Boulez takes over Southbank Centre for the weekend

If an entire weekend of Pierre Boulez sounds like fun to you, then you'll be pleased to hear that's just what's been programmed at London's Southbank Centre.  It cultimates in a performance of his Pli selon pli for soprano and orchestra, conducted by the composer.  Looks like there's plenty of tickets left, so if you want to show the old man your support, you know what to do.  Me?  I'm covering most of the weekend for Classicalsource.com, so expect my report soon.

Tetzlaff jumps to Finnish label Ondine

Slipped Disc carries news of another top artist leaving the safety of a big record label for the freedom of an independant one.  In this case, German violinist Christian Tetzlaff has left EMI to join the adventurous Finnish label Ondine, perhaps best known for their tireless advocacy of Finnish composers such as Rautavaara.  Tetzlaff isn't the only big name to have left EMI recently; Krzysztof Chorzelski of the Belcea Quartet told me recently, for a forthcoming interview for Classicalsource.com, of their frustrations with EMI and their shift to small French outfit Zig Zag Territoires.  It seems that the attractions can be greater artistic freedom and a choice of more unusual repertoire.  Let's hope it works out for CT.

Copyright extension bad news for anyone who loves music

No one seemed to think it was a good idea.  Two government-commissioned reports cast doubt on it's benefits to the music industry.  Nevertheless, the European Union Council has voted to increase the term of copyright on recorded performances from the current 50 years to 70.  Cliff Richard was poster boy for a long campaign that argued it was wrong for performances such as his own to fall into the public domain within the lifetime of their artists.  He and other famous artists can now rest assured that their early hits will not be viable for free use in advertising and other public platforms for some time to come.  Those artists and corporations with revenue now guaranteed for a couple more decades will paint this as a moral victory for everyone who creates; music lovers who now find previously available half-century old recordings put under lock and key and see performing rights traded like commodities might beg to differ.

The full implications of the legislation will not be clear for some time - European governments have two years to fall into line.  The headlines have focused on mega stars with back catalogues to protect, such as Cliff and The Beatles, but this will have ramifications for the classical music industry.  Devil's Trill will be looking at just what the implications will be, but in the meantime, Bob Stanley's excellent piece in the Guardian explains why the new law is good news for celebrities and bad news for music.

A whole lotta Cage

Over at Classicasource I review Apartment House's concert of music by John Cage at London's QEH.  The programme included his unexpectedly lovely String Quartet.  Then watch the above video and tell me Cage doesn't sound just like Vincent Price.

Israel Philharmonic Prom disrupted by protests

It happened to the Jerusalem Quartet; now it's happened at the Proms.  It seems that Israeli musicians performing in the UK must now come to expect disruption by pro-Palestinian protesters as a given.  Last night's Prom featured violinist Gil Shaham and conductor Zubin Mehta, and included music by Webern, Bruch and Albeniz.  Protests apparently marred many of the items; the BBC took the decision to pull the live broadcast of the concert before much of it had been heard.  Igor Toronyi-Lalic was there and gives a full account at The Arts Desk.

We interrupt this programme...

Devil's Trill is on his hols and will be back in a few weeks.  If you've been following my Proms reports, do not fear!  There are many good sources for Proms reviews.  Check Classicalsource for reviews of every single Prom this year.  Check The Arts Desk for typically irreverent views of the rest of the season, follow the excellent blogs listed on the blog list on the right hand sidebar, and above all, follow the concerts on TV, radio and, of course, in the Albert Hall itself.

See you in September!

Proms week 5 - Brahmsfest

These were surely some of the must sees of the season. A pair of Proms continuing the Brahms concerto theme brought together Bernard Haitink and pianist Emanuel Ax to give the piano concertos over two evenings. With them were Brahms's last symphonies, set against the piano concerto most opposed to their character. Prom 47 (Haitink/COE/Ax - Brahms - August 19th) contrasted the fitfully sunny Third Symphony with the First Piano Concerto, actually his first concerto in any form.

