Ioan Holender opened the 20th edition. It will one of the best so far, according to all the press releases.. and the program of the Festival. Some of the best orchestras, conductors and soloists are coming to Bucharest during these 3 weeks.
Day 1 - September 1, 2011
RESIDENTIE ORKEST / The Hague Philharmonic
Grand Palace Hall
Conductor : CHRISTIAN BADEA
Program :
G. Enescu - Symphony no. 1 in E flat Major op. 13
D. Shostakovich - Symphony no. 10 in e minor op. 93
... Palace Grand Hall Series "Great Orchestras" SYMPHONIEORCHESTER DES BAYERISCHEN RUNDFUNKS Conductor: MARISS JANSONS ... Program: Beethoven – Symphony no. 7 in A Major op. 92 Wagner - Tristan und Isolde (Vorspiel und Liebestod) Strauss - "Rosenkavalier" Suite ...
......For me, this was the best concert at the Palace Hall. This might be debatable for those who enjoyed more Concertgebouw. Let me tell you that at this level it's difficult to say who's better. Of course, the specialists could find many differences, technically speaking. But I'm not talking about this. I'm talked about what I felt when listening. Mariss Jansons is a magician and he proved it again on this evening. I've never heard that sound for Wagner before. Impressed? The word is not enough to describe the feeling. It was the first time I had tears in my eyes when listening to symphonic music. It was powerful, every note was in its place. It was a true music lesson for any listener but also for any orchestra in this world. This is what means to play with your soul, to think of each small detail, to creat an idea and to move it throughout the score. I felt the love, the struggle, the serenity towards the end. How amazing were those prolonged cadenzas that left me breathless in order not to disturb the chord that came right after to solve the idea.
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......Listen here to this great piece, Prelude and "Liebestod" from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde .
......Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons (2009) Grand Philharmonic Hall, St. Petersburg
.....Beethoven's 7th Symphony was great too. I particularly like the second movement. Somebody that I admire very much put some words on the music.
......Listen here to the original - Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan (yes, again this orchestra&conductor) and then to the other version.
......The Rosenkavalier Suite ended a perfect evening of German, romantic music. Should it be the fact that Mariss Jansons has been leading this orchestra since 2003 and he has a contract signed untill 2012? Should it be the fact that the instrumentists don't consider this just a job? Music is not a job. It's art made with love and passion. The result was in front of my eyes. In front of your eyes is you were there. I'm still under the spell cast by Jansons on that evening. I'm sure he'll be back in 2011.
......Listen to them playing it.
......Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons (2009) Grand Philharmonic Hall, St. Petersburg
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Mariss Janons and the concert master
......Maestro, ladies and gentlemen of the orchestra, you have all my respect!
... Palace Grand Hall Series "Great Orchestras" ORCHESTRE DU CAPITOLE DE TOULOUSE Conductor: TUGAN SOKHIEV Soloist: NELSON FREIRE ... Program: Brahms – Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 2 op. 83 in B Major Berlioz – Symphonie fantastique (The fantastic symphony) op. 14 ... Amazing Nelson. It's the 4th time I see him play here in Bucharest. I hope he comes back soon. ... The first cello. Absolutely beautiful during Brahms' concert. Tugan Sokhiev
.. Palace Grand Hall Series "Great Orchestras" ORCHESTRA NATIONALA RADIO Conductor: ASHER FISCH Soloist: JULIAN RACHLIN ... Program: Berio – Sinfonia - Soloists : SWINGLE SINGERS Prokofiev – Concerto no. 2 for violin and orchestra in g minor op. 63 Ravel – "La Valse"... ... The Swingle Singers
... Palace Grand Hall Series "Great Orchestras" ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE Conductor: DMITRIJ KITAJENKO Soloist: RUDOLF BUCHBINDER .. Program: Schostakovici – Ballet Suite no. 3 Rachmaninov – Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini op. 43 Tchaikovsky – Symphony no. 5 in e minor op. 64 .. ......Last night I enjoyed the concert very much. I wanted to hear more so I went again. The Ballet Suite is beautiful. And the orchestra played it with passion and joy. As it should be. .....I expected more from the concert. This Rhapsody is beautiful. I wanted for the soloist to share with us the feeling, to create a certain atmosphere. But I couldn't feel anything. Just a right rendering of the score. I little bit too flat, without involvement. And there were certain moments when he rushed and left the orchestra behind. They're too good to have problems so everything ended well. I enjoyed more the encore. It was "The Bat" (Fladermous) by Strauss, a transcription for piano. But I came home and looked for this piece on Youtube. Look what I found. Lang Lang's renderind of the same piece. I came to the conclusion that this one was as flat as the concert.
......I was waiting for the symphony. When playing with the soloist, the orchestra pays attention not to get over him/her. But during the symphony they can show what they can do. And they did it sooooo well. There were amazing moments and the end was glorious. The endings at Tchaikovsky are as long as the ones at Beethoven. You think it's over but there are two more pages left. Up and down, up and down, strings, brass, percussion, everybody contribute to the boom. Great! Tonight the Palace Hall was packed. I think those who were there last night told the other what they have missed. And the big crowd gathered again. Lots of ovations in the end. And the reward was as beautiful as the concert. The encore was Edvard Grieg's "Last Spring", one of the elegies he wrote for orchestra.
......Rudolf Buchbinder - with five years of age the youngest student ever to be admitted to the Vienna Musik Hochschule - began his comprehensive musical career as chamber musician. In the meantime, he performed as soloist with all great orchestras and conductors all over the world and is regular guest at the Salzburger Festspiele and all other major festivals.Rudolf Buchbinder's repertoire is extensive and includes numerous 20th century compositions. He attaches considerable importance to the meticulous work of the study of sources. He disposes of more than 18 complete editions of Beethoven's Sonatas and has an extensive collection of first editions and original documents. ...... For the outstanding recording of the complete piano work by Joseph Haydn, he received the "Grand Prix du disque". Meanwhile, Rudolf Buchbinder prefers live-recordings. His cycle of all Mozart piano concertos with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, live recorded at the Vienna Konzerthaus, was acclaimed by the famous critic Joachim Kaiser as CD of the year 1998. In the Johann- Strauss-Year 1999, Buchbinder released an exceptional CD of piano-transcriptions entitled "Waltzing Strauss". Buchbinder's latest hallmarks of live-recordings represent both Brahms piano-concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and all five Beethoven piano-concertos with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra as soloist and conductor. ...... Since 2007 Rudolf Buchbinder is the Artistic Director of the Grafenegg Festival. In his spare time, Buchbinder is interested in literature as well as in fine arts and whenever there is an opportunity between rehearsals and concert tours, he enjoys himself as an impassioned amateur painter.
Mr Buchbinder and the conductor, Dimitrij Kitajenko .....Here Rachmaninov plays himself the Rhapsody. So, any difference?
And now the ending I was talking about earlier. Two renderings. .. 1. Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan in 1973
Ioan Holender opened the 20th edition. It will one of the best so far, according to all the press releases.. and the program of the Festival. Some of the best orchestras, conductors and soloists are coming to Bucharest during these 3 weeks.
Christian Badea
The Hague Philharmonic
