Ah, I left the choice of piano to Natalia Illiukhevich, who you can see in the picture - she chose the Steinway.  She's the former wife of cellist Walter Deshpal, if you maybe remember him?   I'm a very poor pianist personally, so I can't claim to prefer one kind of piano to another!  Of course, the Steinway has a stupendous sound-quality for solo performance,  but I secretly like the sound of the Bluthner in chamber music :-)

Yes, I do go to the Bol'shoi Zal, of course - I've heard some super concerts there... Vengerov, and also Gergiev's "Moscow Easter Festival" is mostly held there.  Last year Gergiev performed "Die Walkure" in concert performance there, with Bryn Terfel as Wotan (and Larissa Gogolevskaya as Brunnhilde).   The hall is closed for major rebuilding at the moment - I think it will be closed until 2008, in fact.  The Maly Zal and Rachmaninov Hall are still open, however.   These days Moscow has two more large concert-halls which you won't have seen - they opened in 2003/4, under the name "Dom Muzyki".  They are in a very contemporary design, and the complex is huge!  On the Moscow River embankment near to Paveletsky Station.  Have a look at their website for photographs of the extraordinary building!  http://www.mmdm.ru/     I don't really like the Bolshoi Zal there,  but the Kamerny Zal is lovely and has very nice acoustics...   to call it "Kamerny Zal" is something of a misdescription, because you can easily put a full symphony orchestra in there!   I heard Gindin playing the Schumann Piano Concerto there,  with the marvellous Vladimir Philharmonic Orchestra  (from city of Vladimir - built-up from nothing in just 2-3 years by wunderkind conductor Artem Markin) - really great!!   I went to the Kronos Quartet concert in Bolshoi Zal, which was great too - but could not fill such a huge hall as that.

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall is still open (I live 5 minutes down the road from it) - and yes, you can still hear the Metro trains rumbling past underneath in the pianissimo passages!

One other new concert-hall I like in Moscow is "Orchestrion".  It's not in the centre - it's a converted "д/к" at Novie Cheriumushky.  Of course this probably sounds funny,  but that area now is considered very prestigious and has very expensive new housing.  The concert-hall is used a lot by the "Russian National Orchestra" - now it's really Pletnev's orchestra, but I don't like his conducting at all, I wish he would stick to what he does well - playing the piano - and leave conducting to professionals!  ;-)

Ho!  Thankyou t-p and Reiner for these fabulous messages.  I found them rather moving.
Cheers

Ho Trained Pianist.  Sadly, I didn't sing in Russia.  During my career relations were rather strained with the USSR and the opportunity did not arise.  I didn't find your messages amusing, I thought they were interesting and quite moving.  It's good for you to be in touch with Reiner in Moscow, though I hope it doesn't make you feel a little homesick.
Cheers

Hi Lena

I agree with you - no-one really takes Spivakov's orchestra seriously. However, he has done some incredible PR work and a lot of people who don't know anything about classical music are convinced that he is a "great conductor",  because they see his face a lot on posters    (Usually he is pulling some terrible face and trying to look like Karajan on these posters - it's how people think "conductors ought to look" )

I'd disagree with you about Rostropovich, though - he has always been a conductor as well as a cellist.  In fact I believe he was advised in Conservatory to give up the cello,  since he was better at the piano...  but he liked the cello    In fact he is an amazing pianist too. He was conducting at the Bolshoi Theatre even when he was young - it's how he met Vishnevskaya, I believe?

Do you like Gindin's playing?  Is he known outside Russia? The young piano star who is attracting all the interest now is Ekaterina Mechetina,  but that might possibly be for some other reasons too (although she is a very good pianist):

http://eng.mechetina.ru/main.mhtml?Part=3

Oh, I should be clear about Mechetina - she is not famous for any bad reasons! :-)   She has the good fortune to be extremely pretty at the same time as being a fabulously talented pianist who is also a marvellous musician

I didn't realise you'd lived all over North America!  Were you playing when you were there?

I am not really qualified to judge, but it seems to me that Spivakov is a good violinist.  I have heard him play several solo works, and in that sphere of his work I am entirely impressed.  It's only when he conducts that my knuckles go white and I start murmuring unpleasant words under my breath :-)  He's rather skilled as a showman,  and he invites world-famous performers as soloists with his orchestra...  in this way he has encouraged the belief that he's world-famous himself.  For example, he invited Jessye Norman to perform Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder - I'm afraid it was terrible, he couldn't conduct it at all.  The start of "Im Treibhaus" (which is a study for Tristan & Isolde) started so badly that only two of the violas played, and the others joined in the second bar. However, he has been made Artistic Director of the new Dom Muzyki concert hall mentioned above, and this makes his career rather more secure than most other people's

Frankly we're rather short of great conductors in Moscow at present - the situation would be a bit better if so many of them were not working abroad, of course.  There is a rumour that Temirkanov has been tempted to come from St Petersburg to be Principal Guest Conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre, and this would be wonderful news if it's true?  (The Bolshoi is closed for rebuilding until 2008, so we will not know about this for a while). Unfortunately the main conductor at the Bolshoi, Vedernikov, is very weak, and he only got the job because he's the son of a famous singer. After Kolobov's death, his pupil with a similar name, Felix Korobov, was placed in charge of Novaya Opera - he's good, but still too young. Bulakhov is good, but currently isn't working with a main orchestra - he's a difficult personality.  Denis Kirpanev is good, but very young.  Vladimir Ponkin is very good, but somehow the authorities don't like him, his orchestra was taken away from him and given to Pletnev, and now Ponkin's working at Helikon Opera. Rozhdestvensky is too old to do any more than guest appearances. He has a rather good pupil, Alexei Osetrov, but again, he's very young. Maybe the most interesting of the "young generation" in Moscow is the youngest of all, and grandson of someone "rather famous" - Marius Stravinsky.

I really respect accompanists, because it's a very hard and underrated discipline.  The best accompanists are incredible musicians - I am thinking of players like Roger Vignoles and Malcolm Martineau.

I understand what you are saying about Russia, but I hope you're not right ;-)  I hope that the Russian Government will continue to finance culture on present levels, or even on improved levels :-)  If one had to pick things for which Russia was world-famous, then shortly after vodka, Sukhoi fighter-interceptors and plutonium poisoning would come the performing arts - they are the most powerful positive symbol of Russia's fame in the world, and it would be a huge mistake to neglect them.  I'm pleased to say that so far I don't see any sign of them deteriorating further, at least :-)

You're absolutely right about Spivakov playing "popular favourites for the masses", I'm afraid.  I've only heard Mechetina play twice - once was in someone's home, where she happened to be a guest, and she played Chopin... very, very well.  In public I've heard her play only the Tchaikovsky concerto, which frankly doesn't suit her...  maybe this is a "politically incorrect" thing to say, but I feel it's "man's music"?  Her talent lies in brilliant and technically amazing works - I'd rather hear her in the Shostakovich Concerto No 1, for example?

But it is horribly, horribly hard. And there is no money in it.  A mezzo-soprano who last year won awards for her performance in Aida is this year selling mobile phones in a shop.  "I have to feed my children", she said.

PS Marius Stravinsky really is the composer's grandson - he doesn't advertise it, but he doesn't hide it either.

Hi,

tonybob sent me the file and I've uploaded it to our sister site, so you can view the list at

http://www.r2ok.co.uk/bayreuth.rtf

John W

John W. I don't know how to use it. I downloaded it and then what do I do?
What is it? I understand it is performance of Wagner operas from Beyruth, or I am mixed up again?