# ...if you could have chamber concerts in your own home....



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Let's indulge in a somewhat unrealistic fantasy. Let's say that you were designing your "dream home" and it occurred to you that you had enough space for a "music room." And let's say that you decided you'd like to have musicians over for chamber performances occasionally. And let's say you had the money to build the room and to reward the musicians generously.

And finally, let's say you have about two dozen friends who either like the music that you like or that like you enough to come over and hear your lousy music. (You probably wouldn't want more than two dozen people at a time in your actual house anyway.)

It's going to be a great time. Catered parties, cheese and wine, hanging out on the patio in the sunshine, and then, as the evening cools, heading inside to enjoy a personal performance of your favorite chamber works.

I might order up an evening of Enescu's third violin sonata, then Franck's, then we can all take a break to listen to Lucier's "I am Sitting in a Room" together, back to work for Nono's _...Sofferte onde serene..._, and finally a solemn rendition of 4'33" for a nightcap. On another night, we might keep the pianist busier with Schubert's 21st piano sonata, Brahms' first piano trio, and let Rzewski's Variations on _El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido_ send everyone home in a good mood. There would be nights for Kodaly's sonata for solo cello, for Albeniz on piano and on guitar, for Faure's lieder, for string trios by Schoenberg and Webern, for Chausson's _Concert_, for Canteloube's _Chants d'Auvergne_, for Sorabji, for the harp, for Shostakovich's piano quintet, for flute sonatas, clarinet trios, arrangements of Bach for saxophone quartet, and of course and number of nights of Renaissance madrigals. And we can commission works for our parties from young, as-yet-unknown composers who will later remember our stimulating soirees as formative experiences.

Sounds great. If you win the lottery, I'll be nice to you and you'll invite me. Or, perhaps, vice-versa.

Here's the thing, though. You have to design the space. As you stare at the blueprint, what things come to your mind?

How big would the space ideally be? How high would the stage be, and how big, and how big would the audience area be? Would you want it two stories tall?

What sort of seating would you want?

What kind of lighting?

Etc.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Doesn't need to be too big for that. 20'x 20' room with wood panelling, some Rembrandt paintings, dimmable halogen potlights, track lights with adjustable spots. About a 13' high ceiling with crown moulding a chandlier in the centre. Wool carpet. A bar on one end. Could you do a new thread with having orchestral concerts in own home?


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Already have such a space. It's called a barn. 
An' every once in a while some folks with banjos, guitars, and fiddles 'll drop in an' play.
That's chamber music the Montana way.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I would invite Renée Fleming and Jean-Yves Thibaudet for a lieder performance in my diner room, close friends and family only.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Pugg said:


> I would invite Renée Fleming and Jean-Yves Thibaudet for a lieder performance in my diner room, close friends and family only.


I love both those artists, and lieder, too. So, how do I count? As family, friend ... or maybe as a piano page turner? Please, let me come over for such a concert. Uh ... by the way ... what's for dinner?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

SONNET CLV said:


> I love both those artists, and lieder, too. So, how do I count? As family, friend ... or maybe as a piano page turner? Please, let me come over for such a concert. Uh ... by the way ... what's for dinner?


One the page turner bit, I do that myself , let you know about the time and date and....... diner will be made by a 5 star chef.
Only the best will do for those nearest and dearest to us.


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

Be sure to make a program beforehand because if there's no Beethoven, I'm not coming ;-)


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

If I won the lottery, my home would be old English style, with six en-suite rooms quite a size with grounds.

My music room would have oak panelled walls, a log fire in the winter and candle lighting.

Would have about 20 to 30 music friends for a chamber recital.

Programme

Bach Air on a G String - Joshua Bell and Stephen Hough


Brahms Piano Trio(Early version) - Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough

INTERVAL

Tea/Coffee and cakes served in the small reception room



Bach Cello Suite no 1 - Steven Isserlis

Beethoven Sonata no 9 (Kreutzer) Joshua Bell and Stephen Hough 

Encore

Schubert Ave Maria - Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough 

Carriages would be around 22.00hrs. Would have spare rooms for anyone who wanted to stay including musicians!


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

It wasn't my home unfortunately, but a few years ago I was invited to a private mini-recital by Christian Tetzlaff at an apartment in the Dakota (where Leonard Bernstein and John Lennon lived).









I've also been to a number of amateur recitals in the homes of friends. I was their official (amateur) recording engineer.


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## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

I would have liked a performance of the Appassionata sonata by the great Claudio Arrau, but now it's a little more than unrealistic.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

shangoyal said:


> I would have liked a performance of the Appassionata sonata by the great Claudio Arrau, but now it's a little more than unrealistic.


I had a stage seat at one of his concerts. Memorable!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Judith said:


> If I won the lottery, my home would be old English style, with six en-suite rooms quite a size with grounds.
> 
> My music room would have oak panelled walls, a log fire in the winter and candle lighting.
> 
> ...


Can we book in advance????


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

I grew up in a house like that. Everything from Bach cantatas and Brandenburg concertos to the Schubert Octet to the Brahms clarinet quintet to Samuel Barber's Dover Beach to the Elliott Carter quartet for flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord was performed live in the living room of that house, often with ringer professional musicians taking part. The dining room was for food, drink and talk.
Sometimes there wasn't much room for an audience, but a dozen people could fit. Great fun.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

OK, I'll play. Lets go for it.

In my new modernist home in the Scottish Borders, the concert hall overlooks our private lochan and commands sweeping views down to the river and over the soft green hills...

