Schumann Symphony No. 2 on 5/23/2015

[skonopa]

I know it is a friggan long time since I was last on here (probably at least a good year and half).  I just got bored with the forum and was busy doing other things, like skiing, working out, running, and so forth.   Lets put it this way, since September of 2013, I've lost over 50 pounds.   Hell, just this morning (Memorial day), I ran my very first 10K run and posted a pretty respectable 48:13 time.

 

Anyway, just this past Saturday evening, I, along with Larry Clare and Marty (thebes) was up in Bethesda at the Strathmore music center and saw a performance of Shuman's Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Opus 61 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra which was being conducted by a guest conducer, Markus Stenz.  According to the article in this applause magazine they hand out at the performance, he is the principle conductor for the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.  

 

It was a while since I took in a good symphony performance.  Just wish it was not such a PITA for me to get up there through some of the worst traffic in this country- would've LOVED to seen that performance of Pictures at an Exhibition back in April.  This was actually a very refreshing break from all the hard rock/heavy metal concerts I've been at lately.  For example, I just saw Delain, Sabaton, and Nightwish just the prior Thursday, and will be seeing Rush this next Saturday on the 30th.  I've also been doing semi-professional concert photography for the past year or so and invested in some pretty nice photography gear.

 

The evening started out with dinner at the Oakville Grill and Wine Bar.  Excellent food was served and made for a very nice relaxing dinner before the show.

 

The actual concert started out with a performance of Overture to Der Freischutz composed by Carl Maria von Weber.  This is actually a very fascinating piece.  Starts out kinda slow and somewhat ominous, but really starts to pickup at about 4:30 in.   Unfortunately, the conductor could've put a bit more "oomph" in the performance.   My first impression I thought it was kinda boring until it started to really pickup with a nice strong finish.  Larry pointed this YouTube video showing a more more interesting performance of this same piece:

 

 

 

This was followed up by Strauss' Four Last Songs.   I got to attend a lecture before the concert and the lecturer pointed out some really fascinating information about this.   First, these four songs ("Fruling (Spring)", "September", "Beim Schlafengehen (Going to Sleep)", "Im Abendrot (Sunset)", were never intended to be presented together as they are.  This was done posthumously as a way "sell" these songs together as a complete performance.   The soprano, Heidi Melton, did a fantastic job in singing those songs.  She had a good strong, powerful voice, that was also very beautiful and melodic as well.  I found the second of these four songs, "September" to be particularly beautiful.   Also, here, I think the conductor did a much better job in getting a good performance out of the orchestra compared to the first piece of the evening.  Also, was quite convenient that there was a lyric sheet with both the original German text and the English translated included in the evenings program.  Nice touch also that they brought the house lights up a touch during this part of the performance to make it easier for everyone to be able to read and follow along with the lyric sheet.

 

Intermission followed (tip - pre-order your drink at the bar before the show, so you don't have to wait in line to get one during intermission.  I did and there it was, sitting on the counter, and ready for me to enjoy when I came out).   Was a beautiful evening weather-wise, so it was really nice to go out on the patio and enjoy some fresh air during intermission.

 

The evening finished up with the four-movement Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Opus 61 by Robert Schumann.   Seems this is very underrated piece in much of the musical academic circles.   The Larry C mentioned this to me after the performance and in fact, the lecturer during the pre-concert lecture also mentioned this.   He was indicating it seem to fall outside of what many considered "mainstream" at the time (i.e., the Beethovens, Mozarts, Bramhs, etc) I personally thought this was actually a very interesting and brilliant piece of orchestration.   I guess the fact that much of the music that I personally listen to is very much outside what is also considered mainstream, so I can really appreciate a piece that can be a bit daring sometimes (take for instance, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.  Having seen that myself as well, I almost considered that very "progressive" akin to much of the progressive rock and metal that I normally listen to).   I will admit that the particular performance that I say this evening was actually very well done, considering the somewhat lackluster start to the evening with that opening Overture piece.   One part that I thought quite fascinating is during the third movement there is a somewhat quiet passage with a very gothic, "churcy" feel to it.  I just thought it was just so cool how it sounded there.  In addition, I was told during that lecture that the Scherzo during the second movement is just "loved" by the violinists, in that it is a difficult passage to learn and perform well.  The string section at the BSO did an excellent job in performing that section.

