Tuesday, December 11, 2012

A Concert Has Been Added

Wednesday, January 23, 2013, at 8:00 p.m.

Orchestre National d’lle de France
Salle Pleyel
Paris

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Cedric Tiberghien, Piano

Panufnik: Katyn Epitaph
Azarova: Mover Of The Earth [World Premiere]
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3 (“Polish”)

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We decided we could handle three orchestra concerts on three consecutive nights, especially since the orchestras are different, the artists are different, and the programs are different.

Consequently, over three nights, we shall hear three of Paris’s four full-time concert orchestras (we shall miss Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France).

The Azarova in question is Svitlana Azarova, of whom I have never heard. From the program arrangement, it seems clear that the composer’s new piece is a very short one.

We left open the possibility of attending a performance at Palais Garnier on our final evening in Paris, Saturday, January 26.

A double bill of Zemlinsky’s “The Dwarf” (also known as “The Birthday Of The Infanta”) and Ravel’s “L’Enfant et les sortileges” will be presented that evening. I do not think that German Expressionism mixes well with French Neo-Classicism, and I think the operas should be paired differently. Consequently, we have a “wait and see” attitude toward the Zemlinsky/Ravel double bill. (The conductor, Paul Daniel, and the stage director, Richard Jones, a couple of British provincials, also scare us off.)

5 comments:

  1. Panufnik is virtually unknown here in the US, though he is a fine composer. I don't remember EVER seeing a work by Panufnik listed on a concert program in America. Pity: our loss.

    You are fortunate.

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  2. I should have written, "the MUSIC of Panufnik is virtually unknown here": The composer has been gone from us for some 20 years.

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  3. Andrew likes the Polish Modernists, and I have started to appreciate them.

    In the last few years, we’ve listened to some Panufnik. We’ve listened to the Sinfonia Sacra and the Sinfonia Votiva, as well as the Cello Concerto written for Rostropovich, the Concertino For Timpani, Percussion And Strings, and the piece for 12 solo strings (a piece with a very long title, which I have forgotten).

    I hated the Cello Concerto, and the Sinfonia Votiva was too tough for me. I liked the other pieces.

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  4. For more information about the Ukrainian/Dutch composer Svitlana Azarova, have a listen at her site: azarova.com
    Also more information at Wikipedia
    Enjoy :)

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