thebes Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 (edited) If you have never heard The Planets performed by a symphonic orchestra your are missing out on some truly spectacular music. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will be performing this at the Strathmore Performing Arts Center, just outside on Washington, DC on May 21. Several Forum denizens saw this almost a decade ago and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I might also add that this venue is one of the finest in the country, with acoustics only a horn lover could truly appreciate. A few of the local denizens of this place. LarryC, GaryMd and Mike Lindsey will be in attendance. If anybody local, of who will be in town, or who just wants to go see it on that weekend, let us know. We will be purchasing tickets sometime in the next week or two. Here's a link to more info: https://www.strathmore.org/events-and-tickets/bso-planets Edited May 22, 2016 by thebes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Oh Man Thebes! We'll (me and the better half) be in the area that weekend to go to my nephews graduation from UV. So we'll be in Charlottesville that day, don't know if we can make it back to D.C. in time. But would love to enjoy the music and meet some of you gentlemen. I'll check into the timetable and get back to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 C-ville to the Strathmore is about 3 hours, so tight , but doable. Nice town, actually much more than a college town. if you have never been there before. We'd love to have you, but can't fault you if you want to stay over down there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 C-ville to the Strathmore is about 3 hours, so tight , but doable. Nice town, actually much more than a college town. if you have never been there before. We'd love to have you, but can't fault you if you want to stay over down there. Hope you two can make it, we'll have a good time! I'm delighted Marty announced this on the forum, and hope others can go, too. We had a great Planets about 10 yrs. ago, by a well-led regional orchestra, the National Philharmonic. The Baltimore SO is a bigger, stronger outfit, that is likely to use the more unusual instruments that the NatPhil did not, so this will be a special treat. Marin Alsop and her orchestra can really do powerful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 C-ville to the Strathmore is about 3 hours, so tight , but doable. Sounds like a good estimate, Marty. Traffic in C-ville can be awful and very slow, like the rush hour on I-66, but most of the trip is fast Interstate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Tomita... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Has it been that long ago? That was a great trip, except for the two aborted landings in Dulles... fabulous show, great seats, and we learned to sit on our hands until the end of each piece. Thanks Larry and Thebes for hosting us back then! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofers and Tweeters Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 +1 on the great music. Seen it once. No way to make this one, but if I could... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted March 13, 2016 Moderators Share Posted March 13, 2016 Unforgettable show, do not pass this up if you can go. The venue is world class, and if Larry gives a class before the performance, you will learn more about an orchestral performance than you ever thought possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Morbius Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Tomita was good, but Wendy Carlos would have been better…………if not better, different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 For some reason when I first read the title, I thought it was a headbangers concert! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 We'll (me and the better half) be in the area that weekend to go to my nephews graduation from UV. So we'll be in Charlottesville that day, don't know if we can make it back to D.C. in time. But would love to enjoy the music and meet some of you gentlemen. I'll check into the timetable and get back to you. I have to get tickets -- can you go, babadono? Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) Larry, I answered your PM. "Missed it by that much" ---- Maxwell Smart Edited March 24, 2016 by babadono Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 I liked Gus Holst's interpretation of Uranus, the Magician... Accoring to my ex-wives, it's "magical"... Current SWMBO is not amused... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 I liked Gus Holst's interpretation of Uranus, the Magician... Accoring to my ex-wives, it's "magical"... Current SWMBO is not amused... For the uninitiated ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted March 26, 2016 Moderators Share Posted March 26, 2016 These are about the seats Larry got for us the last go around for Holst, we were actually closer to stage. Spectacular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Well a rump caucus of the Klispch Forum, ie Larry and I attended the performance last evening. The concert started off with a modern (1999), challenging and very interesting avaunt guard piece by composer Tan Dun, titled "Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra. Very cool. Percussionist Christopher Lamb, and accompaniment, used these giant bird baths full of water to make various sounds like whales, porpoises etc. and would insert various pieces of glass, bongs and other instruments to produce a variety of sounds. A very creative concept and you could tell that the score for the orchestra accompanying this piece required all of the talents of the orchestra. One of the more unusual works of music I've ever seen performed. Then The Planets. I must say the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and it's conductor did an absolutely magnificent job with this piece.You owe it yourself to at least play the Mars movement through your speakers. The crescendo will make you sit right up in your seat and that's a fact. Now back when this was first composed, there were only eight planets, and some believe that having fired Pluto as a planet we are back to eight again. Earth is not represented in this piece but everybody is there. The aforementioned Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Uranus are my favorites and the closing ethereal spacey sounds from an offstage women"s choral group in the final movement, Neptune, is both eerie and haunting. Oh and the lead Violinist was sawing away on, get this, a Stradivarius. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Here's what the giant bird baths look like: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) This was a unique and outstanding concert, not at all what I expected. The opening work, Water Concerto by the Chinese composer Tan Dun (who now lives in the U.S.), was an incredibly complicated, demanding work that had to be a nightmare for the composer to set down in score as well as extremely difficult to play. All kinds of cacophony was constantly erupting, including splashing of water in the large baths Marty described so well. After the concert, Strathmore had to call out an entire housekeeping crew to mop and sponge up all the water spilled on the stage. I doubt that the wooden stage could take a lot of that over the years! The next piece, Earth, was composed by the technically accomplished American composer Libby Larsen. It conveyed nothing about our planet or its history, and of course had no astrological guidance like Holst had for the other 7 planets that he knew of. Holst knew what he was doing when he by-passed our indescribable planetary home. Understandably, Holst never composed another large work in this style. He was wise to quit when he was ahead with a work that could not have been equaled by anyone We got to hear what a real, complete orchestra can do with Holst's masterpiece, one of the great works of the 20th century. For one thing, unlike the National Philharmonic's perf of a decade ago, ALL the instruments that Holst intended were present and accounted for -- the bass oboe, alto flute, and contrabassoon for starters. These are expensive instruments to hire, and the Nat Phil obviously cut corners. The BSO also has superlative string players, including Jonathan Carney, the concertmaster, with his magical Strad that Marty mentioned, and the equally outstanding cellist, Dariusz Skoraczewski, on his highly-regarded Testore cello. The Planets has some solo work for both these instruments, and the BSO was right up there at the top with those soloists. On the whole, the BSO is a fine orchestra, with relative weaknesses in the woodwinds, but outstanding in the brass and strings. This is an example of how an excellent concertmaster can pull the entire string section of the orchestra to a very high and congruent whole. Better than the National Symphony IMO. We really didn't know how great this concert would turn out to be. More forum members should consider joining us the next time we announce a doozy like this one. Edited May 23, 2016 by LarryC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 (edited) Marty referred to the last movement of the Holst, Neptune. This is an amazing work, with mystical, far-away effects of soft low trumpets, complex passages on the two harps and celesta (keyboard bell-like, used in Tchaikovsky's dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy), and strings varying between sustained notes and arpeggios (rapid crossing of the strings producing widely-spaced notes), The women's voices and scoring are incredible. This was THE prototype for space music then in the future. (The Planets was written in around 1914.) Here is a very nice video of Neptune: Edited May 24, 2016 by LarryC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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