I've found Haitink's direction a little calculated in the past; he's the master of classical shape and tasteful proportion, but not your go to man for searing passion and wild abandon. Thankfully, his sober manner was allied with the big tone and heart from the relitively small Chamber Orchestra of Europe, finding a way in the first movement of the symphony that remained clearly focused while recognising the unparalleled joie de vive of the music. The second movement was as delicate and beautifully textured as you could wish, though the allegretto sounded a little disctracted, as though Haitink wanted to avoid the spirit of yearning and anguish that often marks this wonderful movement.

Emanuel Ax might not be everyone's first choice of pianist in Brahms's titanic concertos, though that's as much to do with his relativley low profile on this side of the Atlantic as anything. In the First Concerto, though, he found the turmoil and deep seriousness of the work without having to exagerate, suggesting an interpretation borne out of hard won wisdom. The Second Concerto, beginning Prom 49 (August 20th) was, if anything, even better, and I urge you to catch it on BBC iplayer if you can (UK readers only).

Haitink's Brahms 4 exemplified his approach in a performance that said more about what the symphony had drawn from the past than what it said to the future. It had to be the least surging opening to the symphony that I've ever hear, recalling Mozart's 40th as much as anything and the point was driven home by the COE's minimal vibrato and small size. But this didn't mean a dull ride. The scherzo dashed forwards and the performance peaked, as it should, in the great final movement. Some decry Haitink's classicising approach, but it's genuninley unique and I think there's room in the world for a view of these works that places them in the tradition that Brahms was conciously emulating.

Proms week 5 - All the Russians

Fewer of the tripartite, double intervalled Proms grace this season.  They look good on paper but are hell to stand through and for that reason I wimped out and listened to Prom 43 (Litton/RPO/Wang - Copland/Bax/Barber/Bartok/Prokofiev - August 16th) on the radio.  The programme drew on the musical legacy of conductor and double bassist Serge Koussevitsky who had a hand in commissioning many of the twentieth century's great orchestral works.  A few of the works on show here were only tangentially linked to Koussevitsky - Prokofiev's Fourth Symphony was performed in its longer 1947 version and not the original 1930 version performed by Koussevistky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Barber's Adagio for Strings owed its existence (in orchestral form at least) to Toscanini.

It was a long but nonetheless enticing and unusual programme, particularly for the Royal Philharmonic, who must have relished being allowed away from Beethoven and Mozart for a night.  The highlights were a rare outing for Arnold Bax's Second Symphony, which grew on me after a second hearing, by which time the initial over load of post-romantic harmony and complexity had started to reveal a compelling journey.  The original version of Prokofiev's Fourth Symphony is a favourite of mine and while I'd not claim it to be one of his greatest works, it does include a couple of wonderful episodes dropped for the more symphonic spread of the revised score.  Litton is a fan of the later version, telling Radio 3 that he thought Prokofiev had 'fixed' the first version's problems.  I hope he fulfils his promise to play it more often.

I stood for Prom 44 (Salonen/Philharmonia/Batiashvili - Shostakovich/Stravinsky/Tchaikovsky - August 17th), though my legs told me the programme was longer than it needed to be.  It was a packed house - I was standing further from the stage than I'd have liked to have been and some of the mischief of the suite from Shostakovich's ballet The Age of Gold was lost in the Albert Hall's temperamental acoustic.  Luckily, Lisa Batiashvili projected her solo line in Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto beautifully and her volume was never at the expense of warmth of tone.  I felt she coasted a little through the first two movements, really hitting her stride with an impassioned third movement and making the most of Shostakovich's astounding cadenza.

Another great violin concerto at the Proms

We've had the Elgar and the Brahms; now Lisa Batiashvili brings Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto to the Proms.  Listen from 7.30pm.  Can she match the increadible heights of Julia Fischer's performance of the same work last year?  While we wait for the answer, watch the man the work was written for:  David Oistrakh.

Cost of the riots

As reported elsewhere, my Musicweb colleague and renowned flautist Carla Rees lost everything when her Croydon flat was burnt to the ground in last week's rioting and looting.  She lost all her possessions, including her collection of unique instruments, more than 600 unpublished musical works written for her and, most heartbreakingly of all, her two cats.  Just Flutes have set up a page to take donations to help her rebuild her life and if you would like to donate you can do so by following this link.