# Saw the Royal Philharmonic in Virginia yesterday



## RonP

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performed at George Mason University yesterday under the direction of Pinkus Zukerman. On the bill were Bach's Violin Concerto in A Minor, a piece by Schoenberg that I didn't catch the name of (and didn't care to look up) and Brahms' Double Concerto with Zukerman's wife, Amanda Forsyth, on Cello. Zukerman performed the violin solos for the Bach and Brahms works.

I was surprised that the RPO would be performing at GMU instead of the Kennedy Center, given that the latter is a larger hall. It worked to my advantage in that I'm less than a mile from the GMU campus, so it was an easy trip.

I have to say that my wife and I were impressed with the performance. Pinkus performed well on his solo pieces and Brahms concerto was great. I enjoyed Forsyth's cello work. I can't say much for the Schoenberg work since it's not my preferred piece. It was an all-strings song and I would have much preferred to hear either Dvorak or Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings in its place. But that aside, I enjoyed the RPO's performance.


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## Mahlerian

The Schoenberg work was probably Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night), which is around half an hour long. Seems far more likely than the Suite for Strings in G, as it's his most popular piece (and the only one they ever play on the radio around here).

Sounds like a good concert. Thanks for the report.


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## joen_cph

It was "Verklärte Nacht", programme and reviews are now on the web.


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## arpeggio

*Royal Phil at Geroge Mason*

Ron and I know each other and have played togeather.

I missed that concert. George Mason has a fine center and they do a great job of bringing in some fine groups that rival the Kennedy Center. The parking is cheaper and I only live fifteen minutes away from Gearge Mason.

P. S. We could have used you Saturday with the Rach _Third Piano_. We only had one bass.


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## Radames

RonP said:


> The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performed at George Mason University yesterday under the direction of Pinkus Zukerman. On the bill were Bach's Violin Concerto in A Minor, a piece by Schoenberg that I didn't catch the name of (and didn't care to look up) and Brahms' Double Concerto with Zukerman's wife, Amanda Forsyth, on Cello. Zukerman performed the violin solos for the Bach and Brahms works.
> 
> I was surprised that the RPO would be performing at GMU instead of the Kennedy Center, given that the latter is a larger hall. It worked to my advantage in that I'm less than a mile from the GMU campus, so it was an easy trip.
> 
> I have to say that my wife and I were impressed with the performance. Pinkus performed well on his solo pieces and Brahms concerto was great. I enjoyed Forsyth's cello work. I can't say much for the Schoenberg work since it's not my preferred piece. It was an all-strings song and I would have much preferred to hear either Dvorak or Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings in its place. But that aside, I enjoyed the RPO's performance.


Listen to that Schoenberg piece some more. You may start liking it more. Verklärte Nacht is really very good.


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## PetrB

Radames said:


> Listen to that Schoenberg piece some more. You may start liking it more. Verklärte Nacht is really very good.


You might much prefer, or find an easier time, with the original version for string sextet. Fine performance here...


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## Radames

You know what - I heard the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra back in 2012 when they visited Ottawa. I though I remembered hearing them before. They played Elgar's Enigma. Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra Music Director Pinchas Zukerman is the Principal Guest Conductor of the RPO so he got them over to my part of the planet.


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