 

Overall, it was a very nice evening of music and sharing it with a few good friends.

Edited May 26, 2015 by skonopa

[wvu80]

Very nice "first" post.    I probably just arrived at the forum a year and a half ago just as you took your sabbatical.

 

I'll take a look at Schumann's 2nd that you posted.  I do know Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, but I don't know the Schumann piece.  Thanks for the heads-up on that, and thanks for the comprehensive write-up directly upstream.  ^^^  -Dave

[MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE]

Hey skonopa.....

1st congrats on the weight loss and your 10K run......working out is tough......I do quite a bit of working out.....and yea it's tough....

10 minutes into class and I say.....what the hell am I doing here....lol lol.....but after a great work out, man I feel great.... again good for you..

Thanks for the post...I enjoyed reading it.....

Take care...

MKP :-)

[LarryC]

WVU, Steve's music link was to the Der Freischutz Overture, not the Schumann No. 2.  THIS is a musically vibrant No. 2 to watch -- 43 minutes of fabulous playing and videography for wonderful watching.  Highly recommended!

 

 

Schumann had manic-depressive disease, which eventually drove him insane and killed him.   One can frequently hear in his compositions how his wildly creative mind almost ran away with itself, almost to the boundary of insanity, as it poured out an almost out-of-control (a symptom of the disease?) torrent of themes, harmonies, and counterpoint.  And, like Steve said, his ability to write for instruments ("orchestration") was among the very best.  Just listen to the perfect pitches and tunes for the brass, clarinet, oboe, flute, and bassoon, and of course the strings and tympani.

 

Also as Steve said, the BSO strings are outstanding and did a great job.

 

Just watching the vigor and dedication in the Youtube video is a thing of both fascination and beauty.

Edited May 26, 2015 by LarryC

[Travis In Austin]

Steve,

Great to hear from you. Congratulations on the healthy living.

Your post brought back many happy memories if Strathmore, Holst's, The Planets with you, Thebes, LarryC, Mike Lindsey, Gary, Michael, et al.

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/87622-the-planets-at-strathmore-and-md-dc-va-tubes-and-klipsch/?hl=strathmore

Anyone have photos if that by the way?

If you ever get a chance to go to a concert with LarryC at the Strathmore, by all means go. The only thing that comes close is a great opera at TKC or the Met. Oh, and seeing Jethro Tull live there in the front row with Gary.

Travis

Edited May 26, 2015 by dwilawyer

[LarryC]

Anyone have photos if that by the way?

No photos.  Those were the good ol' days before that conductor shut down those great balcony seats.  I've kept my eye out for other great "concerts of the year," but the quality of the selections and the response of the Klipsch crowd has dwindled over time.  This concert was undermined by the inferior conductor, which I kinda knew in advance and don't think was worth pushing in this case.

 

The fact is, that great Planets concert was the right concert at the right time.  I'll post when I see other great concerts in the future, like the Brahms' 4th a couple of years ago, but the momentum has spun down.

 

But then, when I do post about a good concert, it's up to forum fanatics to follow through, get in touch with me, and we'll put together a group!

 

I agree and thank you wholeheartedly for your plug, so stand by for future great events!

[wvu80]

I tried to get through Sch2 tonight but I just couldn't do it.  I usually like intensity and impact points in music, but it was too much for me tonight, too emotional, and frankly a bit disturbing, I'm not sure why. 

 

I'm going to have to listen to it all the way through tomorrow when I am a little bit more rested and can deal with the intensity of the piece.

