Favourite concerts of 2013

Well, 2013 was another impressive year for me concert-wise. It had some of the best concerts I've ever been to, and thankfully a lot of Shostakovich as well as new musical discoveries (most importantly Lutoslawski and Martinu). As I was writing this list I noticed that there's a lot of mention of Esa-Pekka Salonen, but that's just further proof that he conducts awesome programs amazingly well (no news there). Here's my five favourite concerts of the year: 

1. May 16: Shostakovich - Orango and Symphony No.4, Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ryan McKinny, Allan Clayton, Richard Angas, Elisabeth Meister, Peter Hoare, Philharmonia Voices at the Royal Festival Hall

I had been looking forward to this concert ever since it was announced, and on the day itself I was giddy with excitement. The newly discovered Orango received its European premiere in a fantastic performance by the orchestra and soloists, lead by Esa-Pekka Salonen, who is always extraordinary. I wish someone would have filmed the performance because it was also visually captivating, and Ryan McKinny in particular was spectacular. The Philharmonia's performance of the Fourth Symphony was one of the best - if not the best - I've heard, and I really hope they will perform more Shostakovich symphonies with Salonen in upcoming years. 

My bachtrack review (five stars)

2. October 30: Schnittke - Symphony No.1, Lutoslawski - Cello Concerto, and Ligeti - Lontano, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Michail Jurowski, Johannes Moser at the Royal Festival Hall

Okay so by the time this concert came around I had gotten slightly tired of Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto. An amazing piece though it is, 3 performances in one year may be a bit too much. Thankfully I thought wrong because this performance turned out to be BY FAR the best. It was so much better than the other (also good) performances, in terms of musical interpretation by the conductor (Michail Jurowski is pretty badass isn't he?), playing by the orchestra but especially in terms of the soloist. Moser was phenomenal, absolutely amazing. And this performance wasn't even the highlight of the evening! Schnittke's Symphony No.1 is one of the most fantastic pieces of music ever written and the London Philharmonic gave such an incredible performance that even thinking about it makes me smile from ear to ear. It was a life-affirming performance that was suitably ridiculous, challenging, intense and all-encompassing. Definitely a concert I will never, ever forget. 

3. October 26: Shostakovich - Symphony No.13, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Mikhail Petrenko, Gentlemen of the London Philharmonic Choir at the Royal Festival Hall

I really miss seeing Yannick at the Rotterdam Philharmonic, so of course I had to go see him conduct the London Philharmonic in Shostakovich's impressive Symphony No.13. The performance did not disappoint, Petrenko was really impressive, and the male chorus was completely on point but the orchestra in particular gave a passionate and intelligent performance of this emotional and bleak symphony. It's one of my favourite works Shostakovich has ever written and so I tend to be a little bit worried when I see it live, because what if I don't like the interpretation of the performance?! But this one was about as good as it gets, and proves that Yannick really is a great Shostakovich conductor. 

My bachtrack review (five stars) 

4. May 30: Varèse - Amériques and Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring, Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Royal Festival Hall

THIS CONCERT WAS JUST SO WONDERFULLY LOUD. Seriously. Amériques is just so much fun and it's so impressive to hear it live, and coupling with the always enjoyable Rite of Spring was a great move. The performance of the Rite of Spring was simply amazing, it was animalistic and organic and so rhythmically powerful and  played with unstoppable energy and drive. 

My bachtrack review (four stars)

5. January 30: Lutoslawski - Musique Funèbre & Piano Concerto and Ravel - Daphnis et Chloé (complete ballet), Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Krystian Zimerman, Philharmonia Voices at the Royal Festival Hall

This was my introduction to the music of Lutoslawski, which I am immensely grateful for. Musique Funèbre was mesmerizing and the Piano Concerto was stunning to hear for the first time. The performance of one of my favourite pieces ever, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé was also faultless and made for an impressive ending to a great concert.

My bachtrack review (four stars) 

Other highlights: Leila Josefowicz and the London Philharmonic playing Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No.1, the Philharmonia and Ashkenazy's astounding performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No.15, Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra played by the Philharmonia and Salonen, Haitink and the London Symphony Orchestra's thought-provoking performance of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony, Britten Sinfonia and Pekka Kuusisto's performance of Tüür's  Lighthouse, and last but certainly not least, the "Music from Dark Times" program by the London Philharmonic and Jurowski. 

