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991  Assorted items / Individual composers / Re: That tweedy English crowd etc on: November 17, 2011, 09:23:49 am
Recorded live at the Atrium Kolomenskoe, March 28, 2010. Does any one know where that Atrium might be?

Although the substantial sprinkling of royal and noble country residences around St Petersburg have greater fame, there are no fewer of them around Moscow similarly. Since St P was the Imperial capital from 1703 until 1918, the titled nobility of the era tended to live there.  The palaces and mansions around Moscow tend to be either from the pre-Petrine period, or belonged to those unwelcome at Court...  or remained in the hands of families who had de facto decamped to St Petersburg (such as the Yusupovs, who maintained multiple residences in and around both cities).

Kolomenskoe had been a royal hunting snead from the C14th, at which time it lay well beyond the boundaries of the medieval city. It is listed amongst the property owned by Grand-Prince Ivan Kalita ("Ivan Moneybags") in the latter C14th - Ivan's propensity for "acquiring" property points to previous existence under other ownership. (At that time there was no separation of State and Monarch - what fell into the State's hands by confiscation, bankruptcy, intestacy etc became the monarch's private property).  These days Kolomenskoe is well within the Moscow city limits, and is a southern suburb of the capital - there's even a Metro station there, nor is it the last stop.

The name "Kolomenskoe" arises from the location on the main road to the pilgrimage town of Kolomna (a further two hours drive from Moscow, and substantially outside the Moscow city limits). Kolomenskoe remained a hunting park until the 1530s, when the Grand-Princes of Muscovy began to build it up as a "royal village" and summer residence - away from the heat and pong of summer in the medieval capital. One of the first Grand-Princes to use the residence was Ivan IV ("the Terrible") - indeed it was Ivan whose decree mutated the title of "Grand-Prince" into "Tsar" or "Csar" - a corruption of the "Caesars" to whose legacy he improbably clung, on the advice of his loyal sycophants.

Alexis I Romanov, heir of the new dynasty, had the entire wooden summer village rased (leaving only some stone churches, one of which is dedicated to Ivan IV) and replaced by a wooden summer palace complex of extraordinary luxury (wood remained the material of choice for all kinds of dwellings until the C18th - stone was cold in winter, and thus disliked).  Catherine II "the Great" ordered the wooden palace structure to be demolished and rebuilt in stone (with the new conveniences of dutch stoves and underfloor heating) - but in the interim she was confirmed as Empress in St Petersburg after a coup, and she lost all future interest in living in or near Moscow.  The rebuilding was never completed*, and thus Kolomenskoe Estate survives as a Royal Estate consisting of all the outbuildings, churches, hunting lodges, bakeries, and stores... but without the actual palace itself.  The former hunting park is now an extensive public park.  Concerts take place in several of the former Estate buildings - the ruins of one of which have now been glassed-over and formed into an Atrium building. Another of the outbuildings has recently been converted into an exceptionally pleasant and surprisingly affordable 3*+ hotel, with spacious rooms and lovely views of the park. However, guests have to agree to lug their suitcases on foot for half a mile from the park gates - no transport is permitted on the Estate grounds.

In 2010 the Moscow City Government opened a full-scale reconstruction of Alexis's pleasure-palace - within the park, about 1 mile from the original palace site.



Salon of one of the many outbuildings, now seen as modified in the C19th


The Church of the Ascension at Kolomenskoe (dedicated to Ivan IV), and remaining stone buildings from the pre-Petrine period


A modern reconstruction of the Pleasure Palace of Alexis I at Kolomenskoe.



