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    Concert review

    Nice to have the real forum back.

    Sorry for not uploading the next mp3 but i was waiting for this page to return. I will upload the Largo from op70/1 on Tuesday. Thanks to one of our resident members, Margaret, i got a free ticket to see a Beethoven concert as St John's, Smith Square in London. The band was the Academy of Ancient Music with Paul Goodwin conducting, authentic instruments of course. They played Symphonies 1 and 8, Coriolan Overture, Ah Perfido, and Marzelines aria 'O War Ich Schon Mit Dir Vereint'.

    I'd never been to St John's before and the first thing that struck me was the height of the roof, i thought it was too high really for the size of the venue (you can squeeze about 40 musicians on the stage, but that's all you usually need for Beethoven) but then this is a church. The sound wasn't as cold as I'd expected from a Church, but I did get the sence that some of the sound was going up instead of forward. The being said the band was really noisy when it needed to be, the drums especially sound fantastic and the guy really wacked them.

    What was unusual is that the brass spent most of their time when silent dismantling their instruments, I don't recall the LSO doing that!

    The overture was a tad rushed but effective, I would have liked a little more dynamism in the phrasing from the strings,which was a continual thought throughout the concert. Sometimes i got the effect that they had played these pieces too often before and were just 'going through the motions' so to speak, the conductor could have done more in spicing up the music, though it was scary enough in the loud moments as i come to expect.

    The First symphony was well played and i liked the horns as I could actually hear them as they should be heard, but for some reason they were strangely muted in the 8th symphony, i was dissappointed there (my recording by the Hanover band has the horns shouting throughout and it adds a lot to the overall excitement).

    The first movement of the 8th was very exciting, as was the last (and i could see in the performers faces they were wary of this finale!). The drummer wacked the hell out of his instruments in the coda of the finale, i though he might rip the skins!

    The Fidelio aria was a curious choice for a concert piece as it is not really substantial enough on its own, at least as performed at as rather a tame manner as it was here, and it was the sopranos only contribution in the first half. In the second half Ah perfido had a good effect and i noticed things in the music i hadn't before. But the singer did not come across very loudly compared to others I've heard, but perhaps that is another issue with the accoustics of the venue (but then again my hearing is not as good as it used to be these days, especially in my left which is only about 30% of what it should be!).

    After my experience with Handel i now know why the concerts were often so long in days gone by, because i got the impression the whole event was over in a flash, i could have done with another hour of music!

    But despite the critisisms above i enjoyed the concert and Westminster is better than most places in London if you want to hear some music! Margaret's seat (donated to me due to unforseen circumstances) was in the most expensive price bracket, actually the seat was a little too good as i got the impression the accoustics were better a little further back in the hall with the poorer people!


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    "If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin




    [This message has been edited by Rod (edited 02-22-2005).]
    http://classicalmusicmayhem.freeforums.org

    #2
    Rod,
    Very interesting, thanks for the review. One question about the brasses that you mentioned: could they have been replacing crooks to change key? I know that horns and non-keyed trumpets need to do that sometimes.


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    Regards,
    Gurn
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Regards,
    Gurn
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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      #3
      Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
      Rod,
      Very interesting, thanks for the review. One question about the brasses that you mentioned: could they have been replacing crooks to change key? I know that horns and non-keyed trumpets need to do that sometimes.

      It could be, the horn players had racks of hooks on their music stands with a whole array of pipework hanging from them.


      ------------------
      "If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
      http://classicalmusicmayhem.freeforums.org

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        #4

        Thankyou for your interesting review of the concert Rod. I should think the aria 'Ah Perfido'! is quite a demanding piece to sing. I would love to have heard it live. I've heard the 1st and the 8th symphony performed at the Royal Festival Hall.
        Did you go to the pre-concert talk ?
        I normally like a good seat towards the front with a good view of the orchestra.



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        ~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~
        ~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

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          #5
          Really nice the main forum is back .

          As far as I know, the horns and trumpets change their crooks in all beethoven symphonies only between movements. Maybe they were getting filled with spit .
          (Serious now) Maybe those instruments are getting too old and are de-tuning in the piece, so they need to be re-assembled to get in tune again. Just a thought.

          I wish I lived in London, or anywhere in Europe, I've never seen a period orchestra in front of me .

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          I want my account back!
          I want my account back!

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            #6
            Originally posted by Amalie:

            Thankyou for your interesting review of the concert Rod. I should think the aria 'Ah Perfido'! is quite a demanding piece to sing. I would love to have heard it live. I've heard the 1st and the 8th symphony performed at the Royal Festival Hall.
            Did you go to the pre-concert talk ?
            I normally like a good seat towards the front with a good view of the orchestra.

            I don't think there was a pre-concert talk Amalie. A nice touch was that the orchestra came out and mingled with the audience during the interval.

            I prefer to be a little further back ideally than the front few rows for accoustic reasons. The stage was quite high so everyone could see the band at this venue, perhaps it was a little too high.

            ------------------
            "If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

            [This message has been edited by Rod (edited 02-22-2005).]
            http://classicalmusicmayhem.freeforums.org

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Rutr2:
              Really nice the main forum is back .

              As far as I know, the horns and trumpets change their crooks in all beethoven symphonies only between movements. Maybe they were getting filled with spit .
              (Serious now) Maybe those instruments are getting too old and are de-tuning in the piece, so they need to be re-assembled to get in tune again. Just a thought.

              I wish I lived in London, or anywhere in Europe, I've never seen a period orchestra in front of me .

              The brass were indeed constantly filled with spit it seemed to me, when they weren't dismantling they were tipping their instruments over to get rid of it! I doubt if the instruments are that old, many of those used are copies of the old versions, not originals.

              Believe me, there is a whole different atmosphere to the event when you have a period instrument orchestra on the stage.

              ------------------
              "If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

              [This message has been edited by Rod (edited 02-22-2005).]
              http://classicalmusicmayhem.freeforums.org

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