Recently while I was on holidays in the wonderful city of Copenhagen (København), Denmark, I took the opportunity to get a ticket to see the DR SymfoniOrkestret at the DR Koncerthuset. The concert was called “Luisi & Bruckners 7”. The concert featured Eva Steinaa playing Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto and the orchestra performing Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7. The concert hall was very cool with great facilities, very modern industrial looking. The oboe concerto was lovely with Eva getting a standing ovation leading to her completing an encore going into intermission. Sorry, I’m not sure what the piece was but I knew it so I suspect it was a snippet from Mozart’s Oboe Concerto. Bruckner’s Symphony No 7 was very enjoyable. The conductor was Fabio Luisi.
Richard Strauss – Oboe Concerto
Published in 1945, Richard Strauss (11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) wrote the piece when he was 81. He was famous for his operas but after meeting an American oboe player in World War II he was inspired to write this piece. It is a lovely piece of music. It was my first exposure to it and I was impressed. I seem to be enjoying Oboes this year.
Eva Steinaa’s performance was world class. She had great stage presence and a beautiful tone. The interactions between her and the orchestra were seamless. The orchestra seemed to be having a great time which I always appreciate.
When the piece finished the audience gave her a standing ovation and then the weirdest thing happen, the audience started clapping like Glenn McGrath was running into bowl. The audience continued the clapping until Eva started her encore.
Anton Bruckner – Symphony No.7
Another first for me, I don’t know anything about Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896) or his music. I loved this piece of music. The structure and the large orchestra were to my liking. The sound of a full brass section and 8 double basses always makes me happy. My favourite movement was the third, the theme was very catchy and moved around the orchestra with variations but always coming back to the original.
Overall the concert was brilliant and I really enjoyed it.
Extras
The program from DR Koncerthuset, sorry it’s in Danish.
A playlist of the pieces on Spotify
Score for Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto on IMSLP
Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No 7 on IMSLP