* exactly the same fate befell the nearby royal estate of Tsaritsyno, just 2.5 miles down the road from Kolomenskoe. Here a new stone palace for Catherine II was already half-completed when she lost interest in the project, and suspended further expense on it.  In the 1980s one could still walk through the half-completed palace, overgrown with weeds. A Putin-era project saw the palace finally rebuilt - allegedly to the architect's original plans - and it is now open as a palace.  The interiors set a new low in grotesque bad taste, unfortunately - and resemble Elvis Presley's bathroom more than any kind of rococo Royal residence.  However, the management of the Estate are very amenable to concert-giving, and at least one member of this messageboard has staged several events there...  from medieval mystery plays (in the large open space of the former royal kitchens, the only part completed in Catherine's lifetime) to Menotti.
992  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / Re: Virtual performance of Sorabji on: November 17, 2011, 08:40:59 am
I hope Mr Hinton will return to elucidate further.  His contributions on musical topics are very welcome and informative.
993  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / Re: Conductors making their name known to wider public on: November 17, 2011, 08:39:24 am
This is very nice playing - honouring the stylistic traditions of French baroque music, even if played on modern instruments :)  Thanks - I enjoyed this  :)

Who are the other bright young conductors working in Europe now?  I mean, the ones of whom we haven't heard much yet?



994  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Theory and tradition / Re: Bolshoi Theatre reopens after ten-year rebuild on: November 16, 2011, 01:02:05 pm
The Head of Scala (in Moscow for a concert performance of Verdi's REQUIEM by the Scala orchestra & chorus, under Barenboim) has said that both La Scala and the Bolshoi need to modernise their work for a new age.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/15/us-russia-bolshoi-lascala-idUSTRE7AE0WH20111115
995  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / Re: Virtual performance of Sorabji on: November 15, 2011, 07:18:17 pm
Thank you for the detailed and helpful reply to both questions  :)
996  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / Re: Virtual performance of Sorabji on: November 15, 2011, 03:46:20 pm
Is it known how, and from whom, Sorabji acquired his evidently staggering technical mastery of the keyboard?  Wikipedia is frustratingly silent on this point.  He must, surely, have taken extensive formal lessons?

And may one enquire about the songs for soprano voice - are they a cycle, or an album set, or a looser collection...  and what texts are set in them?  I ask this question on behalf of an interested party, and not for myself.
997  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / Re: Virtual performance of Sorabji on: November 15, 2011, 10:45:08 am
The existence of the above resources, incidentally, is surely far less suggestive of a "prematurely forgotten composer" than of one who was arguably not "remembered" soon enough?...

Dare we suggest that the main person suggesting that suggestivity is... yourself?   :D
998  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Theory and tradition / Re: Mariinsky poaches both the Bolshoi's leading ballet stars on: November 15, 2011, 07:57:52 am
There was time when artists were poached by Bolshoi, but now Mariinsky offers more reward.

The Mariinsky also offers very desirable foreign tours.  Of course, foreign travel is now something any Russian can afford, albeit only a holiday to Turkey - but the largesse with which the Mariinsky troupe are received abroad is grand by any scale.  The chance to live in a 5* hotel and have all your needs catered for, while working in ideal conditions on prestigious world stages has an obvious lure.  And then, of course, there are performing fees, broadcast fees, recording fees, speaking engagements, private party invitations and other lucrative blandishments. And I don't blame them. A dancer's career is over at 30 - they have to make hay while the sun shines.  A few manage to go on and choreograph, or work in administration.  For the others a gloomy old age teaching The Nutcracker in broken-down Dance Academies beckons.  The best Stage Manager I know in Moscow is a retired dancer.

Although the Bolshoi has these too, there are not nearly so many opportunities - and whereas the Mariinsky is mainly a meritocracy, the Bolshoi is an unashamed empire of favouritism and private internal empires.
999  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / Re: Virtual performance of Sorabji on: November 15, 2011, 07:46:07 am
All I know is that a "Parsee" - which according to the Grove Dictionary is what Sorabji père was - is one of the descendants of those Persians who fled to India in the seventh and eighth centuries to escape Muslim persecution, and who still retain their religion (Zoroastrianism); in other words a "Guebre."

