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Michaelz wrote:

Make sure that the painist does not think that you are a stalker of hers!!

Well, I did not mean to sound like this but can not resist replying: I said I was a lucky Pussy, not the pianist was.

Anyhow it was truly pleasant trip: working during the day and making some dough, having somebody paid off the expanses and at the evenings to catch some warhorses of the Russian symphonic repertoire.

The last night I went after the work to Philadelphia to see my 100-years old grandma. It could be a miserable long drive from NY, White Plane to Phyla, during a dreary rain but the NJ Classical Network in their SymphonyCast broadcasted the live-to-tape from the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts at Emory University, Atlanta the performance of Rotterdam Philharmonic lead by Valery Gergiev. So taking about the insult the injury of the Russian symphonic warhorses – the program was the Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 and Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5.

It was in a way an amassing Broadcast in a way: it was the absolutely the worst play I ever heard. The pianist Vladimir Feltsman: his Rach 3 and his encore Bach was both were absolutely laughable. The Shostakovich Fifth was not better. I was VERY surprised how the musical director of SymphonyCast allows the programs like this to be aired.

More Russian blockbusters? I passed NJ and was in NY when the SymphonyCast was over. I returned my radio to NY’s WQXR and caught the March 3 live-to-tape broadcast of NY Philharmonic with their Music Director Emeritus Kurt Masur playing the Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique”. Sure, to have two Pathétiques during one week it too much and the performance was not particularly good but what was interesting as is was very clearly difference between the sound of celebrated NY Philharmonic and the sound of National Philharmonic of Russia. The NY Philharmonic sound like a noise of musical instruments and nothing else (Though I do admit that they could play when they want)

So, I’m very enthusiastic about the finial concert of my week – the tonight NPoR play. The Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony one of my favorite symphonies and I would not miss it and particularly by the play of the NPoR. The Paganini Rhapsodyes… well it should be fun but I do not expect a whole lot. The work itself is in a way an affective pop work and Olga Kern does have a tendency for showy, cheep thrill play, particularly during loud passages. Martha Argerich frequently did the same – become overly exuberant with her truly tremendous pianistic capacity…. Talking about the “pianist ringing” and dealing with own ego… Anyhow, where Olga Kern was very good was during the very soft and very slow moments when she takes her time, holds very tasteful poses and actually deals with Sound instead of the banging effects… She is actually is VERY capable in those slow movements.

Oh, did I tell that she should stop to play the Yamaha craps and switch to Steinway? The Yamaha’s bass octave sounds like a 2 cylinder Volkswagen runs over your body – you feel hurt but do not really feel suffering....

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