tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post5601523112800910849..comments2024-03-17T12:16:42.048-07:00Comments on Civic Center: New Century Chamber Orchestra Goes RussianCivic Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-49176179000128742122009-03-09T13:47:00.000-07:002009-03-09T13:47:00.000-07:00Dear Axel: Sorry to miss you once again. It wasn't...Dear Axel: Sorry to miss you once again. It wasn't restraint that kept me from a critique so much as a sense of fairness. There are certain pieces of music I've heard live where the performers were so definitive that they make it very, very difficult to compete with my memory. Leontyne Price singing in "Il Trovatore" or "La Forza del Destino," for instance, or Jon Vickers singing "Peter Grimes" at the San Francisco Opera in the 1970s is probably not going to be bettered in my memory. Another case would be Stuart Canin, the founder of the New Century Chamber Orchestra, playing Mozart's Fourth Violin Concerto with a pickup orchestra led by the late Calvin Simmons. That doesn't mean this music shouldn't continue to be performed, just that I'm probably not going to be the best audience.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-26193615368889860792009-03-09T00:03:00.000-07:002009-03-09T00:03:00.000-07:00sfmike, I managed to be in your vicinity yet again...sfmike, I managed to be in your vicinity yet again but still did not cross paths with you!<BR/><BR/>I admire your restraint in refraining from a critique of the Shostakovich. I heard Bronfman's brilliant & intense interpretation with the SF Symphony as well. It was hard not to think of his performance while listening to Ms. McDermott.<BR/><BR/>I agree that connecting the Prokofiev & Shostakovich doesn't make any sense. It was like they did it just because they could.<BR/><BR/>Nadja does inspire energetic playing from the group, though I thought the ensemble got a bit rough at times.Axel Feldheimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12517904558156089265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-60209758217566035292009-03-07T22:40:00.000-08:002009-03-07T22:40:00.000-08:00Mike, you might want to check out the historical r...Mike, you might want to check out the historical recordings at the Internet Music Archive. They are all legal and free and, while of variable quality, are often quite good. I did a search for Shostakovic and came up with a whole page worth:<BR/>http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=ShostakovichNancy Ewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12116290968007398337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-83578507043196788022009-03-07T22:30:00.000-08:002009-03-07T22:30:00.000-08:00Dear rootlesscosmo: Just heard Argerich tonight li...Dear rootlesscosmo: Just heard Argerich tonight live playing the Ravel piano concerto at the San Francisco Symphony. I'm a stone Argerich fanboy too, and if she'd been playing the Shostakovich there probably would have been no problems with having heard Bronfman/Rostropovich earlier.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-72270396927631804862009-03-07T22:24:00.000-08:002009-03-07T22:24:00.000-08:00sfmike: You are a fabulous reviewer, even regardi...sfmike: You are a fabulous reviewer, even regarding things I am not as interested in. Thanks for making such an effort.affinityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216709112830989347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-51871222257033017722009-03-07T20:22:00.000-08:002009-03-07T20:22:00.000-08:00There's a very brief clip--I think it's linked fro...There's a very brief clip--I think it's linked from Alex Ross' compilation of examples to go with <I>The Rest is Noise</I>--of Shostakovich playing the last minute or so of that concerto, filmed in the USSR around 1934. I have a recording by Martha Argerich with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra; I like it a lot, but I'm a stone Argerich fanboy, so your mileage, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com