What's the best concert you have been to?

[vladhorwz]

For me it was Jon Nakamatsu because I got there 2 hours early and sat front/center, it was in a lecture hall so he was 5 feet in front of me.

[spirithorn]

An Ashkenazy recital at Duke University about 20 years ago.  The first half of the programme was all Rachmaninov, the second half all Chopin.  His playing on that particular evening was exquisite.

[pianistimo]

the best piano concert i have ever been to was dr. carl cranmers.  at the grand ballroom next to the kimmel center.  he played extrordinarily (and was paired up with a vocalist who was pretty good himself).  beautiful beautiful music.

i tend to enjoy choral concerts as well, and really enjoyed hearing many vocal works under the direction of dr. newby in lancaster, ca.  these were smaller scale concerts, but enjoyed just as much as larger ones i've seen.  he directed beethoven's 9th, brahms requiem, verdi requiem, etc.  and it was a great learning experience to hear these pieces all the way through.

if i could go to europe someday, maybe i'd hear some great music in austria, italy, france - i'd like to hit england and ireland, too.  i think  half the experience would be the concert hall and the accoustics (as are in many cathedrals over there).  i LOVE pipe organs.  the best one over here is in Lord and Taylor's.  (i don't go there to go shopping, just to hear the organ concerts - and, btw, they are FREE).  diane bish is my hero on the organ.

[thalbergmad]

Now i am really jealous, I would love to hear the great Wannamaker Organ.

[calihafan]

I haven't been to any concerts like Kissin/Lang/Brendel/Pollini/Ashkenazy, that kinda thing, but I did go to one concert at the Ithaca College Summer Piano Institute. Professor Read Gainsford, who has since gone to Florida State U to teach, played, lemme see if I can remember...

All the Chopin Preludes
Aeolian Harp Etude,
one other etude by Chopin,
Dumka by Tchaikovsky,
two preludes and fugues by Bach,
and for an encore a lefthand only scriabin thinamajigg.

It was fun.

Calih

[janne p.]

Piano: Volodos playing Tchaikovsky's 1st with Berliner Philharmoniker. (2002)

Other: A violinist-cellist couple whose names I don't know (they were Swedes, that's the only thing I know) who were on a master class for Zakhar Brohn played some transcripted (by Heifetz + others?) variation cycle on a theme by Händel as a duet. Their performance was so awesome I couldn't believe what happened on stage; it was like they were having sex (no, they weren't, physically) as it was so intense! 2-3 up-and-coming violinists had played before them but they had nothing to put up against this dynamic duo; I've never heard two instruments blend that well and sound so extremely MUCH and VOLUMINOUS. They completely filled the concert hall with their unique sound. The technical control and virtuosity of both instrumentalists were of a very very high level and the musical output was very mature and well-balanced, but the thing that stuck to one most was the sheer force with which they captivated the whole audience. That's probably the greatest live performance I have ever witnessed.

[shasta]

The Rach3 performed by my dear friend and former professor (she won a concerto competition).  Breathtaking.

[pabst]

I have not been to many, since I really havent access to a lot of performances living where I do, but the best one has to be the Argerich-Freire duo, when they played Rach Suite n2 and Ravel La Valse (alongside a bunch of encores) in Porto Alegre, south of Brazil on 2001 (was it?).
Brilliant.

[Bouter Boogie]

I was really impressed when I went to a solo recital of Kissin. I also think Pletnev's solo recital was one of the best I've ever been to.

[pianohopper]

Peter Serkin playing the Brahms 2.  Mastery.  (Jon Kimura Parker's Rach3 is close second.) 

[m]

Too many to list:

S. Richter
E. Gilels
V. Horowitz (in Moscow and in Leningrad)
G. Sokolov
Rosalyn Turek
early A. Gavrilov
M. Pletnev
Shura Cherkassky
J. Ogdon
O. Volchkova (first half Chopin 24 Etudes, second Liszt Sonata, 6th Rhapsody, and Mephisto Waltz)
N. Shtarkman
O. Boshniakovitch
T. Jadd

Some of famous pianist I heard live, but did not really enjoy:

V. Ashkenazy
M. Pollini (had to leave his recitals in the middle twice--his playing was way too boring)
M. Argerich
D. Barenboim (heard many times live, and he always stroke me as an amateur pianist, although very gifted and intelligent one)
E. Kissin
G. Olssohn
late V. Cliburn

[shasta]

Shura Cherkassky

^^ I would've loved to have heard Cherkassky live.  Marik, do you remember what he played?

[m]

^^ I would've loved to have heard Cherkassky live.  Marik, do you remember what he played?

Yes.

Bach-Busoni Chaconne
Schumann Kreisleriana
Liszt 12th Rhapsody
Chopin Two Nocturnes
Chopin 4th Ballade
Berg Sonata
Stravinsky Petrushka

Unfortunately, I could not stay for encores, as I was late for a plane and had to rush to the airport.
It was a marvelous concert! He was well into his 70's then, although you could not tell at all--he sounded young and fresh.

