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2011年5月16日 星期一

A Russo Brazilian Delight

Saturdays are for me a time of great expectations. I always look forward to encountering new conductors, new musicians, new composers or works from old composers whose works I still haven't heard. Last Saturday was good in that regard. I met a new conductor, a new cellist and a work from Shostakovich new to me. The conductor was Dmitri Jurowski, the cellish Sol Gabetta and the new work was Shostakovich's  Symphony No. 15.


When the concert opened, I saw a petite blonde in a bare shoulder emerald green dress with a huge cello in front of her walking quickly but confidently on to the stage followed shortly by a bulky gentlemen with long black curly hair in a swallow tail. The music started. It was Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor Op 104., written by him in 1894 and completed in early 1895 shortly before he left for America and first performed in London in 1896 in Allegro, Adagio ma non troppo and Finale (Allegro moderato). I have heard it many times but it was the first time that I heard it performed so delicately. Only a woman would have it played it that way. Her sound was so fine and in places so silkily, especially in the soft passages that it sounded as if I were hearing the concerto for the first time. I learned later that the young Brazilian lady was playing a G. B Guardagnini from 1759! In June, 2008, she debuted with Washington's National Symphony Orchestra as a duo partner of Yo Yo Ma in the world première of Leonard Slatkin's Dialogue for Two Cellos. She had played in various orchestras in Frankfurt, Basel, France, Holland, Czchechoslovakia, UK, Russia, Belgium, America and Korea and had also recorded cello concertos of Elgar and Shostakovich. As encore, she played for us Peteris Vasks's Dolcissimo & Fortissimo in which we got an opportunity to hear her angelic voice in addition to her very sensitive and soulful playing. A  surprise discovery indeed! 


Juroswki was another musical genius admitted to play the cello at the Tchaikovsky's Convervatory at 6 until he left for Germany, when he started to learn conducting in Berlin's Hans Eisler Academy. He has since has played for the Radio Orchestras of Berlin, Belgium, Stockholm, France and Teatreo Felice in Genoa, Dresden Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Hamburg Symphony and also the Residentie Orchestra of the Hague, Israel and the Munich State Opera and has absolute control over the HKPO. He played for us Shostakovich's  Symphony No. 15 and his last,  in Allegretto, Adagio, Allegretto and Adagio. In many ways, this is a rather unusual symphony. We hear in it joy, sorrow, fear, hope, excitement, exhilaration, melancholy, written when the composer was diagnosed as having poliomyelitis in 1969 . He said he wrote it in hospital, later at the dacha and that from the start, he was simply swept along by the materials, much of it biographical. It was first performed in 1972 in Moscow under the baton of his son Maxim Shostakovich. According to the Program Notes, the first movement was supposed to depict a scene at a toy shop, representing his childhood. No wonder it was so fun filled. There were frequent quotations in this symphony, some from his earlier works and some from the works of other composers e.g. the galloping theme from Rosssini's William Tell Overture. The second movement was rather more serious and was supposed to commemorate the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives during the wars. There were also quotations from his 11th and 14th symphonies, from  the fate motif of Wagner's Ring of the Nieberlung, a song by Glinka, Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, a march from his own Symphony No. 4 and 7 etc. in the fourth movement. No matter what, it came to a glorious conclusion.


It was an evening of surprises. It was a delight to be so surprised. I'm truly glad I did not miss it. I can now listen more to this most unusual last work of one of the greatest Russian composers, Shostakovich with much more understanding.













6 則留言:

  1. YO YO MA 勁呀
    [版主回覆05/17/2011 00:33:00]Of course. He is one of the best cellists still alive!

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  2. Thank you for the introduction
    Music with cello is so alluring
    [版主回覆05/17/2011 00:36:00]Yes, the cello is one of the most moving string instrument. In the right hands, it can have the lightness of the violin but because of the texture of its sound, a kind of emotional warmth and power which the violin can never match.

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  3. Good evening, my dear old friend!  ... the cello, sounds wonderful and pleasant to hear... " Have I ever been mellow with a cello...     I love music, and I dance along,      Ever heard of the cello?       Been to a concert before?        Mellow moments ever dreamed about...          With a soul ready to enjoy,            A body ready to dance,              Cello is ready  to play..." 








    [版主回覆05/17/2011 00:39:00]Yes, you're right. The sound of the cello can be so mellow. Thank you so much for the video clip of Sol Gabetta. 

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  4. Before reading the concert booklet, I'm not aware of the story behind the 2nd movement of Dvorak Concerto though I have been listening to the piece for a long time. Below is another extraction from HKPO website. Unlike the concert booklet, here the relationship between Dvorak and his sister-in-law is described explicitly. The 2nd movement is full of emotion and sorrow.     http://www.hkpo.com/tch/education_outreach/childrens_corner/music_kaleidoscope/quizarchivedetail.jsp?qid=55   當德伏扎克在寫作「第二樂章」中途時,家鄉傳來了舊愛約瑟芬娜病重的消息。德伏扎克感到非常擔心,便把約瑟芬娜喜愛的歌曲《請別打擾》 (Leave Me Alone) 譜進樂章裡,以表達自己關切之情。然而,當德伏扎克返抵布拉格時,卻收到約瑟芬娜已逝世的消息,這個打擊令德伏扎克決心改動早已寫好的第三樂章,在「結尾」 (Coda) 部份再次加入約瑟芬娜心愛的歌曲,作為他對已逝的初戀情人 ( 嚴格來說應該是「暗戀」情人吧! ) 的最後致敬。樂迷在欣賞這優美樂曲之餘,必需多加感受曲中的浪漫情懷。   
    [版主回覆05/17/2011 00:32:00]Thank you so much for the information. Did you enjoy the concert as much as I did?

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  5. Yes, I enjoy the concert a lot. As usual, my focus is on the concerto work and the soloist. Her encore piece, Dolcissimo & Fortissimo from "The Book" by Peteris Vasks
    [版主回覆05/17/2011 09:43:00]Yes, her encore was a very unusual and haunting piece playing upon the particular
    harmonics of the cello strings contrasting between soft and strong
    sound, a very postmodern piece concentrating on the effects of sound more
    than linear melody!

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  6. Thanks for bring us all the good music and the background story! Your blog has became a platform for people to learn appreciating classical!
    [版主回覆05/18/2011 06:07:00]Thank you for your kind comments.  I like to share what I have enjoyed with others. If they have learned anything from what I wrote, I'd consider it a bonus!

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