Ottawa Symphony Orchestra: Mahler 9th

Courtesy of a Groupon offer last week, I went to see the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra (OSO) on 26th November in their performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony. This was my first OSO performance (as well as my first Mahler 9th performance) and I was suitably impressed both by the quality of the performance and by the turnout.

In a related event, the Austrian Embassy had set up a small display about artist Gustav Klimt in the NAC foyer, introduced by incoming ambassador Arno Riedel. There were around 10 themed boards with information in English and German about various aspects of Klimt's life and career. Small but nonetheless a nice complimentary touch to the evening. In addition to the Klimt display, a very informative pre-concert chat by David Gardner provided an excellent introduction.

I didn't really notice the length of the Symphony as the music was so intense and descriptive. Even just the first movement was like the telling of a story and it was clear how many subsequent composers (including film scores) have been influenced by Mahler. A lot has been written about Mahler's health problems and fears about death during this period, but I found the symphony to have quite a lot of hope and humour in it as well. The second and third movements (two humourous discourses on Ländler and counterpoint) were followed by a slow final movement which was more melancholy in comparison, almost as the conclusion of a long and meandering story.

The OSO's performance was warmly received and certainly deserved.

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Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Angela Hewitt Week, 14th-20th May 2012

I just received information from a friend about Angela Hewitt Week in Ottawa, 14th-20th May as declared by Mayor Jim Watson. Ms Hewitt is performing with Chamber Players of Canada on Friday 18th May; there will also be An Afternoon With Angela Hewitt on 20th May at the National Arts Centre hosted by the Canadian Friends of the Trasimeno Music Festival .

The Venezuelan maestro comes to Cardiff

A highly anticipated evening of entertainment for M and I, we headed to St Davids Hall to see the conductor of the moment, Gustavo Dudamel , conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra . Highly entertaining, too, and the place was pretty full, though possibly not sold out. We had anticipated the first piece to be Antonio Estevez' 'Mediodia en el llano', but a last minute change meant the first work was (I believe - the posters up in the venue were rather short on info!) Berlioz' Roman Carnival. Initially we may have been a tad disappointed but the replacement work was excellently peformed, cue many smiles. Unfortunately, the smiles soon evaporated, as the second, and for us, least interesting piece, was Mozart's Piano Concert No.17 K453 with Emanuel Ax on piano. M described Ax as mellow, I described him as dull. That may be because neither of us are really into Mozart, but compared to previous visits to St Davids Hall to see pianists Noriko Ogawa and Freddy Kempf, we really...

PrettyInScarlett

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