My Final List

Below is a chronological listing of orchestra concerts Andrew and I attended within the last twelve months.

I last updated this list on July 1, 2012.

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Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Ordway Center
Saint Paul

Edo de Waart, Conductor
Christian Zacharias, Piano

R. Strauss: Serenade In E-Flat
R. Strauss: Metamorphosen For 23 Solo Strings
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2

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Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Ordway Center
Saint Paul

Thomas Dausgaard, Conductor
Alexander Fiterstein, Clarinet

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

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VocalEssence
The Cathedral Of Saint Paul
Saint Paul

Helmuth Rilling, Conductor

Bruckner: Four Motets
Mendelssohn: Two Motets
Bruckner: Mass No. 2

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Philharmonia Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Chicago

Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor

Beethoven: Symphony No. 2
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

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Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Uihlein Hall
Milwaukee

Christoph König, Conductor

Weber: “Der Freischütz” Overture
Lutoslawski: Concerto For Orchestra
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (“Unfinished”)
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

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Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Chicago

Charles Dutoit, Conductor
Gil Shaham, Violin

Britten: Variations And Fugue On A Theme Of Purcell
Walton: Violin Concerto
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

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Orchestre National d'Île de France
Salle Pleyel
Paris

Enrique Mazzola, Conductor
Cedric Tiberghien, Piano

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

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Orchestre National De France
Théâtre du Châtelet
Paris

Neeme Järvi, Conductor
Arabella Steinbacher, Violin

Mozart: Symphony No. 35 (“Haffner”)
Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5
Sibelius: Symphony No. 3

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Orchestre De Paris
Salle Pleyel
Paris

Paavo Järvi, Conductor
Krystian Zimerman, Piano

Schumann: “Genoveva” Overture
Lutoslawski: Piano Concerto
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”)

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Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Chicago

Cristian Macelaru, Conductor
Yefim Bronfman, Piano

Debussy: Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2
Bartók: Divertimento For Strings
Stravinsky: The Song Of The Nightingale

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Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
Dallas

Jaap van Zweden, Conductor
Heidi Melton, Soprano
Clifton Forbis, Tenor
Eric Owens, Baritone

Wagner: Prelude To Act I Of “Lohengrin”
Wagner: Prelude To Act III Of “Lohengrin”
Wagner: Prelude To “Die Meistersinger”
Wagner: Act I Of “Die Walküre”

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Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Ordway Center
Saint Paul

Edo de Waart, Conductor
Isabel Leonard, Mezzo-Soprano

Adams/Liszt: The Black Gondola
Berlioz: Les nuits d'été
Adams/Busoni: Berceuse elegiaque
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2

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Despite the fact that the Minnesota Orchestra did not perform a single concert last season and despite the fact that the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra offered only five or six or seven weeks of concerts, Andrew and I nonetheless attended twelve orchestra concerts, well within the range of our usual concert-going pattern. Over seven years, we have attended seventy-eight orchestra concerts, an average of eleven such concerts per year.

We heard two works more than once last season: two performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2; and two performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No 7.

Except for four compositions, I was hearing each work live for the first time. The four works I had previously heard in live performance: Bartók’s Divertimento For Strings (Boston/Dohnányi); Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 (Buchbinder/Dresden/Luisi and Denk/SPCO/Boyd); Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 (Leipzig/Chailly); and Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 (in a frighteningly-bad authentic-instrument performance in Boston, a performance I instantly shoved from my mind).

The finest of the year’s concerts was the Chicago/Dutoit concert—although the finest of the conductors was König, who is going to be a huge star in the next half-decade. I, for one, would jump for joy if the Minnesota Orchestra were soon to name König to replace the shopworn Aksnav Omso.

I have no idea how many concerts we might attend next season.

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra has announced a 2013-2014 season that is formulaic and tired. We may write off the season.

I question whether there will be a Minnesota Orchestra 2013-2014 season—unless the American Federation Of Musicians national union is forced, for financial reasons, to halt the healthcare coverage it has been providing to musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, effectively ending the current impasse.

Very tentatively, we are looking into spending a weekend in Boston next season, and a weekend in Dallas, and a weekend in New York—so no doubt we shall hear at least a handful of orchestra concerts.