Great performance of Giya Kancheli's Seventh Symphony by the local philharmonic orchestra. Bach's f-minor piano concerto, though, was a bit of a disappointment: very shy, almost dormant.
I don't know whose idea it was to place two huge speakers in the corners above the stage to amplify the sound. It confused the heck out of me when I clearly heard the music come not from the piano but from the Bose box in the left corner. A few feet below the speakers there were large flat-screen TVs that showed a medley of wallpaper-esque landscapes: German - for Bach and Georgian - for Kancheli.
Yet another strange move is a traditional lecture before each piece. An exalted musicologist comes out on stage before the orchestra and narrates for 10 minutes about the composer, the work, symbolism, etc. etc. "Do you know what 'Bach' means in German?" "The opening part comes through as a bit forceful, but do not be distressed..." Why not print it in the program? What if I want to be distressed? Moreover, that's the reason why Kancheli wrote it. Do you know what 'Boese' means in German?
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