Showing posts with label daniel barenboim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label daniel barenboim. Show all posts

Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim in Berlin, 19.04.2014

Martha Argerich, piano
Daniel Barenboim, piano
Philharmonie Berlin, Grosse saal

Program

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Sonata in D major KV 448 for two pianos

FRANZ SCHUBERT
Variations on an original theme A-flat major D813 for 4 hands piano

IGOR STRAVINSKY
»Le Sacre du Printemps«
(Version for 4 hands piano)

Cred ca toata lumea are nevoie de un pic de magie. Sub ce forma? Sufletul fiecaruia hotaraste. Magia de care am eu nevoie este muzica. Acum aproape sapte ani am intrat in Ateneu, urmand sa ascult un recital care ma va marca. Martha Argerich si Nelson Freire au oprit timpul in loc pentru mine. Desi ascultam muzica clasica inca din clasa intai, nu s-a comparat nimic cu emotia, inaltarea, vibratia transmisa spre sala din acea seara. Aveam in fata mea doi oameni cu cariere imense, doi mari ai pianului dar si doi foarte buni prieteni care, uitandu-se tot timpul unul in ochii ceiluilalt, au interpretat unele din cele mai grele partituri. Pe Martha, indraznesc sa-i spun asa, cu tot respectul, pentru ca o simt aproape, am revazut-o in ziua urmatoare, pe scena Salii Mari a Palatului, interpretand Concertul nr 1 pentru pian de Beethoven impreuna cu Orchestra Nationala a Rusiei, dirijata de Charles Dutoit.

Pe Martha am revazut-o sambata seara in sala mare a Filarmonicii din Berlin. Mi-am dorit foarte mult sa o mai ascult o data live, dupa acel recital memorabil. Dar Japonia, Lugano sau Verbier, locurile unde canta mai des, nu sunt accesibile. Am mai avut doua tentative, dar numai eu am ajuns la intalnire :) . Nu am renuntat si asteptarea mi-a fost rasplatita. Mi-am facut un cadou de Paste, Martha – recital – Berlin. Si nu doar Martha ci impreuna cu Daniel Barenboim.

In aplauzele unei sali arhipline au intrat pe scena cei doi giganti ai muzicii. Cu pasi mici,  tinandu-se de mana, uitandu-se cu uimire la publicul care ii inconjura (la propriu, fiind puse scaune pe toata scena mai putin spatiul alocat pianelor), aplaudand in picioare. Sunt imbracati simplu; ea, cu o rochie neagra lunga si pantofi de catifea, cu parul grizonat frumos pieptanat pe spate, asa cum apare in toate pozele; el, in costum. Imaginea ti se lipeste de suflet. Pentru mai bine din jumatate de sala cei doi au varsta bunicilor. Martha are 73 de ani, Daniel Barenboim are 72. Amandoi argentinieni, amandoi pe scena de la 6 – 7 ani. Prieteni de cand se stiu. Acest lucru s-a vazut si mai ales s-a simtit.

S-au indreptat incetisor catre cele doua piane asezate unul langa altul pentru a incepe prima lucrare, Concertul in Re Major pentru doua piane KV 448 de Mozart. Recunosc, in primele 15 minute n-am vazut bine din cauza lacrimilor. Ce ti-e si cu inima asta, reactiile de fericire sunt greu de controlat. A fost o bucurie sincera ca ma aflu in aceeasi sala cu ei si am onoare sa-i ascult. Cum spuneau multi dintre spectatori, in pauza, un recital cu Martha, mai rar zilele astea. Un recital cu cei doi, un eveniment de neratat.

Am putut sa ma concentrez din partea a doua a concertului de Mozart. Din locul pe care l-am avut ii puteam vedea din profil, usor din spate, dar cel mai important, le puteam vedea mainile. Martha a cantat cu sufletul, mainile parca aiba ating clapele si totusi le imprima un sunet din alta lume. Palma se intinde si se strange, cu miscari abia vazute spre clapele negre. Nu ii vad fata, dar stiu ca buzele sunt in continua miscare, intr-o discutie imaginara cu pianul. Cu miscari scurte din cap spre stanga face semn doamnei de alaturi sa ii intoarca pagina, atunci cand este nevoie. Intoarce capul usor spre dreapta cand asteapta semnalul lui Barenboim pentru o intrare mai dificila. In rest, se simt unul pe celalalt fara sa fie nevoie sa se priveasca. Stilul lui este diferit. Este mai vijelios, mai riguros, bate foarte des cu piciorul in podea, este cel care conduce. A ocupat locul din fata pianului dinspre sala pe tot parcursul recitalului, cu o singura exceptie, primul bis, cand au facut schimb.

