Brahms German Requiem Fabio Luisi Barbican

Fabio Luisi conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in Brahms A German Requiem op 45 and Schubert, Symphony no 8 in B minor D759 ("Unfinished").  The Barbican Centre is built over the remains of a much older London, which still exists in hidden corners.  During the week, the metropolis is manic, but on a Sunday night, a quiet calm descends, and once more you can feel the presence of the past amid the high tech towers and traffic.  Under the Barbican Hall itself was Three Herring Court,  where my companion's ancestors  lived in extreme poverty.   An atmospheric way in which to experience Brahms German Requiem, which commemorates the endurance of the human spirit across boundaries of time and place.  Not for nothing did Brahms blend together verses from the Old and New Testaments, evidence of an upbringing steeped in North German Lutheran tradition, even though he rejected conventional piety, and lived much of his life in staunchly Catholic Vienna. . 

The voices of the London Symphony Chorus rose beautifully from the hushed opening chords. "Selig sind, die da Lied tragen", for those who go forth weeping bearing precious seed will return  "Mit Freuden und bringen ihre Garben". Death is a not an end, but a process.   With Sir Simon Rattle as Music Director of the LSO,  Londoners get another advantage : Simon Halsey,  Rattle's  choral counterpart through the years at Birmingham and in Berlin. The LSO Chorus sounded luminous, voices carefully blended.  If anything, the LSO Chorus sounded even richer in the second movement Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras though this brought the orchestra to the fore. The "march" theme  was particularly well defined, with a good sense of surge underlying the solemn, deliberate pace, so when the lyrical motif appeared, it suggested light and hope. The fanfare at the end of the movement was  understated but confident.

Simon Keenlyside sang the baritone part, which he has taken many times before. Experience showed.  Brahms quotes Psalm 9 (verses 4 to 7), where a man contemplates his fate : humility is of the essence, surrounded as he is by the tumult in the orchestra.  Yet the assured, unforced timbre of Keenlyside's singing highlighted the inner strength that comes from faith, whatever the source of that faith.  When the chorus joined in, the protagonist was no longer alone, in every sense.  Perhaps for this reason the song with soprano (Julia Kleiter) Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit was added, for it is a moment of illumination, before the mood turns sombre yet again.  The solemn processional of the second movement echoes in the sixth.  Forceful chords from the orchestra, and a blazing fanfare of brass, strings and percussion, and the chorus in full swell , for momentous changes are to come.  The trumpets rang out, as in the Book of Revelation, a trumpet will herald the End of Time, when the dead of past ages will be raised to life again. Keenlyside's voice rang out "Wir werden verwandelt werden" and the chorus entered,  forcefully "Hölle, wo ist dein Sieg!"  A thunderous finale, after which it took some moments to recover.

Fabio Luisi and the London Symphony Orchestra were impressive, and their Schubert Symphony no 8 was excellent, well poised and stylish.   But the full honours went to the London Symphony Chorus, for Brahms's German Requiem is one of the high points in the choral repertoire.  "Selig sind die Toten.....daß sie ruhen von ihrer Arbeit".  Rich, fulsome playing from the LSO, luminous singing from the LSO Chorus.  The German Requiem concluded in transcendance.

Please also see : Brahms exults ! Vier ernste Lieder and other songs : Matthias Goerne and Christoph Eschenbach

and Hanns Eisler Deutsches Sinfonie: an anti fascist cantata

This review will also appear in Opera Today

Barbican Spring programme picks

At last, green shoots of Spring emerging from the gloom. The Barbican Spring schedule offers plenty of hope

First off from 13-15 January, Simon Rattle conducts György Ligeti Le Grand Macabre, with the LSO and a strong cast headed by Peter Hoare as Piet the Pot. I love Ligeti's quirky music and enjoyed the ENO production by Alex Ollé and Las furas del Baus back in 2009  Read more here   That was the one with the giant woman whose body "was" the stage.  Le Grand Macabre is as frustrating as it is inventive, so staging it takes some doing  But I'm not sure what Peter Sellars will do to it  No doubt it attracts the mega-trendy crowd as it's selling fast though very expensive. (ROH balcony prices)  On 19/1, however, and just as high profile, Rattle is conducting  Mahler Symphony no 6 together with the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Remembering 'in memoriam Evan Scofield'.  This is a keynote concert, which will also be streamed on the LSO website, a wonderful development, since it brings the orchestra to the world

Another British music world premiere the next day, 20/1, Philip Cashian's  The Book of Ingenious Devices, conducted by Oliver Knussen, together with Strauss Macbeth and Elgar Falstaff  An intriguing programme in true Ollie style – will Cashian's piece have Shakespearean connections?  Huw Watkins is the soloist so presumably it's a piano concerto of some sort. A big theme this season is "Russian Revolutionaries",  so plenty of Shostakovich, but more unusually, Galina Ustvolskaya's Symphony no 2 with the Melos Ensemble at LSO St Luke's on 21/1  That weekend, a Philip Glass Total Immersion with better choices than some recent Total Immersions.

