I don’t recall having encountered this concerto in live performance before, so consider this a missed opportunity.

Wosner taking a bow after the Mozart concerto.  Notice the rather empty balcony section, the main auditorium had more people though.

Dinner at Dinky's before the concert.

Schubert wrote his fourth symphony, referred to as “The Tragic," when he was nineteen, but (per Wikipedia) the piece wasn’t performed until 1849, years after his death.  A characteristic of Schubert’s music is the ease with which he modulated.  For him to move from one key to an entirely unrelated key seemed effortless, either with brute force, or with a few intermediate chords.  I didn’t get that with this piece, again an unfamiliar one.  Whether it’s the orchestra or the music, I don’t know.  The third movement, titled Minuet and Trio, could well have been called Scherzo (and Trio?).  The orchestra didn’t take all the repeats, which was a wise choice given how it was performed.  The solo flute had quite a few lines, the clarify didn’t come through at all.  And that was against a small ensemble.

From a critic’s point of view, this had to be an unsatisfactory concert.  However, I found the evening a delight.  Dinner with old friends was certainly good, and being able to sit inside an auditorium turned out to more enjoyable than I thought.

 

In the middle of writing this blog entry, I bought tickets for tonight’s (Friday Nov 5) NJSO concert with Trifonov as the pianist.

NJ PBS. TRANSCEND: An NJSO Concert Film. July 21, 2021.

Program performed October 22-23, 2020 at NJPAC, Newark, NJ.

Program per NJSO Website.  Video also available on NJSO website.

Featuring the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra

Xian Zhang, Music Director

Directed by Yuri Alves

Arising from a pandemic shutdown, world-renowned conductor and star music director Xian Zhang leads the illustrious New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in a concert film directed by award-winning filmmaker Yuri Alves, who expands the magnetic soundscape with evocative visual meditations on a world in turmoil.

The concerts were recorded live at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ, October 22–23, 2020. Presented in 4K Ultra HD. Produced by DreamPlay Films in association with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

An immersive orchestral experience for a new era.

Part I

DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN i am a white person who _____ Black people (World Premiere, NJSO Commission)
MAHLER Adagietto from Symphony No. 5
MOZART Divertimento in D Major K. 136
MICHAEL ABELS Delights & Dances

Part II

STILL Mother and Child
PUCCINI I Crisantemi
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Deep River
DVOŘÁK Serenade for Strings

Featuring

XIAN ZHANG conductor & piano
ERIC WYRICK violin
RUBÉN RENGEL violin
JANNINA NORPOTH violin
DANA KELLEY viola
THOMAS MESA cello
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

NJSO Concert Films - EMERGE Part 3. Premiered Jun 30, 2021.

Recorded live on March 11, 2021 at NJPAC, Newark, NJ.

Program

Shostakovich First Piano Concerto.

Beethoven Fourth Symphony.

Conductor: Xian Zhang; Piano: Daniil Trifonov; Trumpet: Anderson Romero.

ALL ARTS Channel Broadcast - New York Philharmonic Concert in Pyongyang. May 17, 2021.

Original Concert Date: February 26, 2008.

The concert took place at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre, with Lorin Maazel conducting a program anchored by two well-known pieces premiered at the New York Philharmonic: Dvorak's "From the New World" Symphony and Gershwin's "An American in Paris."  The concert started with the national anthems of the USA and North Korea, and started with Wagner's Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin.  The encore pieces included pieces from Bizet, Bernstein, and the popular Korean folk song Arirang.

ALL-ARTS also had the video in its archives, so some of the photos are screen shots from my PC.

Metropolitan Opera at Home - Puccini's Turandot. April 26, 2021.

Original  Broadcast Date: ???

Conductor - Yannic Nezet-Seguin.  Turandot - Christine Goerke, Calaf - Yusif Eyvazov, Liu - Eleonora Buratto, Timur - James Morris, Ping - Alexey Lavrov, Pang - Tony Stevenson, Pong - Eduardo Valdes.

