No doubt almost all music lovers, and musicians, except true excentrics like Glenn Gould, would agree that live performances are indispensible for both music making and music enjoyment. Besides the regular concerts and opera/other performances, various competitions are also an interesting way to enjoy music, and judge for oneself, with the latter an integral part of the enjoyment of such events.

Most Memorable Live Performances

• 4/17/2011. When I saw the announcement for the new Dallas Opera 2010/2011 Season at the new, magnificent Winspear Opera House, I jumped with joy for the inclusion of Boris Godonuv in the lineup. But the actually performance even surpassed my high expectations, with an almost all-Russian cast under Graeme Jenkens using Tarkovsky's classy production. In fact, I loved it even more than the MET Boris live broadcast I saw at the local movie theater a few months earlier although the MET had my favorite bass Rene Pape in the title role. Particularly impressive are Mikhail Kazakov in the title role and Evgeny Akimov as Grigory/Dimitri, and the Yurodivy Keith Jameson is so haunting that I thought that he must have Russian blood in him.
  As an added bones, I also witnessed my best Rigoletto in Paolo Gavanelli on 4/1/2011 at the same place. Laura Claycomb's Gilda was beautiful, especially in the pianissimo. But the rest of the cast and the orchestral play left me desiring more.

• 3/13/2011. A thoroughly enjoyable "final" of the Met audition 2011. The most enjoyable "competition" type of concert I have ever attended, and for that matter, the best Met experience for me.

• 7/2003. I thoroughly enjoyed my short stay in London in 7/2003, actually, I was waiting for next day British Airway connections, when I heard the fabulous Renee Fleming in Rusalka with Royal Opera and Tippet's King Priam at the BBC Proms (and the live talk on BBC, really live).

• April 2, 2001. Handel's Flavio presented by the Royal Conservatory of Music as part of the London Handel Festival 2001. Simply beautiful! And the small theatre is perfect for the Baroque opera too. Many other concerts around that time too, all quite impressive too, with:
  • Uchida playing Mozart piano concerti with a string quartet at South Bank,
  • Boulez/Bartoli/LSO playing Berlioz,
  • Von Dohonanyi/Philhamonia playing Mozart/Henze. I wasn't expecting to enjoy Henze, but really appreciate the way his work was handled by Von Dohnanyi.
  Well, London is really great for music lovers!

• June 24 - July 2, 2000. A series of operas/concerts at Berlin/Dresden/Leipzig, Germany:
  • I had my most impressive Wagner (Tannhauser and Flying Dutchman, both at Semperoper, Dresden. all the soloists were superb!),
  • my best Brahms #1 (Berlin-Symphonie),
  • an outstanding/unusually Bachnacht (non-stop from 10pm to 12:20am! at Bach's own St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig, on harpsichord/piano/organ, made such an impression on my wife Sharon), and
  • a refreshing production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut at Komischeoper, Berlin.
  • When we visited Bachhaus in Eisennach, we were treated with a truly impressive live demo of Bach's home instrument (including 3 small home organs!).
  I was very impressed by the musical life of Berlin when I visited there for the first time in March, 1996 (Deutche/Staat/Komische-oper + 2 concerts). But this series definitely surpassed the earlier one in quality, if not in quantity, and turned my daughter Christine into the newest Wagnerite in the family.

• March 10-15, 1998, London, UK: A joy-packed family spring break, with,
  • Boito's Mefistofele, concert performance, with Ramey/Margison/Haitink/Royal Opera at Barbican Center. The best all-round concert opera for me, even though I don't consider the opera itself superior to many others.
  • Moscow Radio Symphony playing Rachmaninoff's PC2 and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The best RoS I've ever heard.
  • Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing by RSC. My daughter Christine especially loved this one!
  • Offenbach's Tale of Hoffmann at English National Opera. Well, none of us really cared for singing in English. Extremely difficult to figure out what they were singing anyway, so, why bother.
  • Bach's Mass in B minor by Elder/LPO.
  The tickets are cheap too, as compared to US/Canada. We definitely should plan going back to London, even if only to catch another glimpse of the rich musical life there. (See my other entry/entries related to London.)

• March 18, 1995. Daniel Barenboim and Chicago Symphony doing a semi-staged performance of Strauss' Electra. With such powerful musical elements, who needs the stage extras? I also enjoyed the reading of Sophocles' play before the concert.

• Nov.8, 1994. Borodin Quartet in an All-Shostakovich Program at North York Performing Art Center (near Toronto, Canada), performing Shostakovich String Quartet Nos.13, 14, 15. So dark, so stark, and so emotional, with only the candles lighted above the scores for the last of the quartets. We also heard the re-configured Borodin Quartet in May 2001 at Amsterdam's Concertgebeuw. Sadly, the changes killed the magic!

• July 11, 1991. Bolshoi Opera of Moscow, then U.S.S.R., at Wolf Trap, Virginia (suburban Washington) performing Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. I didn't know live opera can be this great before that. A perfect blend of musical and dramatic elements.

• Feb., 1990. Homecoming concert by Mstislav Rostropovich and the National Symphony Orchestra after they visited the then U.S.S.R., performing Shostakovich 8th Symphony and Dvorak Cello Concerto. It was raw emotion and pure magic in the air. -- What I call the magical Rostropovich connection to Shostakovich.

• Feb., 1990. Verdi's Aida performed by Washington Opera with Millo/Tczyska/etc. showed me the beautiful and tender side of Aida which is often overshadowed by the grand scenes in the first half. So, after all, we may still find new treasures in old mines.

• Nov., 1985. Bach Society Orchestra of Harvard University (Jeffrey Goldberg, conductor): Beethoven Symphony No.1 and Bach Brandenburg Concerto No.3. Everything just felt right.