Berliner Philharmoniker/Simon Rattle, London [音楽時評]
Berliner Philharmoniker/Simon Rattle のLondon residency 初日のReview は5つ星評価です．
the orchestra's twelve cellists purveyed Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and bossa nova to an audience of children. he describes as music's equivalent to Real Madrid, was to decree that schooling the listeners of tomorrow would be a priority. といいますから，多面的です．
their first grown-up concert should be given not by the full orchestra, but by selected players in intimate chamber groupings. For this is an orchestra of soloists, in both musical excellence and attitude: self-governing, self-selecting and reserving the right to hire (and fire) their conductors, they describe themselves as an "orchestral republic". とこの楽団の特徴を列記しています．
One single movement was all the ailing Schubert managed to write of his String Quartet in C minor, but these players turned it into nine minutes of filigree perfection, as it alternately sang, smouldered and burst into flame.
The dwelling in question was that of "home-key" tonality, on which three centuries of classical music were built: Rattle wanted to show how its breakdown ushered in the anything-goes musical world we inhabit now, and Schoenberg's String Quartet No 2 was the work which epitomised that breakdown.
Looking as though she had stepped straight out of a Klimt painting, soprano Anna Prohaska brought the most refined artistry to her part, blending her timbre with those of the strings as though she was one of them. When she gave voice to the poet's rapture on that new planet, the whole piece acquired an airborne lightness.
最後にようやくRattle が登場して，It was only with the final work – Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No 1, also written on the cusp of change – that Rattle made his appearance at the head of a posse of wind players to bolster the strings. And he did his job beautifully, sculpting the work's intricately layered contours, controlling its busy tranquillity and bringing out its valedictory quality, since this was more a farewell to the old world than a greeting to the new.
しかも，Rattle gave us an intimation of his full orchestra's fabled sound, which will be unleashed tonight, with Stravinsky and Mahler, at the Barbican. Never before have London's normally rivalrous big concert halls collaborated in this way: they both want to share the gold dust and they also want to share the high costs of this venture.
つまりそれまではRoyal Festival Hall を中心としたSouth Bankだったのですが，Full orchestra はLondon 中心部東の Barbican で his full orchestra's fabled sound, which will be unleashed tonight, with Stravinsky and Mahler, at the Barbican. と２つの大ホールを贅沢に使って，弦楽器の室内楽に始まって, sopranoを加え，管楽器を加え，そして Full orchestra はBarbican で聴かせ，調性から無調への音楽の300年の発展を示して，さらに Stravinsky and Mahler でそれを贅沢に締めくくったというのですから，たいへんな演出です．
それから，記事で驚いたのは，最後の1節で，But do not even dream about getting a ticket: the 8,000 allocated for this week's events sold out a year ago. という説明です．つまりこの週のチケット8000枚は，1年前に完売していたというのです．日本より凄いですね．
First Night: Berliner Philharmoniker/Simon Rattle, Queen Elizabeth Hall
'Orchestral republic' shows its power with Rattle at the helm
Monday, 21 February 2011
Start as you mean to go on. It was entirely typical that Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker should have started their week-long London residency with a concert in which the orchestra's twelve cellists purveyed Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and bossa nova to an audience of children. For one of the first things Rattle did, on taking over the helm of the band which he describes as music's equivalent to Real Madrid, was to decree that schooling the listeners of tomorrow would be a priority.
It was also typical that their first grown-up concert should be given not by the full orchestra, but by selected players in intimate chamber groupings. For this is an orchestra of soloists, in both musical excellence and attitude: self-governing, self-selecting and reserving the right to hire (and fire) their conductors, they describe themselves as an "orchestral republic".
Their opening could not have been simpler or more powerful. One single movement was all the ailing Schubert managed to write of his String Quartet in C minor, but these players turned it into nine minutes of filigree perfection, as it alternately sang, smouldered and burst into flame.
Then it was time for a work which had been one of Rattle's calling cards since he flourished it in his Channel 4 TV series Leaving Home. The dwelling in question was that of "home-key" tonality, on which three centuries of classical music were built: Rattle wanted to show how its breakdown ushered in the anything-goes musical world we inhabit now, and Schoenberg's String Quartet No 2 was the work which epitomised that breakdown.
As it proceeds, it gradually floats free of all tonal anchors, with the Stefan George poem (added by a soprano) vividly underlining the point: "I feel the air of another planet... I am dissolved in swirling sound." Looking as though she had stepped straight out of a Klimt painting, soprano Anna Prohaska brought the most refined artistry to her part, blending her timbre with those of the strings as though she was one of them. When she gave voice to the poet's rapture on that new planet, the whole piece acquired an airborne lightness.
It was only with the final work – Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No 1, also written on the cusp of change – that Rattle made his appearance at the head of a posse of wind players to bolster the strings. And he did his job beautifully, sculpting the work's intricately layered contours, controlling its busy tranquillity and bringing out its valedictory quality, since this was more a farewell to the old world than a greeting to the new.
And here Rattle gave us an intimation of his full orchestra's fabled sound, which will be unleashed tonight, with Stravinsky and Mahler, at the Barbican. Never before have London's normally rivalrous big concert halls collaborated in this way: they both want to share the gold dust and they also want to share the high costs of this venture.
But do not even dream about getting a ticket: the 8,000 allocated for this week's events sold out a year ago.
Detroit Symphony Suspended Season at last [音楽時評]
とうとうDetroit Symphony は2010～2011 season を Cancel ではなく Suspend しました．地元新聞が 社説で，デトロイトの置かれた経済状況の現実を辨えなかったからだと強い調子でmusicians を非難しています．
Hope is giving way to reality in the five-month Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike. After musicians rejected its final offer, DSO management suspended the season, notifying guest artists and ticket holders that the scheduled concerts are not likely to go on.
That's a tough blow for Detroit, which has lost so many things it cherished during this prolonged economic crisis. But the orchestra can't spend money it doesn't have, even to maintain a symphony that is hailed as one of the world's best.
Simply put, Detroit can't afford the current orchestra, unless the operating model changes substantially. this is Detroit, and few organizations here have survived without changing their operating models to reflect the city's diminished economic status.
the musicians recognized the need for salary concessions. But they have not come around to getting more involved in building audiences and courting donors.
Generous supporters have tried to grease a settlement by putting up $2 million to compensate musicians for the extra community work. Instead, the musicians tried to grab half that restricted money to enhance salaries, without agreeing to the extra work.
musicians not only put the symphony at risk, but their own careers as well
We urge all parties to continue working toward an agreement that works for the musicians, management and the community and that returns classical music to Orchestra Hall. But reality demands it be played by an orchestra Detroit can afford.
この社説とは別の記事が掲載されていて，次の2点が懸念されています． 1．そろそろ健全な orchestra が来シーズンの schedule を公表する時期なので，早急に体制を作らないと，2011～2012 season の編成が出来なくなる． 誰も紛争後で将来の定まらない orchestra と出演契約することは期待できないでしょう． 2. Cancel ではなく suspension だと，優秀な楽員でも，union の強い音楽業界では，おいそれと新規雇用契約を結んでくれるところはないでしょう．
という2点です．両当事者特にmusicians は，交渉の切り札に，こんな低処遇では Top musicians が引き抜かれて，orchestra のレベルが低下するといっていたのですが，当分の間そんな心配は無用のことだったようですね．
