Czech Phil, Dec 2024

Jim and I heard that Czech Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on Dec 5, 2024. It was an all-Czech program conducted by their chief conductor and music director, Semyon Bychkov.

The first half was a piano concerto by Dvořák. Jim is a pianist and hadn't even heard of this piece, we were both very curious to hear it. Plus the pianist was superstar Daniil Trifonov, who Jim has heard a number of times. I'd heard OF him, that's as far as I could go.

The piece was very beautiful, effective, expertly written. It was more about the music and less about showing off the virtuosity of the pianist, like so many other concertos. The highlight of the piece, for me, was hearing how the piano part would come out of the orchestra and vice versa. There was one piano solo where he played alone for a while and then the woodwinds gradually rose up out of that texture.

Trifonov played elegantly and incisively and Bychkov clearly has a deep feeling for the style. Ditto the orchestra, they made a whole meal of of the piece.

Jim said it was beautiful but underpowered compared to a lot of other piano concertos. He said (I paraphrase), "This piece had me thinking, 'Wow, this is s really lovely piece of music.' You hear the Rach 3 and you should be heaving with sobs or having a nervous breakdown. Or both."

Here's a performance of the piece by Rudolf Firkušný and an unidentified conductor and orchestra:

The second half was the *Glagolitic Mass* by Janáček. I'm a fan of Janáček and have seen four of his operas, a couple of them numerous times. He's a phenomenal opera composer. This is a full-blown oratorio, written for four soloists, a big organ part, chorus, and orchestra. He took movements from the Latin mass and set them in a Czech translation.

Jim asked me after it was over what I thought of it. I said, "I thought it was a mess! It sounded like music from a very serious Soviet sci fi movie." A movie I'd like to see! I don't ever have to hear this piece again.