Shostakovich 4th,Bridgewater Hall, Manchester#
Met up with a couple of friends in the cafe at the Bridgewater Hall, and,due to the excellent news of Stockport County's victory, decided that instead of listening to a lecture about Shostakovich' music, we'd go for a beer at the Britons Protection instead.
After a nice pint of Cromwells and (appropriately) Robinsons, we went back to the Bridgewater Hall to sit high up in the Gallery.
The first piece was Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto number 1, with Tamsin Little as soloist. Maybe it was the beer, but although Tamsin's violin playing was amazing, the music didn't make much impression on me.
Shostakovich' 4th was performed by the BBC Philharmonic and conducted by everyones favourite Grandad, Vassily Sinaisky. The Symphony marked the end of Shostakovich' attempts at musical experimentation; before it was released, his opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" was condemned by Pravda in a 1936 article as "Muddle instead of music". As a result, Shostakovich decided not to release the 4th and it wasn't performed in the Soviet Union for another 26 years.
The Symphony was wonderfully played by the Philharmonic; it is brimful of ideas and unconventional tempo changes and I would guess must be particularly difficult to play. At the end, the orchestra received a standing ovation. I preferred it considerably to the Benjamin Britten concerto.
Afterwards, we had a couple more drinks in the Peveril of the Peak and talked to a couple of affable nutters, one of whom was a Stockport County fan.
Met up with a couple of friends in the cafe at the Bridgewater Hall, and,due to the excellent news of Stockport County's victory, decided that instead of listening to a lecture about Shostakovich' music, we'd go for a beer at the Britons Protection instead.
After a nice pint of Cromwells and (appropriately) Robinsons, we went back to the Bridgewater Hall to sit high up in the Gallery.
The first piece was Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto number 1, with Tamsin Little as soloist. Maybe it was the beer, but although Tamsin's violin playing was amazing, the music didn't make much impression on me.
Shostakovich' 4th was performed by the BBC Philharmonic and conducted by everyones favourite Grandad, Vassily Sinaisky. The Symphony marked the end of Shostakovich' attempts at musical experimentation; before it was released, his opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" was condemned by Pravda in a 1936 article as "Muddle instead of music". As a result, Shostakovich decided not to release the 4th and it wasn't performed in the Soviet Union for another 26 years.
The Symphony was wonderfully played by the Philharmonic; it is brimful of ideas and unconventional tempo changes and I would guess must be particularly difficult to play. At the end, the orchestra received a standing ovation. I preferred it considerably to the Benjamin Britten concerto.
Afterwards, we had a couple more drinks in the Peveril of the Peak and talked to a couple of affable nutters, one of whom was a Stockport County fan.
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
foxy:
Ear studs, I edited, lol
sky:
damn that beer... x