I am writing this down on July 2, so don't remember the specifics.  I suppose one could go back and at least find out when the live performance occurred ...

Below are some screen shots from the TV:

2021 NJSO Lunar New Year Celebration Concert. Online premiere February 6, 2021.

Program
Andante Cantabile for Cello and Orchestra by Tchaikovsky.
Manha de Carnaval by Luiz Donfa.
Der Erlkonig by Schubert arr. Liszt.
Purple Bamboo Tune, Traditional.
Fisherman’s Song at Eventide, Traditional.
Happy Days by Chu Wang-Ha.
Libertango by Piazzolla.
Spring Dawn by Gu Jianfen; Lyrics by Meng Haoran.
Singing and Smiling by Gu Jianfen; Lyrics by Wang Jian.
Flying Free by Don Besig.
Farewell, Traditional arr. Nicholas Hersh.
Gong Xi Gong Xi, Traditional.
 

This was the premiere broadcast of the “event,” which consists of new recordings made at NJPAC on January 22, and archive footage from 2019 and 2020.

Took quite a few screenshots during the broadcast.  There were over 600 people watching, which is a good turnout.

Several NJSO Chinese members introduced pieces in the program, and there were guest appears by Gabriel van Aalst, NJSO CEO; Huang Ping, Chinese Consul General; Lang Lang; and others.

The program was pre-recorded, but still very enjoyable.  Usually I am out-of-town during Chinese New Year, I am glad I caught it this year.

Jonathan Spitz playing cello solo, Andante Cantabile by Tchaikovsky.

Xuefei Yang performing Luiz Bonfa's Manha de Carnaval.

George Li played Erlkonig and Happy Days.

The Purple Bamboo Tune has solo passages for various instruments.  Here is Wyrick doing the violin solo.

Yuefei Yang also performed the traditional tune Fisher's Song at Eventide.

Na-Young Baek at the Cello for the performance of Piazzolla's Libertango; Yufei Yang joined in remotely with the guitar.

Gao Jinfan set the famous poem "Spring Dawn" by Meng Haoran to music.  The Starry Arts Group Children's Chorus is conducted by Rebecca Shen.

The ensemble also sang the song "Singing and Smiling" by Gu Jianfen.

Bart Feller's flute solo in the song "Flying Free" was accompanied by Xian Zhang.  No idea which parts of the chorus were produced in 2021 or spliced in from archived performances.

This is archival footage.  The Song farewell sung by the Starry Arts Group Children's Chorus and the Peking University Alumni Chorus.

The program concluded with the traditional song "Gong Xi Gong Xi," archived from 2020.

Sight and Sound Theater - Noah. Viewed January 30, 2021.

Viewed via the TBN iOS APP.  Free.

The familiar biblical account of Noah, embellished by characters and events not inconsistent with the story told in the Bible.  For instance, names were given to folks such as Noah's family members.

Some shots I took from the TV.

92Y Online Concert - New York Philharmonic String Quartet. Viewed December 20, 2020.

Concert recorded December 17, 2020.  Part of the 10-concert subscription series.

Program

Schubert, Quartettsatz, D. 703 (1820).

Mendelssohn, Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13 (1827).

Ravel, String Quartet.

The concert originally had Emanuel Ax appearing as well, a few weeks ago 92Y sent out an email announcing that Ax won't be on the program.  I was quite disappointed as I had always enjoyed Ax's musicianship.

Despite that, this program was thoroughly enjoyable.  From what I could tell, both the Mendelssohn and the Ravel pieces were not easy to pull off; they were performed brilliantly.

I was wondering why the first movement of Schubert was played (the "satz" in the title should have been a giveaway).  Turns out this was a quartet Schubert never completed.

It always amazes me how easy Schubert made key changes effortless, he seemed to be able to jump to any key he wanted with a few transitional notes.

