Berlin (“summerfare”) offerings for June 2007
May 17th, 2007 by Paul Moor
1.) Berlin Philharmonic (BPO) / Rattle – BRAHMS: 2d Piano Concerto (Barenboim); WEILL: “The Seven Deadly Sins”.
2.) Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester (RSO) / Janowski – WEBERN: Passacaglia, op. 1; BERG: Seven Early Songs (Elizabeth Connell); WAGNER: Act 3 of “Siegfried” (Connell et al.).
7.) “musica reanimata” (Berlin’s admirable shoestring operation to redress Nazi suppression of inconvenient composers between 1933 and 1945) presents an evening devoted to early works by Erwin Schulhof, the Jewish Czech composer (fascinated by jazz) who died in a Nazi concentration camp.
7. also) Gidon Kremer’s Kremerata Baltica – MAHLER: 10th Symphony Adagio; SHOSTAKOVICH: Violin Sonata in G op. 134; TCHAIKOVKY: String Sextet “Souvenir de Florence”; “Sempre Primavera” (“Eternal Spring”), apparently a medley of “fragments” by MILHAUD, BEETHOVEN, POLEVAYA, STRAVINSKY, and PIAZZOLLA.
8.) Konzerthausorchester / Zagrosek – RAVEL: “Valses nobles et sentimentales”; ST.-SAENS: 2d Piano Concerto (Pascal Rogé); BARTOK: Concerto for Orchestra.
10.) RSO / Kristjan Järvi – REVUELTAS: “The Night of the Mayas”, “ballet suite” (not really); PIAZZOLLA: Concerto for (the Argentine accordeon-like) Bandoneon, Strings, & Percussion; GINASTERA: Four Dances from the ballet “Estancia”.
10. also) Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester / Eri Klas – PÄRT (Berlin-resident Estonian): “Credo” for piano (K. Skanavi), mixed chorus, & orchestra; BERNSTEIN: “Serenade” (Gidon Kremer); KANTCHELI: “Styx” for violin, chorus, & orchestra.
15.) Konzerthausorchester / Jean-Claude Casadesus – MILHAUD: “Le Boeuf sur la toit” ballet; RAVEL: left-hand Concerto (Jean-Philippe Collard), “Ma mère l’oye”, Boléro.
15. also) DSO / Blomstedt – MOZART: B-flat Piano Concerto K. 595 (Richard Goode); BRUCKNER: 4th Symphony.
15. ALSO!) Rundfunkchor / Stefan Parkman – SHCHEDRIN: “The Sealed Angel” (“Liturgy after Leskov”), for flute, vocal soloists, & chorus.
17.) RSO / Janowski – RAVEL: “Le Tombeau de Couperin”; CHAUSSON: “Poème de l’amour et de la mer” (S. Koch); ST.-SAENS: 3d Symphony (with organ).
21.) Komische Oper Orchestra / Catherine Maguire – Works by VILLA-LOBOS, MARTINU, MILHAUD, & IBERT.
23.) RSO (members) & Berlin Cathedral Choir / Tobias Brommann – HONNEGER: “King David” (the early oratorio that catapulted him into celebrity, today rarely done).
24.) Berlin Motette Choir / Günter Brick – BYRD: Four-Voice Mass; MARTIN: Mass for two choruses.
28.) Staatskapelle / Barenboim – BRAHMS: 1st Piano Concerto (Lang Lang); STRAUSS: “Don Quixote”.
29.) Deutsche Oper Orchestra / Andris Nelsons – primarily a Wagnerian star evening for Deborah Voigt; excerpts from “Rienzi”, “Lohengrin”, “Meistersinger”, “Tristan”, & “Götterdämmerung”.