All ears and eyes alert for Jonas Kaufmann's four-day residency at the Barbican at the beginning of February That's been sold out for months, so let's hope he will be well enough   Wagner, Strauss (Vier letzte Lieder, nach!)  he's also doing an "in conversation".  Sakari Oramo with the BBCSO and Antonio Pappano with the LSO, both interesting non standard programmes, and Daniel Harding with the LSO on 15/1 with Rachmaninov Symphony no 2 and another Mark-Anthony Turnage premiere,  Håkan with dedicatee Håkan Hardenberger as soloist.

Yet another British composer premiere, Nicola LeFanu's The Crimson Bird for soprano (Rachel Nicholls) and the LSO, conducted by Ilan Volkov on 17/2 and  a Detlev Glanert premiere on 3/3 with Oramo and the BBC SO.  An extended Nash Ensemble residency at LSO St Lukes (lots of RVW chamber music)  and Andreas Scholl on 14/3  Then two concerts with Fabio Luisi on 16th and 19th March I'm opting for the second, with Brahms's German Requiem

François-Xavier Roth starts another After Romanticism series on 30/3 with the LSO - Debussy Jeux, Bartok Piano Concerto no 3 and Mahler Symphony no 1. Then a three-concert series with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert - John Adams, Mahler, and the European premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen's Cello Concerto.  Janine Jansen, Murray Perahia and Mariss Jansens with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and a keynote Dvořák Requiem on 13/4 with Jiří Bělohlávek, the BBC SO, the BBC Symphony Chorus, Brindley Sherratt, Richard Samek, Jennifer Johnston and Katerina Kněžíková   Then Easter is upon us!

New Year Gala Teatro la Fenice livestream

New Year Gala 2017 at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, gloriously glamorous !  Highlights of grand Italian opera - Donizetti, Verdi, Rossini and more with Fabio Luisi conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro La Fenice, and soloists Rosa Féola and John Osborn   Opera is what these musicians do all the time, year round,  so when they party, they do so with spectacular flair.   Even the details are perfect - watch how the chorus moves in perfect synch : they're clearly not an ordinary choir, they're used to moving together on stage. And rarely will you see choir members so immaculately turned out - each one has been dressed and styled at some time by professionals.  Luisi is clearly in his element surrounded by musicians who think and feel as he does.  A performance to enjoy on repeat, it's that good. Watch HERE on arte.,tv. Also enjoy the short video. For my review HERE of the New Year's Eve Sylvester konzerte in Dresden with the Staatskappele Dresden and Christian Theielmann .

New Year Galas at La Fenice are a grand tradition, and have been broadcast for many years, but access in the past has been relatively restricted, so it's good that this one reaches a bigger audience.  Does the future of classical music lie in musician-generated broadcast?  Digital technology could change the economics of the business, making it less dependent on third parties like record companies, cinema networks etc. Once, only the wealthiest companies, like the Met and the Berliner Philharmoniker, could take the risk,but re-thinking the model could make it feasible for others to reach a a much larger potential market.  The LSO and LPO are streaming some concerts, as are several other orchestras and venues in Europe.  One of the ironies of the internet is that it doesn't bring the world closer because it's dominated by the English language, and thus over-emphasizes English language perspectives. Wiki for example, is skewed towards a very narrow range of sources.  Will audiences benefit from greater access to the world? Or will choice scare some back to caves of comfort  Think of the stock market terms "Bulls" and "Bears". 

Fabio Luisi leaves the Met for dream new job

Fabio Luisi will leave the Met, where he is Principal Conductor.  He's been named Music Director of the Opera di Firenze and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence's acclaimed spring festival. This is more than just another appointment. Florence is one of the main centres of Italian opera and both jobs have high prestige. Indeed, opera was created in Florence and Venice. in 2011, the city unveiled a striking new opera house and concert hall (More here)  

Luisi's new appointment was specially created for him and will potentially expand the role beyond conducting. The idea is to give Florence a greater international presence, reaching out to non-Italian audiences through tours abroad. Luisi's heart has always been in Italy. When James Levinne suddenly fell ill, Luisis came to the rescue at very short notice.  The Met him an offer he could not refuse, and at the time, there was speculation that, as Principal Conductor, Luisi would be in line to inherit Levine's mantle. Since Levine shows no signs of moving on, so Luisi is not renewing. In Florence, Luisi will be pretty much his own man, working with people whose views might be a lot closer to his own.  A win-win situation all round, for Luisi and for Florence.  
 
Luisi is currently Music Director at Zurich Opera, and will become Principal Conductor of the Royal Danish National Symphony Orchestra from 2017. He also guests extensively.  Read about his recent London Wozzeck HERE.