Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site

I would like to follow up with my initial post. The last nigh I went to NY’s Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center to hear the Spivakov NPoR. I have great sit (Orchestra RowM, center, 3 sits on the left – perfect for piano concertos). Funny: ahead of me was a guy how was Olga Kern brother (also a conductor) and next to me was a guy who manages sales of Yamaha in US. Everything was great but when they made a public announcement to shot down the telephones I immediately understood that I was severally screed. The Avery Fisher Hall had zero response from my sit and the amassment sounded absolutely revolting. I was about to run form those “best sits in the house” but the NPoR begin to roll on the stages…

They opened up with the same Shostakovich Festival Overture. The orchestra performed brilliantly – what a wonderful peace to open program and why would believe that Shostakovich might be so interesting!!! Frankly the NPoR plays everything better then in Boston, not to mention that they increased the size of Orchestra, bring more chairs to the tail of the sections. Still, not mater how good the NPoR was the sound was near unbearable. Sever Hall’s compression, ever worth then you have our]t of 74db sensitive speaker with lock of any articulation in any region of spectra. It sounded like a mouse sitting in the bottom of Grand Canyon and scramming at all his rodent forces but it makes of course no effect o the sound of the Grand Canyon…

So, when Olga Kern played the Rachmaninoff it was equity disgusting, even more as her piano sounded like $34.99 keyboard form Kmart. It was probably the most horrible sound that I ever head in concert Hall and I sensually feel that to rent out the Halls like this is a crime against humanity. I am sure that the idiots who designed this Hall were celebrated AES engineers, so it one extra time proves these worth… Anyhow, the Rachmaninoff was boring like hell, although Olga did play (technically) better then in Boston (or perhaps I was not able to hear anything). Frankly she did look slightly board and annoyed as well. I did not know what she head at his sit but it looked to me that she head the same crap as we did as in her forte she become angry and aggressive and it was absolutely non-musical. Anyhow my experience I was disasters. One note I would like to make – do you know that majority of toady high-end equipment is made to imitate the very same sound of the Avery Fisher Hall and alike? When you ask me why I so much hate to recent industry-promoted acoustic celebrities (like Magico  and Kharms) then I do it only because that the deliver exactly the same inverted sound of Avery Fisher Hall)

During intermission I began to ask locals what I should go in odder to have any more or less civilized sound. A person #4 understood exactly what I was asking and sent me to a specific balcony at third floor. I was waiting for the beginning of the second past of the concert and to my pleasure I saw that at the “best balcony” in that dam Concert Hall the entire first row is absolutely empty. I dived there and here is what I spend the second part. The sound from this row was absolutely different then from the orchestra rows, not as great as in some better halls but near acceptable. The second part of the program the NPoR played the Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. It is not my favorite pieces but NPoR did it extremely well. They play Rachmaninoff bold and large, but in the same time with no efforts as all, in the way how the best German orchestras during the best times played Richard Strauss’ tone poems. I was more then pleased and I assure you that we in Boston very seldom head this type of play. What NPoR demonstrated from my point of view put them in the league of the very selected world-orchestras. When I hear such a play from Russian orchestra I felt truly proud to be Russian-born. Truly remarkable! There was a few encores in the end, including a phenomenally effective Alfred Schnittke’s opening.. .
 
Anyhow, it was a great event and in a better Hall the NPoR could be such an experience…

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site