The term parsee/parsi was originally one with which Zoroastrian adherents were dubbed by locals when they arrived in India. It may have originally indicated Persian ethnicity, but might also just be a more general term to indicate people who had probably come from Persia?  (The Zoroastrian belief in Persia attracted many adherents from all parts of Middle Asia, and accepted them all willingly - Persian or not). The term was only adopted by the Zoroastrian community in India much later, but they now use it enthusiastically.  There appear to have been two distinct waves of migration of Zoroastrians from Caspian parts to India. The first was in the C10th, when the community in Persia suffered greatly from religious persecution there. The second came in the latter C19th, when the community at the Surukhany Fire-Temple (in what is now Azerbaijan, and was then the Kingdom of Persia) became convinced of the need to relocate.  This is generally attributed to the weakening of the natural gas jets which percolated directly out of the ground at the Temple, and caused the appearance of fire springing from the very ground, witnessed by Polo and other travellers. (Of course, Azerbaijan remains a major producer of gas and petroleum products today, even if the particular field at Surukhany has dropped to a trickle).  The rise of Bolshevism in Persia put the final lid on Zoroastrianism as a major force, but even in 1983 when I visited Surukhany there were still a few wizened wisebeards tending the temple. "Sky burial" (ie leaving the corpses of dead adherents on rocky outcrops, so the vultures took the bones) was forbidden by the Soviet authorities - a major tenet for Zoroastrians, as I was led to believe by one of the old men I met there.


The present authorities in Azerbaijan - the Aliev Dynasty of allegedly "elected" "democratic" leaders - have no greater love of religions which might usurp their autocratic authority, and whilst they are pleased to have the tourism revenue from gawpers at Surukhany, they certainly want no return of a belief (or believers) which might not cede precedence in all matters to the Aliev family.

Perhaps Mr Hinton can tell us more authoratitively about Sorabji's personal background and beliefs? Clearly he must have had strong convictions that led him to change his given name?
1000  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Theory and tradition / Re: Mariinsky poaches both the Bolshoi's leading ballet stars on: November 15, 2011, 07:10:36 am
The work-men appear to have lacked all sense of pride in their labours - compare the mediaeval cathedrals!! - or even the Frankfurt Opera House!!!

Of course, it's greatly suspected that a large amount of the allocated budget has been misappropriated - thus explaining, although not justifying, the disparity between expectation and reality. Many have glumly noted that funds have not been stinted on the public areas of prestige - auditorium, the many halls and lobbies, staircases, bars and cafes, and so forth. However, the backstage and technical facilities have been bodged ruthlessly. The hydraulic systems which raise and lower the scenery failed consistently in rehearsal, making it impossible for the cast of RUSLAN & LUDMILA to have even one rehearsal which ran without a halt to fix them - and this is not a complicated or taxing production on a technical level.  In fact even the Dress Rehearsal had to be terminated two scenes from the end because of technical failures (including three power-outages and two hydraulic failures), and the opening night was the first time they had actually got to the end.  Even so, a power outage halted the opening night for several minutes.

One might perhaps permit a few teething problems...  but with ten years to have fixed it all, these weren't teething problems but ill-fitting dentures.
1001  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Theory and tradition / Mariinsky poaches both the Bolshoi's leading ballet stars on: November 14, 2011, 08:01:22 pm
ITAR-Tass has reported that both the Bolshoi's highest-valued ballet stars - Natalya Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev - have decamped to the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.  A war of press-releases has followed in which Sergei Filin - the Bolshoi's Head of Ballet - has claimed they were fired from the Bolshoi.



Just two weeks after the Bolshoi reopened in a blaze of shambling glory, this is really the last thing the Bolshoi managment wanted to hear.

However the cracks are already showing at the Bolshoi - in the Ladies Toilet at Amphitheatre level, where a huge crack has appeared in the wall just a fortnight after the newly restored theatre opened.  Two nights ago we had supper with friends from La Scala (quite a number of Russian singers work in the La Scala chorus) who have been rehearsing in the Bolshoi Theatre for the Verdi Requiem performance given by Barenboim and the La Scala Orchestra and Chorus this week.

"The electricity has completely fused in several dressing-rooms - there's no light at all, it's pitch blackness!  Many dressing-rooms aren't fitted even with handbasins - how are you supposed to get your make-up off after the performance?  The mens showers have not been connected, there's no water in the pipes.  The lifts stall continuously - performers have been told to use the stairs, in case they get stuck in a stalled lift and miss their queue as a result.  This means sprinting up five flights of stairs for some performers.  The tap-heads and toilet-handles have already fallen off in most of the public loos in the building.  The so-called "marble floor' turns out to be acetate. "
1002  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / Re: Virtual performance of Sorabji on: November 14, 2011, 06:29:28 pm
Compare and contrast:

Your allegation that you are "hardly surprised" appears to be based on your having first made as assumption (oh dear - mustn't make those, must we?!), namely that Sorabji's music "rarely gets performed", yet you offer no clue as to what "rarely" might mean to you in this context

Quote
So far, just one of Sorabji's seven piano symphonies has been performed and recorded (the fifth and shortest).

