Ups and downs in the concert halls

[Ilja]

Hi all,


We had this discussion a few years ago, but I thought it might be worth seeing where we stand now. Every spring, I'm going through the programmes for many European orchestras and concert venues, and sometimes it strikes me how certain composers and works appear to be giving way to others. I haven't really done any systematic analysis, so most of this is impressions, and anecdotal - but I'm interested to learn what your impression is. And mostly: do you have the impression that any unsungs are getting played more often?


The situation may be different from country to country. It seems to me that British orchestras are somewhat more experiment-averse than German or Scandinavian ones, mostly due to the way in which they're financed. Anyhow, here are my impressions:


On the way down/out:
- Bartók. Seems to be in decline since the 1990s; certainly the Concerto for Orchestra is no longer the stalwart it used to be. But I still see the Divertimento popping up, and Kossuth appears to be getting more popular, an interesting move for a piece that was mostly obscure ten years ago.
- Smetana. Even Vltava is getting rare.


On the way up/in:
- Stenhammar: Even the substantial Symphony No. 2, and the 1st piano concerto, get programmed with some regularity.
- Glazunov. I can't remember a single performance of a Glazunov work in a Dutch or German hall before 2000. But althought I would still not call him 'canonized', his works aren't nearly as rare as they used to be.

[MartinH]

I similarly go through programming for the major and some minor US orchestras. As to who is on the outs, César Franck is sadly missing - and there are some even on this board who couldn't be happier!

US orchestras have if anything gone even further into the safe and secure repertoire: more Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart. Mahler is still quite present, but not anywhere nearly as strong as 20 years ago. Salt Lake is certainly doing their part as they continue with a multi-year complete cycle. It's especially annoying to see some of the legendary orchestras like Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Boston continually replay the standard repertoire with only occasional nods to something different.

But to hear anything like Raff, Glazunov, Rubinstein, Schmidt, Kalinnikov, Bax or Balakirev, you'll have to settle for a cd recording.

[eschiss1]

Of course, that's orchestras; Glazunov's string quintet did have a New York airing just recently (in January), for instance. The same ensemble performed Anton Rubinstein's 2nd string quartet a few weeks before, too.

And in the future, Glazunov's Chant du ménestrel will be in a 3 April 2016 concert @ Alice Tully Hall (in its cello/piano form, of course.)

[eschiss1]

Still, a sweetmeat by Rubinstein ("Demon romance ("On the ocean of air") from opera "Demon"") is in a Napa Valley ("Lincoln Theatre Napa Valley, Yountville") concert toward the end of this month (over in California, that is.) So no national ban has yet been placed on the orchestral/concertante music of the composers you mention. (And I'm guessing at least Balakirev's piano music gets an occasional airing, though probably not his orchestral and concertante music so much, true, except maybe orchestrations of Islamey, maybe...) Also re Rubinstein, anyone in NYC might want to look for his 2nd cello concerto in December.

(Unsurprisingly: Leon Botstein is the conductor!)

[MartinH]

I wish there was some national data base of who's playing what and when. There are so many orchestras and so many concerts that no one has time to look at all events. I didn't even know Napa Valley had a concert series. A state the size of California must have several hundred orchestras (from the sublime to the dismal) and just keeping track of their concerts would be a daunting task. The Tucson orchestra did some Rubinstein several years back and it was quite a nice change. Yes, chamber music seems to be a bit more open to lesser-known composers. The Raff Sinfonietta appears from time to time.

[eschiss1]

I use bachtrack.com. It's not a mandatory database of some kind- it's voluntary checkin/performer promotional/tell us about your concert, we'll use it to build a searchable database... but that's where I got a fair amount of this information (+ jupitersymphony.com.)

[Ilja]

There is a national database for the Netherlands, but it's unfortunately not very user-friendly: http://www.klassieke-agenda.nl. For Flanders, there's http://www.uitinvlaanderen.be/agenda/concert?theme=klassieke-muziek.


In Germany and France it's still a matter of scouring radio stations' and orchestra's websites.

[Wheesht]

Switzerland's Classic Radio has this concert calendar, but I'm sure it is not comprehensive.

[mjmosca]

The situation in the US is quite bad- a double squeeze of reduced number of concerts due to shrinking audience size and the "need" to free up time for new compositions, particularly of the politically correct kind. Years ago, I wrote to Yuri Temerkanov who was then the music director of the Baltimore Symphony to suggest a program for 2005: Glazounov's Symphony Number 8, written in the revolutionary year 1905 and his student, Shostakovich's Symphony Number 11, "The Year 1905" - which I thought would be a fascinating program. I received a polite thank you, and that was that! This year we are getting the Glazounov Violin Concerto- with our superb concert master as soloist. I think that this is the first piece by Glazounov played by the Baltimore Symphony since I moved here in 1982. None too encouraging.

[eschiss1]

I'm guessing Britishers, some of whom've heard Anna Clyne's "Masquerade" (presumably the most immediate focus of your ire) when it was premiered during the Last Night of the Proms in 2013, could say whether or not the work was Politically Correct, or no. Though the work can also be heard on YouTube, come to think.

[sdtom]

I've been going through a Glazunov listening phase the past couple of weeks and I'm of the opinion that he has become an unsung. Yes there are recordings of his material but he is not often played in the concert hall. I think he falls into the remit and he should be discussed at greater length. He did compose in the 1890's on. I'm listening to a CD of his piano concertos this AM and enjoying them for what they are. Not complicated but pleasant.
Tom

[MartinH]

In my opinion, Glazunov has always been an unsung - in 40 of playing in orchestras I've only encountered the violin concerto once and that's it. I've attended a performance of the fifth symphony once and the fourth by a horrible amateur orchestra that is best left unremembered. And yet, despite the absence in the concert hall, it is rather astonishing how much he is recorded. There are at least five symphony cycles, boatloads of the other orchestral music and choral and piano works. What's missing it seems is a complete traversal of the chamber music. Glazunov is a most agreeable composer. Not great maybe, but certainly entertaining and worthy of attention. Every time I drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles I have a ritual of loading the symphonies into the cd changer - it's a great way to drive those 400 monotonous miles. (On the return trip it's the Dvorak symphonies.)

[adriano]

@Wheesht: yes, but this does not mean that these works are broadcast. Swiss Radio 2 (with whom 3 months ago I had a serious complaint since they ridiculised me and one of my Brun CDs in an absolutely unprofessional and unacceptable ironic tone) are a bit more nosy about their works and artists chosen. The complaint's responsible, by the way, gave me right :-)

[Wheesht]

@hadrianus: I had not meant to imply that these were broadcasts. I had been looking for an overview of concerts in Switzerland since it is not always easy to find out where rare repertoire is being performed.

[adriano]

alright Wheesht, sorry for that :-)
I am assisting tonight's "Pêcherus de Perles" at the Zurich Opera, two magnificent Canadian singers (Frédéric Antoun and Etienne Dupuis) and a super Italian soprano, who has just sung "I Puritani" at Cnvent Garden: Rosa Feola.