Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Season 2007-2008

The Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra with Nikolai Lugansky on piano is all set for a new season of music by renowned composers. To start off this 2007-08 season on Sunday 30 September, the Orchestra conducted by Jerzy Semkow is performing Serguei Rachmaninov's Concerto n°2 in C minor for piano and orchestra, Opus 18, followed by Johannes Brahms's Symphony n°2 in D major, Opus 73.

Date: September 30
Place: Prince's Palace
Phone: (+377) 92 16 22 99
Fax: (+377) 92 16 38 37
Web site: www.opmc.mc
E-mail: info@opmc.mc

I found this on daily motion: Albert's birthday concert

Nice video and great find Lilae!

great find thanks Lilae, i would love to go something like that at the palace. fantastic!

is it me or does albert look thin and fit, alas quiet handsome in that first pic, don't know why it struck me as the "old albert" dapper and dignified- very good. has he gained weight that quickly, have i been seeing distorted pics? he's looked F.A.T in recent photos- what's up (altho a close friend (male/gay) said he and lots of his friends have started wearing those body suits (just saw them on oprah yesterday-womens fashion show) takes 10lb off immediately, smooths out and gives you a waist back. (can't remember the name something like lypo suit- it was about $40 bucks and worked the same results as lyposuction) way off topic, sorry great video

They gave a concert on Wednesday for children. Although the orchester played correct (as in no false notes), it was pretty boring. The actor who told the story of Mozarts travels was captivating and gave a worthy performance, clearly enjoying himself and his audience. But the conductor was the worst conductor I have seen in a long time. I think he actually conducted a different orchestra and different music. It certainly wasn't Mozart. Admittedly I have often noticed that the orchestra does fail to play Mozart with it's due lightness (and I have seen specialized orchestras that could only play Mozart and nothing else really), but with a more interested and better quality conductor at least they could have released us from boredom. THE children were thrilled when the actor told the story, but it was very hard to keep them all quiet through the music. That is really unusual and even if children may not be able to give a proper criticism, their reaction is to get bored and wanting to move. With a good performance it is easy to keep children quiet and attentive. It is a pitty that some people think that because it is children they only deserve second best. Maybe with their new chef the orchestra could take a look at how other orchestras handle these things. The Berlin philharmonics have a great program, which also includes schoolchildren and surely others do too. But I think they need to really perform just as well as they would on National Holiday for the prince at the gala. After all, these concerts are supposed to initiate the children to music and get them interested and not have them connect it with boredom. There were some really good ones, but the last one was unfortunetely not among them. The papageno btw would have either needed a microphone or take a deeper breath as he was not very audible (and I was sitting in the front sector).

Some musicians performed F Zappa's music. (nov 7th)
Midis Musicaux

I was at yesterdays performance of the orchestra. They were playing Chostacovic to the movie New Babylone. It is the original film music. Last year my mum went with my younger son to see Alexader Nevski and he still talks about it with a glow of joy in his eyes. this year I took both my sons. They were much quieter then during the 50 minute concerts for children,though the movie was not childfriendly as it was about the Paris commune. ANd a marxist point of view (I suppose I am in some ways a marxists as I found a lot of things in the movie, although exaggerated for artistic reasons, still fitting) as that. I was amazed how much the children managed to understand only through music and image. They got all emotions conveyed right. Of course they lack the historical background etc. so the story was a little lost on them and got them a little bored towards the end, but most of the 90 minutes they paid attention, only asking occassional questions. The orchestra was doing a marvellous job, playing without interruption perfectly in tune with the images. A very difficult task which they mastered with ease . The conductor was Frank Strobel, who also conducts the arte DVD version of the movie. It is, considering its time, amazingly modern and it also has quite a lot of speed to it. It is rightfully considered one of the great classics in the history of film making and the music of Chostacovic plays a great part in that. It was a very enjoyable performance of the orchestra and 20 Euros well spent. For those interested in the Printemps des arts: children under 12 are free of charge, so it is really a good opportunity to introduce children to classical music as I have noticed that the better the performance, the more interested the children and for some reason the quality during childrens concerts is often wanting. Not necessarily due to the orchestra, which is able (as they proved again yesterday) to play on very high standard, but whose quality depends greatly on the conductor.

