MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, 22 JUNE 2009
Programme:
Debussy: Printemps
Elgar: Cello Concerto
Prokoviev: Symphony No. 5
Conductor: Yan Pascal Tortelier
Soloist: Matthew Barley - Cello
3 out of 5 stars
Sorry, was I clapping too loudly?
There was a time when it was de rigeur for an audience to clap (or cheer, or boo, or hiss or gesticulate in an ungracious manner) after each movement of a symphony or concerto or some such. Considered bad manners now, it was somewhat surprising then that at the end of the rousing first movement to Prokofiev's Fifth some members audience burst into enthusiastic applause! Traditionalists perhaps? Fervent Red Army supporters bearing hands in solidarity for their fallen comrades maybe? Or philistines mistakenly believing that this was the shortest Symphony in history - a one movement wonder?
This was, mostly, a rousing performance from the MSO of a particularly difficult piece to both perform and, at times, to listen to. That Tortelier was such a student of this work was evident in his enthusiasm and gymnastic gyrations throughout - indeed, quite mesmerising and entertaining in itself that one became quite distracted during the mostly discordant second and third movements.
The programme opened with Debussey's Printemps but fell well short in all sections. the sound was muddied and at times bung notes and sloppy play were quite audible. Overall, the effect was like listening to a feature length Disney cartoon but without Bambi and Thumper.
Elgar's Cello Concerto was outstanding and Barley was nothing short of majestic.
I gave him a huge hand!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
MORE BOOK REVIEWS.......
The Great Terror - A Reassesment
By Robert Conquest
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's just a step to the right........
A totally scary book!
But is it perverse of me to be have been found giggling during some memorably darker passages of Conquest's famous tome? If the Great Terror wasn't such a mounumental disaster that fell upon both citizen and officialdom and of such tragic proportions it would have made a brilliant synopsis for a 'Keystone Cops' caper.
The mind cannot comprehend the awfulness that was life during the 1930's in Russia; when perpetrators became victims and victims became martyrs and families of perpetrators, victims and martyrs became victims and villains at once themselves.
The many twists and turns of Stalin's paranoic rule become confusing admist the maze of sub-plots and sub-sub plots, but Conquest reminds us often of the stories of the ghosts that haunt this masterful book; and so that we need to worry little if we confuse Bukharin with Zarkov, Beria with Yagoda or Yezhov with Rykov. Suffice to say, it is simply the awfulness of the Great Terror and the banality of the oppression within a totalitarian society that concern us most. The almost tragic-comedy of those revolting perpetrators, whose existence straddled every stratum of the regime and who in turn were dragged off to have great horrors inflicted on them in return for their 'confessions' is simply awe-inspiring and almost unbelievable in its scope and reach.
My only criticism would be that Kruschev's role in all this fine mess was still as mysterious to me at the end of this book as it was at the beginning.
A magnificent education.
Groucho - The life and times of Julius Henry Marx
By Stefan Kanfer
4.0 out 5 stars
"There aint no Sanity Claus....."
Whilst I hate lists, this fine biography is rated at the top of my all-time favourite book list! There is a review on Amazon that fairly debunks the reputation of Kanfer's chronicle of the life and times of Groucho, and one which i took great exception to, whereas normally the opinions of others worry me little.
This is a well researched and well told tale of the brothers Marx and their rise and rise during the heady years of vaudeville as well as a crafted piece of biography of one of its most famous brothers.
Replete with many anecdotes and takes from various scripts, Kanfer delivers a gentle picture of a very flawed and complicated superstar. One that we miss very much even 35 years after his passing.
Lovers of Marx, unite!
By Robert Conquest
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's just a step to the right........
A totally scary book!
But is it perverse of me to be have been found giggling during some memorably darker passages of Conquest's famous tome? If the Great Terror wasn't such a mounumental disaster that fell upon both citizen and officialdom and of such tragic proportions it would have made a brilliant synopsis for a 'Keystone Cops' caper.
The mind cannot comprehend the awfulness that was life during the 1930's in Russia; when perpetrators became victims and victims became martyrs and families of perpetrators, victims and martyrs became victims and villains at once themselves.
The many twists and turns of Stalin's paranoic rule become confusing admist the maze of sub-plots and sub-sub plots, but Conquest reminds us often of the stories of the ghosts that haunt this masterful book; and so that we need to worry little if we confuse Bukharin with Zarkov, Beria with Yagoda or Yezhov with Rykov. Suffice to say, it is simply the awfulness of the Great Terror and the banality of the oppression within a totalitarian society that concern us most. The almost tragic-comedy of those revolting perpetrators, whose existence straddled every stratum of the regime and who in turn were dragged off to have great horrors inflicted on them in return for their 'confessions' is simply awe-inspiring and almost unbelievable in its scope and reach.
My only criticism would be that Kruschev's role in all this fine mess was still as mysterious to me at the end of this book as it was at the beginning.
A magnificent education.
Groucho - The life and times of Julius Henry Marx
By Stefan Kanfer
4.0 out 5 stars
"There aint no Sanity Claus....."
Whilst I hate lists, this fine biography is rated at the top of my all-time favourite book list! There is a review on Amazon that fairly debunks the reputation of Kanfer's chronicle of the life and times of Groucho, and one which i took great exception to, whereas normally the opinions of others worry me little.
This is a well researched and well told tale of the brothers Marx and their rise and rise during the heady years of vaudeville as well as a crafted piece of biography of one of its most famous brothers.
Replete with many anecdotes and takes from various scripts, Kanfer delivers a gentle picture of a very flawed and complicated superstar. One that we miss very much even 35 years after his passing.
Lovers of Marx, unite!
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