The best concert you have ever been to?

Question

One that really moved you, just worth to be marked on the calendar

Sorry, I meant classical concerts. Anything of that stuff?

I see some real stuff. Show me more ...

Answer 1

There are quite a few. The first concert I went to when a kid featured an unknown russian pianist who played brilliantly Schumann and Prokofiev; I realized at once Sviatoslav Richter was unknown just to me. Then, random picking, Nathan Milstein in Kreutzer Sonata ;one night, Friederich Gulda hit the ceiling with Bach’s English Suites, then disappointed everybody with his own jazz pieces. The old and bent Mieczyzlaw Horszowski on his compatriot Chopin. The old and bent Sandor Vegh conducting Mozart serenades in a cloister on a summer night. Montserrat Caballè in Bellini and Donizetti arias. Joan Sutherland in Anna Bolena; Karl Boehm conducting Così fan tutte at La Scala;Yehudi Menuhin in Bach violin suites. Claudio Abbado with the Berliner Philharmoniker conducting Brahms 1st and the following night Otello (unluckily Josè Cura was the moor); Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting Brahms 2 and 4 and the following night conducting and playing Ludwig Van’s Emperor. Barenboim at piano in Debussy’s Images, then he gave 6 (six) encores up to nearly 1 a.m.. I take a chance to affirm that Daniel Barenboim is the most complete musical personality of present time. One like him is Nikolaus Harnoncourt, but I never heard him in person.
Then, there are the blown opportunities. One night I had a ticket to Mstsislav Rostropovich, both conducting (Shosta) and playing cello (Bach). Believe or not, I came from work so crunched that I forgot the date; the ticket is still on my desk as a stupidity memento. Another night, we went to a Mahler 5th, we sat down and the loudspeaker said the conductor fell suddenly ill and was to be substituted. In fact, a few days or hours later Sir Georg Solti died.
One tip. Never take a girl to a concert to impress her. In my young days, I took one to Mahler’s 9th: (yeah!): she slept during the concert, I could but sleep - after.

Answer 2

That's a very, very hard choice.

As a listener, I would have to say either a performance of Brahms's Symphony No. 2 with Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony back in the late 80s, or a more recent performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 with the New York Phil and Kurt Masur. I've heard many performances of both those works, yet those two particular ones stand out in my mind as having some indefinable depth and glow.

As a performer... again a hard choice. I hate to say this, because it will sound so trite. But I've sung close to 100 performances of Handel's Messiah--and one in particular, about 12 years ago, had something that I've never experienced before or since. It was as if everyone involved--orchestra, choir, conductor, soloists, even audience--were just absolutely "on" that evening. I don't even know how to describe it.

By the way, toutvas bien, as a choral singer, you have no idea how jealous I am of you! I love the choral music of Samuel Barber. Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard is one of those works that I really, really want to sing before I die...

Answer 3

I saw the Messian Quartet for the End of Time performed live there a few years ago. It was absolutely amazing. I was so moved by it. I had never felt that way after a concert before and I don't think I ever will again. It will be very hard to live up to. I was just speechless after it. I can't even describe how I felt. It took me ages to bring myself to clap. It was such an unbelievable experience. Once in a lifetime.

Answer 4

back in the late 70's when Zubin Mehta was the principal conductor of the LA Phil Emil Gilels was scheduled to play Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto.
( It's my favorite of the 5). It was a Sunday matinee, and the hall ( the old Dorothy Chandler Pavilion) was full of half- nodding, blue-haired dears. I think every one of them was wide awake by the end of the concerto. I was stunned, frozen to my seat, breathless, on fire.
I have been to several hundred concerts since then
( professional singer), but that one is my special treat.
My second favorite, just for the humor involved, was probably in the same year, 1976, since the piece was titled " Apartment House 1776" by John Cage, and was commissioned for the bi-centenniel. Zubin conducted by means of a stopwatch, as the musical sections were timed. It was more fun than the circus. We had a native American in full dress, singing one of his favorites,
a trumpeter that did his best to portrray a cariacture of a trumpeter, the full chorus singing the hits of the day, and various other three-ring wonders. I was there with other music students from our university, and we all laughed till we cried. ( Got a lot of glares from the serious audience around us, but was sooo much fun)

Answer 5

When I was 15, my mom had an extra ticket to the LA Phil Matinee series and asked me if I wanted to go. I asked who the artist was and she said some unknown guy playing a Mozart concerto. I said "Sure, I'd love to"

At the concert, the conductor (Zubin Mehta) came out and apologized, apparently the pianist who was scheduled was ill, and so instead we would have Rudolph Serkin play Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto. I was so excited I nearly soiled my trousers. And of course, the performance was magnificent.

Much later in life, I participated in a performance of the Durufle Requiem. I cannot explain it, it just happens sometimes, but there was an electricity in the hall that night -- the performance was transcendental, and the most spiritual experience of my life. I heard the recording of it later, and I was not deceived -- we had somehow touched souls with Durufle. It scintilated and glimmered. I felt lucky to be a part of that.

Answer 6

Alfred Brendel at the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. He played a selection of Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert - the composers he is best know for - and played beautifully I might add. Jaw droppingly beautiful. I was spellbound. I have many of his recordings, but to see and hear him live was wonderful. I am a piano student, a pretty poor one at that and to see such a master of the instrument was awe inspiring. I have since been back to see him again at the Disney and will continue to attend any time he sees fit to make an appearance.

Answer 7

A concert in Munich a few years back .

Schoenberg Chamber Symphony
Webern 5 pieces
Berg Violin Concerto
Stockhausen KontraPunkte

Answer 8

I was part of an all Samuel Barber concert (early 80s in Chicago) his choral works, of course Adagio for Strings but the big piece featured Eleanor Steber in her last public performance of Knoxville Summer of 1915, the piece was written for her in (I believe the early 50's) the venue was a cathedral with great acoustics .... although Miss Steber had gone through all that opera singers go through with age (losing control of their voice and getting that wobble) she must have learned how to control that magnificent voice .... technically the control was amazing .... musically she brought goosebumps with her high notes (barely audible but hauntingly beautiful) and tears to the audience she a minimum of a 20 minute standing ovation ........ I was part of the choral portion ... we heard her perform from the entry to the cathedral then ran to the stage entrance where Miss Steber was sitting after her performance crying and mumbling I will never sing like that again

ELAINE C Miss Steber had a discussion on her career and her close relationship with Samuel Barber ... How she and her husband would be in bed (on tour with Vanessa) and then Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti would burst in on them and how they would just talk for hours drinking coffee ;))

Answer 9

A tossup between the Canadian Brass and Andre Reiu.


Cnadian Brass- some of everything,,very intellectual.
Reiu, - like the Boston pops with a genuine sense of humor.

Loved them both.

Answer 10

LA Guitar Quartet. Being a classical guitarist, it was amazing to see these guys in action!