When I found out that Gil Shaham was going to play Brahms Violin Concerto with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, I thought it could be a perfect chance to savor my new hometown orchestra.
The orchestra has a great place: Located right in the middle of downtown at the metro station of Place-des-Arts, the Salle Wilfrid Pelletier Hall is easily accessible. You don't even have to walk out of the metro station, which is a life-saver in winter, if you know what I mean.
The music director, Kent Nagano, a Japanese American who have worked in Lyon for a long time, is fluent in French. He started the evening with a lengthy monologue, which I could not understand because of my limited knowledge of the language. Just before he appeared on stage, we were informed that the Schumann Second Symphony, the other main course of this evening, had been rescheduled to proceed the Brahms Concerto. I could understand this move because I bet what happened last night was many people simply left the concert after Gil Shaham played Brahms Concerto. Let's be honest: Schumann Second Symphony is not everybody's favorite.
With a little patience, Gil Shaham appeared. He was solid as usual but I always had a little complaint about his violin, which sounded almost like a viola in low register. It could be good for pieces that stays in low register or high for most of the time. However, when you play a piece that flies across several octaves, it feels a little jarring.
The orchestra could have been better: I could feel Gil Shaham waited for it to catch up from time to time. I also couldn't hear very clearly some fast moving passages on the violin. I could blame the acoustics of the concert hall, or my thirty dollar something balcony seat.
To be fair, to both the soloist and the orchestra, I was spoiled by an excellent Itzhak Perlman recording with Berliner Philharmoniker under Daniel Barenboim. The audience certainly enjoyed it very much, as they applauded the soloist and the conductor out for four(!) times.
The orchestra has a great place: Located right in the middle of downtown at the metro station of Place-des-Arts, the Salle Wilfrid Pelletier Hall is easily accessible. You don't even have to walk out of the metro station, which is a life-saver in winter, if you know what I mean.
The music director, Kent Nagano, a Japanese American who have worked in Lyon for a long time, is fluent in French. He started the evening with a lengthy monologue, which I could not understand because of my limited knowledge of the language. Just before he appeared on stage, we were informed that the Schumann Second Symphony, the other main course of this evening, had been rescheduled to proceed the Brahms Concerto. I could understand this move because I bet what happened last night was many people simply left the concert after Gil Shaham played Brahms Concerto. Let's be honest: Schumann Second Symphony is not everybody's favorite.
With a little patience, Gil Shaham appeared. He was solid as usual but I always had a little complaint about his violin, which sounded almost like a viola in low register. It could be good for pieces that stays in low register or high for most of the time. However, when you play a piece that flies across several octaves, it feels a little jarring.
The orchestra could have been better: I could feel Gil Shaham waited for it to catch up from time to time. I also couldn't hear very clearly some fast moving passages on the violin. I could blame the acoustics of the concert hall, or my thirty dollar something balcony seat.
To be fair, to both the soloist and the orchestra, I was spoiled by an excellent Itzhak Perlman recording with Berliner Philharmoniker under Daniel Barenboim. The audience certainly enjoyed it very much, as they applauded the soloist and the conductor out for four(!) times.
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