I heard some of his recordings and they sound nothing like his live performance.

Such a beautiful, although not big sound. His legato, taste, individuality made me feel that somehow I was at least 50 or 100 years back, right at the Golden Age of piano. It actually made me sad, as nobody of modern pianists have anything even close to that. It seems those old masters of piano playing knew some secrets, which are gone forever.

[phil13]

I haven't been to too many concerts, either.

The best one was when Antonio Pompa-Baldi came here for a one-night performance. He played Beethoven's 'Eroica' Variations, Liszt's Ballade No.2 in B minor, a short trifle (I have no idea what it was since it wasn't on the program) and Rachmaninoff's Sonata No.2. His encore was the Notturno by Grieg.

Phil

[jeremyjchilds]

Anton Keurti's beethoven concertos were beautifully played...but he is not much of a "performer" just an incredible technician

[etudes]

Yes.

Bach-Busoni Chaconne
Schumann Kreisleriana
Liszt 12th Rhapsody
Chopin Two Nocturnes
Chopin 4th Ballade
Berg Sonata
Stravinsky Petrushka

all in one recital? would be very long....
btw i like mostly of Cherkassky´s recording he made something that others never done

[odsum25]

I can't decide on one, so I'll give two pianists with two concerts each. Sorry.
Aimard at Zankel Hall, first in the Vingt Regardes and then In Carter's Night Fantasies and the Ives Concord Sonata. Simply an amazing moment.

Earl Wild, at Tannery Pond in upstate New York and at Mannes in the Summer of '04, before his heart surgery. (I heard him again there this year, but while still a wonderful performance, his technique had slipped. However his rendering of Op. 10 No. 3 was breathtaking.) The first concert included his transcription of the Marcello Adagio, the Mozart F Major K 332, the 32 Variations in C Minor of Beethoven, and Liszt's Jeux d'Eau on the first half. The second half was all Chopin, opening with a few Etudes, including the Aeolieon Harp. The Andante Spinato and Grande Polonaise were featured after that with the G Minor Ballade, but I believe there were a couple of nocturnes and mabe a mazurka amongst those works. As an encore, he played his technically ridiculous transcription of The Mexican Hat Dance.  It was an incredible thing to hear an 88 year old man take on such a demanding program.

The second concert included a Haydn Sonata in D (I can't rememver which one off the top of my head,)  Beethoven Op. 31 No. 3,  the Liszt B Minor Ballade, D'Albert Scherzo, Respighi Notturno, and Mozkowski Etincelles, (yes the Horowitz one.) To make the evening more enjoyable was his interview with David Dubal afterwords, which revealed Mr. Wild to be a brilliant, charming,  and witty man with opinions on everything.

[pianistimo]

i heard pompa-baldi, once too!  he's pretty good.

and, the labeque sisters, i believe. 

thalbergmad, do you mean the new organ at the kimmel center?  yes!  i want to hear that one too.  it might be worth coming over here sometime.  I'll let you know.  i know it's brand new, as of this year, and several organ pieces will be performed on it.  (saint-saens?) have to check the schedule.  should sound pretty good. 

of course, over there, you have seasoned organs and organists in residence.  the best organist i ever heard was at a commencement exercise for west coast university.  (my husband used to go there every year to sing the national anthem).  this guy (francis atkinson) improvized and was kinda crazy with modulations and all.  i thought, 'who is that person?'  so after the commencement, i went behind the curtain and introduced myself.  he was the first organist i met that can talk and play.  i asked about how to play things and he started playing and talking at the same time.  he could add to and take away from music, transpose at whim (you have to do this a lot at weddings and commencements, i guess).  just really incredible fast fingers, too.  and, he was maybe in his late 60's or early 70's.

[sevencircles]

Marik: What´s the most technically impressive yet tastefull performance you ever seen?

[Teddybear]

The best piano concert I've been to is probably my teacher's. I don't remember the whole programme, but she did play Liszt's Tarantella Venezia e Napoli, which was a performance I enjoed very much (there haven't been many of those, I rarely go to concerts... little money and motivation).

The best piano concerto performance I've heard was Volodos playing Prokofiev's 2nd concerto with Helsinki Philharmonics. He also looked very much like a teddybear at the beginning of the first movement. It was actually the first time I ever heard about the guy at all.

The best concert ever: a Finnish group called Ensemble Ambrosius playing Frank Zappa, Ligeti and some compositions of their own with baroque instruments.

T

[orlandopiano]

This is easy. Simon Rattle conducting Rite of Spring with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the mid-90s. I swear there were 60-year old men rioting in the streets afterwards.

I have his highly acclaimed recording with CBSO on EMI (inexplicably out of print in the US) and even that doesn't touch what I heard in Symphony Hall that evening. If I were Seiji Ozawa (director at that time), I would have retired right then and there.

[perfect_pitch]

The only good Concerto I have ever been to is (don't laugh, I'm being serious), Helfgott playing Rach 3rd.....    WHY???