I could find scores for all three pieces on the web, and followed along best I could.  This was my first listening of all three pieces, I am torn between just sitting back and enjoy versus not being able to follow where the music is going.  (The simple answer is to listen multiple times, but not practical in many instances.)

The movements of the other quartets are as follows.  Mendelssohn: Adagio-Allegro vivace; Adagio non lento; Intermezzo: Allegretto con moto-Allegro di molto; Presto-Adagio non lento.  Ravel: Allegro moderato-tres doux; Assez vif-tres rythme; Tres lent; Vif et agite.

92Y Online Concert - Jeremy Denk, piano. Viewed December 17, 2020.

Concert recorded Sunday December 13, 2020.  Part of the 10-concert subscription series.

Program

MOZART: Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457
BLIND TOM WIGGINS: The Battle of Manassas
JOPLIN: Heliotrope Bouquet (arr. Chauvin)
TANIA LEÓN: Rituál
FREDERIC RZEWSKI: Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111

Ellie and family were baking Christmas cookies at house on December 13, so I didn't get to see this live.  From the closing credits it appears the concert was not recorded on the 92Y stage, but somewhere in San Francisco instead.

Regardless of when or where it was recorded, this is a concert one will enjoy no matter when one sees it.

Below are some of the notes I took during my viewing of the event.

After Mozart, Denk talked about bookending the recital with the tragic sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven, which to him is a reflection of the year.

The Battle of Manassas is a collection of favorite "patriotic" tunes woven together as a fantasy/impromptu.

Joplin's unmistakable sound followed.

Rzewski's Cotton Mill Blues started sounding like a cotton mill (as close as the piano can come to imitate it).  Keys hit with entire palm and fist.

(Not sure what happened to the Tania Leon piece!)

Talked about the Beethoven sonata.  Beethoven used C Minor key multiple times.  Some Bach themes.  In two movements.  Second a set of variations with infinite patience.  Long-short-long- series of themes, gets into the wilderness, and comes back.

92Y Online Concert - Xavier Foley, double bass, and Kelly Lin, piano. Viewed December 10, 2020.

Live Broadcast on December 4, 2020.  Part of the 10-concert subscription series.

Program

Bottesini, Elegy No. 1.

Bach, Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008.

Xavier Foley, Irish Fantasy.

Foley, Always on the Move.

Gliere, Intermezzo & Tarantella, Op. 9

I couldn't get to this program until about a week later.  Besides being a bit busy with other (mostly trivial) things I needed to take care of, I also didn't think I would get too excited about the double bass as a solo instrument.  My experience with bass as more than a "double bass" was limited to its chamber role in Schubert's "Trout Quintet" and every now and then listening to Max's playing on the instrument (in person or on TV).

In that regard I was glad I caught this program.  The most prominent takeaway for me was the instrument sounded good for most of the 60-plus minutes of the program.  Perhaps - as my aforementioned friend insisted at one time - there is no parallel between cello and bass techniques, nonetheless the similarity in sound was a lot more than I expected.  (I realize saying "wow, it sounded like a cello" may be the biggest compliment or biggest put-down you can have on the instrument.)  It was also unexpected that, at least in this case, the bass can't take that much punishment either, if the need for frequent tuning was any indication.

Foley made quite a few remarks on stage.  One puzzling statement was Bach's Suite was in D-flat minor, and it had to do with the tuning of the instrument.  And after the Bach piece he did retune the strings.  Irish Fantasy was his work based on the theme music in the game (Fate?) that came with a Windows XP computer he bought in Costco.  And Always on the Move has elements of CSI: Miami and lots of R&B to it.  The piece did start and end with traditional classical pieces, which I appreciated.

However, I am not sure how well the Bach Suite worked on the bass.  There was a distinct lack of counterpoint in the music, perhaps to play two notes "simultaneously" (by jumping quickly from one string to another) only works in specific instances.

He ended the program with an encore piece: an etude called "The Dance."

Foley plays an instrument made by Solano.  Notice the fingerboard: it ends in a notch.