List Of Orchestra Concerts

Andrew and I save our concert programs. For both of us, it is somehow inconceivable to toss them out.

When we mailed a few things home in early December (the purpose of the package was to ship Alec’s birthday gift), we included a few compact discs we had borrowed from Andrew’s father as well as the small number of concert programs we had accumulated since moving East.

Now that I have organized and filed our concert programs here in Minnesota, I can easily list the orchestra concerts Andrew and I have heard in the last thirty-four months. It is a larger number than I had realized: twenty-three, by my count. Andrew heard a few additional orchestras over this same period, since he attended a few concerts—such as concerts by the Dallas Symphony and the Houston Symphony—while on business travel.

Over that period, we have heard only two works more than once: Rossini’s “Barber Of Seville” Overture, performed twice, and Brahms’s Fourth Symphony, performed three times.

The best of all concerts we attended was the Leipzig Gewandhaus concert under Riccardo Chailly. While the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is not the finest of the orchestras we have heard—I would award that honor to the Vienna Philharmonic, I believe—it presented the most deeply-satisfying performance. The very worst performance, and by far the worst orchestra as well, was the San Francisco Symphony.

We happened to encounter far too much music by Mahler in the 2006-2007 season (and we missed yet an additional Mahler performance in early 2007 because of a snowstorm), but we have managed to avoid Mahler since September 2007. Truly, I do not strenuously object to Mahler, but Mahler is programmed far too often in the U.S., and we were doused with far too much Mahler from October 2006 through September 2007.

During the coming school term, we plan to attend two Boston Symphony concerts (Dutoit and Temirkanov), one New York Philharmonic concert (Muti), one concert by Boston’s Handel And Haydn Society (Norrington), and two concerts by visiting orchestras: the London Symphony (Gergiev) and The National Philharmonic Of Russia (Spivakov).

The orchestra concerts we have attended, in order, appear below.

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

James Conlon, Conductor

Mahler: Symphony No. 6

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Orchestra And Chorus Of Saint-Michealis-Kirche
Saint-Michaelis-Kirche
Hamburg

Thomas Schoener, Conductor
Ruth Ziesak, Soprano
Thomas Laske, Baritone

Brahms: A German Requiem

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NDR Orchestra Of Hamburg
Laeiszhalle
Hamburg

Christoph Dohnanyi, Conductor
Emanuel Ax, Pianist

Bartok: Two Portraits
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)

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Orchestre Des Champs Elysees
Laeiszhalle
Hamburg

Philippe Herreweghe, Conductor

Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”)
Schumann: Symphony No. 3 (“Rhenish”)

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Oslo Philharmonic
Laeiszhalle
Hamburg

Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Conductor
Boris Berezowsky, Pianist

Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 (“Elivra Madigan”)
Mahler: Symphony No. 5

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Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Ordway Center
Saint Paul

Roberto Abbado, Conductor

Rossini: “L’Italiana In Algeri” Overture
Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2
Ligeti: Ramifications
Haydn: Symphony No. 94 (“Surprise”)
Rossini: “The Barber Of Seville” Overture

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Osmo Vanska, Conductor

Sibelius: Night Ride And Sunrise
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Osmo Vanska, Conductor
Helena Juntunen, Soprano
Jennifer Larmore, Mezzo Soprano

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”)

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San Francisco Symphony
Royal Albert Hall
London

Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor

Mahler: Symphony No. 7

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Vienna Philharmonic
Royal Albert Hall
London

Daniel Barenboim, Conductor

Schubert: Symphony No. 5
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”)

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Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Royal Albert Hall
London

Riccardo Chailly, Conductor
Viviane Hagner, Violinist

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No. 4

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Boston Symphony Orchestra
Royal Albert Hall
London

James Levine, Conductor

Carter: Three Illusions For Orchestra
Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra
Brahms: Symphony No. 1

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Osmo Vanska, Conductor

Holst: The Planets

[By design, Andrew and I attended only the second half of this concert one Friday at lunchtime. The first half of the concert featured music by Corigliano and Chopin.]

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Conductor

Mozart: Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”)
Skrowaczewski: Fantasy For Flute And Orchestra
Brahms: Symphony No. 2

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Osmo Vanska, Conductor
Alfred Brendel, Pianist

Webern: Passacaglia
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6

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Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Ordway Center
Saint Paul

Reinbert De Leeuw, Conductor
Dawn Upshaw, Soprano

Stravinsky: Dumbarton Oaks Concerto
Hindemith: Chamber Music No. 1
Schoenberg: Brettl-Lieder
Revueltas: Homage To Federico Garcia Lorca
Berio: Folksongs

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Osmo Vanska, Conductor
Baiba Skride, Violinist

Rossini: “The Barber Of Seville” Overture
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Hindemith: “Mathis Der Maler” Symphonie

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Neville Marriner, Conductor
Jorja Fleezanis, Violinist

Elgar: Violin Concerto
Brahms: Symphony No. 4

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Helmuth Rilling, Conductor

Brahms: Nanie
Brahms: Four Songs For Women’s Voices, Two Horns And Harp
Brahms: Schicksalslied

[By design, Andrew and I attended only the second half of this concert one Friday at lunchtime. The first half of the concert featured music by Schubert.]

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Boston Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Hall
Boston

James Levine, Conductor
Maurizio Pollini, Pianist

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 (“Pathetique”)
Kirchner: The Forbidden
Schumann: Piano Concerto

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Dresden Staatskapelle
Symphony Hall
Boston

Fabio Luisi, Conductor
Rudolf Buchbinder, Pianist

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1
Brahms: Symphony No. 4

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Boston Symphony Orchestra
Symphony Hall
Boston

Julian Kuerti, Conductor
Lynn Harrell, Cellist

Brahms/Rubbra: Variations And Fugue On A Theme Of Handel
Elgar: Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony

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Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Minneapolis

Yan Pascal Tortelier, Conductor

Mozart: “The Abduction From The Seraglio” Overture
Berlioz: Harold In Italy
Delius: “The Walk To The Paradise Garden” From “A Village Romeo And Juliet”
Elgar: Enigma Variations