Favourite concerts of 2012

2012 was another fab year for live classical music. I reviewed 29 concerts for Bachtrack and many of them were really good. There were, as always, a few concerts that really stood out for me. Interestingly enough, they all seem to have been from April-July but I swear the rest of the year was good as well! Now that I live in England I am very curious to see what 2013's list will be like, especially with The Rest is Noise festival going on I'm anticipating perhaps my most exciting musical year yet. But now for 2012:

1. May 31: Maurice Ravel - L'Enfant et Les Sortilèges and Ma Mère L'Oye, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Magdalena Kožená, Nathalie Stutzmann, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Vlaams Radiokoor et al at De Doelen, Rotterdam.
I am of course a big fan of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. They're an absolutely fantastic orchestra with great programming every year, and this Ravel concert was probably my favourite concert in all of 2012. Apart from L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (which, together with Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre must be one of the funniest operas ever) they played Ma Mere l'Oye and these two pieces Ravel wrote for children are just stunning and hilarious and beautiful and moving. All the soloists were phenomenal and the puppet theatre done by O.T. Theater only made everything more awesome.
My bachtrack review: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-de-doelen-rotterdam-phil-seguin-ravel-enfant-sortileges (five stars).

2. June 7: Dmitri Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No.1 and more, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Pablo Heras-Casado, Alisa Weilerstein at the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam.
Of course Shostakovich concerts are generally my favourites because I love his music above all. But Alisa Weilerstein's rendition of his Cello Concerto No.1 was honestly something else. I'd seen it live twice before and was impressed every single time, but not to the extent that Weilerstein impressed me. For the entirety of her playing I found it hard to breathe because I simply felt too much, it was such an emotional performance, and combined with all her technical mastery that made it a performance I will probably remember for a long, long time. The other pieces of the evening were pretty great as well, I loved Schnittke's Moz-art a là Haydn which was my first live-experience of a Schnittke piece!
My bachtrack review: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-mahler-chamber-orchestra-heras-casado-holland-festival (four stars).

3. April 27: James MacMillan - Violin Concerto, Bartók - Romanian Folk Dances and Shostakovich - Symphony No.9, Radio Kamer Filharmonie, James MacMillan, Vadim Repin
I think I loved James MacMillan's violin concerto even more than I thought I would. I was familiar with some of his choral works, which I really enjoy, and I figured that having Vadim Repin (one of my favourite violinists in the world) play the violin concerto would at least make it interesting. But it turned out to be amazing and just right up my street and it took me a little while to appreciate just how much I loved it. It was loud and energetic and playful and funny and moving and memorable. It was recorded for Dutch TV and even though I haven't found an entire recording on youtube yet, there is this movement which you should just watch. Sadly enough, The Radio Kamer Filharmonie has disbanded this year because the Dutch government makes stupid decisions and it is a massive loss to the Dutch classical music world.
My bachtrack review: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-macmillan-repin-radio-kamer-filharmonie-shostakovich (four stars)

4. June & July: All the Pekka Kuusisto
Basically, this year was a good year for Netherlands-based Pekka Kuusisto fans. He was the artist in residence at the Robeco Zomerconcerten which means I got to see him play three times and each time was marvelous. The concert of Finnish tango music (with pianist Iiro Rantala) was so much fun and actually a lot more interesting musically that I'd anticipated (I love being wrong). His rendition of the Sibelius Violin Concerto is second to none, and truly revealed the beauty and strength of that concerto (some renditions I find can make it a little bit dull, but at least with Kuusisto you will never ever be bored). The Paganini concert, with guitarist Ismo Eskelinen was probably my favourite of the three, because it kind of combined all of Kuusisto's strengths. Not only is he a gifted performer and great story-teller, but he is an incredibly technically accomplished violinist with such mastery and musicality that you cannot help but be in awe.
My bachtrack reviews: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-robeco-2012-kuusisto-rantala-finnish-tango (Finnish tango, four stars)
http://www.bachtrack.com/review-robeco-2012-kuusisto-eskelinen (Paganini, four stars)
http://www.bachtrack.com/review-robeco-zomerconcerten-rpo-sinaisky-kuusisto (Sibelius, three stars)

5. July 27: Britten - Sinfonia da Requiem and Shostakovich - Symphony No.5, Aldeburgh World Orchestra, Mark Elder at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam
Okay so 2012 wasn't as impressive a Shostakovich-year as 2011 was for me, but there were still some great concerts. The Aldeburgh World Orchestra gave an amazing performance of the Symphony No.5 (I still fondly remember the timpanist's last notes, he was great), and combined with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem (one of my favourite Britten pieces) this was just generally one of my favourite concerts. They also played the Adagio from Mahler's 10th which was good, but not quite as memorable as Britten and Shostakovich. Every time I see Mark Elder conduct a Shostakovich symphony I am sutprised by how good it is, you'd think that by now I'd remember that he's great at it! Also, the fact that the Aldeburgh World Orchestra are not even a professional orchestra and had been playing together for just 3 (!!!) weeks before this concert makes it all the more impressive.
My bachtrack review: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-robeco-2012-aldeburgh-world-orchestra-elder-britten-mahler-shostakovich (four stars)