A urmat a doua lucrare, Variatii pe o tema originala in la bemol major D813 de Schubert, la patru maini. Unul langa celalalt, impartind claviatura, au dat viata muzicii.

Dupa pauza a urmat piesa de rezistenta, Le Sacre du Printemps de Stravinsky, versiunea pentru doua piane (asezate si de data aceasta unul langa altul). Cine a ascultat piesa pentru orchestra stie desigur cat de complexa si dificila e. Ca o coincidenta, prima data cand am ajuns la Waldbuhen, acum vreo 5 ani, am ascultat tot aceasta lucrare, in interpretarea Filarmonicii din Berlin dirijata de Sir Simon Rattle. Revenind la seara de sambata, din mainile celor doi au iesit scantei, au electrizat sala. Parca au cantat tot dintr-o suflare. Cel putin asa am simtit-o eu. Martha a invatat aceasta lucrare special pentru recital, la rugamintea lui Barenboim. Am auzit emotia din fiecare nota dar si stapanirea de sine in redarea perfecta a paginilor aproape negre din cauza numarului mare de note. Mi-au dat din nou lacrimile, ca o reactie fireasca a emotiilor venite de pe scena. Asistasem la un moment unic.

Dupa ce ultimele ecouri ale muzicii s-au stins aplauzele si uralele au umplut sala. Meritate din plin. Cei doi s-au privit cu un suras cu subinteles, s-au luat de brat si au salutat publicul. Stiau ce au creat. Stiau ca ne-au vrajit. Nimeni nu s-a oprit din aplauze, nimeni nu si-a parasit locul. S-au intors pe scena, au plecat din nou, la a treia iesire au dat primul bis. A urmat si al doilea. Dar nimeni nu voia sa plece. La cea din urma iesire pe scena, tot timpul tinandu-se de mana, Daniel Baremboim a inchis capacele pianelor.

Am vrut sa impartasesc experienta. M-am straduit sa ajung acolo, am fost norocoasa sa pot asista la acest recital. Mi-am luat doza de fericire de care aveam nevoie. Undeva, candva, am sa-i revad.

Si un mic sfat, faceti-va cadou putin magie din cand in cand. Face bine la suflet!

