Edinburgh Festival Concert Experience

Mrs. Beeb and I managed to go to our first concert in nearly 18 months on Saturday morning. We booked my folks for babysitting and got tickets for Steven Osborne performing Beethoven and Tippett Piano Sonatas at the Queen's Hall. Programme consisted of Tippett no1, Beethoven Op 10 no 3, Tippett 2 and Beethoven op 53 'Waldstein'.

It was good.... I have never heard the Tippett sonatas before but they made an impression. No.1 (1938) was very lyrical, lovely folksy tune in theme and variations 1st movement, then collage of ragtime, blues, jazz in last movement. no 2 (1962) was very serious, concentrated and powerful, very uncompromising but the massive clashing chords made a big impression. I will seek recordings of these works for sure.

The Beethoven was jolly good too.... I am familiar with both pieces. Oborne I thought strove too hard to make a big statement in Op 10 no3 in its slow movement and stretched it too thin as a result. The Waldstein was as good as I have heard on any recording, massive sonorities and really flowed.

The Queens hall is a medium sized concert hall, but the Piano totally filled it. The Piano was placed only a couple of feet from the rear wall, I wonder what affect placement has on sound - the bass was very rich and full. There was huge dynamic contrast.

There was definitely less detail in the sound than I get from a good piano recording on my hifi system. The wash and decay of piano notes in a real accoustic setting obscured notes that recordings reveal..... what does this mean?

Well, it means that Hifi is not a true recreation of the live experience. However, it is a very valid way to experience music. When will I next get the chance to hear these pieces.... possibly never again live, and hearing them repeatedly on my music system at home will enable me to better understand them.

Some other thoughts.... the average age of the audience at the concert was probably mid to late 50s..... we are in our mid 30s, and I could only see six or seven people younger than us there . Who is going to go to serious live classical music when this audience is gone?

And what can be done about the coughing and fidgeting of an elderly audience? After ten minutes of the first piece I was sitting crouched forward, face down, eyes shut so I could concentrate on the performance rather than hear the people around me. I know, touch wood, that one day I may be elderly and not in the best of health but I hope I can manage to sit quietly for 25 mins.

 

You'd think they'd know better wouldn't you

It is a pain, maybe something to add into the pet hates thread, along with people who are too keen to break the resolving silence at the end of a piece. I've had a couple of great concerts spoiled by over-enthusiastic cries of Bravo etc almost before the last note's finished.

I think you'll find that there is a wider spread of ages at the Proms/ London gigs but the "youth" is still generally under represented.

 

Dear Beeb
This is a very valid point of view. Almost all musicians I have heard in concert did a better job on LP or CD.
As examples I can mention Kempff,Anda, Arrau, Brendel,
Walcha, Karl Richter, Anton Heiller, M C Alain, David and Igor Oistrakh and so on. The only exception I can think of
is Walter Kraft, the fabulous german organist ,old fashioned but extremely charismatic. He was unsurpassed at concert, whereas his recordings are only a vague revival of his live performance. So Hi Fi IS a valid way of experience music, and you wont miss the annoying noises from the audience or the distracting behavior of the artist.
Well the overall sound is somewhat contracted in your room , surely, but your mind will quickly learn to compensate for that.
Cheers

 

I was at college with Steven Osbourne, and he accompanied me once at a charity bash in Macclesfield. He is imho one of the most talented musicians I've ever come across, and a thouroughly nice chap to boot. He deserves all the success he gets