There is only one single argument for performing music - and that's because it is good. Nothing else matters. THE MAGIC FLUTE is an extraordinary work covering most of the the vast range of human emotions in a single work. BASTIEN & BASTIENNE is dreck.  Both are by Mozart.  Yet the latter gets performances (including one staged by myself - under contractual obligation) - purely because the composer of THE MAGIC FLUTE wrote it.  We'd do far better to devote the performance resources to something by Salieri.

Works of art should not depend on external heart-tugging circumstances for their popularity. I've staged Ullmann's THE KAISER OF ATLANTIS, because it's a stunningly good piece of music-theatre. I turned down a production (and a big fee) of Fried's DIARY OF ANNE FRANK because it's sentimental tosh.  [They found someone else, and I went to see what had been done - sadly it was a fiasco, and the producers closed it after the opening night.  The topic deserved better than it got.]

I really don't care whether Sorabji had a happy life or a sad one. What matters is whether the music is any good.
1003  Assorted items / How we were before all the "musicians" turned up / Re: Time, Forward! on: November 14, 2011, 03:20:19 pm
Has it been recorded in slow motion? :))  I couldn't listen for longer than 40 seconds, it was driving me crazu :(
1004  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / Re: Virtual performance of Sorabji on: November 14, 2011, 03:18:49 pm
When you did this, I assume

Oh, I know you assume, Mr H.  You do it all the time.

Do you have some kind of sole proprietor status with regards to Sorabji's music, then?

[ . . . ]
1005  ARCHIVED TOPICS / Performance and technique / 75th Anniversary Concert of GASO* (aka the Svetlanov Orchestra), Moscow on: November 13, 2011, 12:55:20 pm
This week the legendary Svetlanov Orchestra took to the stage for its 75th Anniversary Concert - with new MD Vladimir Jurowsky at the helm.

Program:

Stravinsky - The Firebird (Suite from the ballet)
Chausson - Poème for violin and orchestra  Op 25
Ravel - The Gypsy Girl for violin and orch
interval
Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances Op 45


The Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire
Solo Violin - Julia Fisher


The two big Russian works provided maestro Jurowsky ample opportunity to show the credentials of the Svetlanov Orchestra - the "bionic brass" were to the fore in the Stravinsky.  Russian orchestras always excel in the string sections, but the wind playing can vary from acceptable to downright awful.  Despite many years of neglect under Gorenstein's woeful reign, the wind players proved that they've kept their powder dry meantime, and played exceptionally well.

Personally I found the Chausson unrewarding material. Fisher played well technically, but somehow the performance failed to transcend the everyday. The Ravel was better, but I would have preferred a far more willful and quasi-improvisatory approach in the big opening solo.

A packed hall (extra seats laid down every available aisle, and with people sitting on the balcony steps and standing at the back) clamoured for an encore - but Jurowsky famously never plays encores, and "sent them home wanting more".   Moscow's premiere orchestra now at last has a conductor worthy of the podium - time will tell if Jurowsky can return the Svetlanov Orchestra to its glory days of the 1970s, and make it the world-beating orchestra it once was.

Meanwhile news reaches us that Jurowsky père - Mikhail Jurowsky - is to conduct the Bolshoi's revival of THE FIERY ANGEL in February.  This can only be welcome news, after decades of second-raters beating time on Okhotny Ryad.  M Jurowsky is MD in Berlin, but is flying in specially to conduct the work.  With younger brother Dmitry Jurowsky now running the Russian Philharmonia (in addition to his duties as MD at the Antwerp Opera), it's looking increasingly like a Jurowsky royal flush in Moscow...



Gosudarstvenny Akademichesky Symphonichesky Orchestre - State Academic Symphony Orch
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