Orchestral - my/maSCENA

Video of the Day – Chronological Survey of Beethoven Eroica Symphony Recordings

By Paul E. Robinson on 26 November 2013 Classical, Orchestral, Video of the day

There have been dozens of recordings of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony made over the years. The first one dates from the 1920s. It would be a daunting task to listen to them all and make detailed comparisons. But someone has gone to the trouble of taking just the two opening chords and comparing performances of them in chronological order. No commentary is offered. You’ll have to draw your own conclusions. What does it all mean? Probably very little. It would be foolish to compare performances of the Eroica Symphony, a work lasting about 45 minutes, just based on what the conductor…

Video of the Day – The Dallas Symphony and JFK

By Paul E. Robinson on 17 November 2013 Contemporary, Orchestral, Piano, Video of the day

It was 50 years ago, November 22, 1963, that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Dallas remembers that terrible day with commemorative events throughout November this year. Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony are presenting special concerts for the occasion. In this video conductor Jaap van Zweden talks about what the tribute means to him and to Dallas. He also discusses a new work written for these concerts by Conrad Tao.Paul E. Robinson

Video of the Day – On the Road Again With the NY Philharmonic

By Paul E. Robinson on 10 November 2013 Orchestral, Video of the day

Principal Trumpet Philip Smith of the NY Philharmonic recently announced that he was stepping down from his post at the end of this season. Smith is renowned as one of the great trumpeters of his generation, and has been one of the glories of the NY Philharmonic for decades. The man who sits beside him in the orchestra, Joseph Alessi, the principal trombone player, is equally celebrated. The two of them are good friends and share the same sense of humour. In this video we see them on tour with the orchestra in Vienna, and they are trying to find…

Video of the Day – Alexander Shelley Conducts Sibelius

By Paul E. Robinson on 6 November 2013 Orchestral, Romantic, Video of the day

The National Arts Centre Orchestra has a new conductor. Pinchas Zukerman is stepping down and Alexander Shelley is taking over. Shelley is not a household name but he has built a respectable career, mostly in Germany. He was born in London in 1979 and takes the reins of the NACO starting in September, 2015.In this video Shelley conducts Gustavo Dudamel’s Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela, in an excerpt from the Symphony No. 2 by Sibelius.Paul E. Robinson

Video of the Day – Jansen and Gergiev Play Szymanowski

By Paul E. Robinson on 14 October 2013 Contemporary, Orchestral, Video of the day, Violin

Valery Gergiev recently wowed audiences in Montreal and Toronto with his Mariinsky Orchestra. He is also music director of the London Symphony. With the LSO last month at the Barbican in London he collaborated with violinist Janine Jansen in the Violin Concerto No. 1 by Karol Szymanowski (1883-1937). To judge by this video it was a beautiful performance of a neglected masterpiece. The work was composed in 1917 when Szymanowski was 34.Note that Gergiev appears to be using the shortest baton ever used by a major conductor. Why bother with any baton at all?Paul E. Robinson

Video of the Day – Vanska Resigns From the Minnesota Orchestra

By Paul E. Robinson on 7 October 2013 Orchestral, Video of the day

The battle between management and musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra has gone on so long that music director Osmo Vanska has resigned. I don’t blame him. A conductor without an orchestra can’t get much done. I sympathize with the musicians as they fight back against a management determined to eliminate its deficit by downsizing the orchestra. On the other hand, downsizing is probably exactly what is needed, in Minnesota and elsewhere. The cost of running the Minnesota Orchestra has simply grown too great for its community. Few orchestras can do what the Cleveland Orchestra has done in similar circumstances. It…

Video of the Day – Tom and Jerry at the Proms

By Paul E. Robinson on 1 October 2013 Orchestral, Video of the day

The Proms are over for another year and it is time once again to tip our hats to the BBC: this is perhaps the world’s greatest music festival. And in the form of live television broadcasts – with video to follow – it is more available than ever to millions of people. Every night during the summer months the Proms fill the Royal Albert Hall and bring in world class artists in a vast repertoire of the familiar and the all but unknown.This past summer one of the quirky highlights was music from the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Not great…

Video of the Day – Gergiev Conducts Tchaikovsky

By Paul E. Robinson on 25 September 2013 Orchestral, Romantic, Video of the day

For years now the busiest conductor in the world has been Valery Gergiev. And he still is. He is currently conducting a run of performances of Eugen Onegin at the Met in New York with Anna Netrebko, and soon he will be leading a North American tour with his Mariinsky Orchestra. The tour includes a stop in Montreal with an all-Rachmaninov program.His critics say that Gergiev can’t possibly be prepared for all the performances he gives and that is probably true. At the same time, few conductors anywhere bring as much mastery and involvement to a performance as Gergiev. Like…

Video of the Day – Berlin Philharmonic Horn Section Plays Bruckner

By Paul E. Robinson on 15 September 2013 Orchestral, Romantic, Video of the day

The symphonies of Bruckner are a challenge for any orchestra, especially for the horn section. In several of the later symphonies four of the horn players have to switch to Wagner tubas. The Berlin Philharmonic has a long and proud tradition of playing Bruckner under Furtwaengler, Karajan, Boehm, Jochum and others but it doesn’t take its authority lightly in this repertoire. In this recent video you will see the members of the BPO horn section preparing for a Bruckner performance with meticulous rehearsal and discussion.The Montreal Symphony plays Bruckner’s Third Symphony this week under music director Kent Nagano.Paul E. Robinson

Video of the Day – Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle

By Paul E. Robinson on 29 July 2013 Orchestral, Romantic, Video of the day

Last fall Christian Thielemann began his tenure as chief conductor of the legendary Dresden Staatskapelle, one of the world’s oldest and finest orchestras. Great things are expected from this combination of conductor and orchestra. Thielemann has solid credentials as a Bruckner and Wagner conductor and that is the core repertoire of this orchestra.Earlier this year Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle took over from Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic as the resident conductor and orchestra of the Salzburg Easter Festival. This too has a certain inevitability about it. Karajan founded the Salzburg Easter Festival and for many years Thielemann was one…

Browsing: Orchestral