Other highlights: Renaud Capuçon playing Ravel's Tzigane and Saint-Saëns's Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso at Vredenburg Utrecht, Alexander Melnikov playing all of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ Amsterdam, the Philip Glass Violin Concerto 'American Four Seasons' by Robert McDuffie and Amsterdam Sinfonietta in Middelburg, Prokofiev's Symphony No.5 by Valery Gergiev and the Rotterdam Philharmonic at De Doelen Rotterdam, Grieg's Peer Gynt at the Barbican London, Ravel's Shéhérazade and Daphnis et Chloé by Yannick and the R'dam Phil at De Doelen, Mahler's Symphony No.7 by the Gustav Mahler Jugendorkester at Concertgebouw Amsterdam. And probably more!

Confessions of a reviewer #1

Currently I have written 46 reviews for Bachtrack. When I first started writing for them I was incredibly insecure and unsure about whether I was really suitable for the job; do I know enough? Can I write well? How's my English? Am I too enthusiastic about Shostakovich?. I expected that with experience confidence would somehow appear and that eventually I would trust my judgment when it came to music, and that I would learn how to write better. There are still many struggles and doubts, however, which is why I've decided to write a bit about my experience as a reviewer. My experience is 85% fantastic because I get to listen to the music I love without having to spend all my money on it, and I can share my love for it. The other 15% are my own insecurities and doubts, and I figured that instead of keeping it all in I should use this platform to create openness and hopefully gather some responses and other experiences.

For some reason, I am still as insecure as I was in the beginning. Some things have changed; I write the reviews much quicker now, I can compare concerts to one another and thereby I think my methods of assessing a concert have changed, and I definitely know more than I did. But still I worry, I worry about being able to put into words the experience of seeing a concert. That is and always will be my struggle; the most important and overpowering experiences during live concerts will always be those that words fail, they will be emotional, hard to capture, not rational. Of course there are many rational things as well, such as the tempi in a piece, the movements of the conductor, whether the notes that are being played are the right ones, whether an instrument plays too loudly/soflly etc. But music and concerts are not about these things. They are about emotions. At least, that's how I experience music. And sometimes emotions go beyond words. This is what people like George Steiner and Schopenhauer have written about when it comes to music; it has an effect that is beyond language.

As such, the only reviews I wrote that I actually like or am proud of are ones where I feel I was able to capture the emotions, ones where my description goes beyond the rational and touches upon something beyond that. I think it will be an eternal struggle, because some things simply will never be a part of language or at least of my vocabulary (this is why I admire good music journalists and philosophers of music so much - they have found a way to describe the musical experience).

So how do I go about writing reviews? The first thing I do is write down all the particulars of the performance that aren't necessarily related to how I experienced it - like the size of the orchestra, the tempi in the performance, how the conductor moves, whether there were any stand-out performances etc. I also usually divide the review into several paragraphs, with at least one paragraph per piece performed (this can change when for example only one piece was played, or it's a chamber music recital with a ridiculous amount of pieces). That's the easy part.

The hard part? Trying to convey how I felt during the concert. What the pieces mean emotionally, what made the performance different from others, whether it was intense and why it was(n't). There's only so many times you can call a piece of music "bleak" or "intense" or "overpowering" - what do these terms mean? I fear that a lot of the time I don't get these points across as well as I'd like to. I hope that I'm learning and I hope that it gets easier, but at the same time I think that it is inherent in the way that I experience music that I would find it difficult to communicate what exactly live concerts can mean. And that is certainly something I never want to change.

My favourite concerts in 2011.

It's almost the end of 2011 - what a year it has been! I have never seen this many classical concerts in one year, mostly thanks to Bachtrack and them allowing me to write reviews. And so, I thought I'd make a little list of my favourite concerts this year.

I went to 46 concerts of which 34 were classical. It's been an incredibly lucky year in that I got to see quite a few of my favourite performers (Pekka Kuusisto, Nikolai Lugansky, Sergey Khachatryan, Ian Bostridge, Leila Josefowicz, Vadim Repin and of course Yannick!) and I fell in love with a lot of music I hadn't heard before. Concert-wise there were a few definite highlights, but because I can never decide what order to put things in, I've decided to do them chronologically. I've also generally not listed the entire concert but only one particular piece played (or sometimes more) because those pieces were my highlights.

