Ashkenazy conducts Shostakovich and Sibelius
Now that the three week exam ordeal is finally over, I'll hopefully have time to update my blog regularly again. Let's kick things off with a short concert review:
Yesterday evening, the Philharmonia Orchestra played two compositions each by Dmitry Shostakovich and Jean Sibelius under the baton of Russian conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy. The sold-out concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall started off with Sibelius' "Pohjola's Daughter", a quite low-key symphonic tone poem. Ashkenazy conducted the beautiful, evocative score, like all other pieces on that evening, with infectious energy and humour.
Next were two of Shostakovich's concertos, the Piano Concerto No. 2 and the Cello Concerto No. 1. Although the former seemed to be more popular with most of the audience, as evidenced by the very generous applause, to me, the latter was clearly the more exciting one. Unlike the rather light-hearted Piano Concerto, it is very dark and aggressive. This shows above all in the menacing horn lines and, of course, the percussive cello soli, which were played by Steven Isserlis with great ardour and exhilarating virtuosity.
Sibelius' Seventh and last Symphony then brought the evening to a pleasant end (even if I found the work's finale tediously drawn-out). Watching the dwarfish Ashkenazy wave his arms around and communicate with orchestra and soloists in his happy, cordial manner was not only very amusing to watch, but also musically rewarding. And, just to top things off, I saw some absolutely massive fireworks on the way from the concert hall back to the underground station. Did I mention I love living in London?
Yesterday evening, the Philharmonia Orchestra played two compositions each by Dmitry Shostakovich and Jean Sibelius under the baton of Russian conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy. The sold-out concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall started off with Sibelius' "Pohjola's Daughter", a quite low-key symphonic tone poem. Ashkenazy conducted the beautiful, evocative score, like all other pieces on that evening, with infectious energy and humour.
Next were two of Shostakovich's concertos, the Piano Concerto No. 2 and the Cello Concerto No. 1. Although the former seemed to be more popular with most of the audience, as evidenced by the very generous applause, to me, the latter was clearly the more exciting one. Unlike the rather light-hearted Piano Concerto, it is very dark and aggressive. This shows above all in the menacing horn lines and, of course, the percussive cello soli, which were played by Steven Isserlis with great ardour and exhilarating virtuosity.
Sibelius' Seventh and last Symphony then brought the evening to a pleasant end (even if I found the work's finale tediously drawn-out). Watching the dwarfish Ashkenazy wave his arms around and communicate with orchestra and soloists in his happy, cordial manner was not only very amusing to watch, but also musically rewarding. And, just to top things off, I saw some absolutely massive fireworks on the way from the concert hall back to the underground station. Did I mention I love living in London?
posted by Ralf at 5:40 PM
2 Comments:
sharp - distance.
Pick up Shostakovich's 7th symphony that Temirkanov conducted:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003FOZ/qid=1148249700/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/104-6676847-6541523?s=classical&v=glance&n=5174
..unless, of course you already have it, in which case you know how awesome it is.
I'm sure you realized I was actually talking about Sibelius' 7th ;-).
Of Shosty's Symphonies, I've the boxed set of Rudolf Barshai conducting the WDR Symphony Orchestra, which I'm very satisfied with. But I guess I'll check out some alternative recordings once I've explored all the 20,000 other composers that I want to get to know.
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