Behind the makeup

A few weeks ago we attended a double bill at the Buxton festival of Luciano Berio's Recital I and George Benjamin's Little Hill. I'd never been to the Buxton Opera House before, it's a lovely little building a bit cramped but fits very nicely with that era of spas and opera going.
I don't think I'd heard the Berio work before - maybe performed on the radio by Cathy Berberian back in the 70's(?) - it was written for her in 1972 -as the preliminary write up said it is rarely heard - and a real tour-de-force by the soloist. The work tells of the reaction of the singer as she reacts to the events around a recital, her accompanist not turning up. The singer is instructed to include some works from her repertoire - so a typical Berio-ish 60's pastiche but moving in its portrayal of someone attempting to find her voice. Susan Bickley brought over the inner struggle of the performer wonderfully.
I'd not heard the Benjamin work before but I loved the sound world he conjoured up, the strings forming most of the sound. A retelling of the story of the pied piper. More than a dash of political corruption! Here's a review of the double bill from Snape.

An orchestral evening out

Out last night to hear the last Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra's last concert of the season (and the first we'd been to this year!)
Started with the Nicolai Merry Wives of Windsor overture. I used to hear this more often on the radio, I guess it was more popular a few years ago. The programme notes writer had the bit between his teeth at German opera between Weber and Wagner being ignored in the UK and I was thinking as they played that you could see where Wagner's Rienzi came from - maybe this was due the the boom-ching-ching of the cymbals and drum - (though not all!) but I see that this Nicolai performed in 1849 came well before Rienzi - but maybe the same milieu?
Then the Brahms Double Concerto - much enjoyed though I thought the violin section was having ensemble problems, again those cello solos I had logged as very much in Elgar's mind.
After the interval came the Martinů 6th Symphony - I used to have a tape of this and often listened to it, but not for many years and my memory was that it was a non-too-difficult work - wasn't how it came over last night - widespread incomprehension in the audience around me, so either my memory is faulty, my ears were more accepting then or they made a right hash of it?! Again worries about the strings in terms of ensemble and force though the 1st violin solo came over well. But the glassy (presumably) Copland inspired wide open space string sounds just didn't carry.
They finished with 3 delightful Dvorak Slavonic dances - though I do prefer the piano duet originals!
Seats and platform have changed since we last attended - I guess we blame the now non existent Macclesfield council - or is it East Cheshire striking early - don't think they've changed for the better!

Rachmaninov (lots of)

We went to the Bridgewater Hall on Thursday to hear an all Rachmaninov concert. I wanted mainly to hear the 3rd concerto - never heard it at a live concert (obviously excluding broadcasts) - though I seem to remember the college rehearsal orchestra may have performed it - with Nick Redding in spite of his piano teacher issuing an interdict - but it was a long time ago.
This week's concert consisted of the Vocalise, 3rd concerto and 3rd symphony, a little nervous whether I could handle so much romanticism! Cristian Mandeal, Nikolai Demidenko and the Halle.
No reviews on the internet so far that I've found - let me give a few impressions. Not sure whether it's where we were sitting - side circle - but much of the 1st movement of the concerto descended, as far as the piano part was concerned, into a high-class mush, with at one point a mis-hit A(?) emerging from the gloom. By the time he got to the cadenza, the balance problems - or whatever it was - seemed to have been sorted and the rest of the work was rather more involving - even to the bronchial audience participation which seemed to kick in at that point!
Demidenko played an encore I couldn't identify, Chopin arranged by Rachmaninov? - if it was I couldn't identify the original, lots of hand crossing and much feux-follet style fireworks. Kelvin suggested the Polka de [VW]R but no it wasn't that.
I don't know the 3rd symphony well wasn't too taken my it, lots of SR trademarks recycled, slavic sighing and rather more effect than (I thought) substance. Looks like we'll be walking near the Villa Senar where this was written this summer, I'll try to walk by! Interesting that the programme note highlighted similarities between the finale and that of the Walton 1st - both of which were written in the 30's and in both cases the composer had a block before he was able to complete the finale.
Before the concert, some hurried rearrangement, as our normal pre-concert restaurant appears to have disappeared! We'd arranged to meet outside so a quick move to another eating location!

