The early hours of the morning; when I went back to sleep after Lauds at two-ish things were still booming and flashing. The poor dog was cowering in the bathroom when I went to bed after 2100.
I finished Prime and came here, just catching the final piece on the program of the BBC Radio 3 noon concert: the trombonist Peter Moore playing Arthur Pryor's Fantastic Polka. Had never heard of it or the composer of course.
One of those days-- it is now pouring down rain-- when there is too much to listen to. I am planning on going out to collect drugs at the pharmacy but won't if it is still flooding out there. Maybe I won't, anyway. Jan Lisiecki is performing Schumann's Concerto in A minor with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, livestreamed on YLE. Klassikaraadio is broadcasting a live concert featuring works of Steve Reich and Lepo Sumera. Swedish Radio is broadcasting a concert of the Swedish Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding featuring Brahms, Bruckner, Schubert, and Dvořák. At Bergen, Strauss's Don Juan, Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and Schumann's Symphony no 4, performed by the Bergen Symphony conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. From Liège, the premiere of Philipp Maintz's de figuris for organ and large orchestra (although it was performed also yesterday at Bruxelles). Herbert Blomstedt conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in performance of Jan Václav Voříšek's Symphony in D major op 23 and Mozart's 'Prague' Symphony KV 504. I must sort through the times and see what is possible. I think I want most to hear the Lisiecki Schumann concerto (have never heard him live) and the Maintz premiere but we shall see. The downpour of rain has stopped.
This is about de figuris. Hmm.
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98% relative humidity, the weather app told me. Tsk; it was in any case a fairly unpleasant walk this morning. But I got my tablets and bagels and a bottle of orange juice and YLE Radio 1 appears to be broadcasting a program of gentlemen talking about 'John Adams and American postminimalism', a pre-concert presentation: the Lisiecki Schumann concerto precedes a work by Adams the name of which I've not kept in mind. Chamber Symphony, it's called. My (limited) experience of the Finns is that they can be talking about such things for hours and I can't tell from the YLE interface how long this discussion has been ongoing. The Mainzt begins in five minutes or else in an hour and five minutes.
Tsk. The YLE page says that Paavali Jumppanen is performing the Schumann. Hmm. Lisiecki's calendar shows that his participation in this concert was cancelled for whatever reason.
The Swedish Radio Symphony concert has started; the violinist for the Brahms is Leonidas Kavalos. The Mainzt must begin at 1100 here. I think I'll stay with Brahms et alii but try to catch the Adams Chamber Symphony.
More or less accidently, I caught the very beginning of the Bergen Symphony concert (Strauss, Mahler, Schumann)-- the conductor Pablo Heras-Casado walking to the podium-- so I will stay here for the duration. Although will try to catch that Maintz....
I listened to the Philipp Maintz de figuris and as is so often the case with contemporary music while I'm happy I did I cannot see doing it again-- during the last ten minutes I was tempted to start Hans Knappertsbusch's Bruckner's Symphony no 8 performed by the Vienna Philharmonic. Have returned to Bergen for Schumann's Symphony no 4, which will begin after Maestro Heras-Casado finishes preaching about 'new music' to the Bergen's version of Andreas Lindahl at the GSO.
There is another thunderstorm passing through, with a steady rain.
Ante Vesperas. And yet a second bout of thunder and pouring rain has passed, leaving beautiful clear skies.
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