I'm less fussed about the room arrangement and furnishings as long as the acoustics are sound. The programme will be:

Ian Bostridge and Graham Johnson open with a selection

of Britten songs, including the John Donne sonnets.

Bernarda Fink and Anthony Spiri will then perform a perfect selection of lieder by Robert Schumann.

Juliane Banse and Andras Keller will perform Kurtag's Kafka-Fragmente, simply because I bought a rival recording and i want to hear what they can do with this wonderful work.

Anne Sofie von Otter, accompanied by Bengt Forsberg, will then sing Berg's Altenberg-lieder . They'll continue with a selection from Sibelius's powerful and little known songs, taking us up to...

~~~~ The Interval ~~~~

Gidon Kremer and Martha Argeritch will open the second part of the programme with Beethoven's serene Op. 96 duo sonata for violin and piano in G.

Alban Gerhardt will play Britten's three suites for solo 'Cello, and he'll then be joined by Steven Osborne for the Cello Sonata. If they decide on an encore, it will be (by my express order) the Bridge 'Cello sonata. (They _will_ decide on an encore!)

The Arditti Quartet will then be asked to play Webern's "5 Pieces for string quartet", Berg's "Lyric Suite" and Schoenberg's string quartet no. 2, opus 10. I'm sure that Juliane Banse will hang around and join the Ardittis with her Stefan George texts in the 'litany' and 'rapture' movements. The Arditti Quartet have been invited to play any contemporary work they care to play after this as a surprise.

To finish, The Quartetto Italiano have been miraculously resurrected (from the grave, where necessary) to play Beethoven's sublime Op. 135 quartet in F. This should send people home, or to bed, serene and happy.

~~~~ o0o ~~~~

For those who desire still more, they'll be performing Schubert's last quartet, D.887 in G for a select group in the library after breakfast tomorrow... :tiphat:


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

If we can resurrect dead musicians for this chamber music concert, then I would love to have Liszt come and play in my living room. Perhaps he and Trifonov can go head-to-head with each other -
they'll take turns playing the Transcendental Etudes and the audience can vote on the winner.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Let's have some Mendelssohn too.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bettina said:


> If we can resurrect dead musicians for this chamber music concert, then I would love to have Liszt come and play in my living room. Perhaps he and Trifonov can go head-to-head with each other -
> they'll take turns playing the Transcendental Etudes and the audience can vote on the winner.


Who's in the jury ???
( I am available day and night)


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Who's in the jury ???
> ( I am available day and night)


Would you be willing to serve as the head judge? I know that you are fond of both Liszt and Trifonov and I am eager to see who you would choose as the winner!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bettina said:


> Would you be willing to serve as the head judge? I know that you are fond of both Liszt and Trifonov and I am eager to see who you would choose as the winner!


It would be a great, if not greatest honour. :clap:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

BYOB:

1. The original Tokyo Quartet playing all the Beethoven String Quartets.

2. Ten minute lavoratory intermission.

3. Annie Fischer playing the 32 Piano Sonatas of Beethoven.

Intense screaming, shouting and stamping of feet bring an encore:

4. Sviatoslav Richter playing music minus one accompaniment to Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1.

5. Go home and take those bottles with you!!


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I would go for Neoclassicist and Empire styles. Straight, hard lines, gold ornaments but not too opulent. Ornament motives of Sphinxes, Hermes/Mercury, Pallas Athene (especially with the severed Medusa head), Apollo. A small copy of Thorvaldsen's _Iason_ on a pedestal. And Canova's _Theseus and the Minotaur._ And _Apollo Belvedere._ And _Nike of Samothrake._ Couple of elongated mirrors to make the space seem larger.

If that would come off as too harsh, I'd soften it to make it more 19th century bourgeois style, Rococo and Biedermeier... but I wouldn't overdo it. On the wall I'd have some Ingres copies... maybe _Apotheosis of Homer_ or _Theseus and Jupiter_. Maybe Raphael's _Madonna,_ too.

It would be a temple of militant reason and classical, transcendent beauty. Softened just enough that people would smile there, but they would sit with their backs straight!

My musicians would play Haydn string quartets and almost nothing else.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Xaltotun said:


> I would go for Neoclassicist and Empire styles. Straight, hard lines, gold ornaments but not too opulent. Ornament motives of Sphinxes, Hermes/Mercury, Pallas Athene (especially with the severed Medusa head), Apollo. A small copy of Thorvaldsen's _Iason_ on a pedestal. And Canova's _Theseus and the Minotaur._ And _Apollo Belvedere._ And _Nike of Samothrake._ Couple of elongated mirrors to make the space seem larger.
> 
> If that would come off as too harsh, I'd soften it to make it more 19th century bourgeois style, Rococo and Biedermeier... but I wouldn't overdo it. On the wall I'd have some Ingres copies... maybe _Apotheosis of Homer_ or _Theseus and Jupiter_. Maybe Raphael's _Madonna,_ too.
> 
> ...


Sounds great! Very much in the spirit of the Enlightenment with a just a touch of Romanticism sprinkled on top.  Who would the musicians be? Do you have any particular ensemble in mind?


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Bettina said:


> Sounds great! Very much in the spirit of the Enlightenment with a just a touch of Romanticism sprinkled on top.  Who would the musicians be? Do you have any particular ensemble in mind?


I'm glad you like it! You got it right, that's exactly the spirit of what I was aiming at. I'm not sure about the ensemble, but I'm hearing these abstract, a bit processed string sounds in my mind. A disembodied but full and lovely sound, not very physical. I listen usually to the Angeles quartet when I go for Haydn string quartets, maybe that's the sound I'm imagining here!


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