Kirill Petrenko’s other orchestra
OrchestrasFrom our Tel Aviv correspondent Dan Yakir:
Tonight Kirill Petrenko will conclude a week of subscription concerts with the Israel Philharmonic: six concerts in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.
The Israel Philharmonic is the only orchestra with which he guest conduct on a regular basis. The program includes Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Beethoven Symphony no. 8 and in between Schoenberg Variations for Orchestra. The concerts were received with rapturous applause and rave reviews.
Schoenberg is not extremely popular with Israeli audiences so the piece was preceded by a charming and an intelligent talk by second violinist and Strings Attached podcaster Asaf Maoz. Petrenko scrupulously prepared the orchestra for this piece and it was well received. Those who took their places early enough before the concert on Friday could see him giving notes on stage to the principal bass before the fifth concert. Former colleagues from the Bayerische Staatsoper say that for him the rehearsals never end. It seems that he is totally committed and that he is in an ongoing process of thinking about the music that constantly keeps playing within him.
In the summer he will conduct an identical program with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Salzburg and Lucerne festivals.
Happy Chanukah y’all
It is great that the IPO plays Schoenberg (a rare event for an orchestra which probably plays the most conservative and mainstream repertoire even among major mainstream orchestras). The concert itself was rather disappointing however. The Brahms variations are not one of his greatest works (understatement) and as to the Beethoven – while not that frequently played, the 8th is also not particularly interesting. The program was therefore quite bland. As to the conductor, with all due deference, I must say that my feeling (not for the first time) is that K Petrenko’s great attention to detail and deep analytical understanding of the music, comes at the expense of the overall architecture and flow of the music and results in diminished emotional impact.
Your views on Brahms and Beethoven are ridiculous and pretentious….And,mind you ,both overall archictecture and emotional impact come through absolute clarity and meticulous attention to detail….Not by pouring your own “emotions” over the music,a la Bernstein.In my 43 years as an orchestra musician,Mr.Petrenko´s rehearsals and concerts stick out as the greatest musical experience i took part in….And for the IPO,after years of mediocre,sloppy performances under a music director who stayed way to long ,this is a healthy cure.
Same as the Sibelius 5 they did under Osmo Vänskä in a Covid program online….The first time i heard them play a true pianissimo.
Not quite true. He also guest conducts the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai and the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg practically every season.
We had such a fantastic week of concerts with Maestro Petrenko!!!
He is truly one of a kind!!!
Absolutely agreed.
The IPO is not Petrenko’s “other orchestra”. It’s music director is Lahav Shani, who last Thursday conducted an extraordinary performance of Tchaikovsky 5th with the Orchestre de Paris. If someone is looking for a new Karajan don’t look elsewhere.
I think Norman’s point is that Petrenko doesn’t conduct much in general, and the only place he does with any regularity is with the IPO.
I think no one is looking for a new Karajan(why???)….But,this aside,Mr,Shani is a great conducting talent,especially the physical part of his conducting is really phenomenal….Musically,alas,much less detailed,rich and sublime than Mr.Petrenko…More superficial also.
He is simply the greatest conductor of our times. Immensely underrated outside the German speaking world for his reluctance to travel and to record. Those who know him, love him.
I love him on the DCH. And when I saw him conduct Rosenkavalier at Carnegie.
He also conducts regularly at Santa Cecilia de Roma and Voralberg
The Tel-Aviv concerts with Petrenko were sublime.
NOOOOOO,
not Eb Clarinet…..!!!