Urbanski und Lisiecki in der Laeiszhalle

By Stefan Pillhofer, 25 September 2016

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Reviewed at Laeiszhalle: Großer Saal, Hamburg on 22 September 2016

Strauss R., Don Juan, Op.20

Schumann, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54

Strauss R., Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Krzysztof Urbański, Conductor

Jan Lisiecki, Piano

Bychkov's uneven Mahler 8 at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 11th April

Doing justice to the vast scale of Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" is itself the mightiest of tasks. Semyon Bychkov and his NDR forces only partially succeed.

***11

A searingly powerful Duke Bluebeard's Castle at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 9th February

Alan Gilbert and his NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester partner first Igor Levit, and then Michelle DeYoung and Gerald Finley, in a night of outstanding music-making devoted to the music of Bartók.

*****

Two Sergeis with Vinnitskaya and Valčuha at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 14th September

Rachmaninov and Prokofiev not only shared a first name. In their individual ways they helped define Russianness too. Anna Vinnitskaya, Juraj Valčuha and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester are here the exponents.

***11

Music that makes the flesh creep: Kochanovsky's powerful Prokofiev 6

Alexander Hall, 20th April

Three diverse works written within 15 years of each other, by Kodály, Poulenc and Prokofiev, given with panache by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the amazing Jussen brothers and Stanislav Kochanovsky.

****1

Operatic Wagner and symphonic Shostakovich in the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 15th September

Conducting the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Latvian Andris Poga reveals a surer hand in Shostakovich's final symphonic statement than in the partnering of Nina Stemme in Wagner, where her big voice often missed the essential intimacy.

***11

Death and what comes after: Alan Gilbert's Mahler 2 in Hamburg

Alexander Hall, 2nd September

Opening the new season, Alan Gilbert and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester send out a clear message in Mahler's Second Symphony, both lyrically shaped and dramatically inflected.

****1

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Stefan Pillhofer

Stefan ist gelernter Toningenieur mit dem Schwerpunkt Orchesteraufnahmen und lebt in Hamburg. Er durchlief eine klassische Klavierausbildung ebenso wie Violinunterricht und ist mit dem Hören klassischer Musik groß geworden. Heute bloggt er zu diesem Thema. Durch seine langjährige Berufserfahrung und das eigene Spielen im Orchester hat er es schätzen gelernt, ganz genau zuzuhören.

Kontrolliert und doch beeindruckend: Urbanski und Lisiecki in der Laeiszhalle