Conductor Tung-Chieh Chuang and pianist Per Tengstrand in Helsingborg

Last night the excellent Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra performed Rachmaninoff´s second piano concerto with the eminent Swedish pianist Per Tengstrand as soloist. The young Taiwanese conductor Tung-Chieh Chuang, winner of the important Malko competition in 2015, also made his - very successful - debut in Helsingborg.

Homage to Paavo Berglund

 

Homage to Finnish conductor Paavo Berglund (1929 - 2012). He was one of the greatest.

"Music for the Advent Period" from Dresden on German ZDF: Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva was the star of the evening

The Dresden Music for the Advent Period concerts have been broadcast on German
ZDF since the year 2000.

The Music for the Advent Period concert from the Dresden's beautifully restored Frauenkirche, broadcast by German ZDF on the First Sunday of Advent, has for years now been a wonderful beginning of the Christmas music season on television. The concert today was no exception, even without Chief Conductor Christian Thielemann this year conducting his fine Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden.



Markus Poschner made his debut with the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Due to the sudden illness of Franz Welser-Möst, who was scheduled to conduct the Advent concert this year, the Generalmusikdirektor of the Bremen Philharmonic, Markus Poschner, was the "master of ceremonies", and he did it very well, indeed.

American mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato - one of the most sought after mezzos in the world - gave a commanding rendition of Pietro Mascagni's Ave Maria, and I also enjoyed the singing of German tenor Klaus Florian Vogt.



Soprano Julia Lezhneva in front of the Staatskapelle Dresden.

However, for me the young Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva (she is only 23!) was the "star" of the evening. I had never heard her before, but listening to her singing Tu virginum corona and Alleluia from Mozart's Exultate, Jubilate, made it easy to understand why she has been blessed with so much critical acclaim despite of her young age.



Julia Lezhneva sings like an angel!

And it is not only the beauty of Julia Lezhneva's voice, but her entire personality that mesmerizes audiences. She sings - and even looks - like a little angel, without the slightest trace of diva behaviour, which is so common among many of her older, more well known colleagues. One can only hope that she stays this way!

The Kammerchor der Frauenkirche Dresden (The Frauenkirche chamber chorus) also deserves high marks. Their sensitive singing and beautiful phrasing greatly contributed to the success of the evening.

PS

Here is a video for those who are not familiar with the captivating voice of Julia Lezhneva:

 

The highlight of the Verdi year: ARTE's broadcast of Verdi's Messa da Requiem from Teatro alla Scala




 

At least for this "reviewer" the Arte broadcast on October 20 of Verdi's Messa da Requiem, recorded last year at the Teatro alla Scala, has been the absolute highlight of the composer's 200th anniversary.
It is difficult to imagine a finer combination than La Scala, Daniel Barenboim, soprano Anja Harteros, mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, tenor Jonas Kaufmann and bass René Pape for what sometimes - slightly ironically - has been called Verdi's "finest opera".

I cannot but agree with what the critic Richard Morrison wrote in The Times:

"If you were to devise a dream casting for this most theatrical of sacred masterpieces you might well come up with Anja Harteros, Elina Garanca, Jonas Kaufmann and Rene Pape, plus the Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, under their current maestro, Daniel Barenboim... I was blown away by this Requiem... Kaufmann’s first entry was like an erupting volcano. Garanca was as mesmerising, floating creamy legatos while mustering a thrilling chest voice that I never thought she Read more possessed. Harteros, looking like a distressed pre-Raphaelite beauty, turned the final movement into the most sublime death scene never to appear in an opera. And that incredible chorus, with their barrel-voiced basses and wonderfully hammy rolled consonants and gasped aspirates, hurled out the apocalyptic moments as if determined to blast the roof off.”

I am particularly happy about what Mr Morrison said about the La Scala chorus. What a joy it was to watch and hear the power of this mighty instrument! Without a first class chorus even the best of soloists and orchestras cannot make a great performance of the Verdi requiem.



The Teatro alla Scala chorus was a revelation.

Members of the chorus.

Soloists Harteros, Garanča, Kaufmann and Pape.

 

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann.



Barenboim with soloists.



Harteros and Garanča.

Jamie Barton, "the Georgia farm girl" who won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2013 competition

Mezzo Jame Barton, "the Georgia farm girl", who won the Cardiff Singer of the World  2013 crown.

"The Georgia farm girl who yesterday won the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World crown". That is how Iowa Public Radio described the winner of the 30th anniversary Cardiff Singer of the World competition, mezzo soprano Jamie Barton, who also carried off the song prize. (I was particularly pleased that she chose to sing Var det en dröm? (Was it a dream?), one of Sibelius's finest songs, which sadly is not performed very often by non-Scandinavian singers). 

Argentina's Daniela Mack could also have won.

All the five finalists were outstanding talents, and the prize could very well had gone to e.g. the Argentinian mezzo Daniela Mack or the Croatian bass baritone Marko Mimica. I also liked the expressive singing and the personality of Italian soprano Teresa Romano. 

Of the two studio expert commentators, voice coach Mary King was the clearly more helpful and appreciative. First Singer of the World winner Karita Mattila seemed to have only one comment about Barton and the other finalists - "more color". 

Italian soprano Teresa Romano has a strong personality and a fine voice.

A wonderful 125th Anniversary Concert from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam

The 125 year old Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Early this morning I had my first cup of coffee in the best possible company; I watched the broadcast of the Concertgebouw 125th Anniversary Concert on the French-German ARTE television channel. The concert was a pure delight for both the ears and the eyes. The Concertgebouw is of probably one of the five or six best and most beautiful concert halls in the world, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is without doubt a world class orchestra.

In this festive concert the Concertgebouw was led by its former chief conductor Bernard Haitink,who created an evening of musical magic. The way the orchestra played Beethoven's Pastoral symphony was out of this world. I do not think that I have heard a better version of this delightful work.

The symphony was followed by a selection of songs from Mahler's wonderful cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn, with the velvet voiced Dutch mezzo soprano Christianne Stotijn as soloist. 

Below is a small selection of photographs from the memorable concert, which hopefully will be available on blu ray soon:

The Concertgebouw is famous for its excellent accoustics. 

Bernard Haitink, with some big names in the background.

The Concertgebouw Orchestra flutists and oboists were outstanding in the  Pastoral  Symphony.

The Concertgebouw audience was captivated by the playing.

Haitink in full control of the orchestra.

Haitink and Stotijn in Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

The wonderful Dutch mezzo soprano Christianne Stotijn at the Concertgebouw.

Bernard Haitink, Honorary Conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

A foolproof way of finding out whether a contemporary piece is music or not

Concerts or recitals of classical music nowadays often include works by contemporary composers. Regrettably, many of these contemporary pieces are extremely boring, mainly because they lack the basic ingredient of music - melody.

In reality much of so called contemporary classical music is not music at all, only noise refined by notation. 

One almost foolproof way of finding out whether a contemporary work belongs to the category music, is by looking at the soloist(s). If - at a well rehearsed concert/recital - you can see a stand with the score placed in front of the soloist(s), it means that you are in for a piece of contemporary music, i.e. noise refined by notation. 

A professional soloist - singer or instrumentalist - does not need the score when performing music at a properly rehearsed concert or recital.

Watch these videos, and judge yourself, which category they belong to:

PS

Sometimes listening to refined noise and sound effects can be a rather pleasant experience, but they should not be mistaken for music.