Click on the first photo to open the slideshow for higher resolution














Aida at La Scala_Milan_06.07.2009

......Scala. Or La Scala as it’s called here. To stress upon the importance. No need for that, I’m sure. On the outside the building doesn’t say anything. But it’s grandour overwhelms you inside. I’ve been dreaming to get here since I was a child. Don’t know why. I guess I heard the name somewhere. Then I studied some music and learnt about what it mean in the history of opera. Years later I got to Milan but didn’t have time to see a performance. The U2 concert offered the chance. And I bought a ticket. It was difficult. I was in Calella, Barcelona when the tickets got on sale. And I didn’t have internet connection that moment. When I managed to log in, it was sold out. I started searching on the internet for tickets and after a few days I found a man willing to sell tickets. I think this iwas as a part time job for him. He was buying tickets and then resell them at a higher price. I paid 60 euro for a 30 euro ticket. Double. But it was a good seat. Before paying he told me the exact location. Of course, there was a risk. But there was nothing else I could do. So I paid. The seat was at the second gallery, sort of side view, but first row. I could see everything.
......Aida by Verdi. Daniel Barenboim conducting. A Franco Zefirelli production. I read many things about this production. Good and bad things. I also read that at the premiere the conductor was booed. All the great singers had problems at Scala. Pavarotti many years ago and also Roberto Alagna. Same production of Aida. I was curious to see what would happen.
......The hall is big (the biggest opera theatre in Europe,they say). Red velvet chairs, red curtain, huge space for the orchestra (bigger than the Athenaeum stage). Four stories of boxes and two stories of galleries. But the seats are not very well placed, both in boxes and galleries. Only those seating on the first row can see. Those in the second, third and in some places fourth row can’t see the stage without standing. And because of this there was a continuous sound made by chairs. Didn’t like that too much. Behind me there were three American girls. As they couldn't see, they started talking. They stopped talking at some point because somebody told them to stop. One of them had a ring. With many small silver balls on it. Don’t want to know the sound of those balls in the silence of the hall. Ding, ding… ding, ding, ding….. GOD. I tured to her and asked her to remove it immediately. She did that. I didn’t know that the ring had matching earrings. Ok, it was not fun. I tried to concentrate.
......People are smartly dressed. I liked that very much. It gives a certain importance to the event. But considering that, I can say that the first contact with the Vienna Opera impressed me more. You’ll see why. I had… a sort of feeling.
......
The cast
.....
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Aida: Maria José Siri
Amneris: Anna Smirnova
Radamès: Walter Fraccaro
Ramfis: Giorgio Giuseppini
The King: Carlo Cigni
Amonasro: Mark Doss
The Messenger: Ki Hyun Kim
The Priestess: Sae Kyung Rim
.....
......The production is grand. It’s Zefirelli. From sets to costumes and makeup, big choir, everything to make a perfect Aida. I didn’t know anybody in the cast. I only supposed they are good. Well… The first two on stage, Radames and Amneris, were a little bit hesitant. Especially the tenore. He made a mistake right at the beginning and guess what… after the first aria he was booed. Two-three people down there said “booooo” loudly. Not nice at all. So the legend is true.
......Two acts without break. That was long. About 1 hour and half. The opera is long. IT started at 8pm and finished around 12am. There was one interval after the first two acts and another one after the third acte. They had to prepare the set for the last acte.
......At the end of the second acte there’s the triumphal receiving of Radames. Everybody is on stage. This is impressive. There’s no place for mistakes here. It’s one of the most important moments of the opera. And they did it well. The third acte…. Makes you wait for the fourth :). ......This is the sad one. Radames is accused of treason, Amneris tries to set him free but the council of priests decides that he has to die, buried alive. Aida manages to get inside the tomb and they die together, while outside Amneris brings candles and prays for the soul of her beloved Radames. The element of surprise here is that the stage rises in the moment Radames gets inside the tomb. That “under” comes to the level of the stage while Amneris is now up.
.....This is how it ends. The dancers bring more candles and all the lights are tuned off. For 5 seconds after the orchestra finised there was complete silence. After those 5 seconds we could hear the noise made by the conductor’s stick hitting the desk, signaling the end of the opera. Applauses followed, but not too many.
......I finished the idea in order not to ruin the description. But there’s something to be added. The tenore hit a high note lower than it should have been. And it was false. Oh, sooo false. Lucky him the violin started one second after and he managed to fix the problem. But I heard it. And so some people in the hall. Cause he was booed again. The same mean “booooooo” from the beginning. Somebody down there was fishing for mistakes.
......The others made it to the end honorably. I liked the mezzo. Very deep voice, mainly in the third and fourth acte. The soprano was so and so. There was something wrong with her voice. I don’t know what. I couldn’t understand a word of what she said. The audience liked her very much.

......Lots of applauses for Mr Barenboim. The orchestra sounded very, very good. I was above him and I could follow him throughout the opera. He was seated but got very involved, especially in the key moments. From up there I could also see the stage monitors (and how the artists look at the), and also the ….sufleur. There were moments when the conductor was dealing with the orchestra and the “sufleur” with the artists and choir.
......Not the perfect cast for Aida (the other cast included Violeta Urmana and Salvadore Licitra, but I read somewhere that Licitra withdrawn from the production. I’ll have to check again), but I still liked it and enjoyed those 4 hours spent there.
......There was that feeling that followed me all the time. The feeling of cold. I don’t know how to say this in a better way. Might have been because of the air conditioning. But on a second thought, no. It was because of the hostile attitude of the people. From that booo in the first acte. It was exaggerated. But the “Scala goer” is a different species. He/she comes, criticize, boos and before the artist comes on stage for applauses he/she leaves the hall. The moment the lights turned on a lot of people jumped off their chairs. As if they were late or something. Maybe they are used to perfection. Maybe too many famous singers come there every year. But if they go on like this they’ll loose a lot.
La Scala - on the outside it doesn't say much. But on the inside...

The square in front of Scala
View from the second gallery. Seat 103.
Isn't it beautiful? It's huge.


