# Most memorable recitals you've attended



## Kjetil Heggelund

Maybe this is a topic here already but...Who played and what was played?
Some of mine are
Håkon Austbø-Vingt regards sur l'enfant jesus (Messiaen)
Ricardo Gallén-4 lute suites (Bach)
Tomas Krakowski-Tales of a hand (Nørgård)


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## tdc

Last year I saw Ana Vidovic in recital and she performed Bach's BWV 998, and it was one of the most remarkable musical performances I can remember. I've listened to quite a few guitarists and this was something really special.


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## chesapeake bay

most Recently I saw Daniil Trifinov play 
BACH Fantasy and Fugue for Organ in G Minor, BWV 542 (trans. for piano by Franz Liszt, S. 463)
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111
LISZT Transcendental Etudes, S. 139

Encore:
MEDTNER "Alla Reminiscenza" from Forgotten Melodies I, Op. 38

which was wonderful, definitely my favorite performance of Beethoven sonata no 32

long ago I remember seeing Yo Yo Ma playing 3 of Bachs cello suites, I think it was 1 5 and 6. He used a cello for the first and either one or two different viola de gambas for the latter 2. That was excellent as well and remarkable in that I didn't have a lot of money at the time so I bought the cheapest tickets which were "stage left" and somehow ended up actually on the stage sitting next to his wife with him about 6 feet away.


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## fluteman

Nathan Milstein, playing Beethoven, Geminiani, Schubert, his own "Paganiniana", Bach, and a number of encores. A marathon recital for someone of his advanced age. He finally smiled and excused himself after playing the first part of a Paganini Caprice, pleading back pain.


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## Guest

I saw Ivo Pogorelich twice back in the 80s during his prime. On one occasion he played the original version of Rachmaninov's Sonata No.2 (followed by Balakirev's "Islamey" as an encore!) and Ravel's "Gaspard du la nuit" on another--both were hair-raising beyond belief. I just saw Daniil Trivinov this past Friday--he was quite electrifying, too. Here's a review:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-daniil-trifonov-review-20160229-column.html


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## jegreenwood

A couple of marathons:

Christian Tetzlaff performing the 6 Bach Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin.

Andras Schiff performing WTC I one evening and WTC II several nights later.


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## hpowders

Artur Rubinstein at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He brought the house down with Chopin's Heroic Polonaise!

He also played some Debussy from Images and the Preludes and Villa Lobos' Doll Suite.


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## hpowders

Another memorable recital took place when I was a graduate student at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York.

Nathan Milstein was giving a solo violin recital and as soon as I found out, I pounced and got my ticket.

He concluded with the great Bach Chaconne from the Second Solo Violin Partita.

Unforgettable: the astonishing playing....and also, how young I was!


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## fluteman

My older brother got to see Rubinstein, and I got to see Milstein, who was younger and lasted a bit longer. But my father saw Heifetz in his prime, Toscanini, Walter, and even Oistrakh during his 1955 American debut tour.
One of my most memorable recitals as an adult featured the Pacifica Quartet playing all six Elliott Carter string quartets, with Carter himself in attendance.


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## Krummhorn

The late Dr. Virgil Fox, organ virtuoso, in concerts around the Los Angeles/Hollywood area back in the 60's. 

The late E. Power Biggs, concert organist, Los Angeles First Congregational Church in 1970. 

Most impressionable musicians in their own right, each with a very different style of playing and technique. 
I was most impressed with these two artists, an impression that still exists today and has not been edged out by anyone I've heard in more recent times. 

Kh


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## Pugg

Joseph Moog last year in Het Concertgebouw made a big impression on me, shame I didn't put myself to work harder to become a musician


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## Guest

My mother-in-law (R.I.P) hit the jackpot: she saw Horowitz's Carnegie Hall comeback, Richter, Gould, and John Ogdon, among others! It would be hard to pick which was the most memorable!


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## hpowders

fluteman said:


> My older brother got to see Rubinstein, and I got to see Milstein, who was younger and lasted a bit longer. But my father saw Heifetz in his prime, Toscanini, Walter, and even Oistrakh during his 1955 American debut tour.
> One of my most memorable recitals as an adult featured the Pacifica Quartet playing all six Elliott Carter string quartets, with Carter himself in attendance.


That's terrific! I heard Oistrakh do the Tchaikovsky Concerto on the radio "live on tape" with the Philadelphia Orchestra, but never got to attend a live concert.

