Carnegie Hall: First encounter
Jan. 26th, 2009 03:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
klezmerSaturday night was my first night at the Carnegie Hall, ever. This was not my artistic debute there, though. My spouse brought me to the celebrated hall (Stern/Perlman auditorium) to enjoy some of the finest Hungarian musicians. To enjoy – is the right word. Although nowadays one can rent nearly any stage, the audience is guaranteed to enjoy a performance if attending Carnegie Hall's featured artists' performances. And I am proud to say that some of my schoolmates (Andrey Ponochevnyi, Maxim Shtrykov, Katsiarina Anokhina, Luba Benediktovitch and others) were among those artists over the last two years having performed solo on that glorious stage.
This time it was the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer, its music director and conductor, – featuring great Hungarian Gypsy musicians Oszkár Ökrös on the Hungarian cimbalom, József Lendvai Sr. and József Lendvay Jr. – father and son, two generations of violinists, supremely virtuosic, extremely musical, driving crazy any type and number of audience. The father stays more in the traditional Gypsy style, while the son has become an outstanding classical violin virtuoso, not leaving aside his musical roots, however, and joining his father in some of the traditional pieces.
The orchestra is very good, too. One can say, there are a lot of good orchestras world-wide. But believe me, they are not that many that one can call the Budapest Festival Orchestra 'just another good one'. It can be clearly felt that this is a real team, a collaboration of finest musicians inspiried by their director/conductor, the music they play and evidently – the atmosphere in the company.
Alas, I have never been to Hungary. But my visit to not-so-distant Moldova in 2003 revealed to me the great musicianship of the people of that European region.
When I first looked at the concert program I found it quite standard: traditional Gypsy music at the beginning, then Liszt, Brahms, Sarasate... Surprises started with traditional inserts on the cimbalom and Gypsy violin into Hungarian Dances and Hungarian Rhapsodies. After the intermission, a tasteful and impeccable performance of Brahms's First Symphony followed.
But the true key to understanding of what was really happening at the Stern Auditorium that night was given at the very end, in the encore part. Three orchestra players moved to the proscenium. The principal French horn player changed his instrument to a contra, a Gypsy three-stringed viola with a flat bridge. They started playing in the traditional Verbunkos style, with its typical heterophony, modal harmonies, and specific articulation on the violins. If you don't know what it sounds like, take a moment to listen to the Szászcsávás Band. That showed the real integration and cross-over of many traditions in the Hungarian Roma musicians' art, which is a locus classicus for those musicians but so astonishing and breathtaking for the outsiders. Let us admit, many do think that folk music is situated in a different universe, unable to get in touch with the rafinated classical tradition. Happy are those who rather go to a concert like this one than read Wagner's snobbish and often xenophobic writings.
This time it was the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer, its music director and conductor, – featuring great Hungarian Gypsy musicians Oszkár Ökrös on the Hungarian cimbalom, József Lendvai Sr. and József Lendvay Jr. – father and son, two generations of violinists, supremely virtuosic, extremely musical, driving crazy any type and number of audience. The father stays more in the traditional Gypsy style, while the son has become an outstanding classical violin virtuoso, not leaving aside his musical roots, however, and joining his father in some of the traditional pieces.
The orchestra is very good, too. One can say, there are a lot of good orchestras world-wide. But believe me, they are not that many that one can call the Budapest Festival Orchestra 'just another good one'. It can be clearly felt that this is a real team, a collaboration of finest musicians inspiried by their director/conductor, the music they play and evidently – the atmosphere in the company.
Alas, I have never been to Hungary. But my visit to not-so-distant Moldova in 2003 revealed to me the great musicianship of the people of that European region.
When I first looked at the concert program I found it quite standard: traditional Gypsy music at the beginning, then Liszt, Brahms, Sarasate... Surprises started with traditional inserts on the cimbalom and Gypsy violin into Hungarian Dances and Hungarian Rhapsodies. After the intermission, a tasteful and impeccable performance of Brahms's First Symphony followed.
But the true key to understanding of what was really happening at the Stern Auditorium that night was given at the very end, in the encore part. Three orchestra players moved to the proscenium. The principal French horn player changed his instrument to a contra, a Gypsy three-stringed viola with a flat bridge. They started playing in the traditional Verbunkos style, with its typical heterophony, modal harmonies, and specific articulation on the violins. If you don't know what it sounds like, take a moment to listen to the Szászcsávás Band. That showed the real integration and cross-over of many traditions in the Hungarian Roma musicians' art, which is a locus classicus for those musicians but so astonishing and breathtaking for the outsiders. Let us admit, many do think that folk music is situated in a different universe, unable to get in touch with the rafinated classical tradition. Happy are those who rather go to a concert like this one than read Wagner's snobbish and often xenophobic writings.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-26 09:11 am (UTC)Вообще прямо хоть вставляй в учебник английского для музыковедов.
Вообще послушать бы б...
no subject
Date: 2009-01-26 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-26 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-26 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-02 09:48 am (UTC)Извиняюсь за оффтоп, но был сражен тем, что горячо любимая мной одноклассница Люба Бенедиктович, оказывается там пишется как Luba. Я, по правде, и не знаю-то по другому, но мне очень режет глаз, видимо с непривычки. Почитал про ее успехи, искренне рад.
Ну а за концерт - сидел-сидел, колупался в мозгу, да так ничего небанального и не выдумал, что тебе написать. И так в целом ясно, чего тут можно и нужно сказать. Вот.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-02 02:54 pm (UTC)А Люба – да, выиграла конкурс в Италии, теперь ее можно на YouTube послушать. И вообще она молодец большая. Да и Катя Анохина тоже.
А что еще сказать – хотелось бы, чтобы ты приехал и мы вместе пошли куда-нибудь вроде этого концерта и делились впечатлениями.