Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra: AMAZING!

[FMiguelez]

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Yesterday evening I feasted my ears. Went to see the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and they are simply wonderful. I hadn't seen anything on this level for some time now.

The phrasing, the tone, the DYNAMICS, the vibrance and energy they impart on this music is first rate. They played standard repertoire (Mozart, Bach), and closed the evening with Shoenberg´s Verklarte Nacht. It´s not easy to do, but they did put tears in my eyes. I had never heard that piece live, and it just blew me away. The intensity of that music is insane! I´m SO buying that score. There are many wonderful things to be learnt from it.

Anyway, just wanted to share this, and look out. The SCO seems to be on tour. If they do reach your hometown I STRONGLY suggest you drop what you´re doing and go hear/see them

[FMiguelez]

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Actually, after listening to Schoenberg's piece, I'm not surprised at all about the direction he took his music years later.
I mean, his lines are so complex and rich. It just seemed like the logical and inevitable next step for him. Especially with his 12-tone-row music the lines are still there, only more intense.

I remember a teacher at college telling us about an anecdote of how Schoenberg entered that piece into a contest and didn't win, but got his score back with the scribbles of some judge critizising him for daring "to put the ninth" in the bass, or something equally lame.

The ninth in the bass???? There´s no such thing as a ninth in the bass... that´s ridiculous!


I heard one of our better orchestras are going to be playing also his "Survivor from Warsaw" piece. I´d say it´s easily one of the most dramatic and powerful master pieces EVER written.

If you haven´t heard it you are missing a LOT. But make sure you read the english translation of the text before. It will then be twice as powerful.

[Nigel Keay]

Thanks for posting this. According to the SCO Management site the SCO will be coming to France in July so I'll look out for them.

Verklarte Nacht has been an influential work for me, I bought the orchestral version of it on CD just after CD itself came out. Agreed that it's definitely a must-hear work. The only time I've heard it live was fairly recently in the original string sextet version played by members of the French National Orchestra. Schoenberg made the string orchestra version himself a few years after the original, so I'd love to hear this version too.

I've worked on the viola part as it pops up from time to time as one of the orchestral extracts required for orchestral auditions. It's therefore difficult from the player's point of view, but beautiful string writing...

[Nigel Keay]

I heard a great concert on Wednesday evening: Quatuor Diotima, a French string quartet, playing Beethoven's String Quartet op.132, and in the second half, Luigig Nono's Fragments-Stille (an diotima) composed 1979-80. Exquisite playing by the quartet. They tour a lot all over the world so I recommend trying to hear one of their concerts if at all possible. I definitely agree with the notion that Beethoven's last quartets are the pinnacle of the repertoire.

Coincidentally, Schoenberg's music came under discussion on another forum in the last few days (violinist.com). Now I'm reminded that it's only really his early works that i got familiar with, Verklarte Nacht and the Chamber Symphony along with some of the piano music. I gravitated more towards Berg (Violin Concerto, Lulu..) but now want to go and listen to more of Schoenberg's 12 tone period.