Revisiting Perlman.

This past Thursday I had the opportunity to see Itzhak Perlman perform for the third time (I believe) and conduct for the first time. Naturally I was very excited to attend this concert.

Itzhak Perlman with the Seattle Symphony

Thursday, January 15, 2015

7:30 PM

Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1042 - Johann Sebastian Bach

Allegro

Adagio

Allegro assai

Itzhak Perlman, Violin

Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 - Johannes Brahms

-Intermission-

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55, "Eroica" - Ludwig van Beethoven

Allegro con brio

Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

Scherzo: Allegro vivace

Finale: Allegro molto

Previously when I had seen Perlman perform, he actually came onto the stage on his motorized scooter. This time, he chose to walk on stage supported by two forearm crutches. While it was great to see his resolve, it often took a lot of time for him to get on (and off) stage, and the audience wasn't particularly great at sustaining the applause either. That being said, he is still more than capable of playing the violin, and played the Bach with the same warmth and technical dexterity that we have all been accustomed to over the years. His conducting wasn't of much note and I didn't feel it added much to the performance (and I pay to hear soloists play, not dabble in other things). I left slightly disappointed in the overall performance, mostly due to my high expectations coming in to the performance.

More Chamber Music!

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of hearing the Takács quartet as part of the UW World Series program. This follows the previous performance by the Miró quartet last November.

Takács Quartet
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
7:30 PM

Edward Dusinberre, Violin
Károly Schranz, Violin
Geraldine Walther, Viola
András Fejér, Cello

Quartet No. 50 in B-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 3 - Franz Joseph Haydn
Vivace assai
Adagio
Menuetto: Allegretto
Finale: Allegro con spirit

String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804, Op. 29 - Franz Schubert
Allegro ma non troppo
Andante
Menuetto: Allegretto
Allegro moderato

-Intermission-

String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 - Ludwig van Beethoven
Adagio ma non troppo-Allegro
Presto
Andante con moto, ma non proppo-Poco scherzoso
Alla danza tdesca. Allegro assai
Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo
Finale: Allegro

Overall I was very impressed with this performance-this quartet has been playing together for a long time, and it shows. All the passages are generally well-coordinated and they were able to play the lighter passages in the Haydn and the heavier parts in the Beethoven with ease. However, there were several things that did leave me unhappy. Firstly, the violist decided to choose her own dress code while the other members wore only black, daring to wear a red shawl. I'm a little old school in believing that there some be some uniformity in the dress. Also, I feel like the second violinist is probably past his prime and seemed to occasionally try to set a new tempo separate from the other members, which seemed to cause some pretty tense moments on the stage. Otherwise I was generally happy with the performance.

Happy New Year From the Sydney Opera House!

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