I think I might too given what you say about the Pokrovsky Ensemble whom I hadn't heard of before but there you go. There are worse choices we are all faced with in life!

The first half is four pieces by Ades which didn't overenthuse but what really swung it for me at the time was that I had just been rocked back on my heels by hearing Zimmermann (first time I had him live) doing one of the the most convincing performances of the Beethoven concerto I've ever heard.  If he can do that for the Beethoven, I thought, his Berg must be unmissable.

It is actually 25 March by the way if that makes it worse or better. Peter Donohoe, Rolf Hind, Katia and Marielle Labeque are the pianists. Let's hope it's broadcast anyway. I guess it is likely.

(Actually, the more I think about it, with a stellar line up of this calibre, and a small venue like St Lukes, there must surely be a commercial recording in the offing too? I can't quite see it happening otherwise.)

Only just read this thread, but the Ades/Pokrovskys performance you're talking about, Ron and GG, sounds like a modified version of one I heard in Birmingham in October as part of the CBSO's Igorfest. On that occasion a first half of Ades conducting the Pokrovskys plus a stellar line-up of pianists (not the 4 you mention, I think, GG, but iirc Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the two Labèque sisters were involved) in Les Noces, followed by a second half of Sakari Oramo and the CBSO in Oedipus Rex. The Pokrovsky singers were indeed excellent, and very theatrical.

Having said that, Frank Peter Zimmermann is also responsible for the stunning performance of Ligeti's Violin Concerto on the recent Teldec Edition (the only concerto performance in that edition that I prefer to the old EIC/Boulez single-disc issue on DG). Although apparently the sessions got off to a characteristically bumpy start when Ligeti greeted Zimmermann with the words: 'Recently I bought your set of the Beethoven violin sonatas on CD. I took it back to the shop.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dR-TwfyoE

The sound is not good unfortunately, but I liked to hear that aria.

By mistake I put it in images. Sorry, Bryn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dR-TwfyoE

I think I have a question for ollie,
I am playing with a clarinet player now. For his exam he is going to play three pieces by Stravinsky. I don't know how known these pieces are, but I did not know them. They are for solo clarinet.

On the first listening I did not understand them (in my defence I can say that it was not the greatest performance of the pieces). But after a while I realized (with the help of a friend) that they are Russian and Ukranian dances.
One was definately Gapak (like in song of death and pictures of an exhibition). Gapak is a Ukranian dance. Perhaps some people saw it when Russian dance company come to UK. They have many different colour ribbons running down from their head (only women have them usually). Some times men jump very high in the air. Russians men usually do different things, but on the ground or they do different leaps.


Stravinsky had a strong influence from both nationalities that are very similar anyway because they are both slavic and because they lived close for so long.

My questions for ollie are: is he familiar with the three pieces? Are they well known and often played?
Does he know if I am right in my understanding that in at least one of them there is an influence from Ukranian or Russian dance?

There is a picture from another performance to give more flavour to my message.

Reiner, it is good of you to add this flavour. It is always helpful in Russian company.
But can you dance Gapak?