The only other Pianist who has been in Australia in the last 10 years was Peter Waters... and boy was be weird... and pretty boring.

NO ONE EVER COMES TO PERTH!!!!! I HATE PERTH!

[sharon_f]

Rudolph Serkin performing Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ormandy conducting. (This was many, many years ago.)

More recently the Philadelphia Orchestra, again, this time with Eschenbach conducting the Turangalila Symphony, Jean-Yves Thibaudet as the piano soloist.

[pita bread]

Peter Serkin playing the Brahms 2.  Mastery.  (Jon Kimura Parker's Rach3 is close second.) 

Where did you hear John Kimura-Parker play the Rach 3?

[allthumbs]

Greetings

I've been to a few great concerts in my life and it's hard to choose the best one, but I can unequivocally state that the most memorable concert I ever had the privilege of witnessing was a free concert given by Eubie Blake at York University in Toronto in 1973.

I was an undergraduate student at that time and one day I noticed posters advertising a free Ragtime piano concert by Blake and apparently a local musician of note by the name of 'Ragtime' Bob Darch.

Now I had never heard of Darch and vaguely recalled hearing about Blake (he wrote, "I'm Just Wild about Harry" and the Musical "Shufflin' Along").

As I was starting to have an interest in Ragtime piano (saw the movie The Sting), I decided to go. Hey it was free; the right price for a cash-strapped struggling student.

I sat in the lecture hall with about 100 other people looking at the 9-foot grand piano sitting there on the dais with great anticipation and not knowing what was to take place.

Darch came out front and center, introduced Blake and stated that he had convinced Blake to come out retirement (after all Blake was only 90 years old at the time!).

He then went over and assisted this frail old black man to the piano. He could hardly walk.

Blake sat at the piano, looked at the audience and thanked Ragtime Bob for talking him out of retirement. He exclaimed, "I've been playing professionally since 1898!

He then started ripping into the piano keys like I had never seen before. This old man, who had to be helped to the piano, suddenly lost 50 years in age. His technique was incredulous.

He had the longest, most slender fingers I have ever seen. He regaled the audience with his tales of playing in the Bordellos of the early 1900's. I was transfixed. Two hours flew by, including an interlude of Darch’s playing (a formidable pianist in his own right).

At the end of the concert and after three encores, Eubie Blake availed himself to answer anyone's questions about the time he spent as a musician some 50-70 years previous.

I took the opportunity near the end of the session to slip outside into the hallway and grab an advertising poster off the wall that had his and Darch's picture on it.

I presented the poster to Mr. Blake and asked him for his autograph. He stated that he would be glad to, he shook my hand, asked my name and signed the poster. I still have it.

Over thirty years later, I still am in awe of what I witnessed that day. Not the fact that he was a great pianist (he wasn't), but the fact that I had the opportunity to look into a window of the past and saw a man who dedicated 75 years to playing an instrument and music he loved. Truly inspiring and a rare opportunity indeed!

Without being too maudlin, how lucky are those who can tap into the wisdom and experience of our senior citizens, no matter what their expertise. What a waste that as a society we tend to summarily dismiss this wealth of information as irrelevant. Sorry, I'm off on a tangent. I guess as I get older, I'm wondering how society will treat me?

Anyway...

The following site has an interview by Max Morath with Eubie Blake. Hearing his voice brings me right back to that concert and how he talked about his life and experiences.

https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/magic/saloon/blake.html


'Ragtime' Bob Darch's ste if you're interestd

https://www.rag-time.com/fest/artists/darch.htm


Cheers

allthumbs

[arensky]

I'm assuming piano concert, or perfomance...

Vladimir Horowitz (beyond words)
Alicia de Larrocha (so beautiful, I cried...)
Claudio Arrau (don't care to hear his records, glad I heard him live!)
Shura Cherkassky (see Marik's comments about being transported to the "golden age")
Emmanuel Ax
Rudolf Serkin
Misha Dichter (best Mozart Concerto)
Murray Perhaia
Vladimir Ashkenazy (best live Piano Concerto, Bartok 2nd)
Horacio Gutierriz
Boris Berman (best Debussy)
Kun Woo Paik (amplified all Scriabin concert with light show! It was very cool)
Eduard Conus (a Medtner student, I wrote a post about this under something about Medtner; again, this was like time travel to a different era)
Haesun Paik 

and many others, these immediately spring to mind

"non-classical" (for me,that means mostly Jazz)

McCoy Tyner
George Cables
Bill Evans
Dave Mckenna
Horace Parlan
Billy Taylor
Harold Mabern
Mal Waldron
James Williams
Dr. John
Bruce Hornsby
Horace Silver
Sun Ra

[shenting]

I would say the best so far I have been to is Mikhail Rudy performing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Russian National Orchestra under Christian Gansch.

There was about 5 minutes of applause after that.

[chromatickler]

I would say the best so far I have been to is Mikhail Rudy performing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Russian National Orchestra under Christian Gansch.

There was about 5 minutes of applause after that.

hahaha you should see the REAL rudy play it