Edited May 26, 2015 by wvu80

[Travis In Austin]

The Boys before Strathmore in '07

[Travis In Austin]

Before heading to Strathmore in '07

[DizRotus]

Travis, I thought only dead people could be on a postage stamp.

But seriously, thank you skonopa for the interesting thread. I'll heed wvu80's warning and check out the links when I have the time and attention span to fully appreciate them.

Congrats on the 50#!

Edited May 26, 2015 by DizRotus

[Marvel]

, I thought only dead people could be on a postage stamp.

Made me laugh out loud!

 

As a longtime folk musician of no repute, one of the best things that ever happened to me was when my late wife came home from work (we were only married a couple of years at this point, early '70s), and said a co-worker had bought the entire Nonesuch record collection and was letting us borrow a bunch of LPs. We probably had 25 or so at a time, and really got to like Bach, Mozart, Sibelius, Schumann, on and on... I know the Nonesuch aren't the best, but it opened up a new world to me. More recently, when my youngest son decided he wanted to learn trumpet, we were back into it. After his being first trumpet in the Chattanooga Youth Symphony and finishing a degree in music comp at Valparaiso U., I will be forever indebted to the young friend who loaned us his LPs so very long ago.

 

Bruce

Edited May 26, 2015 by Marvel

[Chris A]

The evening finished up with the four-movement Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Opus 61 by Robert Schumann. Seems this is very underrated piece in much of the musical academic circles. The Larry C mentioned this to me after the performance and in fact, the lecturer during the pre-concert lecture also mentioned this. He was indicating it seem to fall outside of what many considered "mainstream" at the time (i.e., the Beethovens, Mozarts, Brahms, etc) I personally thought this was actually a very interesting and brilliant piece of orchestration.

 

I've found that the back stories of the composers' lives always adds a great deal of relevance, and for lack of a better word, interest.  Schumann had his own story, and it is much more interesting than the pablum stories that I heard about him when I was in school:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schumann

 

I, too, find mid-19th century composers to be very undifferentiated and even schmaltzy, especially Liszt, Schumann, Schubert, Bruckner, Wagner, etc., if taken in too large dosage.  It also seems to be the problem with most historical music emphasis--too much 19th century Romanticism,

 

There still seems to be too little emphasis on late Baroque- and even after that, the Roccoco/Galante and Classic periods, almost nothing about early and mid-20th century neoclassical masters like Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and Holst, which really set the stage for well-known cinema composers of today including John Williams, et al.  When you listen to the early neoclassical compositions of Prokofiev, you can hear where "motion picture music" of today comes from.

 

If you like Romantic 19th century music, I recommend listening to Beethoven's piano sonatas to see and hear the beginnings of Romantic music.  Daniel Barenboim recorded all of Beethoven's piano sonatas on 35mm film in the 1980s, and these were released on a a triple Blu-Ray video album.  Watching the performance of these, arranged by increasing opus, one can literally hear and see the progression of what we today call Romantic music, something with power and emotion that eclipsed the more restrained court and church music from the 18th century in that still are regarded as master compositions.

 

Chris

Edited May 26, 2015 by Chris A

[Marvel]

Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and Holst, which really set the stage for well-known cinema composers of today including John Williams, et al. When you listen to the early neoclassical compositions of Prokofiev, you can hear where "motion picture music" of today comes from.

One of Sibelius' Symphonies (can't remember which at the moment) sounds like Howard Shore borrowed heavily for music in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The emotion and dynamics are wonderful.

 

I don't have a BD player, but I am tempted to get the set of Barenboim for my son.

 

Bruce

[Chris A]

Sibelius was like Rachmaninov - a very late Romantic composer.  It says that he lived until 1957, born in 1865. However, it also says that the last 30 years of his life were basically devoid of major composition.

 

BTW: Blu-ray players have gotten pretty affordable: http://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Blu-Ray+player, and virtually all the flat panel TVs nowadays have HDMI inputs.