Attending a Toscanini concert must have been fantastic, given the "recorded in a phone booth", dismal-sounding recordings we are left with. The Eroica, Verdi Requiem and Brahms First Symphony live at Carnegie Hall must have sounded glorious!

My one regret is I never tried to see Sviatoslav Richter when he gave his legendary Carnegie Hall recitals. Of course at the time, I had no idea they would achieve legendary status, but the man did have an incredible reputation at that time and I let him "get away". I have the recordings of excerpts from those concerts and they are electrifying. Nobody played Prokofiev piano works better than Richter.


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## Pugg

I like to have seen a concerto performed by Van Cliburn :tiphat:


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## GioCar

My most memorable recitals were 2 piano recitals, very close each others:

I saw Vladimir Horowitz at La Scala when I was in my twenties, one of his last recitals. He played Schubert (Impromptus op.142), Schumann (Kreisleriana), and some Scarlatti, Chopin, Liszt and Scriabin. 

Then, a few months later, I joined a group of friends and we travelled together to Bregenz (Austria) to see Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. I remember we feared a no-show till the beginning of the concert. His cancellations at the very last minute were quite frequent. He played Chopin (Sonata No.2), Debussy (Images 1&2), and Ravel (Gaspard de la nuit).

(In both cases I had to do some google search for the programs, my memory is not so good )

I also saw Arthur Rubinstein at La Scala when I was a boy around ten. I remember I was with my parents, who were much more excited then me. I didn't care much about piano music, it was the time of my Wagner discovery...


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## EdwardBast

A number of the best I have heard were by conservatory students I knew:

A German violinist, cellist from California, and a pianist from South Africa played the hell out of Shostakovich's Trio in E minor.

A graduate student from Utah played the best interpretation of Carter's Cello Sonata I have heard. 

Then there was the time I was teaching a unit in 20thc music history and instead of playing a recorded example of Prokofiev's Sonata no. 7/iii, I asked if anyone in the class knew it. A guy named Nazomi got up and, without warm up and from memory, played a rousing rendition for his classmates. Intrepid soul. 

Anyway, too many to count and all for free.


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## fluteman

Another memorable one for me, mainly for the location: Alexander Ghindin at the famous Moscow Conservatory Great Hall. He played Beethoven (the Moonlight sonata), Haydn, and Liszt, among other things. But the performance was fine too, and I think he is an underrated pianist. Fourth in the Tchaikovsky competition at the age of 17 (really third, since the winner that year, Nikolai Lugansky, was awarded second prize, and no first prize was given), but an unimpressive looking guy (prematurely bald, overweight) with a subtle style.


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## Gordontrek

Emerson String Quartet- did a rather stunning performance of Bach fugues. 

Olga Kern- Van Cliburn gold medal pianist. She played Chopin's Sonata No. 2 and an array of Rachmaninov. It was one of the more gripping performances I've been to. Played two encores including Flight of the Bumblebee. 

Mitsuko Uchida- got to see her play two Mozart piano concertos with the Chicago Symphony. Not the most virtuosic pieces out there, but still a pleasure. 

Canadian Brass- just plain awesome. They're fairly frequent visitors to my area because one of their trumpet players (Coletti) is the principal trumpet of my local symphony!! They're coming again this month actually. 

Joshua Bell- got to hear him live many moons ago. I was pretty young, but I remember being enthralled. 

Vienna Boys Choir- what a sound. My mother always wanted me to sing like that when I was a tot, but I hated singing. Had a really scratchy singing voice anyway (and still do). 

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet- not only heard them but participated in a master class with their lead player, William Kanengiser. I'll never forget it. 

Manuel Barrueco- one of the top classical guitarists in the world. Heard him play Concierto de Aranjuez with my local symphony. YES.


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## hpowders

I heard Van Cliburn perform the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 at Lewisohn Stadium in New York City. Music under the summer sky. Free.
Those days are long gone.


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## Cosmos

I also saw Mitsuko Uchida a few years back playing two Mozart concertos with the CSO. I think they were nos. 11 and 21. Wonderful stuff!

One of the earliest recitals I went to was Garrick Ohlsson playing Beethoven's Sonata no. 13, Liszt Sonata in B minor, and Chopin's Preludes op.28. It was notable for me because it was the first time I'd heard the sonata in b minor, which is now my top favorite 19th century piano sonata.


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