Some London Reviews

Then it was off to the symphony to see Essa-Pekka Salonen conduct the Philharmonia playing Messaien's Turangalila. I went in expecting to be bored of the atonality and happy with the huge symphony. Boy was I wrong, IT was THE MOST intense, captivating and moveing (both emotionally and physically_ piece I have ever heard. Salonen was fantastic, and though the Philharmonia didn't have the polished finesse of the Philharmonic (i might be predjudice), they really gave it their all. It is my new favourite piece, the one I will see every orchestra I can play. I LOVE it and came out charged and raring to go.


The last three performances:
1. Rational Rec: This was... an experience. In retrospect it's harder to be very negative, but I didn't exactly enjoy the concert. It was put on by our music teacher and two of his friends, one of whom is the guy with the talking in hyde park "art". It featured the work of six contemporary composers. The first was a parody/homage to the genre of rock, that consisted of about three chords, a guy screaming "yeah yeah" and him shuffling his ipod. The second was by far the most bizarre. A woman made weeeeird noises, like really weird, while this guy "played" his homemade instrument that emited random electronic sounds. They interviewed each other after that, we had a break, I realized I needed a lot more beer but couldn't afford it, then we went on to the next set. This consisted of an aurally unpleasing trio that was okay at the end, but at first made me want to tear my teeth out. This was followed by a guitar piece, the score of which was a map. The performer chose to go to different buildlings which had different riffs and, if they wanted to cross the road, had to play the elevator music.
I think the nutella and pancakes after this set was a highlight of the evening.
The next one was a duet between clarinet and accordian, which consisted of them trying to imitate eachother, then watching a video of themselves playing, then playig with the video.
The last one was my favorite (which honestly isn't high praise), a fun and raucus tango composed by a hilarious, trashed guy.
WTF?




After a sad, sad, saturday of sitting around doing nothing, I went to the London Phil to see Turnage's Lullaby for Henze, Henze's Seconda Sonata por ARchi, Brahm's Violin Concerto and the famous and beloved Tchaikovsky's sixth symphony.
The orchestra was set up in a wa I'd never seen before. From right to left, it went First Violins, Violas, Cellos, Second Violins, with the Basses behind everyone.
Turnage was good, but unremarkable. He was there, so I felt bad that we didnt' clap longer, but I think the Tchaik was on everyone's mind. I really liked the first movement of the Henze, and I knkew it was a good piece of music, but it was dense and ended on a really odd note.
The Brahms, however, was fantastic. Amazing. Spiritual. I LOVE JOHANESS BRAHMS!! He is just so right for me, so comforting yet interesting. I think I'm at a time in my life where I'm pushing myself to be edgy, to be atonal, but really all I want is something warm to feel safe with. And Brahms always makes me feel safe. The violinist was so organic and natural. Christian Tezlaff is my new favorite violinist. He played the violin like an extension of his body. But as soon as the goreous second movement ended and pounced straight into the third, his string broke. He freaked out and tried to trade violins with the concertmaster (or leader as they call them here), but didn't and ran off stage. While this was happening, behind me a lady repremanded a man for letting his young daughter mess around and disturb her. The kid must have been si or seven, and this lady was being a huge bitch about it. Who likes the symphony when they're that young?
Christian came on again and finished the piece, following it with a simple but perfect encore. Even though I had never heard the concerto before, I think Tetlaff was made to play Brahms.
The Tchaikovsky can't be described. Just listen to it. Jurowski without a score, molded it into his own being, giving it life and emotion that cannot be felt in a recording. The first movement was epic, giving way to a ani-climactic second and a radiant third. The anguish of the fourth held through until the last minute of bass solo, with Jurowski clearly so emotionally involved, one of those heart stopping moments when you're scared your breathing will interupt the sanctity. Then someone's cell phone rang. It was awful. AWFUL. Pooor Vlad!! It clearly menat o much to him and to have technology mar the moment like that... grrr. Sure almost had a kiniption (??) fit. All in all, though, a great musical experince. The phil never fails to impress.