I wished they would do this sort of thing more often and not only during the printemps des arts.

paca wrote:I was at yesterdays performance of the orchestra. They were playing Chostacovic to the movie New Babylone. It is the original film music. Last year my mum went with my younger son to see Alexader Nevski and he still talks about it with a glow of joy in his eyes. this year I took both my sons. They were much quieter then during the 50 minute concerts for children,though the movie was not childfriendly as it was about the Paris commune. ANd a marxist point of view (I suppose I am in some ways a marxists as I found a lot of things in the movie, although exaggerated for artistic reasons, still fitting) as that. I was amazed how much the children managed to understand only through music and image. They got all emotions conveyed right. Of course they lack the historical background etc. so the story was a little lost on them and got them a little bored towards the end, but most of the 90 minutes they paid attention, only asking occassional questions. The orchestra was doing a marvellous job, playing without interruption perfectly in tune with the images. A very difficult task which they mastered with ease . The conductor was Frank Strobel, who also conducts the arte DVD version of the movie. It is, considering its time, amazingly modern and it also has quite a lot of speed to it. It is rightfully considered one of the great classics in the history of film making and the music of Chostacovic plays a great part in that. It was a very enjoyable performance of the orchestra and 20 Euros well spent. For those interested in the Printemps des arts: children under 12 are free of charge, so it is really a good opportunity to introduce children to classical music as I have noticed that the better the performance, the more interested the children and for some reason the quality during childrens concerts is often wanting. Not necessarily due to the orchestra, which is able (as they proved again yesterday) to play on very high standard, but whose quality depends greatly on the conductor.

I wished they would do this sort of thing more often and not only during the printemps des arts.

When I was growing up Eugene Ormandy who was the conductor of the Phila. Orchestra did a whole children's series -he conducted and was terrific with the kids. Many years later, I had the opportunity to thank him and tell him how much I enjoyed those series as a child. When they are well done children learn so much and develop a love of music.

Yes, hibou, though unfortunetely there are still peout there who don't understand that children are indeed the best critics. An adult will sit through a bad concert or gp quietly and leave. Children will start to wander off and be noisy. They are trying a lot of things to make the concerts interesting for children, with storytelling etc. But not all the children understand the language or sometimes are accoustics are disfavourable. IMO and expierence the bestloved concerts by the children have always been those were there was little talk and lots of music.

Personally I am waiting for the magic flute to introduce my kids to opera.

But yesterday was a performance for adults, greatly played. The critic is in todays paper. Apparently commanded music (with Louvre) was a desaster as music and film didn't match.Unlike what we heard and saw. There goes to show that film music is not an easy art. And when you consider that Prokovieff and Chostacovic did it marvelously, two names that most would not remember in connection with film...

Paca,

Thanks for sharing with us, it sounds like a very enjoyably evening, very nice post by the way!

indeed, co-ordinating music with film is difficult. however, a powerful combination to capture the imagination of children and adults. With all the marvelous technology in the film arena today. it is a wise choice to co-ordinate music with film and to find someone whom can co-ordinate it well in order to capture the mind and attention span of the children in Monaco.

Looks like I got my wish granted: next opera season they will play the magic Flute. It will be the first opera of the season.

Celebrating 50 years, at the Palace where the courtyard is said to have fabulous acoustics:

Lorsque le Prince Rainier III décide en 1959 d’ouvrir la cour de son palais pour que soient donnés des concerts, il perpétue en fait une longue tradition. En effet, dès le XVIIIe siècle les Grimaldi offraient déjà à leur « bon peuple » des concerts. Rappelons également que les Princes furent proches de Lully ou encore de Couperin. Mais après la coupure de la Révolution française, le Palais était resté clos. Aussi lors des festivités de 1947 célébrant les 25 ans de règne du Prince Louis II, on remarque l’excellente acoustique de la cour d’Honneur. Totalement fermée, de forme trapézoïdale, les ondes musicales semblent s’accorder à la magie du lieu

.

Lou-gle Tr:

When Prince Rainier decided in 1959 to open the courtyard of his palace for concerts to be heard, he perpetuated in fact a very long tradition. Since the 18th century, the Grimaldis had been offering concerts to their deserving subjects. Let's recall too that the Princes were also very close to de Lully or yet again, de Couperin. After the rupture effected by the French Revolution however, the Palace had remained closed. Then at the 25th year anniversary of Prince Louis's reign in 1947, people were able notice the extraordinary acoustics of the Cour d'Honneur. Entirely closed off, in a trapezoidal shape, the music waves seem to tune themselves to the magic of the place.

Article

Thanks Loulou fantastic article. Too bad it's wasted on Charlene.

critic of Wednesdays concert http://www.monaco.maprincipaute.com/act ... 2_actu.Htm

Why this concert took place in Grimaldi Forum?

because it has most seats. this is an expensive concertto organise so,you might want to get some profit out of it. 1000 people audience is not much though for that as it can fit 3600... and that in spite of a very popular program and one of the best orchestras in the world... Let's see how many Barenboim will draw in his 2 concerts. The first one seems pretty well sold, but they didn't communicate the program for the second yet, so people would pretty much buy the cat in a bag as we say...