Best of 2012 - on CD

Just as quick sequel to my earlier post of yesterday on live performances ...

I enjoyed Pollini's retake on Chopin's Préludes, Hilary Hahn playing Charles Ives, ..., but the one CD which stands out is Paavo Järvi's revelatory reading of Hans Rott's Symphony coupled with two short pieces that confirms the composer's talent and originality.

If you like Mahler, Bruckner, Wagner ... then this music is for you. It is superbly played here by Järvi and his Frankfurt musicians with a keen sense of line and harmonic richness. I cannot recommend this discovery too highly.

Paavo Järvi's recording of Hans Rott works

... is out.

As quoted earlier, Jaarvi knows the piece and does a particularly great job of the scherzo.

The surprise here is the Suite, two movements which are clearly unfinished and the sign of work in progress of a major composer. The scherzo compares well with any of Bruckner's and the second, Sehr Schnell has some wonderful string writing.

Highly recommended.

Very quick bullet points on my 2011 Salzbourg stay

My day work has forced me to shorten my stay in Salzburg very significantly. I managed though to pack 4 performances in two days as well as see many friends from across the world and basically had a great time.

For the sake of swiftness, here are my quick takes on bullet point format just like last year:

• I love my blackberry ... It has something which Iphone afficionados do not have which is push technology (for the Iphone, you have to ask for your mail). So I got a mail informing me of the open rehearsal of the Rossignol/Iolanta open for booking and rushed to get tickets for family and friends. The Rossignol was somewhat tentative but the Iolanta, a one act Tchaikowsky Opera about a blind girl was simply stunning. Strong and varied music and vocal writing of the highest order. Netrebko sang the title role and gave one of her best performance I have had with her. Her tenor partner was P Beczala whom she shared a wonderful duo culminating with a genuine crescendo. There were three bass-barytones roles, each important and each getting a full aria. Of them, Alexey Markov is one to watch out for.
• After this, I have to confess being somewhat disappointed by the Salonen - Marthaler  "The Makropolous case". A Denoke has vocal chords made of steel and singing was very strong overall. The Orchestra played beautifully, perhaps too beautifully ... but the Marthaler staging did not work as his Katya did. Action was muddy with too many secondary characters disturbing the flow.
• Think of this, however. A friend told me that the Easter Festival Peter Grimes was far from being sold out whereas there were many "Suche Karte" on display for this more demanding work.
• Muti delivered his usual magic in the Verdi Requiem performance in the matinee concert. Wait, magic or craft ? Balance, color, rubatos, phrasing ... was present in ample abundance. So much to admire but a little less to experience. Stoyanova had an uneasy start but rose to her usual self, Borodina is impressive, ..., perhaps too much, Pirgu was a little light - is not this work a little too much for him, Abdrazakov was solid ( in the program notes, it was revealed that he is sponsored by the company that manaufactures his suits, no name there but does this really work ?). 
• Tons of applaudes. Muti knows exactly when to enter the stage a good 10 seconds after his soloists so that everyone can be aware of the specific greetings he gets. Also, when Karajan and Abbado played this work, were not there Austrian silence after this religious work ?
• I ended my 2 days with a concert by the ORF Radio Orchestra playing Hans Rott's Symphony. Yes, this work has been played in Salzbourg and deserves more hearing. For French readers, my comments on Concertonet.
• Needless to say, Salzbourg is much more than the music, it is the ability to see so many friends and take leisury time to discuss and enjoy their company. I hope I have more time next year.

A few days in Vienna

Back from an extended week-end in Vienna. No Concert or Opera performances to report but music is everywhere and we do recommend the Gustav Mahler und Wien exhibition at the Österreichisches theater museum.

We probably know a lot about Mahler and shedding new light can be difficult. Mahler's Czech influence was well represented and it was a pleasure to see that Hans Rott's picture was visible in the room devoted to Mahler's formative year (Who knows works by Rudolf Kryzyaznowski ?)

The Mahler exhibition was close to one devoted to Thomas Bernhard. Both suffered or fought Austria's conservatism  and were also revered by some circles. In art like in business or politics, it is good to have a clear designated enemy. If these were looking for one today, they should look no further than the mercantilisation of music in Vienna. At every monument, you find cheap concert peddlers dressed in 18th century clothes, trying to get you in some Wiener-Residence Orchestra or Wiener-Mozart-Ensemble. There are everywhere which  probably means that there is a public for this sort of thing and that they must be either tolerated or officially approved.

How did they said: Kleider machen Leute ?

Vienna has also a few museums - centers of interest which arehouses of famous people. Sissi's appartements are enjoyable as they give a good impression of who she was and what her life looked like. Best even is Freud house. A not to be missed visit which shows his encyclopedic knowledge and endless curiosity. One may have doubts as to his enduring legacy but not on his ability to probe.

These are at the opposite of Mozart's house which is not only really empty but hardly tries to make any statement on the composer. Walls are white, there is hardly any content and a video clip of Amadeus nor a few tunes from Magic Flute of Figaro are enough to give a sense of his status and position in Vienna.

While Gérard Mortier was the director of the Paris Opera, he did several lectures on Mozart which were brillant; He portrayed a Mozart at the opposite of either the devilish genius of Amadeus (a brillant movie nonetheless) or the boy genius. In other words, he fought the "Images d'Epinal" of Mozart and would have felt similarly cheated visiting this batiment.

Enclosed here is a picture taken at the first floor of Mozart's house. Was this as clean on his time ?

A few posts on Hans Rott

Hans Rott has been the object of some news and some contreversy:

• It seems that Pavo Jaarvi is preparing a recording of the Symphony with his Frankurt Orchestra
• His comments, somewhat provocative, can be found here
• Additional comments on Kenneth Woods's blog are there

Some more elements on Hans Rott

http://kennethwoods.net/blog1/tag/rott/ courtesy of Kenneth Woods.(It also includes a far too short video of Paavo Jarvi on Rott's Symphony)

(Let me add a few more words: I discovered Ken's blog by googling Hans Rott. Initially, I had planned to do an analysis of the Symphony and in particular of the premonitions of Mahler, the influence of Bruckner and even of Brahms .... but after reading Ken's comments and analysis, I have to admit that this is not needed. This is far better done by him.)

I urge you to discover Hans Rott's Symphony

Henry-Louis de la Grange's fascinating biography tells the story of Mahler along with 2 room-mates being kicked out of their rented attics in Vienna for singing too loudly the act 1 of Walküre. The 2 others were Hugo Wolf and Hans Rott.

Rott died early. His mental health it seemed was poor and he suffered from paranoia believing that Brahms wanted to kill him.His musical legacy is small (see details at the site of the Rott society here) His symphony has recently ben played in concert by Järvi father and son (Paavo since they are several active) and radio broadcast could be found on some yahoo groups.

This is an absolute masterpiece wich Mahler called the founder of the new Symphony.

Do try to hear it (and if you want access to these yahoo postings, let me know). I need in the future to resume back tho this work but let me say that the orchestration reflects the influence of Bruckner although I wish that Bruckner had gone the Rott way and that from a spirit point of view, this seems like going towards Mahler First Symphony. A revelation.

This is a work of the highest order. His Symphony should be mandatory to all major orchestras worldwide.