# Chamber music live



## juliante

Hi all just had to share - no one else to tell as friends and family not into it.... I have just got home from my first experience of live chamber music and I am buzzing..... I was at the front - 2 metres away at the same level, small venue with fabulous acoustics. Great ensemble (i think) and they did Haydn op 33 no 3 The Joke, then Shostakovich 8 then the Schubert quintet. Much as i have revelled in chamber music for a couple of years now, to hear it played live was such a revelation. The true depth of the genius of the schubert piece just rang out, it was incredible. The Joke was such a wonderful intro. But i have to say the Shostakovich was possibly the highlight - a piece i love, but the excitement of the fast bits and the exquisite serenity of the slow bits (sorry, i am not technical...) just blew me away. To hear each instrument truly separately, each piccicato pluck. Amazing. I would go on but i have neither the technical knowledge nor the words to describe. I just remember during the quintet realising that that piece performed well really is one of the supreme examples of human creativity and spirit. I’’ shut up now. No responses required! Though always happy to hear of similar experiences.


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## Janspe

I've always thought that chamber music has a visual element to it - to see the players engage in a musical conversation on such an intimate scale, it really is something special. I experienced this with Bartók's string quartets - music that sounded abstract and incomprehensible at first opened up in a completely new way when I actually _saw_ the players do their thing. The way the music moved and hovered visually in front of me really helped me delve into the works better.

Great to hear that you had a good time at the concert!


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## Avey

juliante said:


> ... small venue with fabulous acoustics. Great ensemble (i think) and they did Haydn op 33 no 3 The Joke, then Shostakovich 8 then the Schubert quintet. ...
> 
> But i have to say the Shostakovich was possibly the highlight - a piece i love, but the excitement of the fast bits and the exquisite serenity of the slow bits (sorry, i am not technical...) just blew me away.


How the heck did you get a program like this?! DSCH's 8th is usually the headliner alone. That piece being among the preeminent quartets to _*see*_ as well as hear. It has a certain rhythmic and hypnotic quality.

And then, the fact that you also get the greatest strings+1 effort out there for your first performance is stunning. Still on my checklist.


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## starthrower

I just found out that a young group called the Calidore Quartet is performing in my town next weekend. Apparently they are the new American quartet to hear. They're playing two Webern works, so I'm gonna go see them.

Mozart Quartet in D Major, K. 575
Webern Langsamer Satz
Webern Six Bagatelles, Op. 9
Beethoven Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132
http://calidorestringquartet.com/


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## GreenMamba

starthrower said:


> I just found out that a young group called the Calidore Quartet is performing in my town next weekend. Apparently they are the new American quartet to hear. They're playing two Webern works, so I'm gonna go see them.
> 
> Mozart Quartet in D Major, K. 575
> Webern Langsamer Satz
> Webern Six Bagatelles, Op. 9
> Beethoven Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132
> http://calidorestringquartet.com/


Syracuse, eh? I drive there for some concerts (I saw the last one, the ATOS Trio) but will likely not be able to go next weekend. Sounds like a good concert, though.


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## juliante

Janspe said:


> I've always thought that chamber music has a visual element to it - to see the players engage in a musical conversation on such an intimate scale, it really is something special. I experienced this with Bartók's string quartets - music that sounded abstract and incomprehensible at first opened up in a completely new way when I actually _saw_ the players do their thing. The way the music moved and hovered visually in front of me really helped me delve into the works better.
> 
> Great to hear that you had a good time at the concert!


Yes, i totally agree with that. And the physicality of the fast parts, Shostokovich and the quintet, very exciting. Though i know the quintet pretty well, each variation seemed to link in so clearly somehow.


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## juliante

Avey said:


> How the heck did you get a program like this?! DSCH's 8th is usually the headliner alone. That piece being among the preeminent quartets to _*see*_ as well as hear. It has a certain rhythmic and hypnotic quality.
> 
> And then, the fact that you also get the greatest strings+1 effort out there for your first performance is stunning. Still on my checklist.


