Orchestre de Radio France_Rudolf Buchbinder_Palace Hall_10.09

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Palace Grand Hall
Series "Great Orchestras"
ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Conductor: DMITRIJ KITAJENKO
Soloist: RUDOLF BUCHBINDER
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Program:
Schostakovici – Ballet Suite no. 3
Rachmaninov – Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini op. 43
Tchaikovsky – Symphony no. 5 in e minor op. 64
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......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.
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1. Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan in 1973

2. Leonard Bernstein conducting

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France_Remus Azoitei_Palace Hall_09.09

Palace Grand Hall
Series "Great Orchestras"
ORCHESTRE PHILHARMONIQUE DE RADIO FRANCE
Conductor: DMITRIJ KITAJENKO
Soloist: REMUS AZOITEI - violin
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Program
Ibert – Ouverture de féte
Enescu - Caprice Roumain for violin and orchestra
Stravinsky – "Firebird"
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......This was an amazing evening. Much better than what I saw the other night. These people really form an orchestra. They sing together, listen to eachother. The brass section was incredible, especially during "Firebird". It was a real pleasure listening to them. During the first part of the concert I stayed at my place. after the interval I went to the upper part of the hall. Even if most of the people think it's better to stay close to the stage, it's not. at least not for symphonic concerts. If you have to choose, go the balcony (or upper part). Perfect view and hearing.

......At the end of the concert Mr Kitajenco received a medal from our Minister of Culture, Mr Paleologu, in the name of the President of the Republic. The same kind of medal that Mr Vengerov received last evening. I don't know the exact translation in English. In Romanian it is Ordinul „Meritul Cultural”, Categoria B (Muzica) in grad de Cavaler. It's a award for the acomplishments of a certain artis given by the institution of Presidency.
......A few more words about this medal, for those interested. There is a certain number of medals that are given for life. When the owner of a medal dies, the place is empty so somebody else can be awarded. More details here.

......These are the foreign artists that received this medal. But the list is not updated. That's all I found. The list stops in 2004. I know that Remus Azoitei received this award in 2005.

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2003 Kremer, Gidon Pianist (Letonia)
2003 Marzendorfer, Ernst Conductor (Austria)
2003 Mehta, Zubin Conductor (India)
2003 Plasson, Michel Conductor (Franţa)
2003 Văduva, Leontina Soprano (Franţa)
2003 Foster, Lawrence Conductor (SUA)
2003 Cosma, Vladimir Composer, (France)
2004 Grindea, Carola Piano teacher, (Italy)
2004 Rostropovici, Mstislav Cello/Conductor
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......Hailed as "an uninhibited virtuoso, with soul and fabulous technique" by The Strad, the Romanian-born violinist Remus Azoitei has achieved international acclaim since his concerto debut at the age of eight. Since then, he has performed extensively as a soloist with all the major orchestras in Romania, as well as being a featured soloist with various ensembles in Europe, North America and Japan. He held a full scholarship to study with Itzhak Perlman, and Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York, where he obtained his Master Degree, as well as Maurice Hasson at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He studied also at the Bucharest Conservatoire under Daniel Podlovsky.
......As a recitalist, Remus Azoitei has performed in venues such as Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and CAMI Hall (New York), St-Martin-in-the-fields and Wigmore Hall (London), also appearing in the Music Festivals of Yokosuka, Cambridge, London, Heidelberg, Paris, Santander, Munich and Bucharest, among others. Remus has been broadcast on the Romanian Cultural Channel, BBC Radio 4, Radio Kishinev, as well as on Concert FM in New Zealand. He has worked with artists such as David Geringas, Nigel Kennedy, Gerard Causee, Adrian Brendel and Konstantin Lifshitz. After his London Wigmore Hall debut in 2004, the Sunday Express wrote that "he delivered a memorable programme in front of a packed Wigmore Hall, and had the crowd cheering. He is one fine musician". In 2005, he performed the Bach Double concerto with Nigel Kennedy, concert broadcast on 19 TV and Radio stations across Europe and North America, including Arte and Mezzo. Here it is.

......In 2007, Remus Azoitei released together with pianist Eduard Stan the entire repertoire for violin and piano by George Enescu, a world premiere project. Launched by Hanssler Classics on 2 CDs, this collection has immediately attracted international acclaim. Remus Azoitei is a prize-winner of international violin competitions in Milan, Weimar, Bucharest and Wellington. In 2005 he received “The Cultural Order”, a decoration offered to him for his achievements by the Romanian President.
......Remus Azoitei is sharing his busy concert schedule with the one of teaching. He was appointed violin professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2001, becoming the youngest ever violin professor in the history of this institution. In 2006, Remus was awarded the title of Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, ARAM. He is the founder of the Enescu Society in London, as well as its Artistic Director.

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Remus Azoitei, at the end of his very difficult concert

...... The members of the orchestra waiting to go on stage again. This is the first time I saw the boxes open. I only saw those for double basses. These are for the violins. They put each violin in its small box and then several violins in these big boxes. They are for transportation purposes.

Back on stage.
This is what the artists see from the stage.


Mr Kitajenko




Receiving the medal

......In order to show the gratitude, there was an encore. Sorry, I don't know what it was. If somebody was there and knows, please help. I tried Dvorak, Sostakovici... no result on youtube.

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......And now some video examples.

1. Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France - just to hear how they sound like
(Beethoven's 7th Symphony - second movement - Myung-Whun Chung conducting)

2. A goodie :) Stravinsky conducting his own work - Firebird. He's 82 here.

......Good night. And see you tomorrow. I go listen to them again. They're too good to be missed.