Just in: John Eliot Gardiner’s relaunch is delayed
OrchestrasJohn Eliot Gardiner’s Springhead Constellation – his successor to the Monteverdi orchestras – was supposed to make its debut tonight at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.
But their flight was cancelled due to bad weather at London’s Heathrow airport, putting the concert in jeopardy. The fllight was eventually reinstated. When we last heard, the concert had been put back by an hour as the audience hung patiently with free drinks around the lobbies.
Strange name for an orchestra
Springhead is the Gardiner family home
I’ll be giving them a try on Monday:
The Constellation Orchestra, Orchester
The Constellation Choir, Chor
Marie-Luise Werneburg, Sopran
Eline Welle, Mezzosopran
Peter Davoren, Tenor
Alex Ashworth, Bass
Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Dirigent
Johann Sebastian Bach: „Schwingt freudig euch empor“ BWV 36 (1731)
Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Messe de minuit pour Noël H 9 (1694 ca.)
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Johann Sebastian Bach: „Unser Mund sei voll Lachens“ BWV 110 (1725)
DId this mean the orchestra was supposed to travel on the day of the concert? That surely is some kind of mad thinking. Anything can go wrong with travel arrangements.
They chose a morning flight which got cancelled. Then they were rebooked to a midday flight which was delayed by a couple of hours due to bad weather at LHR. When they finally touched down the bus was trapped in traffic. Bad luck. The waiting was well worth it. The audience welcomed the visibly joyous group with open arms and JEG and his new/old forces delivered something out of this world. Following standing ovations he addressed the audience with touching words. When the choir then sang a wonderful “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen” lots of people on and off stage were moved to tears.
Perfectly normal for UK orchestras – they can’t afford the extra hotel night
Scarily reminiscent of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage trip to Orkney in 2000. Flight the day before cancelled, so they arrived with little preparation and a somewhat irritated (to put it mildly) conductor. Tempers flared, very unhappy performers, and hostile press. Problems can always occur; the test of leadership is how you respond and recover.
Slightly off topic here but what you and your colleagues pulled off in 2000 was extraordinary and to me the recordings of it are still the most inspiring ones when it comes to Bachs Church Cantatas. They continue to make a lot of people happy almost 25 years later. Thank you for the hard work, mentally and physically!
Common practice on orchestra tours.
This is completely standard practice for most concerts, I’m afraid. Musicians will agree with you that it’s not the best idea, but until promoters are willing to pay for an extra night of accommodation, it’s unlikely to change.
Given the alternative name by which his new vanity project has already become known, a blockage seems highly appropriate.
I was at the concert. It was not good. They didn’t do an acoustic check and that in the Elbphilharmonie is fatal. The soloists didn’t know where to stand. The soprano in her aria put herself between the concertino (who had an obligatto) and the baroque cello, cutting off their visual connection. The bass stood far away from Elliot losing contact with the organ. The choir was not good, too small for the hall (in which I have listened to the Monteverdi Choir without any problem). They also took the inexplicable decision to make the pause in the middle of Charpentier’s mass.
I think the orchestra and choir were exhausted and tired from the trip.
Next week Rousset repeats the program with MCO. I’ll let you know…
Please do!
Your words place you there but we appear to have seen two different concerts! And from what I felt and could see of other audience reactions and all the standing ovations you appear to be the only person in the hall who thought this.
For me the performance was intimate, refined and beautiful. The break in the Charpentier might have been a little strange but it didn’t feel totally unnatural. I saw and heard no problems with balance or connection whatsoever and the choir was super with the sound very clear.
It was not a bad concert, but it wasn’t at the level we are used to from JEG. That’s my opinion about it which by teh way was shared by a few people, among them 3 critics from teher geman press who were with me (of course what they wrote was softer…).
Puzzled by your being given so many downvotes. You seem to have written a perfectly objective review. I have no idea of its merits, but nobody has come back contradicting you.
His name is John Eliot. Having sit in best view of the ensemble I didn’t observe the same. As usual in JEGs performances it was choreographed where the soloists stood during their individual turn and it made complete sense to me. The reaction of the audience was overwhelming and that level of applause/ standing ovation is not easy to get from the Elbphilharmonie audience. Since you seem to be unhappy with the concert, I hope you will like next weeks performance better. Looking forward to your report.
I’ve done an awful concert there that was rapturouspy received – they’re not as discerning as you think!
Indeed! Elphi’s public is critic but also appreciative (especially on weekends when most of them are tourists). If the concert is good there is often a standing ovation, last month for instance the crowd went crazy with Currentzis.
And I should add, his name is John. The rest is affectation.
“John” himself wouldn’t agree with you
Not surprised the bass stood far away from Gardiner – the last one got punched for being in the wrong place!
I don’t know which concert you attended, but surely not the one I was in as well on Saturday night. It was absolutely STELLAR!! The music was incredible and the level of positive energy was beyond description. Could it be that you are just another hate – laden baiter who was not even there but who wants to spread bad vibes?
That’s very sweet of you, and I’m glad you liked it. But it wasn’t Stellar.
JEG was stellar in the Elphi in April 2023 with English Baroque Soloists with the Mass in B minor (a concert I will never forget). Memorable was in March 2024 when Peter Whelan replaced JEG with Israel in Egypt (I was very afraid that he would not live up to JEG but he passed the test).
Saturday’s concert was a far level away from either of these two previous concerts. And that’s what I was referring to in my review.
Please, write me your email and I will gladly send you all the tickets of these 3 concerts.
The concert did happen and it was a success.
Plus English orchestras always tend to travel on the day of the performance.
Check your facts
“always tend to…” Hmmm. Well it depends how cheap they’re being, I suppose. Plenty know better. It’s about more than the orchestra, of course.
The decision is not always the orchestra’s, especially since Brexit. Promoters need to cut costs when booking UK orchestras.
The concert was most excellent indeed. We were gave a drink to balance out for the delay and the Generalintendant Christian Lieben-Seutter was keeping us informed on a regular basis. Me and my wife were a little concerned about the late finishing but the extraordinary quality of the performance melted all our fears. It was without doubt one of the most impressive concerts we had attended at the Elbphilharmonie this year. Herr Gardiner has given a speech at the end and it was clear how much this meant to him and also his musicians too.
It was an OK concert. The musicians and singers are very good and professional and know how to make the best out of difficult situations, but it was far from the level expected from JEG. That was my comment
So, the wannabe authoritarian Trump returns to power and a month before, conductor/authoritarian Gardiner gets an orchestra relaunch. Sounds about right.