Yes I was pleased ... i did wonder at the time whether it gets any better than this. We are lucky enough to have an annual classical music festival in our village (uk) and some very talented people have studied and lived here. Last here I saw Mark Padmore do Wintereisse in a lovely intimate venue - which was equally as riveting and moving as the chamber show.

But yes as you can imagine, seeing the quintet live was quite something. And as far as i could tell they were very very good (I have the lindsays and others on CD.)


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## Steatopygous

Congratulations. I hope it is the first of many hundreds of such experiences for you. I never tire of live music, and I love chamber music. That was a fine and ambitious program, but there is a lot left to explore!
Happy listening.


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## Mario Martinez

juliante said:


> Hi all just had to share - no one else to tell as friends and family not into it.... I have just got home from my first experience of live chamber music and I am buzzing..... I was at the front - 2 metres away at the same level, small venue with fabulous acoustics. Great ensemble (i think) and they did Haydn op 33 no 3 The Joke, then Shostakovich 8 then the Schubert quintet. Much as i have revelled in chamber music for a couple of years now, to hear it played live was such a revelation. The true depth of the genius of the schubert piece just rang out, it was incredible. The Joke was such a wonderful intro. But i have to say the Shostakovich was possibly the highlight - a piece i love, but the excitement of the fast bits and the exquisite serenity of the slow bits (sorry, i am not technical...) just blew me away. To hear each instrument truly separately, each piccicato pluck. Amazing. I would go on but i have neither the technical knowledge nor the words to describe. I just remember during the quintet realising that that piece performed well really is one of the supreme examples of human creativity and spirit. I'' shut up now. No responses required! Though always happy to hear of similar experiences.


That is way it is of the most importance to record classical music in a documentary manner. Nothing can be better than the real thing. This is the explanation from http://www.musicstry.com



> Artists spend their whole live working on their technique to produce variations in the sound of their instrument that may seem imperceptible but have a great impact on the musical message. Therefore, in order not to alter this message, it is essential that recordings preserve this sound intact.
> 
> Music is communication.
> 
> It is communication between the artist and the listener. The more obstacles there are between the artist and the listener the more the message will deform and the worse the communication will be.
> 
> The only factor that stands between the artist and the listener in a concert situation is the effect the hall produces on the sound of the instrument. But this effect occurs in real time and it is perceived by both parties allowing the artist to maintain control of the communication. A concert situation is therefore a favorable situation to produce music.
> 
> In the case of a commercial recording there are several factors that hinder communication.
> 
> When recording, what the artist hears and controls is the effect the hall produces on the sound of the instrument, that is the sound he works with to communicate with whoever is listening, but this sound gets lost in space without reaching anybody's ears. What is picked up while the artist is playing is the sound registered by the microphones deliberately placed close to the instrument precisely to avoid picking up the sound of the hall. The color, balance and dynamic range of this two sounds (the one from the hall and the one from the take) are totally different, so while the artist delivers his controlled message, we pick up a different one that the artist does not control. In this first step the artist loses control with respect to the sound.
> 
> The takes to be used for the assembly of the work are chosen during editing. Normally the artist is not involved in the editing process. The decision about which takes will be chosen rests in the hands of others. But, how can you keep the integrity of the artist's message if the words are chosen by another person? In this second step the artist loses control with respect to the interpretation.
> 
> In most cases multiple microphones are used to record each instrument. During the mixing process the sound of these microphones is combined to create a stereo sound. This process can not recreate the balance and image that the artists produced while making the recording. Besides the artists were not aware of the effect this process was going to have so it would have been impossible for them to try to adapt to it. In this third step the artists lose control with respect to the balance and image between instruments.
> 
> All these losses of control represent a significant deterioration in the integrity of the message that reaches the listener, so we can say that commercial recording is an adverse situation to produce music.
> 
> The Truthful Recording Technology eliminates these barriers providing direct communication.
> 
> In our studios the recording hall is configured so that the sound of the hall is exactly the same as the sound of the take. Also during recording when the artist is listening to his takes what he hears is the same sound the listener will hear allowing the artist to adapt maintaining full control of the sound aspect of the communication.
> 
> So far this situation is just as favorable to produce music as the concert situation. But furthermore, during the editing process, the artist is the only one responsible for choosing the takes and his judgment prevails over any other giving him total control over the interpretation too with what we are able to improve the concert situation where there is no possibility to repeat a passage to improve the message.
> 
> In addition, all recordings are made in exactly the same conditions. It's like listening to all these artists from the same chair of the same auditorium. This allows the listener to establish objective comparisons on the ability of artists based on the result of the different recordings.
> 
> The Truthful Recording Technology developed in our studios guarantees the integrity of the sound and the interpretation of the artist while giving the listener total control over everything he listens to. Therefore we can say that recording with this technology provides the ideal situation to produce true music.