Concert for Wind Machines!

.. and a few other instruments! Last night as promised back here we went to see Bychkov, London Voices and the National Youth Orchestra perform at the Bridgewater Hall. Somewhat of an indulgent evening (especially for me!).
It started with Peter Wiegold's Bow Wave - inspired by the Berio Sinfonia - parts for celtic harp and accordion, megaphones and a somewhat unconventional arrangement of performers. In enjoyed the interaction between the solo violin and the accordion, the feeling of a great ocean liner was certainly conjoured up - I think there were (a la Berio) some quotes - at least the frequent brass motif was a distorted form of something I know - but I haven't yet remembered what! Plenty of challenge of the performers. (Maybe I should mention the wind machine!)
Then to the Berio, I've never seen this live before - and we were about 4 rows from the front and got a splendid view of London Voices. I really entered into the pain of second movement something I'd not registered before with the soprano keening in memory of Luther King who was the inspiration for this movement. The third movement with its commentary on a movement from Mahler 2 was fun as ever but I still need more listening to grasp the final movement. There's a picture of the front of Bychkov's copy of the score here with doodles by Berio!
(I don't think the Berio has a part for wind machine but it does have 4 harps)
And then to the whipped cream - Strauss's Alpine Symphony, grossly over indulgent but such fun. Just when I was thinking the coda was outstaying its welcome comes that lovely final thought on muted violins. Another piece with a downward scale as the theme which lingers in the mind.(Wind machine here too and 5 harps and more brass than you can shake a baton at!)


Preview of the Birmingham concert of the same works is here, and here's a Guardian review of that concert (nearly as sketchy as mine!

Got to the station to discover that trains had been replaced by buses from Stockport so we had a rather long evening!

Riders to the Sea

Guardian review of Riders to the Sea which Richard Hickox should have conducted:

The Aran islanders, both Synge and Vaughan Williams seem to be saying, are a race apart: made of very stern stuff, yet philosophical. "No man at all can be living for ever, and we must be satisfied," sings Maurya at the end. There were tears on stage during the curtain calls.

Buried alive

Over the holiday - over a month ago now - I read three books which appear to be fascinated by holes in the ground. The BATS book for the month was I'm not afraid by Niccolò Ammaniti. Then I got around to re-reading Rose Tremain's Music and Silence - well I finished it this time having got bogged down near the end last time - I think it was an early BATS book when I didn't have as much reading time as now! Then I'd always meant to read Brian Keenan's book about his Beirut captivity An Evil Cradling and I found a copy in an Oxfam bookshop in the Lake District. Its capacity for observation in the most dreadful circumstances was startling:

There’s a bowl in front of me that wasn’t there before. A brown button bowl and in it some apricots, some small oranges, some nuts, cherries, a banana. The fruits, the colours, mesmerise me in a quiet rapture that spins through my head. I am entranced by colour. I lift an orange into the flat filthy palm of my hand and feel and smell and lick it. The colour orange, the colour, the colour, my God the colour orange. Before me is a feast of colour. I feel myself begin to dance, slowly. I am intoxicated by colour. I feel the colour in a quiet somnambulist rage. Such wonder, such absolute wonder in such an insignificant fruit.

Somewhat of a claustrophobic selection - but I didn't notice the connection until I was nearly through them.
And from the title of this post, I must get around to re-listening to Othmar Schoek's Lebendig Begraben

It was of a 40-minute song cycle for bass voice and orchestra, a setting of a cycle of poems by the Swiss poet Gottfried Keller entitled Lebendig begraben ('Buried alive'). He had embarked upon it just a few weeks after getting married, though Hilde's reaction to the fact is not known.

A wonderful piece - but finding Schoek cd's is not easy! However I see that the DFD recording has been reissued!

Mrs Senzatalento goes to a concert

Well to hear Gaydar (err Gardar) Cortez (is he really called that?), at the Barbican. Read the review!