featuring 黃心芸 (Hsin-Yun Huang), viola The dilemma! There were two concerts this evening, and I really wanted to go to both of them. If you’ve read any of my other concert reviews, you’ll be aware that we have two major … Continue reading NSO: Osmo Vänskä & Sibelius
featuring Pascal Rophé, guest conductor; Sharon Bezaly, flute; Taipei Philharmonic Chorus I’m not sure why Nielsen’s flute concerto was included in an otherwise decidedly French program. A Danish composer spent some time in Germany and Austria and wrote a concerto … Continue reading NSO’s French Masterpieces
performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi, with Soile Isokoski and Jorma Hynninen Nielsen’s third symphony premiered on 28 February 1912, in the same concert as the premiere of his violin concerto, this time with the composer on the … Continue reading Nielsen Symphony no. 3, op. 27 “Sinfonia Espansiva”
performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi So… The inevitable Carl Nielsen. This is (likely) the Dane you’re looking for. I’d written multiple articles on works of Nielsen in the past, but they’re kind of like the middle … Continue reading Revisit: Nielsen Symphony no. 1 in Gm, op. 7
It was an ambitious program, one that convinced me to go see them. I’ve been to every one of their concerts over the past few years. They’ve played things like Rachmaninoff’s second symphony, Brahms’ second, Tchaikovsky’s second piano concerto, and … Continue reading Concert Review: 師大音樂學系交響樂團- Espansiva
(I have written an updated article on this symphony in the few years since this original article. It can be found here, and I’d suggest reading it at least in addition to if not in place of what is below. For posterity, I’ve kept the original article as is.) performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi Let me just say I love the fact that Nielsen was playing in the second violins for the premiere of this piece. How cool is that? We’re getting back around to symphonies, probably for at least the next month or so. I … Continue reading Nielsen Symphony no. 1 in Gm, op. 7
What happened this week in history that we should know about? Let’s see. June 9 As usual, no events. Births: 1732 – Giuseppe Demachi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1791) 1810 – Otto Nicolai, German composer and conductor (d. 1849) 1865 – Carl Nielsen, Danish violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931) I quite like most of Nielsen’s earlier symphonies (earlier meaning everything except the fifth, which I haven’t really grown to appreciate yet [but still wrote about], and the sixth, which is just kind of… perplexing) 1891 – Cole Porter, American composer (d. 1964) I know I have said some bad things about jazz (or intend to), but Cole Porter … Continue reading On this day: Week of June 9, 2014
This article has been marked as in need of a revisit. That’s where I feel like I didn’t do the piece justice or have more to say (usually because I didn’t know it nearly well enough or didn’t have the right perspective). I’ll keep the original article for posterity, but publish a new version that will eventually be linked here for my new take on it. performed by Gothenburg symphony orchestra under Neeme Järvi I like this from the beginning. The beginning of the first movement is very pleasant. I am a sucker for bassoons, and I love how the … Continue reading Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 5
Fugue for Thought 