# Disappointing concerts?



## Albert7

Ever been to a concert that turned out badly or disappointing to you?

I have been to a few, esp. those under Keith Lockhart when he conducted the Utah Symphony.


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## papsrus

I think there can be aspects of a performance that may disappoint or not live up to expectations. Nothing's perfect. But I generally seem to be able to grasp hold of _something_ that is rewarding / beautiful / exciting at just about any concert I've attended. ... Barring complete disaster, such as a stage collapsing or something, which thankfully I've never had the misfortune of experiencing.

Listening to music live is such an in-the-moment experience that I just try to get into that focused mindset and let the music come to me. I don't try to take in everything or absorb the total experience, but rather focus on the moments as they occur; I'll often spend long stretches with eyes closed just visualizing the music in front of me.

That's probably a little too zen and not quite what you're looking for, but as Woody Allen once observed when a woman said to him that her therapist told her she was having the wrong kind of orgasms, "Really? Not me. Even the worst one was right on the money."


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## Fagotterdammerung

I've been to a lot of premiers recently, and new works - and new composers - are an extremely mixed bag. Some were quite good, some were tooth-achingly bad. I stayed for the concerts, though, as it's not something I could tell in advance.


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## phlrdfd

When I go to hear a piece I've listened to many times over the years, which is usually the case with the major post-intermission work on the Philadelphia Orchestra programs (most of the concerts I attend are PO concerts), I know that while the music is likely to be well-played because of the quality of the orchestra, I may be disappointed in the tempos or something else about the conductor's interpretive choices. Even my favorite conductors may lead performances that I'm happy with only three-quarters or 80 percent of the time. I've been thrilled with Yannick Nezet-Seguin as the music director here, but I was a little disappointed in the performance of Mahler's 2nd he led earlier this season. It felt to me like he didn't have the full measure of the work yet. But that's okay. He's only 40 and I'm sure he hadn't conducted it many times before. I would imagine he'll do a better job with it down the road. And that wasn't the first time I've been disappointed in one of his performances. But there have been a lot more hits than misses.


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## michaels

albertfallickwang said:


> Ever been to a concert that turned out badly or disappointing to you?


I am curious - was the disappointment based on a general theme (e.g. tempo, program selection, artist performance, etc)?


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## pianississimo

I was disappointed when a concert I was so looking forward to was cancelled at very short notice. September 2012 and the conductor sir Colin Davis was taken ill. I only realised how ill he was later when I saw an interview with him shortly after. Mitsuko
Uchida and Radu Lupu were going to play Mozart double concerto. A one in a lifetime concert given how few Lupu plays in the UK. 
They replaced the conductor and changed the programme to Strauss!!! 
I'd booked the hotel and train tickets to London already so I hunted around for another concert. I found that Leif Ove Andnes was playing with the Philharmonia at the RFH. Beethoven 1 and to finish, Symphony 9. It was sold out but when I phoned they advised me to watch the website as returns were put on there. I watched all afternoon, trying to pretend I was working...
Then just one ticket popped up, bang in the middle so I snapped it up quick! 
I was disappointed that I never got to see Davis conduct or hear Lupu play but the Beethoven was just amazing and the RFH was full to the very last seat.


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## Bruce

I can only think of one. Many years ago I attended a concert by the Philadelphia orchestra when Eugene Ormandy was still conducting. They played Beethoven's 5th symphony, and I was really looking forward to it. But for some reason, I thought the playing was really lackadaisical and sloppy. I don't know if it was because of Ormandy's conducting--he was nearing the end of his career with the orchestra--or if the musicians were just tired of hearing this old warhorse. 

Other than that, all my concert experiences have been quite positive.


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## Guest

I've been a fan of pianist Andrei Gavrilov for 20+ years, so I was excited to have 3rd row seats to hear him play Rachmaninoff's 3rd Concerto two weeks ago--what a mess! He hit handfuls of wrong notes, missed many others, approximated some passages, and just banged the crap out of the poor piano--it was quite out of tune after the massive first movement cadenza. He also had a lot of distorted tempos--seemingly slowing or rushing at random. To his credit, he did bring out some inner voices that I've never heard before, and when he was playing accurately, there were some intensely dramatic sections. However, Denis Matsuev plays with nearly as much passion but far more accurately and musically. Overall, it was a very disappointing performance.


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## Albert7

michaels said:


> I am curious - was the disappointment based on a general theme (e.g. tempo, program selection, artist performance, etc)?


In this case it was the awful conducting of Lockhart that was painful to watch. I want more Dudamel please. (Thierry Fischer is awesome btw).


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## nightscape

phlrdfd said:


> I've been thrilled with Yannick Nezet-Seguin as the music director here, but I was a little disappointed in the performance of Mahler's 2nd he led earlier this season. It felt to me like he didn't have the full measure of the work yet. But that's okay. He's only 40 and I'm sure he hadn't conducted it many times before. I would imagine he'll do a better job with it down the road. And that wasn't the first time I've been disappointed in one of his performances. But there have been a lot more hits than misses.


Loved his conducting of the 2nd. I really want him to start a cycle on the DG label with Philly. I've attended his performances of 2, 4 and 6. I'll be seeing the 8th next year.


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## phlrdfd

You missed the two that I've liked the most so far among his Mahler performances in Philly: symphonies 1 and 5. I think he conducted the fifth during one of his early guest appearances.

I was also a little disappointed with his Bruckner 7, but I thought he came back and led a very good Bruckner 9 last season.


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## Albert7

phlrdfd said:


> You missed the two that I've liked the most so far among his Mahler performances in Philly: symphonies 1 and 5. I think he conducted the fifth during one of his early guest appearances.
> 
> I was also a little disappointed with his Bruckner 7, but I thought he came back and led a very good Bruckner 9 last season.


Bruckner is very difficult to conduct well so praises due to the young conductor for trying .


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## phlrdfd

albertfallickwang said:


> Bruckner is very difficult to conduct well so praises due to the young conductor for trying .


He has programmed the fourth for next season. I'm disappointed that he hasn't programmed the eighth yet. He's conducted it elsewhere. I suspect from how relatively infrequently (once every other season so far) he programs Bruckner here in comparison to other places where he conducts that Bruckner may not be a big ticket seller in Philly. Although with Yannick extending his contract through 2022, I'm optimistic that he'll get to the eighth at some point! 
He was kind enough to respond to a couple messages I sent him on Facebook. In response to my query on whether he would program Bruckner's 5th and 8th, he said he would program more Bruckner, but was non-committal on which symphonies. He also said that the 5th is the most difficult Bruckner symphony to learn and will probably be the last one he undertakes (I'm not sure if he was including all of the early symphonies in that statement).


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## Triplets

I've been to quite a few, but that is the beauty of live music making. It can't be edited like a recording, and the increased intensity is usually palpable.


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