1. March 25: Dmitri Shostakovich - Violin Concerto No.1, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Ludovic Mrolot, Sergey Khachatryan at De Doelen, Rotterdam.
This is the concert that made me fall in love with Khachatryan, because despite sniffing crazily loud he played this concerto better than I ever could've imagined. It's a stunning piece in itself, I would probably enjoy any performance that wasn't crap, but Khachatryan really elevated the violin concerto and made it so so beautiful.

2. April 3: Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No.13 - Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Dmitri Slobodeniouk and Sergei Aleksashkin at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
The 13th Symphony is an interesting and complicated work. It's set to poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko and its subtitle is "Babi Yar" - the title of a poem and the first movement, and the sight of a huge massacre in WWII. In my review for bachtrack I said this of the performance: "The music emphasizes these different elements, the terror and the optimism, the fear and the solidarity, and Slobodeniouk brought them out beautifully in the orchestra. Although Sergei Aleksashkin is not the most facially expressive singer, his voice expressed every emotion that one would expect to hear in this piece. [...] The chorus was also extremely powerful and you could feel just how much all of these musicians connected to the music and understood the tremendous meaning(s) it contains. The standing ovation was much deserved."
My review on bachtrack: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-shostakovich-13th-babi-yar-concertgebouw

3. June 15: Benjamin Britten - The Rape of Lucretia - Oliver Knussen, Ian Bostridge, Susan Gritton, Angelika Kirchschlager and others at the Muziekgebouw Aan 't IJ in Amsterdam.
I hadn't heard The Rape of Lucretia before I went to see it and had no idea what to expect. Well, I had some idea, because I was familiar with another of Britten's operas: Peter Grimes and I absolutely love that opera. The Rape of Lucretia is quite different in that it is a chamber opera so the drama has to be more contained and somewhat more subtle but none of that matters because it is an absolutely fantastic piece. The performers were absolutely incredible as well, particularly Ian Bostridge and Susan Gritton who played the male and female choruses.
My review on bachtrack: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-rape-of-lucretia-holland-festival

4. June 17: Thomas Adès - Concentric Paths, Polaris, Tevot - Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Thomas Adès, Leila Josefowicz at the Concertgebouw.
Well, none of you will be surprised by the inclusion of this concert in my favourites. I absolutely adore Adès's music and I was SO excited to hear him conduct these works and also to hear Polaris for the first time. Concentric Paths is a violin concerto and was played by the remarkable Leila Josefowicz (who I already knew because she played Salonen's violin concerto so ridiculously well) and hearing it live was incredible. Same goes for Tevot and Polaris - Adès has a bit of a love for really high violin notes but he also loves loud percussion so that's me sorted! This concert was probably a highlight of my year in general - I felt so lucky and priviliged to have present there, to have been a part of it.
My review on bachtrack: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-concertgebouw-ades

5. July 15: Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No.2 - Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Emmanuel Krivine, Nikolai Lugansky at the Concertgebouw.
Okay so I just really love Nikolai Lugansky, and anytime he plays Prokofiev will be a favourite concert of mine. It really is that simple, no one plays Prokofiev like him and no one wrote piano concertos like Prokofiev.
My review on bachtrack: http://www.bachtrack.com/ravel-prokofiev-and-dvorak-in-the-concertgebouw

6. August 29: Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No.8 - Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Andriss Nelsons at the Concertgebouw.
This performance was exceptional. The 8th symphony isn't even one of my top 5-favourite Shostakovich symphonies but this performance made me want to listen to it over and over and over and over again because it broke my heart and made a huge impact on me. Generally for Shostakovich I prefer the Rotterdam Philharmonic but I have no doubt that I will never forget this performance. It was incredible.
My review on bachtrack: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-royal-concertgebouw-andris-nelsons-shostakovich-8

7. October 21: Sofia Gubaidulina - Das Gastmahl während der Pest and Edgar Varèse - Amériques - Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Mariss Jansons at the Concertgebouw.
The Gubaidulina piece was great just to see a bunch of old people at the Concertgebouw being subjected to badass drum 'n' bass-beats. Seriously so amusing. Varèse is one of my main musical discoveries of the year - I absolutely loved Amériques, it is such an exciting and loud and fantastic piece of music. 19 percussionists!!! 139 musicians!! I wish every concert were like that.
My review: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-gubaidulina-celebration-concertgebouw