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## Guest

I think the word "Intimate" comes to mind when we think about chamber music. I'm about to purchase another set of 6 concerts at the Salle Bourgie in Montreal. It's a lot cheaper to go see chamber music concerts than orchestras too! And you leave the concert just as pleased, often even more so.


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## jegreenwood

Janspe said:


> I've always thought that chamber music has a visual element to it - to see the players engage in a musical conversation on such an intimate scale, it really is something special. I experienced this with Bartók's string quartets - music that sounded abstract and incomprehensible at first opened up in a completely new way when I actually _saw_ the players do their thing. The way the music moved and hovered visually in front of me really helped me delve into the works better.
> 
> Great to hear that you had a good time at the concert!


I'm fortunate (at least in this respect ) to live in NYC, where there is plenty of great chamber music. One of my most memorable experiences was hearing the Orion String Quartet play the 6 Bartok quartets in two concerts over three evenings. The communication between the players both amongst themselves and with the audiences was intense.


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## GKC

Wow, what a program. Lucky dog.


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## opus55

The chamber concerts were the most engaging and memorable ones of the classical concerts I've attended. I'm not at all surprised by how you felt about your first experience.


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## juliante

GKC said:


> Wow, what a program. Lucky dog.


Yes I know. The proximity element was awesome too. I have subsequently tried to think of a programme that would match it for me but have struggled. The best i came up with was something like Ravel's SQ followed by Schubert 13 then Beethoven 13. Or Haydn's 'Fifths' then Schubert 14 then Beethoven 15 maybe. That would be pretty good actually.


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## Cosmos

I'd love to go to another chamber concert! I've only been to one; the honors music students at my school. Unfortunately, since the concert was also like a "final project" for the students, most of the works were single movements extracted from larger pieces. Shame, because I love hearing a whole work in context. But still, it was one of my favorite concerts, because the room was rather small and I sat close enough to watch all of the expressions and little details as they played. I don't remember the full program, but I know they played the following works:

Corelli - Sonata da chiesa, op. 1 no. 1 in F
Bach - Viola da gamba Sonata no. 2 in D [played on a cello]
Arensky - Piano Trio no. 1 in d minor, movement 3 Elegia
Beethoven - Violin Sonata no. 1 mov. 1


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## Steatopygous

jegreenwood said:


> I'm fortunate (at least in this respect ) to live in NYC, where there is plenty of great chamber music. One of my most memorable experiences was hearing the Orion String Quartet play the 6 Bartok quartets in two concerts over three evenings. The communication between the players both amongst themselves and with the audiences was intense.


This sounds like an unprecedented achievement. How does one manage two concerts over three evenings? What is the difference from three concerts? 
If yours was merely a mistyping, my apologies for being pedantic, but it sounds an interesting puzzle.


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## jegreenwood

Steatopygous said:


> This sounds like an unprecedented achievement. How does one manage two concerts over three evenings? What is the difference from three concerts?
> If yours was merely a mistyping, my apologies for being pedantic, but it sounds an interesting puzzle.


A concert on Sunday and another on Tuesday. Sorry if I was confusing. I actually spent some time trying to figure out how to phrase it concisely. "Over the course of three evenings," might have been more accurate.


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## Steatopygous

jegreenwood said:


> A concert on Sunday and another on Tuesday. Sorry if I was confusing. I actually spent some time trying to figure out how to phrase it concisely. "Over the course of three evenings," might have been more accurate.


Aha! And it's an excellent ratio, and I congratulate you for the endeavour, for which it is evident you feel richly rewarded.


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