 

Chris

[JiminSTL]

Know what you all mean.  I remember back in college, at age 19 I decided that I really should learn something about "good"/classical music, so that I might enjoy something beyond the Coasters (which I still like, BTW).  Anyway, immersed myself, and accomplished my purpose(s).

 

Favorite piece of all time:  Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo.  Especially the performance by John Williams with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy (would have been in the '60s).  In my mind the absolutely perfect piece of music, and the particular guitar performance by John Williams was the best of all performances (vs other guitarists) I have ever heard.  The last (roughly) third of the 2nd movement, especially.  Absolutely perfect integration of instrumental power and sensitivity, suspenseful lead-in, powerful romantic passages (with the horn in contrast), and wonderful, paced (musical) resolution.

 

Back in the day, I had the incredible pleasure of seeing performers like Andres Segovia, Isaac Stern, Artur Rubenstein, and even Carlos Montoya in person--all in San Francisco.

 

Anybody else "old enough" to remember/have seen and heard those artists?  What a thrill it was!!!  And all because we tended to aspire UPWARD back then, rather than the opposite direction of so many "aspirations" today--sorry, just had to include my personal observation.

[DizRotus]

Didn't Mozart die Baroque?

[wvu80]

I finally got back to Shu2.  It was MUCH less intense after the first movement!  It sounded like Shu was mad at the string players and worked their butts off!  I needed the emotional break in the 2nd movement, which was kind of nice and relaxing.  Very enjoyable, great chord progressions.

 

I don't know who was first, but Shu2 in the 3rd movment reminded me a lot of the Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture. 

 

I picked this recording because it was hi-res and I loved the tempo, just perfect.  The other "professional" orchestras pushed the tempo waaay too fast, like they hated it and were just trying to get through it as fast as possible.  I like it a little slower with cleaner articulation.

 

Warning:  This is ear candy.  Do NOT listen to this and then try to go to sleep, it absolutely cooks from beginning to end.  It is not sleepy music. 

 

You have been warned. 

 

Edited May 28, 2015 by wvu80

[JiminSTL]

Dave, you're an interesting guy.

[LarryC]

Wow, the Singapore YOUTH orchestra!  One of those composers who knew what he could get out of an orchestra!

 

Thanks to everyone for reading, watching/listening, and commenting.  The Schumann is beyond ear candy, of course, with innumerable musical ideas piled on one after another -- lightning melodic and instrumental touches, etc.

 

Again, thank you.

[thebes]

Late to the thread but wanted to let everybody know that once again Larry came up with a stellar evening of classical music.  He's an invaluable source for both  those of us on the Forum, and in the DC area, who like to listen to classical . I highly recommend your participation in our next event.

 

The Strathmore is not only a beautiful venue, but an acoustic master piece.

 

Now as to the program, I really did not like the first piece, which I understand was talking with Larry afterwords, was basically murdered by the conductor. 

 

I did like it when the fat lady sang Strauss's "Four Last Songs".  Actually I liked the middle two songs.  In the first song she was either trying too hard to be heard at the back of the hall or here voice hadn't quite warmed  up. It is my understanding that these songs were not written to be sung together, and  that may explain the variances in their orchestration and quality.  Maybe Strauss was working hard to crank out some hits in classical version of Tin Pan Alley, or charting for the Top Twenty Casey Kasom of the era.

 

Now the Schumann piece, was all meat and potatoes. Lively, engaging, interesting in all it's various aspects.  A wonderful piece of music, and entertaining to boot.

 

I particularly like the violin piece at the beginning of the 3rd(?) movement.  The violins played very low, but very fast, sounding like a thousand cicadas trilling in unison.  Smallisimo, is what I think they call it, or was Fordpintolisimo?  Can't remember the technical term, but something that would definitely wow the high end of your speakers. Indeed That little section of music would make for a great test piece when evaluating a system.