8. December 2: Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No.4 - Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Mark Elder at De Doelen, Rotterdam.
I love the Fourth Symphony more than pretty much anything in this world. This performance was beautiful and pretty much turned me into a mess for its duration. Mark Elder also held a lovely speech before playing explaining what the symphony was about, and I think this probably added to the experience of anyone not aware of Shostakovich's dire living situation during the writing of the Fourth Symphony. I would like to relive this concert over and over again.
My review: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-rotterdam-philharmonic-mark-elder-shostakovich-fourth-symphony

Other highlights:
Yannick conducting anything and everything, Vadim Repin playing Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto at De Doelen, Sergey Khachatryan playing Arthur Aharonian's Second Violin Concerto at the Muziekgebouw, Nikolai Lugansky played Maurice Ravel´s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (twice), Britten's War Requiem at De Doelen, Britten's Death in Venice Suite at De Doelen, Gubaidulina's Jetzt immer Schnee at the Philharmonie in Haarlem, Béla Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at the Muziekgebouw, Alexander Raskatov's Alphabet of Death at the Muziekgebouw, Shostakovich's 8th String Quartet in the Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden, Shostakovich's 11th Symphony at the Concertgebouw (would've been in my top list if I hadn't seen the Rotterdam Phil play it even more intensely last year), the entire Russian Fall festival by the Rotterdam Philharmonic (please do one every year..) . And I also have a least favourite piece: Terteryan's Symphony No.6. I wish I could un-hear it, but at least I (and about half of the audience with me) slept through some of it.

Anyway, I hope it's been a fantastic year for all of you as well, and I'll see you in the new year!

A (somewhat extranous) Review: Rossini, Rijnvos and Beethoven

Last saturday I was lucky enough to witness the world premiere of a new piece by Dutch composer Richard Rijnvos, Ponte de la Pièta, a passacaglia for violin and double orchestra. I mostly wanted to go because the solo violin was played by Pekka Kuusisto, my favourite violinist (seriously, look him up on youtube, he's great and hilarious). Besides that, I always feel lucky when I'm able to attend a premiere of a new piece of music (it's exciting), and this time the other pieces on the program were fun as well (Rossini's William Tell Overture and Beethoven's Symphony No.7.

I needed a few days to digest the concert, for several reasons. I completely loved the Rijnvos work, found it beautiful atmospheric and there was something creepy yet soothing about it. But the more I think about it, the more I feel that the musical setting was completely wrong. I love Rossini anytime, the William Tell Overture is as fun a piece as any (although my favourite Rossini is his Petite Messe Solemnelle which is the funniest requiem ever), and I also love Beethoven's 7th, it's probably my favourite Beethoven symphony (this may or may not have something to do with the fact that it's played in The Fall, the most beautiful film in the world) but these pieces completely paled in comparison to the Rijnvos work. And not necessary because they're not as good, they're just so different. 

To the Rijnvos's Ponte de la Pièta is one of those works where it's not about what notes are played and it's not about melodies or rhythm but it's about the atmosphere music can create, and through this alone it can be really emotional. I think it's perhaps similar to listening to Satie's piano pieces, they are so simple yet strangely atmospheric and emotional (apparently Rijnvos is heavily influenced by Satie, I'm not surprised). The Rossini piece, however, seems almost the complete opposite. It is a high-powered endless barrage of notes that make you sit up in your seat and make you want to start running around. Of course it's not like that throughout, but it really ends with a BANG! Beethoven's 7th is somewhat different in that it has a beautiful slow second movement, but most of it is quite similar to Rossini, a lot of energy, a lot of notes, a lot of

And so, it makes me wonder why these pieces were put together. I fear that, compared to the Rossini and Beethoven, Rijnvos's piece may have come across as rather dull because it doesn't really build towards anything, there is no obvious climax, whereas the other two works have very clear and satisfying ones. And for me, the Beethoven and Rossini pieces appeared almost meaningless and emotionless because they're so much less atmospheric. Of course I won't stop listening to them, and I will start listening to Rijnvos so maybe the I shouldn't complain, but I feel like all the pieces might have deserved better. Although of course, it could be a lot worse, I remember one fateful night years ago when I went to the Concertgebouw to see both of Shostakovich's cello concertos and the orchestra also played Haydn's waytoomanieth (seriously, it was like the 97th or something) symphony which is still the most boring thing I've ever heard in my life and I couldn't believe someone thought it a good idea to bill this with Shostakovich. It felt like blasphemy!

Anyway, in order to illustrate the point I was trying to make (there's a point in there somewhere), here are videos from last saturday's concert (orchestra is the Radio Kamer Filharmonie, conductor Michael Schønwandt, violinist the aforementioned badass Pekka Kuusisto):

Rossini - ending of the William Tell Overture


Rijnvos - ending of the Ponte de la Pièta


Beethoven - Symphony No.7: Movement II.