A few moments before the beginning of the opera. Only the lights in the boxes remain turned on













......All in all, a pleasat evening. The next evening in Milan is dedicated to pop/rock. U2 concert on San Siro stadium.







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Daniel Barenboim at Musikverein - Vienna - 03.05.2009

......Daniel Barenboim is another genius of our century. I wanted to see him so much and in Vienna it was finally possible. He conducted Staatskapelle Berlin. I bought the ticket months ago. When I bought it the concert was almost sold out so i didn't have too many choices. Between a very bad seat and a seat behind the orchestra I chose the second one. Balcony, second row, good visibility. I always wanted to see the conductor's face during the concert. This is not possible at the Athenaeum.

......So there was 1 and half hour of delight. Mahler's 9th Symphony is long. But I had so many things to follow that time passed right away.

.....No further comments. There's no point. They are all too good to have something to say.


......Again, my thoughts after the show, in Romanian. Please use Google translate.


......O duminica cu mult soare. Si vreo 25 de grade. Pentru azi am avut bilete la matineul de la Musikverein. Am prins cum nu se poate mai bine. Stiam de mult. Bilet luat de cand s-au pus in vanzare. Simfonia a 9-a de Maheler cu Daniel Barenboim la pupitru. Si Staatskapele Berlin. Ce sa zic. Stiam ca omul e genial. Si ca pianist si ca dirijor. Dar sa-l vezi pe viu e de 100 de ori mai bine. Cum se intampla de altfel cu toti. Simfonia e foarte lunga. De asta se canta singura. 1 ora si jumatate. Dar nu stiu cand a trecut timpul.

......Biletele un pic mai ieftine sunt pozitionate mai prost. Cu vizibilitate partiala, nu prea stiu cum sa explic. Poate o sa va dati seama din poze. Mai fusesem in sala aia si stiam exact la ce sa ma astept. La balcon sunt 2 sau 3 randuri de scaune. Numai primul rand are vizibilitate 100%. La celelalte trebuie sa te apleci, sa te indoi... intre a ma chinui undeva in spate si a sta asa fel incat sa il vad pe dirijor din fata am ales varianta a doua. Tot imi doresc sa vad fata dirijorului. La ateneu tot timpul stau in loje. Am avut un loc de unde am vazut foarte bine. Am putut sa stau si in picioare fara sa deranjez pe nimeni.

......Omul e extraordinar. Iar orchestra canta singura. La figurat dar si la propriu. Au fost pasaje unde barenboim nu batea masura. Doar ii urmarea. O privire era suficienta pentru a asigura o intrare perfecta. Pe pasajele de mare intensitate se implica, suferea, dar fara a exagera miscarile. Totul era foarte bine controlat. Cum am zis, ii putea dirija lejer cu privirea. Niciun moment de ezitare, exemplare treceri de la fortissimo la pianissimo. Stiu eu pe cineva care ar putea comenta mult mai profesionist. Pacat ca nu a fost cu mine in sala. Ar fi zis mai multe despre consistenta viorilor, despre vibratouri, etc...
......Eu asa, mai amator. Dar ce am auzit mi-a placut foarte foarte mult. O partida de suflatori de nota 10. Un numar mare de viori. mai mare ca de obicei. Si dispunerea pe scena a fost un pic schimbata. Doar 4 sau 6 viori in stanga dirijorului (nu am vazut foarte bine ca erau oarecum sub mine. 4 am vazut sigur), urmate de violoncei si cotrabasi. In dreapta dirijorului, continuarea partidei de viori, pana in spate (acolo unde la ateneu se regasesc violonceii si contrabasii).
......Chiar daca a fost lunga as mai fi ascultat o data. extraordinar. bravo, maestre.
......L-am asteptat sa iasa. Nu a ramas lume mai deloc. Cativa
asiatici. Si inca cativa dar tot turisti cred. Austriecii nu stau la asa ceva. Nu a durat mult. Vreo 15 minute si a iesit. Dar modest omul. A dat cateva autografe si a plecat.

The poster of the event. Sold out. Musikverein Vienna
Inside the hall






Daniel Barenboim. This picture was taken before the symphony. All the others are taken after.




















I'll see Mr Barenboim again in July. This time he'll conduct the orchestra of Scala, in Aida.







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