Comments on: interesting, mediocre, horrible – or simply practical?

By: bob priest

bob priest — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:46:00 +0000

i’m thrilled to get another chance to hear Walton’s 1st Symphony live. it’s one of the truly great symphonies of the 20th century. a season highlight. check it out!

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:27:13 +0000

In Charlotte, we have a MD search happening, and our classical programs still suck!

By: jan emil kuisma

jan emil kuisma — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:04:54 +0000

Beethoven piano n4 with Sibelius symph nr 1 is ok, but with symph nr2 just perfect!

By: evank

evank — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:32:51 +0000

Your last paragraph hits the nail on the head, and concert attendance and crowd reception so far support the programming decisions. Considering the constraints that OSO programming occurs under (financial, logistical, pieces that soloists/conductors will play) I think it’s respectable. I guess I could take issue with a few programs but ultimately, considering the compromises that have to be made, my complaints would be pretty minor.

By: Charles Noble

Charles Noble — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:01:36 +0000

Interesting, I was told that he was offering either Mendelssohn, or a mixed program of smaller works (like Tzigane, Poeme, etc.) – maybe it was a geographical thing?

By: Troy Peters

Troy Peters — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:50:59 +0000

For what it’s worth, Josh Bell played the Corigliano in Montreal with Nagano just over a week ago. And it brought down the house. So he is touring with it this season — too bad Portland won’t hear it…

By: Nikos

Nikos — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:53:52 +0000

As lang lang demonstrated recently, it is not only what you play but HOW you play it. SMB cannot escape the desire to appear to be one of the “cognoscenti” and that entails a certain disdain for the “classics” and embracing “exciting” programming, even if some of that stuff is unlistenable (some of it literally, such as John Cage’s 4′ 33″ of silence)
I disagree with the asertion that “five of the programs are terrible”

I think the “Linz” symphony is boring, SMB finds it “a beaut”, that does not mean it is the Oregon’s Symphony mission to reconcile our tastes. I am also lookinf forward to the Sibelius 1st, Beethoven 4th combination. I also think it is quite an achievement for the OSO to present Bell, Lang, Skreide, Koh and all these bright starts in poor little PDX. Let’s get some perspective here.