Diary of a Culture Hedonist

I thought the on stage English Baroque Soloists played superbly (even though their platform moved up and down throughout the performance).  Juan Diego Flórez was on form, though I was not sure about Lucy Crowe as Eurydice - a little detached. Sir John Eliot Gardiner's reading and direction made the work come to life. Could someone explain the dancing to me please?

The Schoenberg 'Theme and Variations Op. 43b' opened this San Francisco Symphony concert under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT). It was a very tonal Schoenberg with a rich tapestry of sound, though we detected a bit of stiffness in the orchestra - not sure why. This was followed by Henry Cowell 'Piano Concerto' - its Proms debut. Well, the soloist Jeremy Denk did a lot of thumping and elbowing to the Model D on stage - interesting to have heard it. Denk then played a short encore 'Piano Sonata No2, 3rd Mov.' by Charles Ives (contemporary of Cowell) with much subtlety and finesse - arguably the best piece in the first half of the concert. Then it was Mahler Symphony No 1. MTT conducted without score and somehow the whole band was transformed. The mysteriousness of the opening movement, the slightly decadent dances in the middle movements, through to the visceral 'young' Mahlerian sound world of the last movement were all beautifully played. The ...

The concert started with Brett Dean 'Dramatis personae. An interesting work, with film music quality at the beginning, intrigues in the middle with splendid playing by Håkan Hardenberger on the trumpet, but the final movement was too populist for my liking (did we hear some Charles Ives?) A bit of stick waving from Andris Nelsons throughout. Not so much frantic waving from Nelsons in the Mahler 6. The reading of the score was good, dynamics observed and the whole band played with accuracy. But the performance lacked emotional qualities and space. There was a certain detachment in the playing. It lacked intimacy. The tragedy just wasn't there.

Foulds Three Mantras was a thick wash of sound - a lot like a film score (think a marching Imperial Roman army). OK I Guess. Messiaen - Turangalila Symphony. That was epic. The orchestral colours still sound modern to our 21st century ears. Steven Osbourne's hands flew across the keyboard while Valérie Hartmann-Claverie conjured up some weird 'Doctor Who' sound from the ondes martenot . BBC Philharmonic under Juanjo Mena did the complex score justice. Loved the last movement - oozing with joy.

As expected, Danielle de Niese was great as Concepción in L'heure. she was wonderfully witty and playful. The whole cast worked really well together. L'enfant was very well put together. The outsized furniture added that fantasy quality to it. All the creatures were fun and added something to the story. Robin Ticciati really did Ravel's score justice - and the LPO responded beautifully.

Robert Murray was probably a bit too mature as the 21-year old Frederic, Claudia Boyle made a fine Mabel. The male chorus was definitely tighter and punchier than the girly chorus which sounded a bit untidy. The delivery of words was passable in the spoken passages, but often inaudible when sung. David Parry's waving of the stick in the pit was ok - kept the gig together. Alison Chitty's design was a bit too village-hall for my liking. A little G&S goes a long way. Don't think I will be rushing back to see another G&S at ENO soon.

It was my first time seeing Donizetti's Poliuto - also UK's professional premier of the work. Michael Fabiano, with his chesty tenor voice, made a convincingly torn (emotionally, religiously) Poliuto. Ana María Martínez's portrayal of Paolina was excellent. The voices of these two lead roles matched very well. The LPO played exceedingly well under the baton of Enrique Mazzola. The set, however, was a little disappointing. I guess the designer Julia Hansen didn't want to dwell too much on Armenian history. Still, everything felt a little static, devoid of historical and cultural references.